Rome in the Spring

A trip to Rome – every via and piazza has a monument, fountain, palace, church, temple, gallery or statue to capture your attention. There are mosaics when you look down, domes, columns and arches when you look up. Historical sites spanning every epoch. Queues snaking around corners to get into most of them. The best pizza and pasta available at every restaurant. A photo opportunity every few seconds – lots of them included here.

And some of the most innovative ways to find a parking space that you will ever see.

We walked miles and miles every day – finding ourselves dodging the crowds at the Pantheon, Piazza Del Popolo, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Vittoriano, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona. We stopped for coffee or ice cream when our legs got tired. Somehow, we found our way home each day.

We crossed an invisible border into Vatican City, stopping first at St Mark’s Square and St Peter’s Basilica – I climbed 551 steps up to the top of the Dome, whilst Mr T worked his way around all the paintings inside. The biggest crowds were admiring the Michelangelo statue.

Next stop was the queue for the Vatican Museum – only an hour! We spent longer than expected in the “often overlooked” Pinacoteca gallery – Raphael, Da Vinic, Bernini, Caravaggio. The map gallery was my favourite section. And then we had the Sistine Chapel almost to ourselves as the museum was closing – as the visitor numbers dwindled down until we were asked to move on!

We joined an afternoon tour of the Colosseo – orange stickers giving us special entry into the arena level areas. After two hours of exploring, we refreshed and replenished with cocktails and cakes next to the Circo Massimo.

We spent almost a whole day exploring the Forum and Palatine Hill. Our ticket combo with the Colosseo gave us entry to some of the special exhibitions – my favourite was

We went to the rugby – an amazing atmosphere at Stadio Olimpico, wit

There was even time for a night at the opera, a walk in the woods, a parkrun at Cafferella – Mr T got lost – and a round of mini-golf – all going well for me until the final hole!

But it was the unexpected treats, the slightly ridiculous little moments, the unplanned excursions that made our trip.

The smell of the fresh tomato salad with our dinner one evening. Taking the train to Jonio so Jon could have his picture taken by the sign. The fancy cups when we stopped for coffee after a morning of exploring. An ancient sculpture in a museum that looked a bit like someone playing a cover drive. The snacks that accompanied our wine in a little bar as we watched the International Women’s Day march go by. Celebrating Aperol o’clock. Finding Audrey and admiring the fashions.

And I found a ew happy place – I could have stayed all day at the Museo Nazionale Romano looking at the fresco’s from Livia’s house. I had the gallery to myself for a while – a perfect place to relax, sit and think after a busy week of exploring Rome in the Spring.