Honeymoon in Rome – Part One – Buona Sara Travels

After an incredible eight nights in Positano, we had Guilio drive us back to the Naples train station for our journey back to Rome. We chose to spend three nights at the tail end of the trip in Rome, a city neither of us had ever been to before. These three nights began a love affair for Italy, not just for me but for Kevin as well. All that year, after we returned from our trip, I would have dreams of Rome, the contrast between the crowded cobblestone streets and the vast space surrounding it’s oversized landmarks. I would have thought that the picturesque Amalfi Coast would filter through my nightly dreams but, in fact, it was Rome.

Getting off the train in Termini Station, we lugged our enormous suitcases to the taxi line. Yet another funny musing from us traveling in 2012 to now is how much our luggage has shrunk. I took the most mammoth suitcase I could find on our honeymoon, and despite loading it up with all things lemon from Positano (soap, limoncello, perfume), it still remained only half full. Now, we travel with one carry-on each and we still manage to fit gifts and several bottles of wine inside for our trip home.

After checking into our hotel, the Hotel Artemide on via Nazionale, a long, busy street near Termini, we wandered toward the Spanish Steps and found lunch at a crowded cafe. We split a sandwich and a salad. If I could go back in time, I would find Honeymoon Sara and shake her, screaming “Why did you not plan out or research any restaurants in Rome for this trip?!?!” The future travel researcher in me is appalled at myself for being so carefree and go-with-the-flow during these few days in arguably one of the BEST food cities in the world.

So, after lunch, we saw the Spanish Steps and though they were pretty, we didn’t understand the huge attraction. We also saw several people drinking from the fountain at the bottom of the steps, and I remember being very curious about whether or not that was safe. Fact: it is.

We then made our way to the Trevi Fountain, where we took the obligatory photo and threw our coins in, ensuring that one day we would return to Rome. Turns out it worked, as we’ve returned several times. It also oddly wasn’t that crowded, surprising considering how mobbed it’s always been on our subsequent trips.

Rome Trevi Fountain — Trevi Fountain Rome

When I was pregnant on our trip to Rome last year, we took another photo similar to the photo below, and put them side by side on our baby announcement with the caption: Honeymoon 2012/Babymoon 2019. It was cute.

Like most Roman hotels, the rooms in the Hotel Artemide are ridiculously small. The best part of the hotel was the rooftop bar and lounge area. We spent the first and last nights up on the roof, enjoying an aperitivo and snacks. Kevin was amazed at the server, who was the spitting image of his cousin Brendan, so we had to take a photo of him to bring back with us, on the off-chance people wouldn’t believe us. Like idiots, (again, I’m shaking my damn head at 2012 Sara), we asked the front desk man for a recommendation for dinner. He sent us to a nearby hole in the wall that had the worst food we had eaten all trip. I don’t know the name of the place and I don’t want to know. We were the only patrons, and I remember being so unsatisfied with my meal that I immediately wanted a do-over. That’s the trouble with the Centro Storico, or historic center, in Rome. There are a few worthwhile restaurants, but for the most part, they are all tourist traps. Places where you could actually find spaghetti bolognese (!) or, God forbid, fettuccine alfredo.

After dinner, we slowly made our way back to our hotel and found ourselves walking through a university neighborhood. Doing a quick Google search, I’m guessing that it was the Pontifical Gregorian University. Seeing as it was a Friday evening, the students were out and about, and most had congregated around, and on top of, a fountain. There were several dozen kids, all drinking beers from a nearby bar. Having never been in Europe before, and being from America where strict open container laws are always in place, I was surprised that nobody seemed worried that they were on a public street, and on a public and historic landmark for that matter, getting after it. We grabbed a beer and stood at a distance from the group, quietly observing while feeling a bit old. After the drink, I vividly remember finding a bar that had just a few people inside, sitting on couches and watching Pulp Fiction on a large projector.

The next morning, I’m ashamed to admit that we were hungover and wanted something comforting for an early lunch. We saw a McDonald’s across the street from our hotel and I tried my first international McNuggets. Yet again, a combination of naivete and a poor lack of planning are at fault here. But at the time, it sounded good, so what can you do.

Thinking back on this trip, I don’t think we took one taxi, aside from to and from the train station and the airport. We walked everywhere, and we are talking miles and miles. I remember commenting on how that was the most I had ever walked on a vacation, yet it seemed like a breeze. After our not-so-authentic lunch, we walked over to the Colosseum and signed up for a dual tour of both that and the Roman Forum. It wasn’t very crowded, so we were able to get inside fairly quickly and had a lovely young American tour guide. Despite the barbarious history, this is an essential stop on your tour of Rome. It is overwhelming and beautiful, in a harsh yet engaging way.