Postcard #2: Roaming in Rome

Aloha mai kākou! 

Hi friends!! If you’ve read my previous postcard, or plan to read my future ones, I have decided we’re now friends. So I hope you’re doing well and ready to strap in for this update, because it's a long one (feel free to skip to the end.)

Last weekend, I went on my very first trip to Rome! I don’t have much travel plans this semester, so this was definitely a spontaneous trip.

We, my roommate and I, arrived in Rome at 6am carrying our heavy bags (one each), and since we couldn’t check into our hostel until 3pm, we basically had to lug everything around the city for hours. My shoulders were SO sore. It was also pouring rain, so at one point we hid in a McDonald’s for about an hour just to sit down, dry off, and charge my phone. 

Which taught me a couple random but very important travel tips:

• Always check whether your hostel allows early check-in or has lockers you can rent. Ours did, but we didn't know until the next day…

• McDonald’s in Rome makes you pay to use the bathroom. So buy the cheapest item on the menu (usually less than 1 euro), then bring your receipt to the counter and ask for the bathroom ticket. You’re still paying, but at least you get something out of it while spending less.

Even though we were carrying our bags around all day, we didn’t experience any pickpockets, but definitely stay aware of your surroundings and you will most likely be fine. Just be cautious.

On the first day, we visited the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and went into a Brandy Melville, and then walked next door into one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso. The rain actually worked in our favor that day because all of these places were relatively empty. Finally, we ended the day with a fun Valentine’s Day dinner at Trattoria Sapori Di Casa, where I had the BEST tiramisu of my life. If you are a self-proclaimed tiramisu connoisseur like myself, you need to try it. It honestly ruined all other tiramisus for me, in the best way possible.

The next day, we visited the Colosseum and tried to see the famous keyhole, but the line was way too long so we skipped it and went to the Porta Portese Market. We tried maritozzo, then slowly made our way back toward the hostel, grabbed boba along the way, and somehow ended up back at Brandy and then the church again. Plus some other places I can't remember. By the end of the day, we hit 30,000 steps. And I am not exaggerating, my Converse had my feet absolutely dying. Rome has a lot of hills and the cobblestones are no joke, so bring comfortable walking shoes. Rome also has a very different feel from Florence. It’s bigger, busier, and more chaotic. You can turn a corner from a borderline run-down street and suddenly there’s a beautiful historical landmark right in front of you. But I digress.

You would think this is the end of the story, but no. Buckle up buttercup, because our real adventure started on the way back to Florence.

As we were finding our way back to our hostel, both mine and my roommates' phones died. We relied on our memory for a bit, but when that failed, we tried asking a woman for help, but there was a language barrier and she seemed in a rush. While walking, we saw a family looking at a restaurant's outdoor menu and asked if they spoke English. Thankfully they did. They even went out of their way to walk us to their nearby hotel and helped us get a physical paper map from the front desk. The staff even drew our route for us. Granted, we still got a little lost and had to stop at a random café to ask where we were, but we eventually made it back to the hostel, and it would not have been possible without the help of those kind strangers.

After charging our phones and grabbing some free pasta from a bar across the street (courtesy of our hostel, shoutout YellowSquare Rome), we rushed to catch our train. Navigating the station was very chaotic. We had to find the right platform, make sure we were boarding the correct train, all while on a serious time crunch because we still needed to get to another station to catch our FlixBus. Thankfully, I asked a trio of young Italians nearby for help, and they were so SO kind. They even pulled out Google Translate to understand our exact plans and made sure we knew exactly which stop to get off at. I honestly wish them the best in life and hope they know how much I appreciated their help. But in the end, we made it back to Florence.

That ended up being long, but if you made it this far, mahalo for reading. I hope my chaotic experience entertained you or maybe even helped you in some way. If you don’t read anything and just skipped to the end, know this.

Moral of the story: Closed mouths don’t get fed. If you want to do something, go for it. If you need help, ask. The worst someone can say is no, but more often than not people are kinder than you expect, and somehow it works out in the end. Until then, stay tuned for my next postcard from Alisha Abroad. 

A hui hou.