Should I could return to Rome tomorrow, I hope I would do all the things I glimpsed the first time round but was to busy being a ‘tourist’ to appreciate, or experience. Sure, I can say I’ve marvelled at the Coliseum. I’ve stared up into the oculus of the Pantheon, posed on the Spanish Steps and got sunburnt standing in a queue for the Vatican. I have got the pictures. But I have not really got Rome. For starters, I would have to slow myself down by a margin of about 50%. For all the hustle and bustle of Roman streets, no one is really hurrying. The Italians are adept at a certain type of contained energy that looks like a lot’s happening when really all that’s being discussed is where the next ristretto is coming from. If I am to learn to enjoy laid back Rome, I’m going to have to go native. To which end, after an early start wondering at the sights and smells of the Campo Fiori, buying string bags heavy with luscious lemons and oranges, their skin still dusty with that morning’s bloom, I would have coffee at Sant’Eustachio and fight my way to the counter to ...

People say that Paris in Spring time is for lovers. Well, that may be the case, but in my mind Italy is the place where you go when your love is wishing to express itself all year round and in any season with the partner you love. Rome is the ideal setting for couples who are wishing to enjoy the radiance of a city that is packed with interesting sights to see, beautiful food to awaken the senses and the sound of Italians enjoying life. Ancient moments and wondrous churches lead you past street cafes and Italian Piazza’s where the invite to break now and again for a gelato or a Cappuccino is irresistible. All is set against the back drop of a blue sky with bright sunshine that filters though through the roof tops. It is no wonder the love that was once ignited in those early days of romance is re-kindled and brought back to life once more. At the Trevi fountain, you throw three coins in the fountain and wish again. The cobbled lanes lead you from there to the Spanish steps, taking you up in the heat, like a stairway to heaven. When you wander through arches of ...

Two years ago and again during summer last year, my boyfriend Dominic and I travelled to Rome. It was my first holiday in about 10 years but for Dominic, he regularly goes as his uncle and aunt - Eugiene and Katia - live there. For as long as I have loved art, I have wished to see the Sistine Chapel and in Rome I had the chance! What a holiday! That was made all the more affordable (thank goodness) by the fact that we have family there. Saying that though, renting an apartment for a week or so is a good way of staying in Rome. As there is so much to see, I think having a base where you can completely relax is preferable. You can make packed lunches and your own meals, which saves some money. Not that the food is expensive or anything. It is reasonable and delicious in most restaurants. As the flight took over two 2 hours to reach Rome we caught one at about 6am – which gave us a whole day at our disposal as soon as we arrived. So an early night and plenty of sleep was on the cards, especially as Dominic and ...

I would return to Rome, the city of romance, because there just isn’t enough time to see and do everything in one long weekend. I see Rome as a giant pizza that you keep taking a bite out of now and again. It is so diverse that you could visit a dozen times and do and see something different every time. Rome is not the ‘sit on a bus’ type of sight seeing city – you have to like walking. It is also best if you buy a good Rome guidebook and plan your journey each day. All you need to know about Rome.We recently had a three-night break there and enjoyed every minute of it. On arrival we dumped our bags at the hotel and couldn’t wait to start exploring this beautiful city. We wandered along tiny lanes and alleyways and at dusk took a walk over the Ponte Cestio Bridge through the nooks and crannies of the Trastevere district and onto Tiber Island. This is a fascinating place full of esplanades, restaurants and stalls selling books, souvenirs and handicrafts. We had a delicious candlelit meal in one of the restaurants and I fell in love with this little island because ...

It's Halloween and we're out and about in Rome, dodging scooters and miniscule cars as we try to find somewhere to celebrate one of the stranger holidays of the year. There's a distinct lack of the costumed tom-foolery or gaudy orange decorations that would currently be adorning the pubs at home, making a valiant effort at spreading the party spirit in the cold, dark season preceding Christmas. I guess that's because costumed tomfoolery and gaudy decorations would be far too unfashionable for the people around me, the most fashionable human beings on the planet. I'm guided by the most-fashionable Aldo, a label-wearing Roman whom I'd known for an hour, and Ksenia, a very pretty Ukrainian girl who'd invited me out for an impossible to refuse Halloween beverage after we met at my hostel. The night had started with a drive in search of aperitivo, which ended at Campo Del Fiori, a great little square nearly halfway between the Coliseum and the Vatican. Aldo skillfully piloted his diminutive vehicle through the bustling back streets off Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, trying to squeeze into spaces, which I would have struggled to park my bike in. Eventually he found one to his satisfaction and levered ...

Because the last time I was there I was heavily pregnant, and every single person smiled at me, and wished me tanti aguri (best wishes). Everywhere else in the world I felt large, to say the least, and a strain on everyone but in Rome I was a welcome addition to society. In restaurants I was sent delicious dishes by chefs (that I didn’t order) and whenever I think of my midnight munchies- the pizza! Lordie lord the pizza! I became a regular at the Pizzeria da Baffetto (via del Governo Vechio 11), a roman institution and the queues that snake outside are testament to this. The large pizzas would feed a small village - all this for as little at 7 Euros for a meal. Oh and then there was the ice-cream! I should probably admit at this point that the chestnut ice-cream (a favourite of the late John Paul II I was told) is a memory that I will carry with me into my old age. Most Romans consider Giolitti (via Uffici del Vicario 40) to make the best gelato in Rome but I found it delicious wherever I bought it. What more can I say other than about food? The ...