Visiting the beautiful capital city and the Vatican

Bus trip from Parma to Rome

I travelled by FlixBus from Parma to Rome, which was a six-hour long drive with some stops. Previously, I had been afraid of this long bus trip, but it turned out to be a good option. I am never bored while travelling because I always find something to do. I was writing my travel journal for a while, but after a time I could only relax and look out of the window as the view was so spectacular! We were driving between the mountains almost the whole time, the weather changed, after the rain came the sunshine with warm temperatures. In Rome, it was already a different climate, and it was generally different: as I got off the bus, I had the feeling that I had arrived in the Mediterranean world. And I already knew that Rome will be very different than Milan in Northern Italy.

A nice suburb of the capital city: experiencing the true Italian lifestyle My Airbnb was not exactly in Rome, but in a suburb called Albano Laziale, about 30 km away from the city. It was easy to commute, though, as there was a direct train. On the first day, as I have just arrived, I couldn’t see anything from the neighborhood because it was already dark, but the first time I could go into the city, to Rome, I was astonished by the view from the train: hills surrounding a small lake which can be used for water sports, too. It was an incredible view I could enjoy every time I took the train to Rome. But this smaller town I stayed in was also something very special. If I had stayed somewhere in Rome, I wouldn’t have been able to experience the real Italian culture of the locals in that region. In this town, I could see how the local people spend their everyday life, where they go shopping or having a coffee, that they still have those little cute shops in downtown, that they hang their clothes outside of the houses, above the streets, that they are walking with ease up and down the streets, in a town full of hills. I understood here, why Italians in general are so fit and healthy, why they live long, how elderly people can stay in a good shape. And of course, I experienced that they enjoy life, and they are generally very kind people. I always had positive experiences when going to a shop or something like that. I enjoyed going for shorter walks on the days when I was working and couldn’t go into Rome.

Visiting the Vatican on a rainy day

In Rome, it is not surprising at all to see priests and nuns everywhere, both in the streets and in public places. Although it was new for me, I immediately understood it why I could see priests at the train station, too.

The first day I could take a train to the city was a rainy one. On this day, I went to the Vatican, because I had previously purchased a ticket to the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel. It was crowded everywhere, in the streets and in the museums, too. The guided tour was in Italian, and it was two hours long, but we only went to the Sistine Chapel afterwards – through many other rooms… Although I could only understand about 50% of what our tour guide said, it was still good, because some of the visitors didn’t speak any Italian, they only joined this tour because there were no tickets available for the English one (or for other languages). The Vatican museums and the Chapel are beautiful, but also very crowded and I spent altogether four hours inside. After that I started to walk towards the famous Saint Peter’s Square and the Basilica. It was a special feeling to be there, to be able to walk around in this square, which was empty in the middle, but full of people around it. They were lining up for the visit to the Basilica, and the line went almost around the huge square. I had previously read on the internet that it usually takes about 2 hours to wait in this line and then another 2 hours or more in the cathedral. So, I was prepared not to be able to make it, as it was already 5 p.m. and I got exhausted in the museums. Maybe next time, if I come back here. This day was still a special one as I could visit the famous Vatican Museums and the even more famous Sistine Chapel, plus I could walk around in the Saint Peter’s Square and admire this Basilica that I had only seen on TV before.

Sunny October days in Rome

I spent the last two days of my Italian journey in the beautiful Rome. I had two days of sightseeing in the city, and I tried to see as much as possible. The weather was finally very nice, warm and sunny, so it was very pleasant to walk around downtown all day. The only thing that I didn’t like was that Rome is full of tourists, and it was crowded everywhere around famous sights. Besides that, some of the monuments were under construction, for instance the Trevi Fountain. There was no water in it, and it was barricaded, I could only see the back part. Of course it was still nice, but it wasn’t the same experience as when tourists can throw coins into the water of the fountain… Anyway, I was lucky that I found a very good restaurant nearby, with a whole gluten-free menu. As I was already sitting inside, I could see the awards on the wall: this place is basically awarded as the best gluten-free restaurant every (or almost every) year! The food was indeed excellent, I had never eaten such a good Margarita pizza, at least not in the gluten-free version. It was such a delight to have lunch there! Just like in the previous places I had visited in Italy, I ordered an espresso after lunch. Although I don’t really like this type of coffee, I knew that Italians don’t drink coffee with milk after lunchtime. And I didn’t want to offend them by ordering a cappuccino, especially as I spoke Italian with them. I followed the “rule” that says: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

