Rome has been on my bucket list since I watched The Lizzie McGuire movie and obsessed over making wishes at the Trevi Fountain. It was my teenage brown girl dream, and it was also severely overrated. Now before I begin, let me first say that Rome is a beautiful, historical city and if you’ve never been, you definitely need to go once. Check out the details:
Stay: We stayed at the Hilton closest to the International airport, because Mama Islam got da plug. It’s not super close to the city (about 30mins) and a cab from the city center to the airport runs you about 60 euros
Transportation: We flew from Venice to Rome because we were on a tight schedule, the flights were cheap, and it was only like an hour long flight. Once in the city, we took Ubers because it was the most convenient option
Shop: I had already shopped a lot in Venice, so didn’t really shop much in Rome, but again major retailers carry different things in each city, so it’s always cool to check out stores like Zara with totally unique stuff. My favorite area to shop was the strip of stores in front of the Spanish Steps.
Eat: Gusto, Restaurant 34, Gelati, Tre Scalini, Ombré Rosse, San Calisto, Il Pastaio di Roma — the food is again all pretty good compared to like Olive Garden or something but nothing mind blowing. I’m sure with some more research I could have found better restaurants. It honestly felt like a bunch of tourist trap restaurants.
Visit: The Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Spanish Steps, Piazza Venezia, Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain are all worth seeing. In general the main tourist attractions are cool. However, these are also some of the most dangerous areas, so be aware!
Music: I love listening to a city’s top songs during my visit. I recommend listening to “Senza Pagare” by Fedez, even if you don’t understand Italian, it’s a banger!
Tips: The weather was pleasant end of November and despite it being slow season, there were tons of tourists. My favorite was the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, however be warned that in order to enter St Peter’s Basilica and some of the areas in Vatican City you must be dressed appropriately. I’m not sure how strict they are, but why take a chance? The Colosseum was smaller than I expected, but still really cool. The biggest let down was the Trevi Fountain (is it messed up if I say Caesar’s Palace or the Venetian in Vegas is more impressive?). I cannot stress enough how unsafe Rome is, you constantly feel like you’re going to get pick-pocketed and it doesn’t help when the locals are rude.
Dallas [Intuitive] 