Our Roman Holiday at the Outset of the Pandemic Outbreak

We happened to visit Rome, last February(2020) when Italy was about to become the world’s worst Covid-19 affected countries. We were oblivious of the virus outbreak there, and we had this trip planned months in advance. At that time, there was just one case in Germany from where we started. We (un)fortunately didn’t check the number of cases or severity in Italy. We met my husband’s colleague at the station, who was traveling elsewhere; who lightly hinted that there is coronavirus in the air there. We however didn’t even think about giving heed and jumped into our train as we lugged the baby stroller and our luggage along. We were going. The four of us, me, my husband, our two kids who were about eight and two at that time.

We chose an overnight ICE train because it was cheaper by 50% compared to air, and with kids, we thought that a little space to move around during travel would be nice; especially with a hyperactive toddler. No regrets about that.

The train chugged towards Roma Termini the next morning at 10.00 AM, nearly 1.5 hours late. Be prepared! That’s the norm there, as you’ll see later in this article.

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One thing you must carry on your trip to Rome with a baby is — A very compact foldable umbrella stroller. I’d read enough of the very narrow footpaths, roads, and alleys with mostly cobbled stones not being stroller-friendly. The paths don’t have a sloping entry and exit for the strollers or wheelchairs anywhere.

The buses seemed very crowded. My husband and daughter got inside a bus to enquire the driver about a 90-minute-validity ticket, which we thought would be ideal for us first to get our exhausted selves to our hotel. I was waiting on the platform with my toddler son to see if we could get a ticket from the driver. We were still unsure of the bus number to take to our hotel. The driver, who couldn’t understand English, started the bus and sped off.

I watched in panic-stricken horror as the bus left the bus station, leaving my toddler and me behind in an unknown country, that speaks a foreign language. My eyes followed the bus to see if it stops for a while because it slowed down a few feet away from the station. I thought we could get inside or at least my husband and daughter are stepping out. Hell No! It just sped away, with my husband and daughter in it.

My mobile battery was weaker than I seemed to be at a mere 8%. Much to my dread, I realized that all our luggage was also with me on the platform. I quickly called my husband, who didn’t receive the call the first three times I tried. He was attempting to communicate with the arrogant driver who cared a damn about foreigners or foreign languages, he told me later. Finally, when he picked the call on my 4th attempt, he asked me if we got on the bus!

Heck! He assumed we got on the bus from the back door(which wasn’t open, by the way). He said he’d walk back after getting down at the next stop. I asked him if he knew that our daughter was also there with him and reminded him to get her down from the bus when he steps out. Forgetful men! or carefree, should I say? They got down and walked back to where we were, and we all got on to the next bus together(phew!) and managed to reach our hotel(Bed Rooms Rome). At last.

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We freshened up a bit and started off to start our Day 1 itinerary.

Day1: Colosseum

The weather was pleasant. It was a feel-good 17 degrees. It’s easy to maneuver Rome with a pass that can be used in metro trains and city buses. You can buy it at Metro stations(like we did) or a few tiny shops with “Pass Sold” signs displayed at their storefront.

We bought a 48 hr travel pass, which included discounts for many sights. However, we made a massive blunder; we forgot to punch the pass, the first time we got on a bus. The 48 hr pass is actually valid for 48 hrs from the first time you stamp it. Our ignorant assumption that it was valid for 48 hrs from the time we bought the ticket was so wrong. It cost us a dear 100 euros on the spot.

You’ll find the ticket checking squad (2–3 officers) barge into the buses almost at every stop. As we cooly showed our ticket, we were taken aback when he mentioned that we hadn’t stamped it and so we got to pay a whopping fine of 100 euros per head. Children under 10 travel for free. And if you pay by cash, there’s a 50% discount on the fine. Holy sh*t! My husband coughed the 108 euros, to be precise, as we stood embarrassed, watched by the other passengers from the corner of their eyes.

