Travel: A visit to the Eternal City (Rome)

​Rome, a mixture of old and new, the streets are easy to walk though, full of surprises and wonderful monuments. Wondering through the streets of Rome reminds me of the ancient roman empire. Walking past the breathtaking structures and monuments of Rome really quenches anyone’s thirst for knowledge and history. 

​The first stop I made was at the Colosseum, which I visited the night I arrived in Rome, since we were situated only a few minutes’ walk away from this magnificent feat of human engineering. Being so close to the structure made me feel inferior, I couldn’t comprehend how people could build such a huge structure, especially thousands of years ago. Seeing the illuminated arches after sundown is a great experience and if you’re in Rome, visiting in the evening is surely rewarding. If your planning to go inside, it's worth picking up a handheld guide, which are Huawei smartphones and include an interactive map (and maybe take a few selfies with it also 😊).  Like most other attractions in Rome the Colosseum is frequented by many tourists so to avoid ques visiting early is a must.
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Another blast into the past is the Roman Forum, for which you can buy joint entrance with the Colosseum. One can also get a guide, but walking around the structures and reading some notes which are placed near the sites is quite enough if you are on a short stay. I guarantee if you want to spend a day or two just roaming around the Roman remains and gardens here, its darn well possible. 

One of my favorite things to do was walking after the sun had set. Each piece of Rome changes throughout the day and evening. What might be an open-air market during the day becomes a destination for dressy couples to have dinner in the evening, and then late at night an edgy gathering for those who ate at home and are now all about drinking. The streets and squares of the city are enlivened by fountains that after dark brighten up and gives the city a homely feeling.

Once you’ve been out in the town center of Rome after dark walking though another big city in the evening is never going to be quite the same again. Rome has a quite a number of fast-food joints but their held at bay by the stony cityscape that makes you long for ‘slow’ food instead.

The Trevi fountain by night and day.

One of the best areas for bars and restaurants at a reasonable price is Trestevere neighborhood. It is an old residential neighborhood which is on the other side of the Tiber river from where most of Rome’s main attractions are located. Walking from here to the Colosseum will take you around 40 minutes. There are few hotels, but these are scarce since this is not a very touristy area. But if you look into the narrow streets and side roads you will find good deals and unquestionably good food. Moving slightly further away from the center and going back across the river you will find Testaccio, which is also known to bars and clubs. I haven’t ventured that far this time because I got stuck in Trestevere. ​