A Taxi, Train and Flight lead to Rome!

 Hey ya'll, how the god dang diggedy dog we doin? I hope your all fine and dandy like Sian and myself, if your not ah well, tomorrows another day and hope it gets better. Do you know what will make all things better......a cup of tea 😃

Well what a busy time Sian and i have had since my last update, Gloucester for the weekend to see UK Foo Fighters and then Rome for 5 days but this update is just about Rome as we did and saw so much and I can't big up the UK Foo Fighters any more than i already have but i will say again BEST TRIBUTE BAND EVER!

Rome & Wales V Italy 6 Nations

We decided to try something different this trip and instead of booking a hotel at Gatwick and leaving the next day early morning flight we booked a late night flight and stay at our arrival airport early hours of the morning instead and it worked out so much better.

We left Cardiff at 2.20pm on Wed 8th just as the UK was experiencing an ice blast with cold winds and snow everywhere and made our way to Gatwick airport where we arrived at 5.45pm. Had a wander around as not been to South terminal for a long time, had some food and drinks and before we knew it we were priority boarding and settled for take off at 8.10pm. Even with the bad weather we had no delays anywhere along our UK journey and took off on time and landed 20 mins ahead of schedule at 23.00.

No luggage to collect as we are well trained now in packing lots but in a small rucksack, in fact i think we packed to much that's how good we are, if you need any tips on packing, Sian's ya gal! Straight off flight, straight through passport control and off we go. Shuttle bus has stopped as it's gone midnight, BUGGER! Taxi it is. Now then, even though it was late at night with very few flights landing the area to get a taxi outside of arrivals is a shambles but we got a taxi. At this point we only had to travel 1.5 miles to the Mercure Hotel but the Rome Council govern the taxi fares and it cost 30€ to travel that very short distance, WHAT A RIP OFF! That got my back up as soon as we arrived. All that subsided away once we arrived out our hotel at 1am. A much better idea than staying at Travelodge Gatwick and for the same price the hotel was better, the rooms are better, breakfast was included and a midday check out.

Yes i know its daytime in this pic as it was taken the next day not 1am.

The swanky bar area.

The restaurant/breakfast area

Our superior double room but as you can see the bed is huge, that's no double.

Bit of overkill with the 65" TV, it felt like i was actually in the TV.

Hot and cold buffet breakfast.

And our breakfast which tasted amazing, all fresh and full of flavour.

Had a great full nights sleep and then we were fresh and ready to start our holiday. Back to airport on the shuttle bus and then a direct train from airport to central Rome with our accommodation just a short walk from Rome central train station. This we both agreed is now how we're going to book our holidays and breaks from now on and book accommodations close to central train stations of the cities we visit.

Think about it......Paris CDG airport - Train direct to Central Paris Station, Milan Malpanese Airport - Train direct to Milan Grand Central, Rome FCO airport - Train direct to Termini Roma, London Gatwick airport - Train direct to Paddington, Cardiff international airport - Shuttle bus to Rhoose, local train from Rhoose to Bridgend, GWR train from Bridgend to Cardiff Central......hmmmm.....OK don't bother coming to Cardiff lol.

We arrived at central Rome on a slightly cloudy day but much warmer than the freezing UK we'd just left. Found our apartment without any problem and just a short 10 min walk from the train station and really central to all the bars, shops and historic sites.

Our accommodation was great, it was new, clean and had everything you needed for a comfy stay, couldn't have chose a better located and spacious accommodation, would definitely stay here again.

Lets get out and about and as always we try to find a local where we can head for at the end of each day.

First impressions of central Rome, very very busy and very dirty grubby looking. We were used to how the traffic would be after going to Milan, you have to be very brave crossing the road and just go for it, if not you'd never get to the other side. The streets were dirty, bins over flowing and almost every wall had graffiti on it, not artistic WOW looking graffiti just names or tags, made the place look very run down. Rome you can see is a very aging city that would cost billions to clean up which is a shame as the buildings, monuments and streets are something else, around every turn is something to see and be amazed at but the street level is a mess. Once you get past this, which we did, it's a great place. 

