Country #34 - Italy Day 1

The Food

It was a great (albeit hot) day in Italy! Italy is, and always will be, one of my favorite countries in the world. There are so many unique cities (I love Venice, Florence, and Milan) and so much amazing food to eat. I could literally eat pizza and gelato from Italy for every meal of every day and not get tired of it. Other than the U.K., Italy is probably the foreign country that I have spent the second most amount of time in, and with very good reason.

Today lived up to my standard for another great day in Italy. I have been to Rome before, but it has been four years since my initial visit, and last year I only transited through. I’m really looking forward to seeing a few new sights, but also to revisiting many places that I have been to before. The Colosseum, for example, will never get old. I’m also going to spend more time at places that I quickly walked through last time, which I’m looking forward to.

I started the morning off with breakfast at Hearth Hotel. I then headed to Mass at the Vatican! I’m not Catholic, but I wanted to see the Pope so I made my way over. It was very crowded. I arrived about thirty minutes early and waited in line for security. Once I was in Mass started right away. It was entirely in Italian, but it was really cool to see the Pope! He was in a tiny window and very far away, but it was definitely him! It was over within ten minutes but it was a really cool experience if you are ever in Rome on a Sunday.

I started the morning off with breakfast at Hearth Hotel. I then walked to St. Angelo Bridge to make my way to the other side of town. It is a hot day, but it’s still definitely worth walking everywhere to really enjoy the city. The bridge sits directly in front of Castel Sant’Angelo, which I have been to before and am not visiting again, but I highly recommend. From there I walked through Centro Storico, one of my favorite parts of Rome. The buildings are old and historic and it looks exactly how you would expect Rome to look. In Centro Storico I grabbed my first gelato of the day at Frigidarium. It was highly recommended by my hotel, and I think I have a new favorite gelato place in Rome. It was so good! You get great value for your money, and they dip your gelato in chocolate for free! I definitely enjoyed my strawberry, lemon, and chocolate cone.

From Frigidarium I then made my way towards the Colosseum. I walked in a beautiful church, as well as past the Largo di Torre Argentina ruins, and the Altare della Patria building. I have visited Altare della Patria before, which has an amazing view on the roof that I highly recommend! The sun was absolutely killer, and it wa over one hundred degrees today, so the walk was pretty brutal, but definitely enjoyable as well. It’s hard to be upset about the weather (or anything for that matter) when you’re in Italy. I really appreciated how in Rome there are lots of places to refill your water bottle, because it definitely came in handy today.

When I got to the Colosseum I walked around and took pictures for a little while before heading inside. Yes I’ve been before, but like I said earlier, it’s a place that to me will never get old. There was a line for tickets but thankfully it moved pretty quickly. You can buy them online ahead of time, but I completely forgot until it was too late. Once inside I got an audio guide which I actually really enjoyed. It was nice because I could find a spot in the shade to listen to it, then walk in the sun again, stop and listen, and on and on. I walked around / sat and listened / marveled for about two hours before heading across the street to the Forum.

The forum is a really unique spot that you definitely shouldn’t miss. The entire area is huge, and although I had been before I feel like last time I didn’t see most of what all there was to see. I took my time and tried to see everything. The ruins are fascinating and there are many great views to be had of the Forum itself as well as of Rome and the Colosseum from inside. After spending another two hours in the Forum and staying until closing time, I then made my way towards dinner.

On my way I walked past Circus Maximus only because it was on my way. It’s probably the most disappointing sight in Rome if you go in having any sort of high expectation, which you shouldn’t. It is literally just a field that you walk by on the side of the road. The walk took about thirty minutes as I headed to the Trastevere area. I had done a lot of research on the best pizza places in Rome (of course) and tonight I decided to try Pizzeria Nerone. Man, was it a good decision. It was one of the best pizzas I have ever had! The restaurant itself was really small and quintessential Italian. The Margherita pizza was just so good, I definitely recommend it!

After dinner I had another thirty minute walk. This time, it was along the River Tiber. It was about 9pm, but Rome is always so lively that I have never felt unsafe here. I really enjoyed walking along the water because the views are amazing, especially once you get closer to Castel Sant’Angelo and The Vatican. After the long walk I was ready for my second gelato of the day! I tried Old Bridge Gelateria which was really close to The Vatican and Hearth Hotel. It was my second great gelato of the day!

When I got back to the hotel I met the owner, Guido. He was so cool and I loved talking with him about travel. At this point, he has been to more countries than me! I love that he turned his love for travel into such a warm and welcoming hotel. He told me he hopes that one day I can help someone like he helped me, which I hope to do!

By the time I got to my room my feet were dead and I was so tired, but it was all around an amazing day. I am really looking forward to day two tomorrow, as well as my time in Vatican City!

34 countries down, 162 to go.

Read about my day in Vatican City here.

Read about my second day in Italy here.

To learn more about Hearth Hotel click here.

Country #33 - San Marino

The Views

I spent a few days at home after visiting Cuba to regroup and figure out the plan for my trip from there. With almost all of Latin America and the Caribbean under my belt (except for Venezuela for obvious reasons and the Bahamas which I am just saving for later), I really appreciated having time to get organized and figure out my next steps. Due to financial constraints, the next few trips are going to be shorter and to Europe / the Middle East / Central Asia. This will allow me to fly home every few weeks to work on things and try to raise more money and find more sponsors. I just have to make sure I adhere to the requirement by Guinness that I travel every two weeks.

Anyways, now it’s time to talk about this trip! It took me a while to decide exactly how to proceed, so this trip is especially short, but it’s a really great one! I’m headed basically to Italy for four days - one day in San Marino (which is a country), one day of travel, two days in Rome, and half a day visiting Vatican City (also a country). So I’m hitting three countries on this trip without even leaving Italy!

