Hi! As you saw in yesterday’s post, our day in Rome continued after the tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica with a golf cart tour of Rome. In our tour’s itinerary, the evening was ours to do whatever our heart’s desired. You could fly solo or go out to dinner with the tour group. As we were prepping for the trip, my dad thought a golf cart tour would be fun and allow us to see all of the different landmarks in person as opposed to on the bus. We are all so glad he came up with this idea because it was SO much fun and the perfect way to see Rome! Check it out:

Our golf cart tour guide, Alessio, picked us up from our hotel promptly at five in the evening for a three hour tour of Rome. Johnny and I opted to sit in the backseat of the golf cart so we could face traffic and wave at everyone! As soon as we were buckled in, we hit the road and it was so crazy! I feel like there are no traffic rules when you drive in Rome and everyone just kind of does what they feel like lol. Our driver took us around with expert care but when we would go fast it was almost like being on a rollarcoaster! All we could do was put our hands up and enjoy the ride and we sure did. It was just really nice to do something on our own away from the group and it was so wonderful to take in the sights firsthand with the wind in our hair.

The first stop on the tour was the Colosseum and that was simply spectacular. We had seen it from the bus already but that is nothing like being outside and seeing it right before your very eyes. We spent some time taking pictures and marveling at such an incredible piece of history and then we stopped in a cute cafe for some gelato before we zipped over to the Trevi Fountain. This was my first taste of Italian gelato and the vanilla did not disappoint. It was so rich and vanilla-y and I couldn’t eat another bite by the time I was halfway done. How fabulous to see the Colosseum and have a little treat afterwards! 😀

The Trevi Fountain was our next stop and my favorite landmark of the night. I was expecting its location to be more pronounced like the Colosseum but the fountain actually emerged in the middle of a block filled with shopping. It was so random to see it in all of its glory in what felt like the middle of nothing! I don’t know if this is bad or not so you tell me but I had no idea what the Trevi Fountain looked like until that moment. I’m glad I didn’t, though, because it was even better than I could have imagined and I just wanted to dive right into the cool blue water!

After the fountain we made a few more stops at scenic areas for photo ops and ended at the Pantheon. By the time we got there, it was getting dark and it was beautiful to see the Pantheon all lit up. It wasn’t all beauty because someone in the square definitely got pick-pocketed – we could hear them yell “STOP! THIEF!” but when in Rome, I guess lol? Once we walked the space and took some pics, it was time to start heading back to the hotel and our tour guide recommended an excellent spot nearby to stop for dinner. We all could have used some real food after the gelato!

Alessio got us reservations at Terme Di Diocleziano and his recommendation was spot on. In fact, we all agreed that this was the best pizza we had in Italy, period. We got a veggie pizza, a spicy salami one for the non vegetarians, and a buffalo mozzarella and tomato which was my favorite. The crust was thin and crisp but the inside was soft, the tomato sauce was sweet, and the buffalo mozzarella was ooey gooey heaven. We barely had room for biscotti for dessert and basically had to roll ourselves back to the hotel. So worth it. 😀

Our whirlwind day in Rome concluded with a quick drink at the rooftop bar of our hotel before heading to Assisi the following morning. I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow!

Tune in tomorrow for the next stops on our tour of Italy: Assisi by day and Perugia by night. See you then!

What is your dream vacation location? Have you been to Italy before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah