Rome: First 3 Days

This post documents my first three days in Rome. I will stay another three days.

They say: “All roads lead to Rome.” Well, I’m finally here.

My first impression was how crowded the Rome Termini train station is. No wonder that Anne didn’t want to go to Rome.

On my arrival day, I didn’t do much except for checking into the YellowSquare Rome hostel, which is one of the best hostels here. They gave me a free drink voucher and informed me there’s free pasta at 6:30 PM everyday. YellowSquare Rome hostel seems to own half of the city block. It has a co-working space, a bar, a laundry room, and two buildings for dorms. I did laundry in the afternoon and it was expensive, around €12 for washing and drying.

The following morning, I was more energetic and walked all the way to Villa Borghese, a park on the north side of Rome. It was nice to get a sense of the city by walking on its streets. I liked the sidewalks here better than Florence since they are wider and more comfortable to walk on. The park itself has an obelisk called the Pinciano. There’s also an art museum called Galleria Borghese. Other than these attractions, I didn’t find the park to be very interesting.

I couldn’t walk more in the afternoon because of the pain from the blister on my left foot so I came back to the hostel after about three hours of walking.

I met a girl named Alexandra in my dorm. She’s a psychology student and has stayed in Rome for about a week already. When we were eating the free pasta at the hostel bar we also met Joel. Joel is from Switzerland and will spend two days and one night in Rome. He agreed to come with me the next day to explore more of Rome.

Yesterday, I met Joel at the train station and waited for Makrand to arrive from Milan. I had met Makrand in Florence before and he’s coming to Rome for a day trip. The three of us walked the entire day and visited many notable sites, such as the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Capitoline Hill, Piazza Venezia, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Popolo. We didn’t go inside the Colosseum since that required tickets, but we did wait in line for the tickets to go inside the Pantheon.

I didn’t know the Pantheon is actually a religious temple for all gods since the Romans believed in many gods. I later learned from a Rick Steves audio tour that the Pantheon is exactly 142 feet tall and 142 feet wide. I also wondered about the oculus in the ceiling and what would happen when it rains. It turns out there are holes on the floor that’s below the oculus and the floor is slanted so the rain water can be drained from the holes. Since I listened to the audio tour a day after I had visited the Pantheon, I didn’t realize that the Renaissance painter, Raphael, is buried in a tomb inside the Pantheon, along with the founder of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, and other Italian monarchs.

Around 5 PM, Joel had to catch the train to the airport to go back to Switzerland. Makrand took the subway to Vatican City. I decided to take the subway back to the hostel since I had difficulties walking any farther. Makrand would meet me at the hostel one last time before he departed on a night train back to Milan.

At the hostel bar, I met an Indian-American girl named Prachi who just finished college in San Diego and is spending five weeks in Europe. We ended up getting some excellent gelato together at Gelateria La Romana dal 1947. They were the best gelato I had and at a very reasonable price of €3.50. The gelato I had in Florence was about three times the price and it didn’t compare to the one I had in Rome.

Back at the hostel bar, there was a game of Pictionary going on that Prachi and I joined. I had a great time guessing movie titles, but no one was able to guess my Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon movie. I think that’s because the audience was too young to have watched that.

Today, I’m checking out of YellowSquare Rome hostel and moving to Alessandro Palace & Bar hostel that’s around the corner. There’s nothing wrong with my current hostel, but I like to spread my money around so there’s more competition between the two places. Also Alessandro Palace & Bar is a little cheaper.

Tomorrow, I’ll go to Vatican City since I had bought a ticket to the Vatican Museums for that day before my trip. Then the next day I will go inside the Colosseum since I also purchased a ticket well in advance.

Arrived in Rome Termini train station