My trip to Rome - day 1

[tiggerlover]

For those who have asked, I thought I would share a trip report from my girls-only trip to Rome. We left on Thursday on a four-hour train trip south to Rome, arriving around 3:30 in the afternoon. After catching the subway and then walking to our hotel and settling in, it wasn’t until 5:30 that we hit the streets of Rome. We decided that we were hungry and headed off to the Hard Rock Café (two of the three people in our group hadn’t had good “American” food in a long time, hence the choice of “American” food.) After a great dinner and a little shopping we were off to explore the city. We walked and walked until we happen upon Trevi fountain….truly a site to behold all lit up at night. It was so beautiful that we had to sit and take it all in for a while. I wish I had brought my camera this first night because it would have been a spectacular photograph, but since it was sprinkling when we headed out and it was night I left the camera back at the room.

I did manage to find this picture on the web to at least give you a nice daytime view:

or this by night: http://www.scroogenet.demon.co.uk/mypix/Romepix/pix/trevi1.jpg

After enjoying the fountain for some time we headed off to the Time Elevator, this is a new attraction to Rome since my last visit 4 years ago. This is as close as we can get to Disney in Rome. It is a ride similar in nature to Back to the Future, it is a time travel ride through ancient Rome and it is available in 6 different languages. Upon entering the attraction, 8 lucky people get to play a quiz on roman history, my group was lucky enough to play and I am happy to report I came in second place. After the quiz we were ushered into our cars which sat 10 people per car in front of three huge movie screens. We journey through time with a professor who created a time machine and as we traveled, our seats traveled with us. We visited during Julius Cesar time, saw Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel, the burning of ancient Rome and so much more. When we hit a wind storm we felt it, the same when we hit the rain and when there was a scene featuring rats it actually felt like they were running up our legs…..eeeeewwww. It was a great introduction to ancient Rome and a nice little ride. At this point it was getting very late, so we decided to catch a bus back to our hotel and call it a night.

We still have two more days to go, I will post more another time and hope to include some pictures.

 

[Boots]

Sounds like a wonderful sight seeing time! And very enjoyable!

 

[mamajoan]

Oh Debbi, I am soo glad you are telling us about your trip to Rome. I will be waiting for the next installment! Glad you got home ok..

 

[helenabear]

Those pictures are wonderful!!! And that Time Elevator sounds so cool!

 

[tiggerlover]

It was wonderful, thanks. If any of you ever get a chance, go to Rome, it is truly beautiful, one of my most favorite Italian cities.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Thanks, Debbie. Very pretty. Sounds like a pretty neat ride too. I appreciate your putting these together for us.

 

[Mamu]

Debbi sounds like you girls are having a wonderful time. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your reports. We will be in Rome for 3 days in September. I think that will be enough time to only get in the major sights. There seems to be so much to do in this city.

Can I ask what area are you staying in? I think we are staying in the Trevi area. This city was a tough place to pick a hotel, it's so large and spread out and so much to see. You can bet I'll have my coin ready to toss, and a wish to return.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

 

[tiggerlover]

Originally posted by Mamu
Debbi sounds like you girls are having a wonderful time. I am looking forward to reading the rest of your reports. We will be in Rome for 3 days in September. I think that will be enough time to only get in the major sights. There seems to be so much to do in this city.

Can I ask what area are you staying in? I think we are staying in the Trevi area. This city was a tough place to pick a hotel, it's so large and spread out and so much to see. You can bet I'll have my coin ready to toss, and a wish to return.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

My friends and I did a lot of research on where to stay. We surfed online, word of mouth, books, etc. One of the best tools we used was www.fodors.com and the personal reviews, they really helped us make a decision. We stayed right near the vatican museums and were only a few blocks from St. Peter's square, our hotel was called Hotel Alimandi, it is a three star family run place and we were very satisfied. The rooms were clean, the staff was excellent and included in the price of the room was a great american style buffet breakfast, which is unheard of in Italy. The Trevi area is nice, will you be staying in the hotel that overlooks the fountain? Three days will give you a nice view of the city, although you probably won't be able to see it all, you will see most of the important sites, especially if you have three full days.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Thanks for posting TL! I am reasonably sure I will never get there in person.