The first vacation Garry and I took together was in Rome in July 2003. At the time, I was in London on business and had booked a side trip to Rome on the way home. On a whim, I invited Garry to join me in the eternal city. He thought that was a grand idea and booked flights to meet me for my final days in London.
Garry flew in on Friday, 11 July. I met him at Leicester Square tube station in the early morning and escorted him to my hotel. I was staying at the Convent Garden Hotel, a favourite haunt in my early years of business travel to London as APAC Regional Director. We then spent two days hanging out in central London before flying to Rome on 13 July.
Our flight to Italy started badly. We caught the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow on Sunday morning. However, we judged poorly how long the Tube would take. As a result, we arrived shortly after check-in closed for our scheduled flight. British Airways kindly took pity on us and moved us to a later flight departing after lunch. However, I had to give up my ticketed business class seat - a small price to pay given the circumstances.
Once in Rome, we based ourselves in a hotel booked by my travel agent. It was located less than five minutes walk from the world-renowned Trevi Fountain. This proved to be the perfect location. By the day the surrounding laneways hummed with tourists, then after dark, the locals appeared, bringing a myriad of tiny cafes, bars, and pop-up market stalls to life.
Our first full day in Rome was spent visiting and exploring sights on a self-managed, walking tour of Central Rome. By the time we were done, we'd covered more than nine kilometres on foot.
We kicked off the day with sights close by our hotel. First up was the immortal Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotonda. I’ve always been fascinated by this impressive Roman structure with its soaring concrete dome punctuated by a dramatic oculus opening. It was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian to replace an earlier temple. Almost two thousand years later, the Pantheon's dome remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome.
Inside the building is just as impressive. While its walls and ceiling are no longer ornately clad and decorated, the scale of the building still leaves you in awe. The sun streaming through the oculus adds to the experience, flooding its cavernous interior with natural light. The Romans were far more advanced than those of us looking back really appreciate.
From the Patheon, it was on to the Tiber River to walk across the historic St. Angelo Bridge, past the Castel Sant'Angelo, and on to Via della Coniliazione where we caught our first, fleeting glimpse of St Peters Basilica in the distance. We then followed the river before branching off towards Janiculum Hill. In the sweltering afternoon heat, we made our way up Passeggiata del Gianicolo to enjoy the Roman skyline from the popular Belvedere del Gianicolo terrace.
We then crossed back over the Tiber and took a detour to climb the steps to Campidoglio. This elegant hilltop plaza was designed by Michelangelo. These days it's lined with museums and offers a memorable view of the Septimius Severus Arch and the Roman Forum.
We finished our day with a quick side trip to see the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II, complete a circuit of the Colosseum, and catch a glimpse of the Roman Forum at sunset. We returned to our hotel as darkness fell and the locals came out to play.
Our evening was spent wandering the cobbled laneway of Via del Lavatore in search of the thinnest, crispest pizza crust in all of Rome. We eventually found our perfect slices on display in a small hole-in-the-hole pizzeria.
Looking back, 20 years later, I'm impressed by how far we walked that day. I'm equally impressed that we did it all without Google Maps or an internet-enabled phone. Instead, we relied on nothing more than a few maps and recommendations printed in a good old-fashioned Lonely Planet guide. The same dog-eared guide is still sitting on a shelf at home today.
Follow this link for more of our adventures in Rome.
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