Rome-the day in which we returned to the place Simon and I were engaged.
Today, we took off to Roma. We woke up at 8, which is unusually late and unlike us. We leapt up. Simon had tried to get a paper version of the train timetable but to no avail. It did not exist.
We had to study the main timetable in the train station well. We knew that after 8 in the morning, the train leaves from Tagliacozzo at 9:45 to Roma. The Train station in Tagliacozzo is situated about a 2 minutes walk from the main centre of the town. It has a nice, small bar where you can purchase an espresso for 75c! We stood like real Italians at the brand swigged back the beautiful liquid. The train arrived with no delays. The trains in Italy are ok. They say they are air conditioned but they aren’t really. People open up all the windows anyway. No air comes in. It’s quite warm but we both had good books so we didn’t mind. We arrived at Roma Tiburtina within about an hour and forty five minutes. The train into the centre of Roma(Termini, which is the biggest and the most central train station in Roma) was due to arrive shortly but it was delayed for some reason or another. It took us about 3 minutes to get from Tiburtina to Termini. Termini was pumping full of real tourists . Back in Tagliacozzo, we were really the only English speaking tourists. Now, we were surrounded by annoying sorts.
I glimpsed a newsagent selling many, many English papers and magazines. Ill be back, I promised.
We could have taken the metro into the area we wanted to go but as you know, we love walking. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to Campo Di Fiori. We bought a bendable map on the way and Simon felt at home immediately. He led the way rather well but I convinced myself I had a feeling where to go.
5 years ago, almost to the date, Simon had proposed to me in our Hotel Navona. We had dined out in “Heartbreakers Restaurant” that night. Simon had wanted to bring us to a special place that night but after lots of walking, we had discovered it was closed. And so to the next restaurant, which turned out to be “Heart breakers”, in Campo Di Fiori. Not the most romantic setting but we didn’t care, we were engaged!
So, we returned to this place, it was now called “Mercato” or so something like that. Gone were the pink, tacky lights and in was the cool, black and shiny worktops. Gone was the slimy, plastic table cloths and in was Burberry print tablecloths. Gone was the sleazy,good-looking waiters looking for a tip and in was…well, no that stayed the same.
The night we got engaged, we had bought pizza. I know this adamantly as the picture of the two of us was printed on our wedding invitations which were made by Simon. Therefore, we had to test the pizzas.
Yay! The pizzas still rocked and still were priced well. It cost us €30 for 2 feck off pizzas, 2 glasses of wine and bottle of water. The lunch was slightly ruined by a homeless, drunks guy washing his privates in a nearby water font but I’m thinking Campo Di Fiori has seen worse..
We walked back to our hotel and the Pantheon area. Swarming with tourists, we checked out the interior of the Pantheon, it was still the same funnily enough.
We headed to a cafe facing the Pantheon. Cost:€16.50 for 2 coffees and bottle of water. It rained for a bit and after we headed and retraced out steps to the Trevi fountain, this had been a must see for me. 5 years ago, Simon and I had our photo taken. A nice man had offered but when I checked the photo later on, there was a lamp in the way, wrecking the photo. I’ve thought about this a lot over the years and vowed to get revenge on this imbecile.
Today was a new day for the fountain, today was a new chance.
I spied some teenagers and took my chances quickly. Surely, they would know how to take a photo. They did. Relief. A good photo at last and one in which we can proudly display above our mantlepiece and not hide away in a box.
Thank you, teenagers.
We then sauntered down to the Roman Forum, where inquisitive Simon asked question after question. He wanted to know why the the ancient site was so low down. I tried to come up with many reasons but he was buying none of it. Eventually, the answer was found. The Forum, the centre and focal point of Roma had became quite uncool. The Romans scoffed at it and neglected it. Ground, mud and grass grew over it until some cool archaeologist got to work on it. Thankfully, for us. It is my favourite part of the whole city of Rome and the Colosseum is the icing on the cake. It stills rocks. I’m sure it will continue to for many years to come.
Our train was due so we headed back to the station, stopping off for ice-cream on the way. I bought loads of good quality newspapers like the Mail and the Mirror plus women’s and men’s magazines for tomorrow, our lazy Sunday in the apartment.
The walk up to our apartment is usually awful. After our day of walking in Rome, it was horrific and I moaned and gave out all the way. Who would want to live up here? Whey no taxis? Simon, will you carry me?
Simon just kept me going with “The house is just here, around the corner”
When we got in, I went straight to bed. Wrecked. Sleeping with dreams of Roma. Very touristy but still manages to be laid back, friendly and my favourite city ever.
Night, night. 