We made it to Colosseum. It’s a good idea to get a 2-day ticket(online) to Colosseum that includes a visit to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill that are in the same complex and so worth the time and the money.

Make sure you read a little bit of history before you visit Colosseum. There would be a guide in there, but you’ll really enjoy it more when you already know what you are about to see. You can sense the excitement around as if we were literally going inside to be a spectator of some grand show happening inside the Colosseum on the center stage.

It feels truly dramatic. Especially if you’ve read about gladiators or watched that movie. You can truly imagine the ship battles thousands of people watched there. We spent the whole afternoon roaming inside the Colosseum, with the audio guide for company. I admit that I couldn’t hear everything as our 2-year-old, who was a bit exhausted, wanted to be comforted on and off. He was excited about the phone thingy and kept grabbing it from me and pressing random numbers and hearing stuff. On the other hand, my 8-year-old girl could easily be a walking marathoner. Never did she complain of tiredness ever. She was that one easy kid.

The Colosseum was barely crowded, and we, in fact, had a leisurely visit, though it was a holiday season. It felt strange to feel lonely there. We ate at a local pizzeria in the evening and called it a day.

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Day 2: Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain and, The Pantheon

After breakfast, we headed towards the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, which are close to the Colosseum. We clicked pictures of the Roman ruins as we tried to read a little bit of history about them mentioned there.

The Roman Forum and Palatine hill have the same entrance, where they punch your ticket to mark your entry for both the attractions. Once you are done viewing either of them, you got to head back to where you started and go to the other side for the other attraction.

Once we were done with Roman Forum, we accidentally stepped out along with a small crowd and realized we had to head back to where we started to cover the Palentine Hill experience. Sadly, we weren’t allowed back. But that’s how it works. You can still view it from the street. Just keep this in mind when you visit these places.

There’s a main road running over the top of these two ruins. You can stand on the walking path and have a decent view, which was a saving grace for us. So as planned, next, we headed to Trevi Fountain.

En route, we found “The tomb of an Unknown Soldier.” It’s a First World war memorial with a crypt of an unknown soldier. I’d recommend going there because it has beautiful architecture, and when you go up nearly 500 steps, you get to see a bird’s eye view of the Colosseum and other surrounding ruins. The kids enjoyed going up the stairs. It was still morning, and we all were charged up. That’s one more reason we went there.

Trevi is not like your city center fountain. It is the largest Baroque fountain in the world. Meaning it has an exquisite architecture that has a story to follow along with the fountain. The Trevi has been featured in many films like “The Romans Holiday,” “Three Coins in the fountain,” and many more.

We stopped for lunch at a small Kiosk. I had googled for “best pizza near me” and found one highly rated place. When we walked to the place, it was just a tiny outlet, but the pizza the pizzeria dished out was out of the world. So you can just google any nearby eatery wherever you are in Italy, and you’ll never be disappointed. Pizza is as regular as coffee in Rome. I barely remember that place’s name, but eventually, we figured that when in Rome, you’re never too far away from their staple, a soul-filling Pasta or Pizza. Also, eat your fill of Gelato icecreams. You’ll find these tastes better in here, than any non-Italian place you’ve ever tried before. I can assure you that much. Yet again, we noticed how many restaurants were closed and those that were open were maybe 50% full or lesser.

We noticed many closed restaurants and those that were open were maybe 50% full or lesser.

Pantheon was next on our list, and it should be on every visitor’s itinerary. It’s a Roman Temple, with a history dating back to the 7th century. The dome has a circular opening at the top, so the interiors get plenty of natural light for the most part of the day. It‘s also the home to crypts of a few famous Italian sculptors, poets, and writers. We could in fact have this landmark for ourselves for a good 30 minutes. There were hardly 10 people inside.

