Fitnessroadie

by Beth Foster

Day 1

First, let me say that every day in Rome, Italy seemed as if I was literally in a movie! With that being said, I have always dreamed of going to Rome but for whatever reasons I hadn’t been yet. Fortunately, I was able to travel quite a bit being an athlete and also as a service member in the military. One, thing that was different is that instead of traveling with lots of other people. I would have to travel solo and that is okay with me as well. I decided to stop doubting my capabilities and whatever I was afraid of and take my first big leap of traveling to Rome solo.

Piazza del Popolo ( One of the first pics I took because it reminded me of the Washington DC monument)

A month before leaving for Rome my baby brother Joshua called me up and said that he wanted to go to Italy with me. Whew! I thought, yes, I don’t have to go solo after all for my first destination. I had already did a whole bunch of research on Rome, Italy, including watching about twenty different Youtube videos on traveling to Rome. I must say that my most influential person by far for traveling to Rome was due to Rick Steve’s very informative videos/blogs. Rick Steves also has free walking audio tours you can listen to when exploring the city if you choose not to use an actual tour guide. Click on this link to access those tours https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy.

November was the time frame that I chose to visit Rome because it is the offseason. Not only would it be less people but also budget friendly on the pocketbook. I read that November is rainy season for Rome, Italy but of course that did not deter me from still going in that time frame. Many people mentioned that yes it would rain but the rain wasn’t continuous but in spurts. Guess what? That was all true! I also used Expedia (similar to Booking.com) to book my package deal that came with my B&B and the flight for a great deal.

I left from the BWI airport on a Sunday afternoon and had layovers in Charlotte and Philadelphia airports. I was so nervous because I had never flown internationally other than in the military, so I didn’t know what to expect. It was definitely much different flying as a civilian and flying as a service member. As soon as the plane landed I could not believe I was actually in Rome! Of course, I had seen Rome in several movies but to go there and experience myself, was a whole new world.

I tried to call my baby brother but I didn’t know that I had to put my cellphone on roam. Some how my call still went through and my brother was waiting for me near the airport exit. Our B&B connected us with a driver to get us to where we were staying. I was told the name of the driver so we were walking around the airport exit looking for my name on one of those signs. Ah! I saw my name and I started saying the name of the person I thought they were. Quick funny story. The guy holding the sign with me name was not responding, so I went up to him and said hi I’m Beth are you so an so and he says no. I am the friend of the other driver. I was like oh okay. The cost of taking us from the airport to the B&B was about 50 euros.

Let me just say, that our host Antonio was awesome and so was his sister. As soon as we got there, he told us where to go, places to see, modes of transportation and of course where to eat! Oh yes, the name of the B&B is Authentic Sweet Home and you can book your stay here through booking.com via this link https://booking.tp.st/DhP1Tg7Y. The location is great because it is near everything including the metro rail. It is 20 meters from the “Aura” Shopping center (about 2-3 blocks from the B&B) and the Line A Metro station (the “Baldo degli Ubaldi” stop). We rode the metro daily as well as walked. That was basically our two main modes of traveling. Rome is a very walkable city and you will walk a lot! I believe we averaged around 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day!

We were fatigued, so we decided to take a two hour nap before exploring the city. As soon as we woke up, we went to go get us some authentic Italian food. We walk 2-3 blocks and we see the “Aura” but basically everything is closed, so we walk across the street and notice a restaurant is opened. I totally forgot the name but I didn’t forget the friendly owner and the amazing food. Our meal consisted of tomatoes and potatoes which is like my favorite! The cost of the meal was around 8-9 euros.

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes With Potatoes

While we were eating I asked the owner where we should go first and she told us to take the metro and get on the A line and head to Piazza del Popolo. She mentioned it was her favorite place to go every week. We thanked her and were on our way to Piazza del Popolo. For one way the cost of getting there was 1.50 euros. The best part of their metro system is that you can just use apple pay and tap the sensor with your phone and bam you are in there.

Metro Station

We get off the train and walk for about 5 minutes and we see signs leading us to the Piazza. Oh my gosh! The architecture here is breathtaking and I still can’t believe I’m in Rome! We walk with the crowd across the street and we see this beautiful entrance. As soon as we get through the entrance we see people standing in line for entrance into the Leonardo DaVinci museum.

Entrance To Piazza del Popolo

Leonardo DaVinci Museum

Then we see the street and people are walking all over it and you can also drive your car on the pebble streets in Rome which is so amazing! The streets are filled with every name brand designer you can think of. Intertwined with numerous churches, countless restaurants, places to stay and gelato shops. Of course we check out the gelato shop and the churches. I believe the gelato shop is called Coni Norge Di Carlo Galli & C. Snc. I think there may be a church on every corner in Rome and I think we may have went in about twenty of them!

Gelato from Coni Norge Di Carlo Galli & C. Snc

One of the Many Churches of Rome

Our next stop was the Spanish Steps. We decided to walk there so it probably took around 20 minutes. There was so many people on the steps that it was impossible to have a photo by yourself. Many films and TV shows have featured the Spanish Steps on the big screen. The film Roman Holiday (1953), Fast X(2023), To Rome With Love (2012) and Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 5: Episode 1)  featured the Spanish Steps as well as many others.

Me in red on the Spanish Steps

Next was the Trevi Fountain which also had massive people surrounding it so it was almost impossible to get a decent picture. It is said that if you throw a coin behind your left shoulder using your right hand that means you will return to Rome again one day. The Trevi Fountain is the largest of its kind in Rome and one of the most famous fountains worldwide. The fountain has also been featured in several films.

Trevi Fountain

It was starting to get dark and we were also getting hungry, so we decided to find a nice place to eat on our night journey. We must have went by tons of restaurants before deciding on a particular one. What we did know is that we wanted to try some Italian dishes! After finding a restaurant that we felt comfortable with we sat outside. Being that Rome has nice weather all year around many of the restaurant offer outdoor seating. That is actually where the majority of the people enjoy their meals.

Our server told us that the most famous dishes in Rome were either pastas or pizza. So, I decided that I wanted some of their most famous pasta dish and my brother went with baked chicken with potatoes. The most famous pasta in Rome is the La Carbonara, which consists mainly of eggs, parmesan cheese, bacon and salt and pepper. I thought oh okay, that seems simple enough. It may have been simple but it was so delicious and fresh. It was the best pasta I’d ever had to be quite honest. The meal cost between 25-30 euros for the two of us.

La Carbonara Pasta

Afterwards, we did more exploring the city because everything always looks different at night. We already had an itinerary for the next few days so we didn’t want to spoil what was yet unforeseen in any way. However, just because we weren’t going to explore it didn’t mean that we couldn’t take a little peak of it at night! We saw the Pantheon, the location where Julius Caesar was assassinated (we didn’t know this yet), The Victor Emmanuel II National Monumente and the view of the Roman Capitoline Hill from the rooftop of the Monumente.

Roof top view of the city

At this point we were tired and decided it was time to walk to a metro station and get back to our B&B. Day one was wonderful and I was looking forward to the very next day. Well, this is the end of day one in “The Eternal City”! We stuck to our friendly budget and didn’t pay for anything other than food and transportation. You can watch the rest of my time on the video below so please stay tuned! So, remember until next time please stay fit!