Walking Challenge – Rome

Back in 2016, I took M to Rome. He had always wanted to go as it was a bit of a dream of his, who was I to deny him this? I, therefore, surprised him with a week trip. We had a great time, we ate great food, drank too much fine red wine, walked what seemed hundreds of miles, needless to say, we had the best time.

I was on Instagram and noticed an advert for a virtual walking challenge around Rome and could not resist. We cannot travel at the moment due to COVID-19, so why not tour the city virtually. The challenge was a limited-time challenge that hit all the major attractions we had visited 5 years ago. The challenge used my Apple Watch to monitor the steps and distance and maps it out where I was in the city with virtual postcards at all the major spots. It was nice to do and brought back more memories of what a great time we had.

Checkpoints

• Roman Forum (Start Point)
• Pantheon
• Villa Borghese
• Milvian Bridge
• Castel Sant’Angelo
• Vatican City
• St Paul’s Outside the Walls
• Catacomb of Callixtus
• Colosseum (Finish Point)

At each of the checkpoints and the “postcard’s”, there is a write up about the place giving the history and some interesting facts all with a virtual 360 visit to the site. Once at the end of the challenge I got a certificate and was sent a medal which can be seen below. The medal is really nice and as can be seen, is hinged to reveal another view of the city.

Until next time…

Rome

I love Rome, I feel my heart is there, and dare I say it, could easily think of it as my second home. If we were able, we would happily move there and spend the rest of our days there as our first home. We were there in November, the weather was perfect, we visited as much as we could, but this city is so full of history that it would take years of being there to see everything. We even spent two full days in Vatican City, and still never got to see everything in this micro-country, St Peters was that vast that even the 12 hours we spent there only revealed a small part. History was in abundance. One of my many favourite moments was sitting outside having breakfast in the shadows of the Coliseum on the Piazza del Colosseo thinking about the atmosphere back when it was first built.

This photo I took after climbing the Spanish Steps.

A beautiful city that will always draw me to it.

Itchy feet, the world is calling…

Flying over the Alps heading to Rome & Vatican City

I have itchy feet. I feel the need to travel again.  I think it is the summer that is starting to get me in the mood, not that it takes much.  I was in Rome in November, then in Amsterdam in February, and am going to be in Ireland in September.  So between my last holiday and my next, I feel I need to go away again.  It’s not going to happen, I know that, so maybe get a weekend away if I can, but restlessness is really taking hold.

I booked this evening my trip to Ireland, and first booked flights, car hire etc., then after reading all the BS with the car hire and having to pay an extra £60 for insurance to cover the excess.  After reading the very small print, the hire company would take a deposit from my card of £1,000.00, and would not pay it back for some time till they were happy that the car was in perfect condition.  This did make we wonder why I paid for excess insurance in the first place, so, I read their terms and any part of the £1,000 to £3,000 excess that the hire company took they would pay back to me within 28 days. The chance of me being charged would be near zero, but I did not like the idea of this chance of being taken for a ride and losing money by something going wrong, or a small print that excludes something. You know that little voice in the back of your head that starts talking to you, telling you that this sounds wrong. I tried to ignore it, and it persisted and went on and on, eventually, the alarm bells rang in my head.

With this, I hit the cancellation buttons on the flights, car hire, and insurance.  Needless to say, I lost money, only £40, which I can live with, and booked the ferry.  It is a bloody long journey of 8 hours sailing time, but in the end, it worked out close to £150 cheaper, taking into account airport parking £60, flights £110, baggage £25, seat costs £8, car hire £160, excess insurance £60.  I get to use my own car, which is a big-ass SUV.  If I wanted to hire the same car as mine for the week I was there it would cost me in the region of £600, so that was never going to happen.

I only have to wait 95 days now (and counting).  I will miss my dogs like mad, but the kennels we use are great, the people are lovely, and my girls seem to enjoy being there, almost like home from home.

I will have to start looking at a weekend or two away, for now, although we do have house guests in August, so that shortens the time frame, but I am sure I will manage something.