TRAVEL RECAP: ROME DAY 2

And so began Day 2 in Rome, after a free walking tour which really helped center us, we just decided to wander, to get a little lost. We knew we wanted to stop by Vatican City and the Colosseum, but the rest of the day was completely unplanned.

Some other cool pointers not captured by pics.

Hotels in Rome and Italy more generally can be expensive so we chose to go with an affordable B&B this time around. Affordable doesn't mean you have to lose out on quality. Seven Suites was very clean with nice thoughtful design, albeit not exactly city center.  It was actually tricky the first day because we made our plans around the subway which is a 6 minute walk from B&B. Unfortunately, the trains were on strike our first day there.  We only later discovered a very convenient bus that stopped just a block away.

images via SevenSuites

The best discovery was that we were in a neighborhood that comes alive at night with tons of young people and new hip restaurants. We went to a super chill and highly recommended restaurant/bar/hangout for the "cool kids" called Porto Fluviale.  It's on Via Del Porto Fluviale or Porto Fluviale street which you should stop by regardless for the really impressive and colorful murals.

Image via Parole in Viaggio

We also fell upon Monti neighborhood, which as an easy reference point, I'll just compare to hipster Brooklyn. Cool little bars and restaurants offering affordable aperitifs, buffet spreads that aren't what you might expect and even a designer and vintage market (Mercato Monti) that goes into the night that reminded me of Brooklyn Flea.All in all, Rome was super fun, too bad only had 3 nights and 2 full days. The next morning we got back on subway to Roma Termini headed to Matera. P.S. the first subway we rode on was completely reminiscent of NYC in the 80's, graffiti scrawled, no air condition, Coming to America style subway. So while some of the old trains are still in use, we also had the much more modern trains like below.