Katie & Justin

In what felt like just a blink of an eye, we were already in Rome — the last stop on our trip. (The grand finale!)

I love Rome. It’s gritty, chaotic and, well, old. You don’t get the pretty sea views or a mountainous backdrop. But it’s so full of life. (“It’s very real,” as I would say to Justin.)

ROME

It had been six years since I was there last so I wasn’t sure how much I’d remember about getting around the city. Luckily things don’t change much around there. After we first arrived, I walked around a bit to reorient myself while Justin took a nap. (It had been a late night at the discoteca!) It didn’t take too long for me to find all of my favorite gelato shops… (So much gelato, so little time!)

It rained that evening so we waited out the storm inside the super cool apartment we rented near Piazza del Popolo. The place was amazing with long, horizontal windows carved across the entire living room. It also had two large patios overlooking the city and a neat “floating” staircase that led up to a loft. The elevator in the building, however, was one of the smallest I’ve ever seen. The two of us could barely fit inside at the same time!

It stopped raining early enough for us to still enjoy a night on the town. Rome is best viewed at night anyways. As in, the middle of the night, haha. My family always laughs about their visit to Rome, how I had them up till 3 a.m. walking from the Vatican to the Colosseum. And now it was Justin’s turn! We checked out Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and the cat pit, as I like to call it, which is an area with ancient ruins that also functions as a cat shelter.

We also visited the Trevi Fountain, but unfortunately it was under construction so there was a glass screen wrapping all the way around it and no running water. As the tradition goes, you’re supposed to throw a coin in the fountain to ensure you’ll be back to Rome another day. Justin tried to do it, despite the screen, and it didn’t go so well. You’ll have to check it out in the video!

Last but not least, we walked to the Spanish Steps. This was the best because at 2 a.m., there are absolutely no crowds. Instead there were just a handful of people, including a singer with a guitar who treated us all to some nice late-night tunes. (The next day we briefly passed through the same area and Justin couldn’t believe it was even the same spot because of how jam-packed it was.)

Our second day began with a cappuccino, followed by a nice long walk to the Vatican, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. We finished off the evening with a visit to a park above Piazza del Popolo, a pizza dinner and drinks outside the Pantheon (my favorite).

Sadly, our flight was early the next morning — which was hectic, to the say the least. We woke up later than we probably should have — considering we still had to walk to the subway, take the train to our car (we parked farther out to avoid driving in the city center), and then return our car to the rental place — wherever that may be — all before catching our 9 a.m. flight.

Heading to the airport, we thought there was no way we’d make it. It took some time trying to figure out where we were supposed to drop the car off, and then for whatever reason you had to get off on the third floor of the elevator to exit the parking garage… of course it wouldn’t be the first floor! (“It’s OK!”)

There was one thing after another but finally we made it to the front desk to check in. We were going to dump our luggage, thinking it would be easier, but it was already too late — they said we had to bring it on board with us.

“I think you must go as quickly as possible,” the guy at the desk told us. Off we ran — arms full of extra bags filled with food and other knickknacks we picked up along the way. Just when we thought we made it, we realized we still needed to take a little train to our gate. From there, we got hit with extra security.

Finally, we ran up to our gate, sweaty and out of breadth, just as the flight started boarding. We had plenty of time!

And in another blink of an eye, we were back to the real world…

FINITO!

Click here for Honeymoon Part 6: Amalfi Coast

Click here for Honeymoon Part 5: Abruzzo

Click here for Honeymoon Part 4: Treia

Click here for Honeymoon Part 3: Venice

Click here for Honeymoon Part 2: Verona

Click here for Honeymoon Part 1: Lake Como

To see all of our pictures from Italy, click here for our photo albums and then click on “honeymoon.” The location will show up when you click on each picture.