I flew out of the country using an American Airlines family pass, which led to a pretty complicated travel day. I flew from Birmingham to Chicago, Chicago to JFK, and JFK to Milan. I was lucky enough to get business class from JFK to Milan, which was so nice because I was able to sleep on the flight for a few hours! After landing in Milan and going through immigration and customs speedily and with no problems, I took a train from the airport to Milano Centrale.

Milano Centrale is a beautiful train station and is probably one of my most frequented train stations in Europe. It is really common to transfer here when traveling in Italy, especially when transiting from France or Switzerland. I made my biggest transit mistake of the trip when I accidentally got on a slower train to Bologna. In my defense, I had zero sleep and why would it ever be a good idea to have two trains leaving for Bologna at the exact same time. Of all of the times I could possibly screw up on a train connection, this was definitely the best time for me to do so. I was only an hour late to Bologna and was able to use my same ticket to take a train to Rimini also just an hour later than I had planned. The best thing about the train mishap is that it will keep me alert to it more in the future. Also, side note, make sure when visiting San Marino you don't try to buy a train ticket all the way there. There is no longer a train station in San Marino, and the S. Marino train station on the Trenitalia website is near Venice.

After arriving in Rimini I had to wait almost an hour for the next bus to San Marino. You can buy tickets for the bus at the tourist information center right outside of the train station, or on the bus itself. The bus ride then takes an hour to get to San Marino. I was able to stay on the bus for an extra stop to be dropped off right outside of my hotel, San Marino iDesign Hotel, which was super convenient. The easy drop off was very much appreciated after such a long day spent getting to San Marino. It definitely isn’t the easiest country to get to!

After arriving I was greeted with a very warm welcome at San Marino iDesign Hotel. I was given a map with lots of helpful information about the city. After resting for a few minutes in my room, I headed downstairs to make my way up into town. I really appreciated the ride into town from San Marino iDesign Hotel because I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the uphill walk. Thank you so much to San Marino IDesign Hotel for sponsoring this night of my trip!

I could tell on the bus ride into San Marino that it would be beautiful and that the views were great, but being able to walk around and see it all was just incredible. There are rolling hills as far as the eye can see with the Adriatic Sea in the distance depending on which side of the city you are looking out from. There seriously was not a bad view from the city.

I spent an hour or so just walking around and taking plenty of pictures. I then found a spot to eat pizza with a view. The sun started to set while I was eating which was ideal. Eating my favorite food (I was basically in Italy so the pizza was the best) with an indescribable view made for a great evening after a hectic day of travel. I then walked back to San Marino iDesign Hotel, which was entirely downhill and very easy to walk to. I fell asleep super easily, and am really looking forward to spending a few more hours in San Marino in the morning before heading to Rome!

The Tour of Town

This morning I woke up and headed to breakfast, where I met Andrea. I had communicated with Andrea via email about my stay, and I was really glad to meet her in person! She gave me a tour of San Marino iDesign Hotel, which is filled with tons of awesome art as the owner is friends artists including the one who painted the really cool rooftop pool. After the tour, I checked out of my room, and Andrea drove me into town for a quick tour.

I loved getting to talk with her about her life, growing up in San Marino, and about the city itself. She had spent some time living in the U.S. which was also interesting to talk about. We walked around for about an hour and a half or so, and I really enjoyed learning about the city from her! We visited Basilica of St. Marino, saw more amazing views of course, and walked all the way to the top of the city, to Cesta Tower. We climbed up the tallest tower and could see so far from the top.

We walked for a little while longer and then headed back to the hotel. I had about forty-five minutes until the next bus, so I walked to a cute little shop down the street where I had a small pizza followed by gelato. This is basically all I will eat when in Italy because it is hands down the best meal in the world, especially when you get it in (basically) Italy.

San Marino is technically the oldest republic in the world, a fact that I had no idea about. I knew very little about San Marino before visiting, but I quickly fell in love. If you are every driving through Italy, definitely stop in San Marino (it is a much easier visit by car than by public transit). You can definitely do the whole country in a day as all you will want to see is in the historic city center. Being surrounded by Italy there are definitely tons of similarities between the two countries, but I loved the unique aspects of San Marino, especially its history.

After eating I said my goodbyes to everyone at San Marino iDesign Hotel. They were so helpful and went above and beyond throughout my stay. I really appreciate everything they did, especially Andrea taking the time to walk with me through town! I took the bus back into Rimini, where I then bought a train ticket to Rome. I didn’t buy my ticket ahead of time because I knew today would be a dedicated travel day, and I didn’t want to feel rushed this morning in San Marino. The ticket took me through Bologna again where I connected straight to Rome. I have visited Bologna on a previous trip, and honestly, it is not one of my favorite spots in Italy because there just isn’t a ton to do.

I made it to Rome before dark and took the metro from Roma Termini to the metro stop right by my hotel. During my time in Rome, I will be staying at Hearth Hotel, which is literally right across the street from the Vatican. Thank you so much to Hearth Hotel for sponsoring these nights of my trip! I was received with a very warm welcome and have a great room looking out at Vatican City. I left my things in my room to go grab a quick dinner. By the time I checked in it was after 9pm, so I headed to grab a really tasty prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich, which I then sat in front of St. Peter’s Basilica to eat. It’s definitely a dinner I will never forget, as you can’t really get a better backdrop than that!

After eating I took a few pictures and headed back to Hearth Hotel. I had a really great day today even though most of it was spent on a train, and I am really looking forward to the next few days in Rome!

33 countries down, 163 to go.

To learn more about San Marino iDesign Hotel click here.

To learn more about Hearth Hotel click here.