Rome

Hello!!

Today we will dive into pasta, pizza and all of the carbs… AKA Rome. We will discuss how large the city is, and just how much there is to see. As well as little nuggets to consider before planning your vacation. Again, if you don’t care at all about our trip, and are just here to see what I’m eating this week and workout stuff, just head all the way to the bottom to see that info!

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“Rome wasn’t built in a day.” We have all heard that one, but seeing it really put it into perspective. Trying to blog about the city in just one day will also be a challenge, but challenge accepted. The city is massive, but if you are up for it, can totally be walked! It is a very busy place, and sights can get very touristy, so be prepared to wiggle through the crowds. I HIGHLY recommend wearing the sandals and wristlet I recommended in the Barcelona post. If you are really interested in the history and learning about all of the sights, I would suggest staying longer than we did (3ish days) . We did the Richardson Turbo Tour edition of Rome. The entire city has an old beauty to it. Some of the roads are more narrow than others, and randomly take weird turns. You can tell the roads were built around the city. Things aren’t just torn down to widen a road, or to add something new and fancy. Last, but not least, the food was to die for! Rome won in the food department for sure!

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Rome

• Le Meridien Visconti Rome – By this point in the trip, we were starting to get pretty tired, and it was nice to stay in another “real” hotel. This hotel was beautiful, and had nice accommodations. We were able to have breakfast every morning, and workout in the gym. This hotel is located on “the other side of the Tiber river” so, it’s a little bit farther away from all of the sights, besides the Vatican. However, we kind of liked that we had, what felt like, a smaller little city to hang out in when we were done with our touring.
• Miss Pizza – We were short on time, because we pre ordered tickets to the Vatican, but Joe and I both really needed to get our pizza fix. Miss Pizza was across the street from our htel. It was not the beeest pizza we had, but it was still very good and very convenient. It’s pre-made pizza, setup buffet style. You pick a slice or two with the toppings you want, and they stick it back in the brick oven to heat it up before serving it. It hit the spot.
• Vatican City/ Sistine Chapel – Our flight landed in Rome at a decent time, so we decided to dedicate the rest of this day to going to the Vatican/Sistine Chapel. EVERYTHING I read said that the lines were terrible, and you must get a skip the line pass. We also read that the later you go the worse it would be. We did get skip the line passes, because we had a pretty late time slot. I guess we got lucky, because there were literally 4 people in front of us. However, once we got into the museum, we were packed in like sardines. As you all know by now, we aren’t tour people… so no tour for us! Most people can spend half to a full day here. Call it embarrassing, or call it impressive… Joe and I spent an hour. We saw the things we wanted to see, and were ready to go. It is beautiful, and a must see for sure, but I don’t need to spend a day there. NOTE: no photos from the Sistine Chapel, because you are not allowed to take photos there.

• Morrisons – This was a little pub we went to probably every day. We never stayed very long, but it was on “our” side of the river, so we typically went before dinner to have a beer and watch soccer or tennis. The bartenders were great, and the beer was good. Just a chill place to hang out for a bit.

• Cacio e Pepe– Excuse me while I wipe the drool of my face from just thinking about this place. We had dinner here our first night, and our last night. I’m kicking myself for not getting a picture! This was true Italian pasta. You could tell the noodles were homemade, and I kind of liked the fact that the servers didn’t speak English well… made it feel authentic. They don’t give you menus, they just point to a big chalkboard outside of the restaurant that has the food listed on it. They have half serving portions of pasta, so naturally we got 3 and split them all. ALL GOOD!
• La Romana– We ended out night with gelato. YUM! It was delicious, and the perfect treat! (still didn’t compare to the baklava gelato in Santorini)
• Spanish Steps – We woke, had breakfast and headed of to see the sights! We started with the Spanish Steps. It was pretty early, and it was already pretty crowded, but nothing overwhelming. The steps are massive (a word I will probably use a lot in this post , so I’ll go ahead and keep track. 1) so there was plenty of room to climb the steps and take pictures! After climbing to the top, and Googling “Spanish Steps” so we knew what we were looking at…. we headed to the Trevi Fountain.

