Rome
Magical Rome! Of course we hit all the quintessential sites - the Pantheon (above and below).
The Trevi Fountain (below).
Last but not least, the Colosseum and the Palatino.
We bought our tickets online and got there first thing. If you do not purchase your tickets online, be mindful that there is one line you would have to wait in to purchase tickets, then another line to physically get in.
You must stop at Pasticceria Regoli - they have been there for over a hundred years and although the shop is VERY small, the pastry flavors are too good to just get one!
We had lunch at Pizzeria Florida. All the pizza below (about ten slices) was only 9 euros.
Pastificio was a great place to grab a “snack”. Aka more pasta. They only make two kinds of pasta a day (one is typically meat, one vegetarian) and it is only 4 euro.
Gelato, Gelato, Gelato. We typically grabbed gelato on our way back to our Airbnb each night. The place below, Giolitti, was my favorite. You have the option to add fresh cream on top. Who does not want free fresh cream? Also the flavors were quite complex and plentiful.
Finally, Adam’s favorite place was Beppe and his Cheeses. We tried a cheese from 1987 and it was so sharp that it numbed the tongue. To wash it down, they gave us 50 year old brandy.
Our Airbnb
Our AirBnb was a quant LITTLE loft that came complete with a spiral staircase and a literal crawl space. It’s central location near the Trevi Fountain made up for it’s size as it allowed us to walk to many destinations (and eat more, repeat).
Pompeii and Naples
We took a 4 euro train from Rome to Naples, and then another train from Naples to Pompeii. Tours typically charge around $60PP, so the local train ride was great (and took about an hour). We also ordered our Pompeii entry tickets online. Words cannot describe how magical Pompeii is. To be able to stand in a city from 79 AD - WOW.
On our train ride back from Pompeii, we of course spent some time in Naples so we could eat as many pizzas as possible (to count, we collectively had 5). When in Rome, or Naples :). Naples seemed to be edgier than Rome - graffiti, art, etc. Like the Melbourne to Sydney.
The pizza was so so so so so good. The dough, the cheese, oh my. The pizza above was from Di Matteo. We ate dinner (below) at Donna Sofia. My pizza was only $3.50.
Cooking Class with Giuseppe
Where do I begin. We booked this through an Airbnb experience and it was absolutely worth it. We made different kinds of dough, pizza, pasta. We had unlimited wine and homemade tiramisu. He has a beautiful wood cabin and an amazing pizza oven. Oh, and his impeccable sense of humor. It was a great day or learning, eating and meeting people from all over the world.
Takeaways
No coffee, all espresso drinks
Get ready to walk (on beautiful cobble stone roads)
If you stay by the Trevi Fountain, you are about one mile in each direction to the main sites
Trains are often delayed by 15 plus minutes
Street food is everywhere. Pizza is folded into a pita pocket so you can eat it and walk
Food, Food, Food, and Gelato, Gelato, Gelato