We decided just to walk around the streets on the first day and keep the sights for Friday and Sunday as Saturday is just rugby all day. We had walked quite a few miles up and down streets taking in the cafe's and smells of bakeries and restaurants when we had decided it was now time to find a local and like a vision appearing out of a thirsty haze we found our haven.

Merulana Club, our local was found.

Cheers! Only 6€ a pint, shocked at the cheap price as thought Rome was meant to be super expensive.

It's been a long day as there are just street after street after avenue after avenue and as you all know we walk at least 10 miles or more every day when we go away as we want to see so much of the places we visit and the only way to see it all properly is to walk around and take it all in. A great first day under our belt and a few beers to finish the day off, perfect.

Friday

"My Name Is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander Of The Armies Of The North, General Of The Felix Legions And Loyal Servant To The True Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father To A Murdered Son, Husband To A Murdered Wife. And I Will Have My Vengeance, In This Life Or The Next."

OFF TO THE COLOSSEUM!

Now then, this was going to be my shining glory to show you, my loyal followers what a glorified leader i could have been and shown you my worth in all it's glory.....unfortunately....all the entrance tickets had been sold for that day and only ticket touts were selling them and to bow down to ticket touts would show a weakness and not a leader of people....so.....we just had a wander around the outside of the sites which was great, you still see so much.

It's an absolute huge area that the Colosseum and Pantheon covers, you could easily spend 6 hours maybe more there to roam around every building, mosaic and pillar. We walked around certain parts of it and i think we had  been there 2-3 hours. It is a blow you away sight to behold, my only gripe is the newer rebuilds of old sites but i do understand these are needed to keep the older original builds intact and in place. Even with it being early March it was heaving there, all the gate tickets were sold out and only tour tickets left, we like to just roam around at our own leisure not with a tour group being rushed from place to place so we didn't get to see the inside of the Colosseum, BOOOOooooooo! 

I love this shirt on Sian it's one of my fav's but it got lots of attention from ticket touts as an opening line "You from Canada?" , "No!", every one of them we passed the same comment. Wish i'd worn a shirt with "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki-maungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitnatahu" and see how they would pronounce that when asking me "Are you from.........".

By the end of our walk around i was a bit rocked out, stone upon stone upon falling column upon archway upon broken wall, so it was nice to see an amazing little church at the top of the hill overlooking all the rubble.

As we arrived at 9am the sun was glorious, as we left in the afternoon the clouds had gathered and we had 5 mins of big old fat rain which was a nice relief from the heat. Apart from us and all the other Welsh supporters in Rome everyone else was in puffer jackets, coats and scarfs with us walking around in t-shirts but we didn't care, it wasn't cold to us and the sun was out almost all day, what snow?

Time to wind our way through the streets and get to our local to finish our day off before heading back to our apartment for a early-ish night before a full day of rugby tomorrow.

Saturday - Italy V Wales

Woke up to blue sky, sun shining and a barmy 22 deg at 11am. It's a short walk to train station to get a train to Fluminco then a tram on to Stadio Olimpico. The journey to the stadium was painless and easy which we thought may be a bit stressful with so many trying to get to the stadium without great public access if we're being honest but surprisingly no problems at all, not even packed.

We arrive at the stadium with plenty of time to spare to get our location, have a roam around and find the entrances. This stadium has been our best stadium experience ever. We've been to Principality (obviously), Twickenham, Stade de France and now Stadio Olimpico. 

As you make your way towards the stadium you cross a bridge going over the River Tiber with a statue of La Madonna di Monte Mario above the stadium on a hill top which is an impressive first impression.

I hate having my picture taken hence the stare out in to the distance.

The stadium has some beautiful Olympic statues and buildings that made it just that little bit more special than the other stadiums.

The stadium itself is within a fenced gated area which stewards check your tickets first for you to enter that area then beyond that there is turnstil gates to get in to the actual stadium. This is where the Stadio Olimpico puts the other stadiums to shame.

