Honeymoon in Italy: Highlights of Rome, Part I

While this wasn't our exact room in Rome, ours did look similar. We loved it! Image found here.

Since we had our one-night stay in Florence first, we had to take a train BACK to Rome to really start our vacation. But that was rather fast and quite comfortable. Roma Termini (the main train station) was very close to the Dharma Hotel where we were staying, and this was our favorite hotel of the entire trip. It was very modern with a good size shower and a queen-sized bed (both very important to Steve, who is 6’3”). The location was great, and we could walk to everything from there or easily grab the metro from the Republicca station. The Dharma offered free breakfast, which included both continental options as well as eggs and bacon, and free happy hour in the afternoon, during which we lounged on outdoor couches and enjoyed prosecco and little slices of pizza. We took advantage of both of these meals every day we were there!

The Spanish Steps

While in Rome, of course we had to see some of the famous monuments that everyone talks about. We walked up the Spanish Steps, stopped by the Trevi Fountain (it was under construction and no water was flowing, so this was a big let-down and not worth it), and took some photos of the Pantheon (we didn’t get tickets to go in, since online it says it only takes about 20 minutes to see everything inside). We were walking nearly everywhere we went, so we definitely got our steps in! I think we averaged at least ten miles a day, so exploring the city and all it had to offer was our exercise (I was definitely missing my Pure Barre!).

The Pantheon, originally a temple for worshipping pagan gods, is one of the best preserved buildings from ancient Rome.

We really enjoyed the food in Rome, not surprisingly; everyone talks about how you eat so much in Italy but don't gain any weight! I loved the spaghetti cacio e pepe, which is simple but delicious, and it might be my new favorite pasta dish. We went out to several nice restaurants for dinner, including Nerone, and they always served us limoncello afterward (like we couldn’t get enough of it from all the free tastings in the shops and marketplace!). Of course the food was pretty expensive, but you have to think about it as if you were eating out for lunch and dinner every day in New York City; when you’re in a metropolitan area like that, two people can easily spend $100 a day just on food alone.

None of us had matching dish sets, but they were all beautiful!

One meal we had was definitely memorable. One our first night in Rome, we took a cab across the Tiber River to a woman’s home for a semi-private dinner party. There were about 20 people there, mostly from the States, and the hostess Barbara and her helpers would bring around courses of food (and wine, of course) throughout the evening. The home was very eclectic, with random photographs, antiques, rugs, art, mirrors, and more covering every inch of the room, even the ceiling! There was a real Bohemian vibe about it, and the homemade food only added to the coziness. We were greeted with prosecco and a vegetable pastry (which was quite large and delicious), and next up was a squash and cheese lasagna which was DELICIOUS (even Steve loved it, and he doesn’t like pumpkin!). The main course was a turkey dish (which had too much peppercorn for my taste), and dessert was walnut gelato and whipped cream inside a pastry shell. I’d never had walnut gelato before, but if you can have pistachio gelato, why not other kinds of nuts, too?

On this light fixture, she had notes and gifts from previous guests from around the world!

It was fun mingling with everyone, and the group was very nice. But it felt strange spending several hours with these people knowing you’d never see them again (ALTHOUGH we did see two young girls from the dinner the next day at the Roman Forum, so you never know!). The evening turned into a karaoke night, with Barbara starting it and then one of the guests stealing the show with her beautiful voice! We didn’t sing, but we clapped and laughed along. How fun!

Unfortunately, the glow of the evening abruptly ended when we could not find a ride home. There were no Ubers in the area, and taxis were few and far between; I really thought we’d either have to walk the whole way to the hotel (which would take an hour) or sleep outside. We walked for 20-30 minutes and then Steve finally saw a cab with its light on and flagged it down. It was not a great way to end the evening when you're already tired and it’s late. Despite the stressful ending to the evening, both Steve and I really did like this dinner experience. She only hosts through word of mouth, so if you want to learn more, just leave a comment below. Just be warned that you should probably get a private car for this adventure, because the location is nowhere near the center of the city!

And that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Rome! Stay tuned for future posts about our visits to the Vatican, the Colosseum, and more!