When In Rome

Sorry for the Cliché blog title

Sorry for the Cliché blog title, I had to…

So I literally almost cried about 5 minutes into arriving in Rome… and when I mean almost cried, I curled up into a little ball, closed my eyes and almost had a full-blown anxiety attack…Driving in Rome will do that to you (don’t worry, I was in the passenger seat). Luckily this was where we were dropping the car off.

Other than the insane driving, I loved Rome. I had those happy feelings you get when you think to yourself, yup I would live here. How can you not though, Rome is STUNNING!

Where we stayed:

We stayed at an adorable Airbnb in the Rione Monti area. It was extremely central so we really burned off all the pasta calories while walking to most of our destinations. However, we did have to take a couple of cabs (and almost got scammed by a taxi driver). See below for what happened and how you can avoid getting ripped off.

Check out our Airbnb HERE.

What we did:

We probably did the most touristy thing we could possibly do and bought tickets for the Hop on Hop Off bus. Honestly, this is probably the best way to get a visual of all the popular places in the city. We filled a water bottle with white wine and enjoyed the views (and the breeze). The Hop on Hop off bus was around €25,00 per person and so unbelievably worth it.
There are a couple MUST sees in Rome. The Pantheon is one of them. It is also free to enter, but just make sure you don’t try and bring in a gelato like we did.
The Trevi Fountain is also must see and is extremely packed. After seeing everyone’s beautiful photos which miraculously all look like they’re the only ones there, I was pretty shocked at the massive crowds (how naive of me). If you want to get a great photo I suggest you go at the crack of dawn.
The Coliseum is obviously a must see as it is the biggest well-preserved coliseum in the world, expect there to be huge crowds as well.
Climb the Spanish steps for views of Rome. We had a heat wave in Italy when we were there and yes, it gets a little sweaty.
We drove, walked and bused by Altare della Patria; a massive marble monument. Each time we passed by we were awestruck. You can’t miss it, it’s actually massive. Apparently you can take the elevator to the top of it for 7 Euro, but don’t quote me, I saw this on another blog from 2014.
The Giardino Degli Aranci, or commonly know as the Garden of Oranges was perfection. There were no oranges on the trees but the premise is so well-groomed and spectacular, it didn’t matter. Someone was getting their wedding photos done here and I was super jealous. We walked to the peak of the garden which overlooks the city and watched the sunset.
If you are looking to see something way less touristy but still quite impressive, head over to the stunning Biblioteca Angelica. It is an extremely old and beautifully charming library. In fact, it is one of Rome’s first public libraries. Biblioteca Angelica is still a locals library so you have to be extremely quiet. You also wont be able to read any of the books if you aren’t fluent in Italian. The librarian is quite aggressive and allows only one picture (I’m such a rebel, I took 2). Go see it though, it is absolutely spectacular.

Okay shoot me. Due to time constraints, we decided to skip the Vatican and put it on our list for next time.

Where We Ate/Drank

Lunch:

$ If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat or some great take-away food, head over to Pasta Chef. It’s located only a short walk from the Colosseum and has a drool worthy menu. They serve authentic, fresh pasta which is made daily. The plates and cutlery are biodegradable so your meal is basically guilt free! We decided on the risotto and the pesto pasta. It was quick, affordable and delicious!

Dinner:

$$ We were on the brink of getting very sick of wine so for dinner we decided to get some artisan beer and pizza at one of the hottest spots in Rome, Bir + Fud. The place itself is buzzing with modern flare and feels very contemporary and hip. We got there at 7:30 and were able to be seated right away, however, at 8:00 p.m. the place was packed. If you plan on eating here after 7:30, definitely make a reservation. We shared a pizza and the buffalo mozzarella and ham calzone and ended up having a fork battle over the calzone. It was cheesy, yummy perfection. The beer was also spectacular and they have a massive variety to choose from.