As you enter there is a long walkway up to the stadium and at the end of that walk way there are hospitality areas with lots of food stalls and bar areas selling 3 different Peroni's, Blonde, Rossa and Grande Reserve all for 5€ a pint, now that's great value.

Along with the bars are shops, rugby skills tests tents and even a stage with a live band playing before and after the game so you could party all day and night at the stadium if you wanted to.

The stage area with the band.

To the side is a smaller pitch area with lots of different activities going on and mini rugby games which was really good to see and again this is all within the grounds before entering the stadium.

A couple of pints later and the sun is shining brightly, so brightly we were boiling and had to take off our t-shirts from under our welsh shirts before we made our way to our seats and what seats they were. I had booked our seats a year in advance got the best seats in the house. 2 weeks before we were about to arrive we were re-allocated new seats as our seats no longer existed due to section being made in to a disability area, not a problem. Our seats were now the new premium section in the stadium, woohoo!

Our usual mickey take selfie, we don't do that cringe worthy serious moody pouting couple thing! Just take fun selfies, YOUR NOT MODELS! Not unless you are models....you know what i mean.

Never before have we had padded comfy seats with arms at a rugby stadium, this is living the high life and with a suntan terrace lol. Big Booooo to the beer prices inside the stadium, 6€ for a half a can.

What a great stadium and atmosphere. The stadium was packed out come kick off.

And the game was a great game and a win, the only win of the 6 nations for Wales. These seats in the Principality stadium would be without doubt the highest price bracket over £150 per seat in the Stadio Olimpico £65 per seat, WRU you should hang your heads in shame, your robbing the Welsh rugby fan.

With an amazing game and a fantastic experience taken in it was time to make our way back to central Rome to watch England V France at our local bar. We left 10 mins before the end of the game but that was fine as we had seen all the points that had been scored and we missed the masses as we both thought it would be a nightmare on the tram getting to Fluminco for our onward train and we were right, we were the first fans on the tram without any crush at all and made it to our local with only 10 mins gone of the second game. I won't mention the game itself as i don't want to make my English followers cry again so i'll just post a pic of  the view from our seats in the bar.

Quite merry after drinking in the sun during the day then celebrating France.....i mean Wales victory late in to the evening it was time to head home a pick up a Pizza. Not sure why but Pizza restaurants advertising take away pizzas weren't selling take away pizzas, how odd, so we had to order delivery pizzas. Worst pizzas ever but i think it was my fault. In a squiffy haze i ordered White pizzas, me not knowing that white White pizzas were pizzas without the tomato base, Red pizzas are pizzas with the tomato base, so the pizzas i ordered were as dry as dry wall with cheese and other toppings on, not good at all, ah well, you live and you learn. Nigh nigh now.

Sunday

Both woke up feeling really refreshed which is amazing after the drink from the day before, can't fault it. Today it's off to see more of the famous sights Rome has to offer and a visit to Rome's Hard Rock Cafe, this could get messy as all our Hard Rock visits usually are.

In Rome your spoilt for choice in what to see and visit, around every corner is a famous landmark.

The Roman Aqua Baths

The Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore

There was a Holy communion ongoing when we arrived and people were just wandering around talking and chatting which we found a bit disrespectful. At least keep quiet while your walking around during this time and who were the loudest big gobs....a group of 4 Welsh women from the back of beyond part of West Wales, i know the accent well and i felt ashamed at that time to be Welsh. Never mind, can't tar us all with the same brush i guess.

It's an outstanding thing of beauty to see, the years of work that has gone in to this Basilica is amazing.

Coffee time. I ordered a Machiato and Sian a Freddocino. We were a bit taken aback by Sian's wine glass of coffee but the price for 2 coffee's just yards from the Trevi Fountain was only 1.50€ each, again we were very surprised.

And the masses have gathered for the Trevi Fountain but i can understand why as it's an awesome sculpture to see up close, so much fine detail and beautiful.

Don't we look the golden couple 😂, i have to say we did get a good tan the day before.