Piazza Navona is another typical fountain square in Rome which we discovered as we walked to our hotel room. It has many restaurants in that alley with benches to sit with a drink and have a lovely evening. It’s a commercial place with bars and restaurants around, children can roam freely around the fountain. We didn’t see any vehicles around the area, which was a bonus.

While we headed home, we came across an Indian restaurant called Kohinoor. It was just a furlong away from our hotel “Bed Rooms Rome.” It was 7 PM. Dinner time was 7.30 PM. It had started to rain. The owner of the restaurant ushered us inside. The restaurant was empty, and we were skeptical to go. But since we were with kids and could get some respite from the rain, we went inside.

We were told we can have some snacks or beverages till dinner time begins. We decided on a cup of hot ginger tea. It felt good to hold something warm that cold and rainy evening, and it tasted like heaven. I realized how much we needed that bit of refreshment.

It felt a bit eerie in the dim light because no one was in the restaurant apart from our family. We thought as dinner time advances, people may drop by. Dinner arrived. We could hear the owner’s little son doing a math problem on the other wing of the hotel. To be honest, there was nothing wrong or bad with the dinner. It was just what we expected. Dal makhani, Mixed vegetable curry, and Vegetable Biriyani were the main course spread. Maybe because it was the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, there were hardly any tourists, we reasoned.

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Day 3: The Vatican Museums and Santa Marinella Beach

The Vatican is the smallest country in the world and it lies inside Rome city. It has an area of 49 hectares (0.49 square kilometers) and a population of about 825. Bed Rooms Rome, our hotel is about 600m to The Vatican. Staying so close to The Vatican gave us the luxury of just walking to the place. We left our room at about 6.30 in the morning to avoid the rush, and by 7 AM, we were inside the St Peter’s Basilica.

The St Peter’s Basilica exudes the charm of an iconic building with its grand stature. It beckons you like a supreme master. We stood awestruck with the sheer size of the basilica. We were in amazement as we took in the world’s most beautiful and most significant Church in front of us. The Church was almost empty with just a handful of tourists like us. The Covid-19 scare was literally staring us in the face now.

The home of the Pope and the burial site of Jesus’s first apostle “Peter” brought shivers down my spine as I thought about all the history I had read about this place. No church should be raised above “The Vatican” was one of the rulings, which is still in force.

It also boasts of hosting the works of Italy’s finest sculptors. The Pietà, which is Michaelangelo’s most famous work, lives here. The St.Peter’s basilica warrants a whole blog for itself. You can never read enough about it. I can only say, it is one marvelous thing you must see in life to believe in humanity and humility at its best.

We walked inside the near-empty Basicila and took in the exuberance it exuded. There were moments where you felt you were part of that history. You could see Michaelangelo and other artists and sculptors busy making their exquisite pieces. You feel one with the divine for once.

Maybe because of the sheer quiet and calm, those feelings arose, but it felt serene, and we loved it for that.

Next, the Vatican museums are a must-see. Yes, even with children whom you have to lug around with you. The Vatican is compelling. You just cannot leave Rome without filling your heart with the Vatican. There are 8 museums inside the Vatican, interconnected almost. The major ones are the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms.

The Sistine Chapel has the world-famous ceiling painted by the legendary Michelangelo. It is said, it took him 4 years(1508 to 1512) to paint it.

One can see “The Creation of Adam” and “The Last Judgment”, among many more masterpieces. It is huge. The Vatican was moderately crowded that day as we were there till midday. You could feast your eyes for days on millions of frescos and sculptures if you are an art aficionado. Every sculpture, every painting, so unique that at the end of the day, you are bound to feel you haven’t done justice to it at all.

Though we couldn’t see everything in five hours, we decided to start off to the next sight on our must-see schedule.

Santa Marinella

We headed over to the beach in Santa Marinella. It took us about 50 minutes from station Roma S. Pietro. It is about 1.5 km from the Vatican. We chose to walk because, in Rome, you can never fully trust the bus stop’s display board. They were rarely on time. We found the buses were anywhere between 35 minutes to 2 hours late than their scheduled time. And if you are unfamiliar with the routes, you can be going in the opposite direction. It happened to us in a few stations, leaving us terribly confused.