• Trevi Fountain – This was a little bit more crowded. I did some jumping and squatting that I probably shouldn’t have done in a dress. But WOW! This fountain is massive (2), and so detailed. There is really nothing to “tour”, and yet there are hundreds of people just staring at it’s beauty. After we took our pictures, we tossed our coins in, and it was on to the next!

• Campo de Fiori – We wandered on, and found ourselves at Campo de Fiori. There was a cute little market, selling fresh produce, clothes, drinks and much more. We walked around the market for a while, before we decided to continue on.
• Piazza Navona – We then walked to Piazza Navona. Here you find buildings all in a circular form, almost making the shape of a stadium… because it used to be one. Had we been hungry, this would have been the cutest place to stop and get lunch. Unfortunately, we weren’t quite ready for lunch yet, so we just walked around, popped in a church and took some pictures.

• Scholars Lounge – We had been walking all morning, and had another decent walk from Piazza Navona to our next destination… well, I needed to use the restroom. We just so happened to be passing by an Irish pub, so we stopped in for the restroom, and stayed for the beer. We only stayed for one beer, but it was nice to be in some AC (not something that was common in Barcelona, Santorini or Rome) and be off our feet for a second. We tend to stop at Irish pubs often, because they have good beer, and usually speak English.
• Piazza Venezia – I told y’all we did the Richardson Turbo Tour… while we were crossing the street, we stopped to take pictures in front of the Piazza Venezia. Again, this thing is massive (3) and had so much detail. We ended up walking past this building multiple times, and we noticed something different every single time.

• Colosseum– We finally made it to the Colosseum! This is where the pick pocketers, and people selling random things come to play! There are these men that are trying to sell you something, and shake your hand (to distract you to steal you ish). I was not a fan of that, and was holding on to my things for dear life. I was like,  “Joe, check your pockets” and he was like, “Megan, you have all of my belongings, I don’t have anything in my pockets” BUUUT back to the Colosseum, it was, wait for it, massive (4). It’s crazy to think about the fights and other crazy things that went on in this building. We did not go in, but I do think we would have enjoyed this tour. We just didn’t have the time this trip… guess we will have to go back.

• La Nostra Pizzeria Ambasciata Di Capri- Ok guys, this was MY meal. Joe was a peach, and ordered all of my favorite Italian things for us to share. I loved everything about this place. It’s one thing to be able to order most of your favorite foods at one place, but for all of it to taste amazing too. Winning! We had fried calamari, caprese salad and margarita pizza. Let me pause to daydream about this meal for a second.

• Trastevere – The next morning, we got up and walked to Trastevere. This is like it’s own little town. I thought all of Rome had a cultural, untouched vibe, but Trastevere takes the cake. It was adorable, and colorful, and unique, and full of culture. We walked around, and saw many different things, but the most notable was the Basilica of Santa Maria. This is one of the oldest churches in Rome. We went in several churches throughout our time in Rome, and the inside of these churches are jaw dropping.

• Trattoria Memmo– On our walk back to the hotel, hangry Megan started to make an appearance. One of those moments where it just hits you… you are hungry, and need to eat ASAP. We didn’t even try to look anything up. We saw a restaurant, and we stopped to eat. It ended up being delicious. We got spaghetti and we got meatballs, and shared them both. Why we did not just order spaghetti and meatballs (as one dish) I do not know??

• Fennegan Irish Pub – We went back to the hotel to get ready, and then walked back into the city for our plans we had for the. We ended up being early, so we found ourselves at yet again, another Irish pub. This place was super low key, and the bartenders were nice. We didn’t spend much time here, but it was fun.
• Cavour 313 – Remember back in the Barcelona post I said we did a wine tasting, a wine pairing and a wine tour. This is where we had our wine pairing! This place was adorable. It had such an Italian feel to it. Our sommelier was very sweet, and knew what he was talking about. We had a small group of only 10, which was nice for learning and asking questions. We started with a quick overview of Italian wine, and then he brought out the good stuff! 3 different wines, and an assortment of cheese and meat. We learned about each wine, tasted them solo, tasted them with the food that paired well with them and tasted them with food that did not pair well, so we could taste the difference. I enjoyed all of the wine, but lets be real… the cheese was my favorite part.