$$$ Trattoria Monti is located a little bit away from the center of Rome but VERY worth the small trek. Clearly this spot is a local gem as every seat was full. Luckily for us we had made a reservation beforehand. Trattoria Monti is a little more upper class, so expect a pricier meal. Despite this, IT IS WORTH IT. Plus, it has a very welcoming and cozy atmosphere, you may as well be eating at Nonas house. We settled on an appetizer, the tortello stuffed with ricotta, egg yolk and topped with butter sage sauce and a meaty pasta dish which I forgot the name. Each meal was incredible and exploding with flavor. You really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

Coffee/drinks:

We grabbed a coffee and people watched in big brown chairs at Café Angelina. We both had an Iced Coffee to cool down and this was the perfect spot to rest the legs.

$$$$ We headed on over to Jerry Thomas, which is a 1930’s inspired speakeasy bar known for their killer cocktails. We knocked on huge dark door which was located in a very dark ally and waited outside. A man came to the door and asked for a password… which we didn’t have. Luckily when we smiled apologetically he told us it was no problem, we would just have to wait an hour. FYI if you go, you are supposed to find the daily password on their Facebook page. Soon after, a small family knocked on the door and gave the man the password. The door man turned them away due to capacity reasons (the bar only holds up to 40 people), then promptly led us into the bar.

The place itself was very charming with it’s old world glamour and dark mystic vibes. Leon and I sat at the bar and ordered two drinks; I had a Gin concoction and he ordered the Buffalo whiskey sour. My drink was good, but his literally knocked my socks off. I made us stay longer so I could have one of my own. If you can, sit at the bar when you go. Watching the mixologists is quite fascinating.

I only have one complaint, and please don’t let this deter you from going whatsoever. The people who were standing behind us (basically touching us it was so packed) decided to light up not only a cigarette, but a cigar too! There are no windows in this tiny bar and the big door was closed tightly. So here we are sitting and having the most amazing (and expensive) drinks ever, and these people are smoking on us. Luckily after about 15 minutes they got seated and left. But still – circulated air.

Tips on Taxi’s

Luckily our Airbnb was pretty central which cut down on the amount of cabs we had to take. Out of 3 cabs I took, 1 tried to rip us off. Leon and I were taking a cab to a Speakeasy bar one night after 10pm, the surcharge of €5,80 was already added at the beginning. The cab ride came to 13 Euro, Leon handed him a €20 and the man gave us back €2. I told him he didn’t give us enough change and he said that there was an additional surcharge anytime after 10 p.m. I told him the surcharge would have been added to the meter at the beginning of the trip and he frantically pointed to various maps in his cab that said nothing about a further surcharge. After fighting with him for 2 minutes he finally gave us back our correct change. So if you’re in Rome, watch out for these kinds of things, like being charged for a surcharge on top of a surcharge.

Here are a couple of ways to make sure you’re not spending more money on cabs than you need to:

Know the surcharges:
Watch out for fixed taxi prices
If someone wants to give you a fixed price within the city – chances are you are getting ripped off. Make sure they turn the meter on, if they don’t, get out!
Check and say the amount of money you give to the cab driver
instead of just giving the cab driver a bill, say “here is X amount of Euro”. I’ve read taxi scams where cab drivers will switch bills and then say you haven’t given them enough money.
Try to give them exact change.
Cab drivers might pull the “I have no change” card to try and swindle a couple extra dollars from you.
Grab a cab from an official taxi pickup
This will lessen the chance of you getting picked up by an unregistered (and possibly shady) taxi cab. Registered cabs are white and have their licence number on the side!!

Anyway, Rome was an amazing surprise. I expected it to be a dirty city with way too many tourists but it turned out to be my favorite stop this trip.

2 Stops to Make Between Florence and Rome

Leon and I stopped in two places on our way to Rome from Florence and thought they deserved an honorable mention.

