Can Rome Bring the Romance Back?
When travel becomes a grind, it can be the worst thing for a relationship. Dave and I have been spending our time in some of the most incredible places on earth and yet we haven’t been enjoying them to the fullest. We’ve been too busy working and worrying. So much that everything is suffering. Our relationship, our health, our sleep and even our travels. We haven’t been enjoying life to the fullest, even though we preach about enjoying life to the fullest. We’ve lost that spring in our step over the last couple of months and we’ve decided to get it back.
We’ve arrived in Italy!
View of Rome from our Flight
If Rome can’t bring the romance and zest for travel back, nothing can!
As we were driving into the Trastavere area of Rome, the neighbourhood where our apartment is, we caught a glimpse of the old city and instantly my heart leapt. How beautiful! I could already see the massive monuments that we all have learned about in our history classes. My mood of weary traveler changed instantly to excited tourist.
We checked into our tiny apartment and while it wasn’t exactly what we expected, it was in the best location we could have imagined. For $125 per night in downtown Rome, it is a smoking deal. Juan Carlos took out a map showing us where everything was. The Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain,The Spanish Steps, even the Vatican are all walking distance from here.
Juan Carlos Taking the Time to Plan our Rome Route
The thing I love about apartment living are the little things, he took the time to map out our route of where we should go, how we should walk to get there and what buses to take should we get tired. They have Italian coffee stocked in the kitchen and a Lonely Planet Italy sitting on the bookshelf. That’s gonna come in handy!
Check out more apartment rentals in Rome at Roomorama.com with budgets to fit all needs.
We are just a couple hundred meters away from the Tiber River where we cross the Ponte Sisto foot bridge and are instantly transformed to ancient Rome.
The Tiber River, So Close to our Apartment
We didn’t even waste time for a shower. After our landlord retired to his apartment next door, we put on our walking shoes and explored the village.
Jodi of Legal Nomads gave us a list of great places to eat. Food is her specialty and when she recommends, we listen! Imagine our surprise when we walked out our door and her favourite wine bar, traditional osteria, and pizzeria were right at our doorstep. Literally, the wine bar is right next door and the osteria is at the end of our street!
We opted for the Pizzeria as it was early in the evening for Italian standards, and the only thing open. The Pizza was delicious! I have always heard that there is nothing like Italian Pizza eaten in Italy and now I understand why. As their menu says, their dough is thin, but not too thin and fluffy but not too fluffy.
With our appetites satisfied and a glow from a 1/2 litre of wine, we set off to explore.
We’ve decided that Trastevere is our favourite place in Rome. I know, I know, we’ve only been here 4 hours, but this neighbourhood rocks! That is the joy of renting an apartment. We get to stay in the cool neighbourhood that doesn’t cater to hotels. We’re in where the locals are eating, shopping and dining out. We feel like a local.
We donned our umbrella like the rest of the Italians, walked hand in hand and talked about nothing but Rome and Italy and movies. When we saw the sign to the bridge crossing into the old city and saw that it dates back to 212 AD in the times of Marcus Aurelis, a name we only know from Gladiator, we laughed and laughed. We know nothing really of Rome, only from movies and legend. As usual we haven’t done our research beforehand and we are walking in nearly blind.
But we are so excited to be here. With our iPhone in hand, we snapped some shots of the area, but didn’t focus on blogging or taking photographs, we’re just taking in the atmosphere and energy of what just may be the best city in the world. It is just what we needed.
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21 Responses to Can Rome Bring the Romance Back?
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Not at all surprised that it grabs you that way. It’s somewhere I’d be more than happy to settle down I think, and Trastavere IS the perfect place to say, you’re right. No other city ever excites me the way Rome does. Its only problem is that there is just too much to do and see, its history being so long and rich….ancient history, modern history, art or religious history, architecture, sport, fashion, food…….
After my first time, which was a two week visit, I said that when I went back I would just concentrate on one aspect of the city’s amazing history, but I’ve never been able to do that because I’ve always taken others who, of course, just want to see as much a possible! Hmm perhaps living there for a while would be good :=) Wishing you as wonderful a stay as I think you’ll have!…..oh it is without doubt the most romantic city I know (well, toss up between there & Venice, where do you go next?!)
So glad you enjoyed the meal! Looking forward to hearing how the other restaurants fare. See you in a few days! x
I love Trastevere, too. So central, yet so secluded (except in August). Enjoy Italy!
Oh, glad you’re having a romantic time in Rome. Enjoy!
It surely looks like a romantic place to be. The bridge is amazing and that pizza…well I don’t even think I have to say anything about that…too yummy looking for words!
Not bad eh? Yes, we’re loving it here. I’m so glad that we have 6 days in Rome. Today while walking around we were saying “if I had all the money in the world, I’d hang out here for a month just taking in the sites and atmosphere.
Have some gelato for me. Ciao!
Oh Nancy, we’ll grab gelato for everyone. Can’t get enough of it! Cheers:)
Rome is zoo romantic. How could you not fall in love all over again here?! My favourite spot is sitting on some corner steps and listening to the water fall from the Trevi fountain. I could spend hours here!
That’s a good way of putting it. It’s busy like a zoo, but so enchanting. So far, our experience at the Trevi Fountain has been very busy and loud, I don’t think that we could hear the water in all the commotion. We’re going to try to go again this week though at a different time to see how it is.
Nice article.. Have you been to Malaysia or India before? I love your blog.
Yes, we have been to both! Cheers.
My boyfriend and I took a 12 day trip to Italy after we graduated high school in 2006. Of all the cities we visited (Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, Turin) Rome was my favorite. I loved the atmosphere and the feel of the city – the contrast of the ancient with the modern all in one.
That is wonderful to hear. We’re heading to Florence after Umbria and we wonder how we will like it. We have heard that Rome is the best from other people as well. I am however really looking forward to Venice. I can’t wait. But you captured it perfectly, the contrast with ancient and modern is pretty cool. Although, we haven’t found the ultra modern part of the city yet. I am wondering if there is one, or if we just haven’t ventured out far enough yet.
I love the start to this post. I’ve actually been wondering about how long-terms relationships are sustained on the move. (I mean, it’s hard enough when you’re living in the 9-to-5 world.)
Thanks Jessica. Like all relationships whether traveling or not, they take hard work. We never stop working at our marriage because the minute we do, we know it will end. We are all always evolving and changing and Dave and I made a commitment a long time ago to make the most out of being together. We are in constant communication and make sure to air our differences and discuss any problems. It helps a lot and trips to Rome aren’t a bad thing either;)
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I LOVE Rome. It’s one of the cities I’m really, really looking forward to returning to someday. I hope it treats you well and helps you rekindle all those sparks!
Sometimes you have to just be a traveler instead of a travel blogger, nice to see you guys took a break.
We also stayed in the Trastavere area – great little part of the city and exactly the type of place Angie and I love the explore.
Dar Poeta was recommended to us to by our host at our apartments (maybe they’re on commission!) and the pizza was great. We sat outside and arrived at around 7.30 just as the queue to get in started to build. We had the last table available and by the time we had finished our meal there were 16 people in the line to grab our table.
We only had 24 hours in Rome and we got to see everything but can’t wait to go back…. and we’ll be staying in the Trastavere area again for sure.
Wow! 16 people. We didn’t have those type of crowds yet in Trastavere, but it is still early in the season. Maybe in a month or two, we’d have seen the crowds. Rome proper was definitely over run already. We agree, Trastavere is the best.