Our trip to Italy continues. Next city of our trip was the largest city in Italy - Rome. Before it we visited cities Rimini, Venice and Florence. We arrived in Rome late in the evening.
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Rome
Four stars “Cicerone” hotel is located not far from Vatican, on the right bank of the Tiber River. We got a great hotel room with a large bathroom. The only bad feature of the hotel is the lack of free internet access (the price 10 euros per day).
As it turned out, in Italy is very bad service of Internet access for tourists. It is much worse than in Finland, Russia, Estonia, Thailand, for example.
We have a sightseeing tour in Rome in the morning. Then was free time in the Italy capital. Weather in Rome was perfect. Weather forecast promised air temperature +12, but the sun and windless weather created a wonderful, warm day. All three days in Rome was perfect, dry, warm weather. After guided tour we walked to look attractions of Rome. We came once again to the Colosseum, walked at many streets in the city center; we were on the Capitol Hill near the “Roman wolf” sculpture, in Pantheon, in many interesting places of the Rome historic center. It was nice to visit the “Piazza Venezia” square, look at the paintings on “Piazza Navona” square (here artists sell their works in Rome), threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain.
How to throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain in the right way (in order to return to Rome)? Coins price does not matter. Take a coin with your right hand and throw a coin into the fountain over the left shoulder (as it was said, “through the heart”). As has been described, the most important rule, do it sincerely, “from the heart”, as well as we did.
When it became dark in the evening, we had lunch in the cafe on the “Via del Corso” street (self-service “Avtogril” cafe). Then we walked along the “Via del Corso” street. There are many shops on this street. There were sales in Rome shops in February. In Rome shops is wide selection of women's shoes, handbags and accessories. We returned to the hotel late in the evening.
Second day in Rome
Second day in Rome began with a good breakfast in hotel. Then the whole day we were walking around the city. At first looked at the “Via Cola di Rienzo” street, which is near to the hotel. This street was recommended to us as one of the places for shopping. There are many small markets on the street in many places, in which are very cheap clothes for sale.
We visited many places in Rome during the day. We visited the “Piazza del Poppolo” square, “Villa Borghese” park, the Spain Square (Piazza di Spagna) and the Spanish Steps. We were on the some bridges over Tiber River and on the Tiberina Island. We also went to the Termini railway station. In the station is the information center for tourists. In the information point I asked the information about the internet in Rome. I was told that to get the Internet connection in Rome I have to buy the Italian phone company sim-card.
There are many shops that sell high-quality expensive and luxury goods close to the Spanish Square. We were also on the street “Via del Corso”, which has a lot of shops that are definitely interesting for women. January and February are a great time for shopping in Italy and in Rome.
On the same street (Via del Corso) is a self-service café with relatively inexpensive food. Similar café is also available in the Rome train station “Roma Termini”.
“Autogrill” cafe perhaps is one of the most inexpensive places to eat in Italy. We have seen them in many places. There are also many popular McDonald's cafes in Rome. Coffee in McDonalds in Rome costs 80 cents, hamburger 1 euro (we did not eat in McDonald's in Italy). Certainly there are many other places where you can eat very well, but we had too little time to look for such information. (If you have your own tips please share them in the comments at the bottom of the page.)
“Autogril” company is well-known fast-food and restaurants chain in Italy. Avtogrill cafes are located next to the highways, and in many places in many cities (such as shopping center in Rimini). The company manages its brands “Burger King”, pizzerias Spizzico, self-service restaurants “Ciao Ristorante”. In Rome, these restaurants are available in the popular shopping street, Via del Corso, the railway station, in the airport.
Vatican – Rimini - St. Petersburg
The next day was planned to visit the Vatican Museums and return to Rimini. Our group was booked time visit the museum (extra charge). Without it we certainly would have had to lose a lot of time waiting in line. The museum has many fascinating exhibits, but we had too little time for visit the museum of Vatican. We also visited the famous “Sistine Chapel”. The last point in Rome was St. Peter's Basilica. We took some pictures on St. Peter's Square. Then the bus trip back to Rimini.
On the way to Rimini we stopped at outlet store. Discounts in the store were about 50%. At the entrance to the mall we got coupons for free food! Pizza, french fries and water in cafe. A little thing, but nice.
The next day, early in the morning we took the plane back to St. Petersburg. Saint Petersburg met us with a winter and a snow.
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Thanks travel agents Ambassador (St. Petersburg) and Gartour (Italy) staff.