We didn’t want to take the long way to Rome so Leon threw me his phone and told me to find a place to stop for a glass of wine along the A1 Autostrada. After a 5 minute Google search, I settled on Altarocca Wine resort, located by Umbria, Italy. Unfortunately, my directional skills are less than par and I missed the turn-off to go up the paved hill to our destination. The map showed another way around, so I went with that. Within minutes into this second route we found ourselves creeping up a bumpy dirt path that scaled a rural mountain. We were both freaking out because the road, err- trail, was awfully narrow and extremely rocky with no places to turn around. We trudged on with Leon saying “oh shit” the entire way; certainly a rock was going to pop one of our little feeble Fiat tires. 20 minutes into bush whacking, the brush parted ways and we passed the cutest little house perched on the mountain. After this, the road was much better and we finally got to our destination (our blue car was now light brown). We were pleasantly surprised. For blindly choosing a spot to stop at, we hit the jackpot. This winery was a “wine resort” with a beautiful pool deck and bar looking over the Tuscan landscape. We asked the employees working on the pool deck where we could go for a drink (because surely the pool was just for people who are staying at the resort), but no, they told us to sit at a table and they served us right there as we absorbed the view. We tried 4 different wines, whites and reds and loved each one of them. This place is a gem! At around €140 a night, we will surely be staying the next time we visit.

Not far from Altarocca wine resort we spotted the majestic city of Orvieto, perched atop of a rocky mountain. This was our second destination. The drive had us spiraling around the cobblestone city walls of Orvieto. This was nothing like I had ever seen. Inside the walls of the town things were very quiet, however little crowds of people gathered to admire the stunning medieval Cathedral which was adorned with beautiful mosaics. We walked around a bit but had to retreat back to the car as it was SCORCHING hot, but not before snapping a couple pictures.

Besides all of the casualties stuck to our windshield, the terrain between Florence and Rome was beautiful as it whizzed by my window at 140 kph.

Zadar, Zrče Beach and Plitvice Lakes

A couple days of a lot of ocean and the most beautiful Lakes I have ever seen.

This trek of the journey was eventful, to say the least.

Where we stayed

We stayed in MY FAVORITE Airbnb of the trip right in the center of the city. However, It was pretty loud in the room at night (until about 1am) because of an open-air bar right outside the windows. Luckily we didn’t get home much sooner than 1 a.m each night!

Parking can be tricky, but luckily our Airbnb host showed us where there was free parking right outside the city (about a 7 minute walk away from our Airbnb). The free parking was at the back of a paid parking lot on a gravel area, so it was a little tricky to find.

this was our Airbnb.

Zadar

Zadar has some “must see’s”. The infamous Sea Organ is one of them. You can sit on long broad steps that descend into the ocean, watch the sunset, and listen to the Sea Organ. The Sea Organ is powered by the waves. The stronger the waves, the louder the Sea Organ is. I suggest you go half an hour before the sunset to grab a spot.

Another must see in this area is “The Greeting to the Sun”. It’s an outdoor light-up dance floor which is located steps away from the Sea Organ (you can kill two birds with one stone). Please don’t do as the tourists do and lay on the dance floor, that’s gross :).

We had drinks and breakfast smoothies (on different days) at The Garden; an outdoor garden club on top of the city walls. At night it has a really cool relaxed slightly bourgeois vibe; they have beds in the center of the lounge and white couches surrounding the bar area. During the day you can sit in a airy white cabana to eat your healthy meal. They have fresh squeezed juice, fruit smoothies and healthy breakfasts. It’s really stunning. I don’t have any photos because I forgot to put the battery in my camera that day (this was the day after Zrče beach, you’ll put the pieces together shortly).

We went for dinner on the patio of Restaurant Bruschetta for a nibble to eat. We ended up getting a bottle of wine and a couple appetizers and only really liked the truffle bruschetta. The pizza looked really good though (yes we messed up). We sat beside a table of around 10 local women and watched them chain-smoke for 2 hours. HOW DO YOU EVEN TASTE YOUR FOOD. I was almost impressed.

