And this is what you see on the ceiling above you!
Oh yes, it IS that beautiful!!! It kind of epitomises Rome: old, historic, beautiful. I LOVE this fresco, it has so much detail on it, birds, roses, lace, tassles:
The artist did an amazing job of making the lace and fabric look real! This little apartment must be Airbnb at its best! 🙂
Today is our third day here, and these photos are from our first day, but I’m really behind on the blogging thing; it takes more time than I’d thought and we’ve been out walking around from dawn till dusk. I’ve now tired my husband out and we’re having a slightly quieter day today! Great chance to catch up on this blog.
So, we arrived in Rome to a very pleasant 25 celsius.
We went straight to our apartment which exceeded expectations! 🙂
The apartment is on the first floor, and is reached by this marble staircase. The staircase is like going to a second floor though since the foyer downstairs has such a high ceiling! There is also the tiniest lift/elevator I’ve ever seen, it would take 3 people at a pinch!
Mike opening the door to the street! Mailboxes for the apartments are on the right.
Our apartment is nice and central on Via Volturno, near the Termini train station. Once we’d settled in we went wandering… and oh my, am I in my element. Pretty much everywhere you look is picturesque!
Some of my first impressions and photos follow. Firstly, scooters; they’re everywhere:
There are also a lot of tourists, nuns and monks!
Then amazing piazzas, and fountains, and buildings:
There are a lot of small cars (some are one person only cars) and ancient paved streets:
And many, many churches:
And ruins, often just at the side of the road like this one:
Windowboxes… so many and so pretty, and rooftop gardens too!
And the traffic!!! You kind of take your life into your hands when you go across a pedestrian crossing, the cars don’t all stop for you, they just go around you!
And speaking of cars, the parking is pretty interesting. They park so close to each other and park in unusual ways too:
This car was parked in the crossroads, over two pedestrian crossings at the corner of two roads!
The plasterwork and shutters everywhere, are gorgeous.
There is old to the left, and even older to the right! (NOT Mike, I mean the wall. 😉 )
So many beautiful little lanes, sigh! 🙂
And eventually we arrived at this:
After waiting in line for half an hour or so, we went into the colosseum.
It’s both a fascinating and sobering place to visit.
After visiting the colosseum we wandered back to our apartment. We remembered our friend Laurel’s advice (they lived in Rome for a few years) and went into whatever churches we passed. She was absolutely right; it doesn’t matter what church you go into here, it looks amazing inside:
And sometimes unusual too!
And those were ordinary churches. Not even the famous ones! This was in one of the more famous ones, Santa Maria Maggiore:
This is down the side with the confessionals on the left:
After wandering the streets a little more, we arrived back at our accommodation. We were pretty exhausted, after not getting too much sleep on the plane the night before, so we ate at a pizzeria around the corner and went back to the apartment. So we ended our first day in Rome!
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” Ibn Batutta.
Awesome photos Lynette. It ask looks so very beautiful and picturesque. 🙂
Thanks Shelly, it is very easy to take awesome photos here! 🙂
Really enjoying your blog Lynette! Looking forward to seeing you here in a few weeks!
Thanks Susan, looking forward to catching up with you guys too! 🙂
WOW, WOW, and Wow…. magnificent pictures. Waking up to that ceiling, beautiful.
Gorgeous!!! I can park my Smart car width-ways in a spot in the US, as an official parking spot is 9 feet wide, but it’s illegal to do so in Maryland 🙁