• Da Diego – After our pairing we were ready for dinner. On our walk to the hotel we found this place tucked between some building (as most restaurants in Rome are) called Da Diego. We had some very good bruschetta and some pasta, and were happy campers.
• La Carre Francais – We couldn’t end the night without a sweet treat in our bellies, so we stopped for crepes! LaCarre Francais was back on “our” side of the river. We walked by, and thought it looked cool. We walked in, and I thought… uh oh, this place may be too fancy?? But we went for it anyway. The crepe was the bomb, and thinking about it has me wanting chocolate right now… We split a chocolate crepe, and headed home!

• Bike tour– On our last day in Rome, we decided to do a bike tour. These were electric bikes, so the 4 hour tour didn’t seem so bad! Some notable highlights for me were the Appian Way and the Aqueducts. There is so much history about the Appian Way that you can read up on your own, but walking on a road that could possibly be one of the oldest road still in existence felt pretty cool. Now to these aqueducts. Basically, in Rome you can drink any running water that comes out of anything! It all comes from these aqueducts. Seriously, I saw people drinking water from fountains… like statue fountains. They also have these constantly running fountains (they look kind of like fire hydrants) all over Rome that you can drink out of. *One of the most interesting things we learned about Rome was how they reuse everything. For example, currently, the Colosseum looks like it was made out of dirt. However, it once had marble all over it. In Rome, once something is not being used anymore, it gets re purposed elsewhere. This goes for a lot of things. Our tour guide pointed out a building that had 6 columns that were the same, and then the outer 2 were different. Those two were re purposed from an old building. We really enjoyed the bike tour, and it was a nice way to see the outskirts of the city.

• Cucina Tipica Romana – After 4 hours on a bike, we were both really hungry. We got, wait for it, pizza and pasta and split them! Shocking, I know! This place was just as cute as all the others, and just as good. I don’t think I could ever get sick of pizza.

Overall thoughts on Rome, it was magnificent. There is SO much to see and do, and you just have to figure out how you want to see it all. The city is gorgeous, and feels untouched. People spoke less English here, but they understood it well. The sights were massive (5) and full of so much history. I’m still learning things about the sights we saw. The food was everything I imagined it would be, and more! Italy, I will be back for more of you!

 

Okay, now lets talk about some healthy food… I was feeling pretty lazy with meal prep this week, but it was all still delicious!

 

7:00AM – Shakeology (Greenberry), frozen berries, almond milk, water, ice

 10:00AM – tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, basil and feta cheese

12:00PM – I normally go for a hot lunch… but I was feeling lazy, and just really wanted a sandwich. Have you ever just been like, man, a plain ol sandwich sounds so good – sandwich thins, turkey, spinach, tomatoes and mustard. It really hit the spot!

3:30PM – (pre workout meal) Beachbody Beachbar << sooo yummy! I always feel like I need a little treat as my workday is winding down, and these beachbars are really doing the trick. I also had some carrots.

4:30PM – Beachbody Energize

5:00PM– Workout

6:00PM– Beachbody Recover and cherries

7:00PM –  Joe was out of town most of the week, so you know what that means…. BREAKFAST FOR DINNER! I sauteed some onions for my (1) scrambled egg, and put some pico de gallo on top, (1) turkey sausage link, (2) pieces of Udi’s Bread with butter and cucumber slices on the side.

**Can y’all believe it… I went one whole week without putting Sriracha on something?!**

My 80 Day Obsession Challenge Group started this week, and I am loving hearing from all of my ladies! I am pushing even harder this time around in my 80 days, and am excited to see the results we all get! I’m thinking about starting a generic challenge group, for people doing any Beachbody workout. I’ll keep you posted on that!

Until next time!

♥Megan♥