After visiting the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and some churches, I headed to the Colosseum, because I had a ticket there for the afternoon. On the way, I sat down for a portion of ice cream to get some energy for the “trip”. I only ordered two fruit ice creams, but I received such a huge portion that I could hardly finish it! You should know that I had never had a hard time with eating a bigger portion of ice cream before… Anyway, it was delicious and after such a pizza and such ice cream I was ready to explore the rich history of Rome.

My visit to the Colosseum was very nice, I didn’t have a tour guide but could explore everything on my own, among many other tourists. There were quite many Hungarians as well, I even asked two ladies to take a picture of me (downside of being a solo traveler). It was interesting to see such a place where so much history had happened… But I enjoyed my walk in the Roman Forum even more. It was quite special as it was almost sunset time, the colors were beautiful, the weather was perfect, and this place was far not as crowded as the other sights of the city. Maybe because it was closing time, maybe also because it is a huge area and has a lot of space to walk around. Anyway, this was one of my favorite places in Italy’s capital city. Then I ate a very delicious vegan risotto, and a starter with eggplants, before I headed “home” after this long sightseeing day.

The next day, which was my last one in Italy, was similar: visiting many places in the center, walking everywhere (without using the public transport), enjoying the beautiful buildings and views as well as the whole atmosphere of the so called “eternal city”. My favorite place on that day was the one I visited last: the Palazzo del Popolo, a huge square and the lookout point from the hill above the square. Although I was already tired because of walking so much, I had the feeling that I needed to climb up the stairs and check the view from up there. I was about to ask those people coming down if it was worth it. Well, it was! The view of the city was so spectacular! You can even see the Vatican, the dome of the basilica from there. It was almost sunset time, the lights with the sun were special and there was some nice music up there because someone was singing. While enjoying this view, I had the feeling as if the whole city, this “eternal city” was lying at my feet… It was the perfect ending to my trip.

Leaving Rome and flying back to Budapest

What I still want to write about is how I got to the airport Sunday early morning, after switching the time to wintertime. Two days before, I had checked the route and Google Maps had suggested me going to the airport on Saturday evening. At first, I was very surprised, but then I understood that there was no public transport available early on Sunday. So, I didn’t have any other option but booking a taxi, because I didn’t want to spend the whole night at a small airport. Because as it turned out, it wasn’t the main airport in Rome, but a small budget one, which is currently only used by Wizzair and Ryanair (at least that’s what I found on the internet). Although I used Uber app and pre-booked the drive, this 15-20-minute-long drive cost me a lot of money! Anyway, I got to the airport in time and after going through security, I decided to buy a coffee. Even if there were no sit-in places like coffee shops or restaurants at this small airport, you could only ask for takeaway and have breakfast sitting on the chairs in the waiting room, there was still a piano there, at the airport! It was my second time in Rome that I saw such a public piano: the first was on one of the train stations after my arrival in the city. That showed me how much Italians love and support arts: you can sit down and play the piano whenever you want. And some people did that, indeed.

Of course I was a bit sad to leave this beautiful country. But on the other hand, I was happy to come home and relax for a couple of weeks before my next trip. Because one of the things that this Italian journey showed me is that it’s quite challenging and tiring to travel alone, plus to manage work and travel. But that’s what I love about my life right now: that I can go and see a bit more of the world than before. Italy was very special for me; I wanted to see it for such a long time!

My favorite things in a nutshell: the incredibly delicious food, that Italians just enjoy life as it is, and that beautiful nature as well as buildings wherever I went. It’s not a coincidence that Italy has the nickname “bel paese” (“beautiful country”), it is really like that.