The Spanish steps, your supposed to crawl up them on your hands and knees, my knees are knackered enough without crawling up marble steps but by the time we had got to the top of them we wish we had, what a stupid thing to do on a hot sunny day, we need cocktails and urgently, TO THE HARD ROCK!

Now we had seen some amazing buildings, sculptures, art work, monuments and statues but this Hard Rock beat them all, just look at this ceiling lol.

Cheers!

Gene Simmons death axe guitar.

And if by fate once more we sat ate the bar and as we turned around on the wall behind us was a signed Foo Fighters display, that was spooky.

More impressive buildings, you just can't get away from them.

It's been a long day of long walks, lots of sights and just to much to take in with sun shining all day and temp around 24 deg, we need our local to chill out and watch Ireland V Scotland. 

Our last day in central Rome and what a full on day it was, we're a little bit broken and after a few drinks and watching the last rugby game we head home to rest before heading to FCO airport tomorrow and another stay at the Mercure before an early morning flight.

Monday

Its been a great 4 days in central Rome, a full on 4 days in Rome with over 40 miles walked and still another day to go but today is pure chill out.

When we arrived 5 days ago on our way to the hotel we noticed some large metal sculptures just around the corner from our hotel so once the bags were in the room we took a walk around to have a closer look, these sculptures were huge.

Had to take a picture of this as i think if there was a fire in the hotel this advise wouldn't do much good.

Time to take the weight off our aching feet and just enjoy our last day sitting, chilling and drinking.

After one drink in the bar we decided to sit outside in the afternoon sun and take in the warm sunshine, after all we're heading back to freezing cold tomorrow.

What about a dip in our pool......maybe not. We were the only ones sat outside sunning ourselves which is fine by us and again it was about 24 deg. As we sat there just chatting and enjoying our last hours of daylight we realised it was the first time we had actually just sat and chilled all afternoon in the sun since we left Zakynthos. Our holidays are just packed with us doing stuff and seeing things but this was so nice just to enjoy time to decompress with each other, a beautiful way to finish an amazing holiday.....apart from the view of the pool of course.

As the sun sets we head up to our room and have a lazy evening watching Dukes of Hazard and Adam Wests "Batman" i kid you not, this is Italian TV at its finest.

Early morning alarm and over to FCO airport for 5am and take in our last hours of Rome.

Really nice airport, it's huge and looks like had a new refurb, very impressed.

So folks that's our second trip of the year...well third if you include our new year trip, Llangollen, Gloucester and Rome.

To sum up our Rome trip, So much to see, amazing weather, again, great food and bars, so much to see in fact we didn't get to see it all. I would class Rome as one big tourist attraction as there is so much there. We didn't get to the Vatican City but we weren't really that bothered as it wouldn't have made our trip any better than it already was. Would we go again? Yes, BUT only with a rugby game included, for all its history and culture it didn't wow us enough as there is so much history and culture it overwhelms you which becomes the norm without being impressed and the graffiti did take away the true historic feel of Rome. In saying all that Rome as a holiday did us proud and loved every minute of it but we have better places we want to return to.

And on to the last weekend of the 6 nations at our local in Rhiwbina. Our usual table reserved for us to sit in comfort and enjoy all the games on one day. The first 2 games were great games of rugby even though Wales lost and the last game Ireland V England wasn't the best of games to finish the tournament on if i'm being honest but we still enjoyed our day of rugby, beers and SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS.

Our regular table reserved with our comfy arm chairs.

As you can see its a packed out crowd at our local 😁 What do you expect when Wales are so crap!

So where next i hear you ask us.....well we have a weekend break in Monmouth as we love it there in April, a long weekend in Birmingham in May with tickets for Duran Duran and then our next full on trip is Munich and Paris combined in June so a few updates to look forward too. Sian and i have always got something planned no matter how big or small the trip, we just enjoy being together and having a laugh while getting out and about with drinks and SHOTS, SHOTS,SHOTS,SHOTS, actually we only did 2 shots in Rome, we're slipping lol.

So until our next update my fine followers.......

Serve All. Love All, Peace All, Kevlar Out!