We rented a boat and it may have been the best decision we made our whole trip. Well, other than bringing a ton of booze and one small container of warm yogurt. Yes I did lose an entire toenail that day… luckily this mishap happened after the alcohol consumption..

Boating cost around 170 Euro for the whole day, including the gas. Leon got his boat license the week before just in case he would need to rent one of the boats. According to the boat rental website they do require a boat license if you’re renting a bigger boat, but, no one asked to see it the day of.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

We actually stopped at the Plitvice Lakes on our way to Zadar from Zagrab and JUST barley got in before they stopped letting people through. I recommend planning on spending at least 4 hours there (before 7pm) and wear your walking shoes because that’s what you’ll be doing the entire time. This national park was magical and there is a lot to see.

Zrče Beach for the day..

Getting to the island of Pag is really quite beautiful. As you drive upwards the land gets very brown and desert-like until you eventually start descending back down to lush landscape and civilization. Zrče is a party beach on the island of Pag with a bunch of massive day clubs where people quite literally get obliterated and make out with each other. BUT, we were a teeny bit early in the season for all of the inappropriate festivities (the clubs weren’t packed to the brim). We started off at Euphoria Club which was my favorite; we sat in nice loungers, jumped off of the club deck into the ocean when we got too hot and sipped on (really strong) drinks. Somewhere between this club and our 3rd? I got tipsy and lost both of our drivers licenses and Leon’s Visa (Okay fine, I was wasted out of my little tree). To be fair, this one club, Aquarius, was promoting a buy one JUG of mojito, get one JUG free. Anyway, Zrče is really cool and the beaches are beautiful and sandy. Expect to see some boobs.

Here’s a sober video of myself dancing in a “pool” about 2 feet deep…

If you do go in July or August, please please please be safe. It’s surprisingly easy for things to get out of hand due to the scorching sun and the aggressively strong drinks. Things can get unsafe very quickly If you don’t have a 200 pound boyfriend following you around everywhere. Also note that the ratio from guys to girls was 5:1 – ladies watch yo-selves.

Don’t skip Zagreb!

I’ve come across some travel blogs telling people to skip Zagreb which BOGGLES MY MIND. One person even said it lacked History… sorry, what?

Where we stayed

We stayed at Leon’s parents cute little apartment just outside of the old town and drove into the old city center. side note – There are blue and white and yellow lined parking spots on the street, only park within the white lines with the big ‘P’ sign above – yes I know this because we got a parking ticket.

What we Did

We got the heck out of the new city (yes, yes it’s not very pretty – i can agree with that), parked, and then walked to the breathtaking Zagreb Cathedral of Assumption. Remember, like most churches, if you want to be able to step inside, you must have something to cover your shoulders. Me being “scantily” clad, I could only poke my head in.

A 10 minutes walk away from the Cathedral you will find Strossmayer Promenade. Here you get great views of the multicoloured rooftops of the Old Town (also known as Gornji Grad). The surrounding area is adorable too; we even happened upon a interesting festival while we were soaking in the scenery.

Also located in Upper Town is the unique St. Mark’s Church. This church is distinctive because of it’s vibrantly colored tile roof which bears the coats of arms of Croatia, Dalmatia, Slavonia, and Zagreb. This area is the oldest in the city and possesses countless stunning historic buildings and museums.

I had an extremely interesting experience while walking to our dinner spot in the center of the city. Before I explain, a little history – Back in 1731, legend has it that all of the houses and surrounding area around the eastern wooden gate, Kamenita Vrata or also known as Stone Gate, were burnt to the ground. However Stone Gate, which was embedded with a painting of Jesus and Mary inexplicably remained untouched. Today you can find the painting in a shrine, protected by a metal enclosure.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, around dusk people gather in and around the tunnel to light candles and pray. We’re talking hundreds of people crammed around this tunnel. I was very inclined to find a way around, BUT, nothing gets in the way of Leon and his dinner so he grabbed my hand and we started walking down tiny center isle. The sea of people split down the middle as we slowly made our way through the crowd and I could feel everyone’s gaze on us as they loudly chanted their prayers.

