Travel Diaries: Rome

Hey guys!! So today I'll be writing about something a little bit different. As I mentioned in my last two posts, I went to Rome last week for a few days with one of my dearest friends. We had such an amazing time and I just wanted to write a blog post about it in hopes that I can inspire others to go and enjoy the beauty and magic of Rome as well.

To start off with, in the time leading up to travelling, a lot of people were telling Farah and I to be careful because as muslim hijabis we may experience some uncomfortable attention due to the tension in the world towards Islam. I have to say if this is something which is holding anyone back from going to Rome, please don't let it!! The people in Rome were amazingly friendly and lovely. Apart from the odd moody person (which you get no matter what city you're in) we experienced nothing but warm smiles and hospitality.

Next thing I wanted to say about Rome was how easy the public transport is to use. Now in terms of Metro, Farah and I are used to the complicated London Underground with like 50billion lines going this way and that. However the Metro in Rome was very easy and we were lucky enough to be staying at a hotel with the Metro stop Manzoni right on our doorstep. We arrived at the Aeroporto Fiumicino Airport and took the train to Termini (which was 14Euros) and then from Termini we took the Metro to Manzoni (72hours ticket for 18Euros). Piece of cake. http://www.hotelpresident.com/en/home-page.aspx << This is the link to where we stayed. It was a nice hotel, WiFi, breakfast in the morning and very clean. No complaints. 

First impressions. Well to be honest, I've never seen so much graffiti in my life. Also, there are so many apartment buildings. I was born in Toronto and they have what I thought was a lot of apartment buildings. But no, Rome has so many apartment buildings and all very close to one another. Until you reach central Rome, it actually looks very cramped. 

Soo, the food? O M G. In general I'm a mad fan of pizza and pasta. You just can't go wrong with either dishes. So both of us were super keen to try Italian food made by the Italians themselves. Let me tell you we were not disappointed. Also just to say, I know for a lot of muslims, going to a non-muslim country is difficult in terms of dietary requirements. For me, it's not really an issue as I love seafood, but I understand some muslims don't. Again please don't let this be an excuse for not going to Rome because believe it or not there were halal options. :P We still went for the veg/seafood options, however it was nice to know we could have chicken if we wanted to.

Now I know what you're thinking, because Italy is known for their Gelato right? Don't worry we had our fill of Gelato, every day! My favourite Gelato we had was from this cute little place near the Spanish steps in Spagna. 

Luckily Farah and I got to really make the most of the time we were in Rome and saw all the major sights and even got a chance to get lost in the streets of Rome. The Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Square and Basilica were our first stops. Then we saw The Spanish steps and the Fontana Di Trevi which was absolutely spectacular. We had guided tours of the Palatine Hill, Roman Forum and the Colosseum which were well worth it as not only did we skip long queues as part of the tour, we also learned a lot of interesting facts. 

Then we also fit in the Pantheon, Piazza Novona and Spagna Square. Along the way we passed the Cat Sanctuary near the Pantheon, as well as other wonderful sights we stumbled upon. 

Some of my other favourite highlights was the shopping as we bought some really unique and beautiful items, my favourite being a piece of artwork made by a man in the streets near Piazza Novona. He was sitting on the ground spray painting these amazing pieces of art which he was selling for only 10Euros each. I put mine in a black picture frame and trust me it looks way more expensive then 10Euros. Such talent. 

I think I will be leaving it here as this is turning out to be a long post!! I could talk about Rome for hours but everything I have just mentioned are the main highlights. Hopefully I have inspired you guys to go and explore Rome for yourselves. It really was a magical place with surprises around every corner. 

Hope you've enjoyed reading this post and loved the photos. Ciao!xxxx