Day 1 - First Day in Rome

First day in Roma - part 1

Lasagna, Pizza, Beer and Italian orange soda

After checking in the hotel, we walked out and tried to look for food nearby.  We stopped by the Piazza della Repubblica.... and had our lunch there.... Nothing special, but the orange soda was quite refreshing.  So many birds will come to you when you eat at the outdoor terrace :)

After lunch, we basically just followed the map and walked to the Colosseum.  I researched on the underground tour for the colosseum online and talked to someone over the phone....I never got a proper reply back.  So we were heading there to see if we could book there.

Nope.  We couldn't book at the counter, we had to do it on the phone.  It was the most annoying thing ever to deal with that.  I wanted to book their official underground tour because they were the only tour that allowed their tourists to go to the "prohibited areas and the underground".  Apparently I had to call again to book.

It was about a 20 minutes walk....walking downhill?... We took a lot of photos there..just the outside of the colosseum.

When you thought the cobblestones were from ancient time...nope I just saw some were newly paved.. not sure about these ones

Tah dahhhh....finally arrived to the Colosseo ..... just going to take some photos from the outside for now

lots of ruins everywhere in Rome..

Just a day of exploring rome by following the tourist map :) we walked everywhere...

This auditorium looked like Colosseum

Some fountain in the middle of the road

Random Italian Restaurant in some back alley - Beef Carparcio 

Trevi Fountain finally :):) it looked bigger than I thought.  Night time wasn't crowded

Rome at night was quite peaceful :)

Rome - iQ Hotel Roma

iQ Hotel Roma:
via Firenza, 8 Roma

Termini station to iQ Hotel Roma:

After a comfortable first class ride from Florence to Rome's main train station (Termini), we looked at the map at the station.  It was approximate 10-15 minutes walk from termini to the hotel.  I googled map it the night before, so it wasn't too hard to find (must not repeat the "lost in Venice" incident again).

Lots of drinks to pick from...cheap too :)

General comments about hotel:
- hotel room was quite small

- the two beds were movable

- bathroom was very clean

- very nice terrace upstairs, must spend a night there chilling with snack and wine, play some fuse balls

- vending machines upstairs

- very good location, easy/moderate walk from hotel to Colosseum, Pantheon and Trevi fountain

- we pretty much walked to everywhere from hotel...even to spanish steps...etc....  

  - easy walk to metro

  - highly recommended ! :)