This all lasted for about 2 minutes (felt like an eternity) and I definitely felt like I was about to be sacrificed.

We came back later to take a look at the religious site and noticed the dozens of marble bricks surrounding the shrine. The small bricks generally say “Thank you Mother”.

Not too far from the Stone Gate is the pedestrian-only Tkalciceva Street. This is a must see in Zagreb. Not only is this street full of history and beauty as you will find old houses that are now turned into cafés; Tkalciceva Street is quite lively at night because of the bars and restaurants with outdoor seating. This long street screams people watching potential and is probably so popular because of it. Croatians love to see and be seen.

We settled on a cozy spot on the patio of Pivnica Mali Medo to have some Istrian beer. Their lager was very large, very tasty and reasonably priced.

Going along with our ever prevalent patio theme, we ate dinner on the terrace at Restaurant Agava located on Tkalciceva Street. I suggest making a reservation if you are planning on dining during the weekend because this spot was very busy. To eat, we opted to share a salad and the entrée chicken (which was phenomenal). Dinner was scrumptious and the venue is extremely romantic (if you’re looking to go on a hot date).

All in all I really enjoyed Zagreb. Don’t skip it, visit and form your own opinion about it (and learn about the history)!

5 Hours in Venice

If you’re spending a hot minute in Venice, it’s all about time management and efficiency. So basically learn from our mistakes.

Getting there

Leon and I rented a Car from the airport ended up parking at Park San Giuliano because we were under the impression that we could catch a boat into Venice from the pier. We thought wrong. After walking around for an hour we ended up taking the bus into Venice – not a huge deal, but time was of the essence as we weren’t planning on spending the night.
Side note – I have no clue how the bus works – we jumped on and tried to pay but the bus driver didn’t take our money (you probably had to buy a pass from a grocery store). Anyway, we accidentally fair evaded both ways.

What you should do – From the airport, walk 5-10 minutes to the docks. Here, you can catch a €15 boat/ferry into Venice. The views as you approach Venice are supposed to be spectacular. Tickets can be bought on the boat or in advance at the main tourist office. You can also get a private boat or water taxi into the city (If you’re a baller $$$).

Getting around

We chose to attempt to walk off our jet-lag and explore Venice by foot. I knew If I sat down it would be game over for me. I was EXHASTED. A less strenuous way to get around is by the Vaporetto (the Venetian water bus). I suggest if you don’t have a GPS to rely heavily on, take the Vaporetto. Each ride of the Vaporetto costs €7, but you can buy a TravelCard, which offer unlimited travel from anywhere between 12 hours to 7 days.

What to do

The best thing to do in Venezia is to wander along the canals and admire the majestic views, or perhaps hop on a romantic canal ride (if that’s your cup of tea). We opted to skip out on the canal ride because it looked a little boring.

Visit the famous Piazza San Marco! It’s crowded and you might have to dodge a couple hungry pigeons, however, despite this, it is still a magnificent place.

Climb up the Campanile Bell tower for arguably the best views of the clustered roofs of Venice.

To escape the crowds, take a walk down a staircase of encyclopedias to Libreria Acqua Alta. Located in the Cannaregio area, this bookstore is a hidden gem littered with friendly cats and bathtubs filled with books. The Cannaregio neighborhood is in a quiet, mostly residential area, however, it is also home to many local hot-spots.

The 16 hour flight really worked us up an appetite so we indulged in pastries at Pasticceria Tonolo . Trust me, they were to DIE FOR.

While you’re in Cannaregio, eat at L’Anice Stellato or somewhere in this area instead of the overpriced restaurants near the Rialto Bridge or St. Mark’s. We had our heart set on eating here but to our surprise L’Anice Stellato didn’t open up until 7pm (someone PLEASE go and tell me how it is)! We now know Its very common for places in Italy to shut down after lunch and re-open around 7:00 p.m.