C l a r i M i c h e l e

Rome / Tivoli / Assisi / Florence

Probably the best thing about working in the UK is the amount of required holiday for employees. In the US, I was content with 10 vacation days a year, but now I get 25 -not including bank holidays!!! As I typed the title of this post, I was reminded of how I saved up holiday time over several months for our honeymoon. Times have certainly changed, and now I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back to an American company…

The awesome holiday situation here means Andrew and I are more free to travel -which is great because we have a travel bucket list that’s a mile long. We decided to do a bit of travelling over Easter, and finally agreed on Italy for the food, sunlight, and history. We started in Rome, and took the train from there to Assisi and Florence.

Rome

On our first day in Rome, we went to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps.

The next day we went to Palatine Hill, the Forum, and Colosseum. It was my first visit to Rome, and coming out of the Colosseo metro station to be greeted by ancient ruins was pretty incredible.

After exploring ruins, we went to the Capitoline Museum.

There was a really nice rooftop café at the museum with a great view.

My favourite activity that we did in Rome was a food walking tour by Walks of Italy. It was a bit pricey, but it was a unique experience that we couldn’t have organised on our own. Our guide led us through a traditional Roman market, and we sampled various olive oils, balsamic vinegar, and bread.

Then we went to a cured meat shop, and got to taste salami and prosciutto in the back room.

We also went to a cheese shop and sampled cheeses -I could have stayed there all day. The tour ended at a pizzeria where we tried our hand at making pizzas and ate way way too much.

 

Tivoli

Whilst staying in Rome, we took a bus outside the city to spend the day in Tivoli. After a few days surrounded by crowds in Rome, it was nice to have a quite day to ourselves. We went to see Villa D’Este, and spent several hours exploring the villa and gardens.

Assisi

We spent two days in Assisi, and it might be the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to. I don’t know, but it’s up there.

On our second day in Assisi, we hiked to Eremo delle Carceri, a hermitage a few kilometres outside the city.

We finished off the day at Rocca Maggiore, a castle overlooking the city.

Florence

We made it to Florence on Good Friday, and tried to see as much of the city as we could before things shut down for Easter.

On Easter Sunday, we watched the Scoppio del Carro, or “Explosion of the Cart“celebration. Andrew was a pro at taking photos over the heads of the people in front of us. I on the other hand could barely see through the crowd, but it was still a really memorable experience.

Until next time Italia!