The Rome Trip: Day 1

A lot of people start out a new year with a list of things they would like to accomplish with the new slate they have just been given. New year, new me is what we commonly hear, right? On that list may be to learn a new language, lose some weight, eat healthier, or even to travel more. Well, I certainly took the traveling more part of a potential New Year’s resolution seriously!

On January 2, 2020, I left for for Rome, Italy! Don’t worry, this trip was not taken on a whim. My brother Jacob and I have been planning this trip to Rome for a while now, but it just happened to fall so closely to the New Year (and new decade) because my winter break from college falls around that time. So, we decided to capitalize on the free time and to go on a Roman adventure!

If you have been apart of the Faintly Familiar Family for a while, you know how much I love traveling (I like being home too, just for the record. A change of scenery is always nice though!). You may have already read about my previous trips to London and Toronto, but the trip to Rome was extra special because my big brother Jacob and I had an addition person with us — my brother’s fiancée Monika!

The Rome Trip: Day 1

I’m not going to lie, after a crazy day of traveling just the day before we were all exhausted! We took our first day in Rome as an opportunity to just explore Rome a little bit and to learn more about the transportation system to get around the city better.

There are A TON of streets going everywhere in Rome! It felt like there were so many streets we walked down to just see all of the little shops, but there were also a lot of streets we didn’t go down. I think it was a really good idea to just let the first day in Rome be a time to get acquainted with the new area we were in. That really helped us get to know Rome in a very personal way, and it let us get the true flavor of that city (yes, the food was amazing!).

The Spanish Steps

A major highlight of this trip was attempting to find all of the ares featured in the classic film Roman Holiday. One of the iconic areas of Rome that is especially pivotal in that movie are the Spanish Steps. In the movie, we see Audrey Hepburn’s character talk with Gregory Peck while sitting on a block at the Spanish Steps while Hepburn eats gelato!

I studies photos from Roman Holiday to get make sure I was getting the right area. Luckily, it was relatively easy to see find where she was sitting in the movie. What I was shocked about the most was that there was no line of other avid Audrey Hepburn fans looking to also sit on this block of the Spanish Steps.

Seeing the Spanish Steps is actually amazing and they are the perfect way to start off a visit in Rome if you are looking to do all of the touristy things! In person, the steps are not as steep as I thought they would be. They are much more wide and shallow than what I imagined.

Even in January the Spanish Steps is full of people wanting to see this iconic spot too! Before we went on this trip I did a lot of research on what the weather would be like and how crowded it would be during January, and all of the articles said that it would be less crowded than it normally is in the summer. Well, in my opinion, it was way more crowded than I thought it would be! I cannot imagine the amount of tourists summertime would bring to Rome.

Rome’s weather is probably beautiful all year long, but it is really nice in January! As someone from the Midwest, January is normally a brutally cold month full of clouds, snow, and ice. However, Rome has the same weather we have in the fall and that is as cold as it gets there. It was a really nice break from the cold for us!

The Trafalgar Fountain

Our next stop was to visit the Trafalgar Fountain! Actually, the Spanish Steps are not that far away from this iconic and beautiful fountain so it is really easy to just walk there. They even have quite a few signs that say Trafalgar Fountain and tell you which direction to go in.

I have seen many photos of this fountain before, but it is so much more grand in person! There was a good sized crowd gathered around the Trafalgar Fountain too so we had to squeeze our way through to get really good photos. However, as long as you do not sit on the edge of the fountain, you are able to get through the crowd pretty easily and you can take as many photos as you would like.

This may seem obvious, but the Trafalgar Fountain is certainly one sight you need to see if you visit Rome. It is stunning in person, and it quickly became one of our favorite things from this trip! Also, don’t forget to bring a coin to toss into the fountain!

Exploring Rome and souvenir shopping

After seeing two of the most famous sights in Rome, we wanted to explore the city a little more and to do some souvenir shopping. There are a lot of little shops down every street and you can find souvenirs or food pretty easily.

The pizza and pasta were both good, but I think the gelato was my favorite! We found this cute little gelato shop in our wondering around and the it was a perfect little spot to rest. If you find yourself in Rome, go check it out! The interior decorations are all so pretty and the gelato was amazing!

After a long day of walking around and seeing the sights, we were all tired. So we felt it would be best to head back to the hotel and catchup on sleep so we could be well rested for the next day. We had a full itinerary for the next two days so we needed all of the rest we could get.

The first day in Rome was so much fun, and we saw some pretty stunning places. But if I learned anything about Rome, there is always so much more to do! Stay tuned for two more days of the Rome trip!

Much Love,

Sarah