The trains to Santa Marinella run every 40–50 minutes. Also, make sure to buy a ticket as soon as you enter the station and punch it to be valid. The next 45 minutes felt like a breeze because we could rest a bit during the scenic journey.

We were hard on time, and the kids were excited about the beach. So we headed directly to the beach, which was a pleasant, walkable distance from the train station. A really calm place. One cannot imagine that a beach exists in the vicinity. No small business mongers along the path; just people minding their business and houses stretched like it was only another quiet residential area. I can’t help to think again that it was so because of the upcoming virus outbreak.

I had read in the reviews that the beach can get a bit overcrowded. There would be a bed and an umbrella, for which you pay anywhere between $10–$20. Much to our surprise, there were less than 25 people there, and again it is evidently so because we were there when most people decided to cancel their trip and stayed home. There were about 30 changing rooms in front of the beach, all empty as proof that it was a bustling overcrowded spot a few days ago.

This place is highly under-rated. A must-visit for anyone looking for a relaxing day with kids running about and making sand-castles while you relax and watch the waves. Clear green water was soothing and we stayed there until the sunset.

Back in Rome, we googled for a place near our hotel to get some dinner. Oh, the place where we stayed does not serve lunch and dinner. We found a place called Pizza-Zizza, near 750m from Bed Rooms Rome, Aurelia. We enjoyed Pomodoro(tomato) and Pesto (basil & garlic) Pasta. Their rice-balls were scrumptious, to say the least.

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Day 4: Spanish steps and a walk by river Tiber

On the last day of our visit, we first visited the beautiful Spanish steps. Spanish steps is a flight of steps built during the mid 18th century. Due to the Spanish embassy being located on that street, it got its name. The area below is also called the Spanish square. It is forbidden to sit on the steps for obvious reasons.

We took turns going up and one of us stayed down with the toddler. We couldn’t imagine going all the way up with a toddler. It took hardly 15 minutes to go up, visit the Church at the top, take some pictures and tread back.

Since we had checked out from our hotel, we had to lug our luggage around that day. We found a path to walk along river Tiber, as it was listed as a must-do. We were on the bridge and just watched the river as busy boats busily sailed. A bunch of tourists and locals can be found running or cycling around the river.

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How we almost missed our train

We were short on time for any activity, so we packed off to Roma Termini after a quick stopover at a local superstore to carry some more… yes! ready-to-eat Pizza and some salad. We reached nearly 2 hours early. There is hardly any place to sit and wait comfortably in the Roma termini. Children sat on the backpacks or suitcases.

One should really keep checking at least every 10–15 mins for the train’s departing platform. We were waiting at the platform from where the train we’re going to take would depart from, as mentioned on the display board. At the last moment, we realized that our train was departing from a different platform. I just glanced at it by chance and noticed the change. So we rushed to the new correct platform, which was a hassle with all the luggage and tired kids in tow.

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The corona scare had already crept in, and we just longed to get on our train and head back home. By this time the pandemic numbers in Venice and Milan were in the 1000s, but in Rome, it was still less than five. We were plain lucky to travel in the nick of time because travel lines were cut with Italy almost immediately after we returned to Germany.

The overnight jet(ICE) trains were really convenient. If six of you are traveling together, you can book a tiny room-like compartment with six seats.

There is an executive class as well, with beds and breakfast. Try that for a more leisurely ride. We had a quick stopover in Munich.

Ultimately, we managed to have a vacation with a bit of anxiety, but the almost vacant tourist spots kind of made up for it. I felt thankful that we got home by Feb 29 afternoon. What followed in Italy is any tourist’s worst nightmare. And for citizens, it was an unimaginable horror that played out. I did pray for everyone in Italy.