It was nearly 10am when we finally left the HiSuite apartment to go and find a breakfast place. It was an easy task, we found a charming little cafe called Fico Ristorante, which was about 10 metres away from our front door. The breakfast menu offered omelettes, eggs, pancakes, croissants and all the usual continental fare. It was cheap too. Even though breakfast tea wasn’t on the menu, I asked if they had it and they did. Not quite my usual Yorkshire Tea, but it did the trick. We both went for cheese omelette which arrived within five minutes of ordering. It was just lovely sitting outside in the morning sun which was already late 20s.

Our plan today was to visit the Roman Forum (Foro Romana). Even though we had been before (during previous visits and also last night), it was something that JC wanted to do again. We went through the Piazza Navona, a public square where athletics events used to take place in ancient times. We noticed that there is quite a bit of restoration work going on. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) was fenced off. The 16 metre high obelisk was the only thing that could be seen.

So it was roughly a 30 minute walk from the café to the nearest entrance of the Forum (I think that there are six in total). To avoid disappointment, it is always advisable to plan what you are doing in Rome. We booked our tickets online so we didn’t have to queue when we got there. As a guide, you can buy a ticket for the Colosseum, the Forum and also other archaeological areas for approximately 18 euros. Tickets are available one month in advance and go quickly, so if this is something you want to do, don’t hang around!

Opening Times and tickets – Parco archeologico del Colosseo

The queue wasn’t too bad when we arrived at about 11:15am, so we didn’t wait for long. There were street sellers offering “bottled” water for one euro which, for some, would have been a temptation in the heat. It is always best to bring your own water so you know where it’s come from! Tickets were checked against our ID (I just took my driving licence but a passport is also a good thing to have available). We went through airport style security before we entered and then found our own way from there. Another thing to note, there is very little shade in the Roman Forum, so I was organised with both an umbrella and a hat. JC ended up wearing my hat whilst I used the umbrella for shade.

The Roman Forum was a social, economic, political, religious and commercial place where goods were traded, laws were passed and politics discussed. There, you will find temples, arches, basilica and monuments and even Julius Caesar’s grave.

The whole place has good information boards that explain what everything is, so it gives a good feel of what actually happened there and how significant some people were. We wandered down the Via Sacra, which translates as “sacred way” and is the oldest road in the Roman Empire. It runs from the Colosseum to the Palatine Hill and is paved with large blocks of stone, some of which are quite uneven. From here we saw the Arch of Titus, the House of the Vestal Virgins and the Colosseum itself. As we wandered about we learned about the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Column of Phocas and the Temple of Saturn.

The Temple of Saturn – stands at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and is one of the most ancient temples in Rome

One place we hadn’t visited at the Forum before was the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestals. Not much remains of the Temple of Vesta, only the podium, but it is worth noting that it was linked to an ancient and important cult, the Vestal Virgins. At this temple, they tended the sacred fire which burned constantly to symbolise the city’s life force. Men were prohibited from entering, except for the Pontifex Maximus (the chief high priest). The House of the Vestals is positioned next to the temple, and was a self-contained area for the Vestals to live. There are statues in the atrium which are dedicated to famous Vestals.

The Atrium Vestae, which is made up of the House of the Vestals and the Temple of Vesta. Some of the statues still stand today.

Despite the enjoyment of revisiting the Forum, the heat was quite intense at 1pm, so we decided to exit for some lunch. We headed away from the Forum area as it was now very busy. It is also more expensive to eat there than other places further away. We decided to head towards the Pantheon area but just off the beaten track. We found a lovely Italian restaurant called Pizzarcano, and enjoyed a lovely pizza and a bottle of local wine that was produced especially for the restaurant. This area was great for people watching and we just sat and chilled in the shade.

Once we got on our way again, we thought we’d pay a visit to the Pantheon. Again, we have been there before, which is probably just as well as the crowds were too much and there was a big queue to get in. The Pantheon was built by Agrippa between 25 and 27 BC and was a temple dedicated to the twelve Gods and to the living Sovran (sovereign). It is thought that the building, as it stands today, is due to reconstruction by Hadrian between 118 and 125 AD. It is the only ancient Roman building that has remained practically intact through the centuries. Raphael, a great architect of the Renaissance was inspired by the Pantheon, and he requested it be his place of eternal rest.

We didn’t want to be stood waiting in a queue to enter the Pantheon, so moved on. We found a place on Via Di Tor Millina that sold fresh lemon sorbet, which was fresh and delicious. We also stopped for a quick drink at a bar called Botticella, which sold beers and local wines. Again, a great place for people watching.

After going back to HiSuite to escape the heat and then get showered and changed, we headed back across the Ponte Garibaldi to Trastevere. We wanted to experience what it is like on a night, compared to our visit the day before. After a half hour of walking, we realised that this was an exciting and vibrant place to be in an evening. We wandered about the streets and there were a lot of people milling around, chatting in bars, eating in restaurants and generally having a great time.

We didn’t want to go to places that we had already been to so we went down back streets to see what we could find. There is plenty of the street art that I favour so much, so I had good opportunity to take photos.

On one of the back streets, the Via Benedetta, we found a few bars within a small area. People were stood outside drinking and chatting: there was such a good vibe here. We decided to go to a small bar called Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà.

The bar sold nothing except beer, so if you didn’t want that then it was a glass of water. When JC first went to the bar, he came back with a glass of water for me – as if!! I was told that the bar was very small but that made me more determined and once we had finished my sobering glass of acqua, we went inside. Yes, the bar was very small and cosy, but it certainly wasn’t short of a choice of beers. I went for a mango DIPA, which was a hefty 8%, but I didn’t care. The place had lured me in and kept me there but I did make sure that we didn’t have too many strong beers!

On arriving home, I found a Time Out article about the bar, that summed it all up:

Ma Che Siete Venuti a Fà | Bars and pubs in Rome (timeout.com)

Eventually we decided that we needed to eat, before the beer took over, so we headed off towards the main streets where there is a good choice of restaurants. We spotted a busy restaurant called Tonnarello, on the Via Della Scala. There was a 20 minute wait so we gave our name and waited in the area outside. After roughly 15 minutes we were called and were shown to a table inside. The menu was typical Italian food such as pizza, pasta and other local specialities. We were looked after well by the staff and they even gave us a drink on the house at the end. I can see why it was so popular as the food was delicious.

Homepage – Ristorante a Trastevere – Locanda Tonnarello

Time was getting on, it was nearly 11pm when we left the restaurant. However, this girl was not ready to hit the sack yet. We found another nice bar called Bar Santa Maria, that did cocktails which were reasonably priced. We ordered an espresso martin each, and ended up with another load of bar snacks to go with it! We must have had second wind after filling up with pasta because we ate the lot.

Earlier in the day we had agreed to visit the Trevi Fountain later in the evening. This was purely to avoid the busy crowds during the day. We arrived at 00:20 and it was still busy with people, everyone had the same idea. However, it was not as bad as what we have seen during the day, and managed to get some good shots of the fountain, lit up by lights.

This was the end to a perfect day.