Don't roam Rome!

Coming from such a beyond friendly and hospitable place like Santorini, Rome through us off...just a little too much.

Arriving in Rome, or Roma in Italian, one taxi driver already tried to rip us off asking for 70 euros to our hotel. Good thing I had researched that the standard rate should be around (if not a set rate of) 50 euros. Thankfully we were aware and asked the taxi desk whom told us it's a set rate of 48 euros, so we did just that instead. Driving into the city we didn't realize how green Rome is. There are fields of grass and lots and lots of trees. This one type of tree seen almost everywhere has a skinny trump and a flat top resembling a tall mushroom, it was pretty fairy tale like.

After settling in, we attempted to bus to a local neighbourhood call Travestere recommended by the concierge. However, we ended up getting off way too early and in a totally non touristy area where many Italians do not speak English and some didn't even know how to direct us on the map. So not only were we lost and confused, we were in a drastic scene than expected- sort of sketch, and we figured we were on the wrong side of the river so we ended up taxiing to a known touristy area; Piazza Navona, a public touristy square we had researched. We arrived with an immense sense of peace to the expected Roman culture of buildings, mobs of tourists, and outdoor restaurants and souvenirs, feeling way more comfortable than we had a few minutes ago as the only tourists on the bus.

So tip of the day is, on your first night, stick it safe and go exactly where you need to go. Or else your internal safety alarm goes off and its no fun!

After the initial culture shock from this incident, we took some photos and looked for grub. You must compare menus, prices, and question what you want and what the place has to offer. With line ups of restaurants everywhere, they are all very competitive and the ones right on the square are usually the most expensive and not as great as the hidden gems down the alleys. Also, we found out al 6 restaurants surrounding the immediate square of the Piazza Navona were of the same company, so the managers kept out talking one another as we passed by to get our business.

Multitude of Artists on the Square
We settled on a place down the alley as they really sold it to us with their talk and allowing us to see the kitchen to prove that their pastas were made fresh in the kitchen and not frozen. There wasn't much proof of freshness to be honest, but the sight of a clean kitchen, enthusiastic chef, and a tinge of tiredness from comparing gave us ease in settling on this place. To kick off our first night, we ordered of course pasta, wine, and initiated the start of our gelato consumption at a gelato shop nearby (which is literally everywhere) for dessert.

Our first of many pasta dishes in Italy: Lobster Pasta!
My favourite: Pasta rolls with ricotta cheese & porchini mushrooms
Learning from our mistake and wanting to be extra safe in the evening, we taxied back to our hotel and had a teaser of what was to come the next day. The warm yellow lights and mystery of the roman architect and monuments made up for our earlier mishaps had us intrigued for the following day already.