Rome Honeymoon – Day 5

Today was another early start and jam packed day of sightseeing with a 45 minute journey to today’s first activity. I had booked us tickets for the Colosseum for 10:30, again somewhere I was recommended to book skip the line tickets for. Rome really wasn't as busy this time of year as some of the photos I have seen so it wasn't really necessary as there was barely a queue anyway.

We got in and had a look around and walked around the whole Colosseum. In hindsight, I wish I had paid for a tour here as it gives you access to extra areas and we would have had a better idea of what we were looking at but it was still great to see all the same. I remember when I went to see the Statue of Liberty and was very underwhelmed, it looked tiny compared to what I expected. The Colosseum was not like that, it was huge and was exactly what I had hoped it would be.

Our ticket also included access to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill so afterwards we headed across the road here. There was quite a big queue for this and it was really warm and there wasn't any shade. An attendant came up to us and said we could skip the queue as I was pregnant, so she let me in a side gate and then James got to go to a shorter queue. It was a bit pointless really as I still had to then wait about 15 minutes in the blazing sun for James to get through. It would have been better if we had gone in together but it saved us a bit of time anyway. In here, it was really nice looking around at various ruins and climbing up high to get a great view over the city. By this point through we hadn't eaten or had anything to drink for hours so we were getting a bit tired.

We left the area and went to find food and found a place called Pizza Forum. I had risotto and James tried Gnocci for the first time. I think this place was a chain restaurant but it did the trick and we could finally have a drink and a sit down. 

I really wanted to visit the ‘mouth of truth’ or Bocca della Veritá so looking on the map this wasn’t too far from where we were. We hopped on a bus and found the church. There was a queue for a photo but we must have only waited about 15 minutes in total and it was shaded. You could pop a donation in the pot if you wanted, but essentially this attraction was free and it was fun to get a photo.

We still had some time to kill in the afternoon so we headed to the Baths of Caracalla. We only had about an hour here as they closed but it was quite cheap to get in and was good to see a proper Roman Bath set up.

This put us at about an hour from our apartment, so we made the journey back and got freshened up for dinner. James found a place on Tripadvisor called Tommi's Burger Joint so we thought we would give it a try. It was really good. Similar to Five Guys I would say. Service was fast and there was loads of different sauces and toppings you could add to your burger free of charge, Probably one of the best burgers I have had in a while and a great atmosphere too.

Rome Honeymoon – Day 4

We woke up early again today to head to Vatican City. Luckily we were only 5 minutes from here so we didn’t have to get up quite as early as the day before. It was recommended to me that we get skip the line tickets as queues can be as long as 4 hours! So I pre-booked these online before we went for 9:30am, just after opening time. Turns out being pregnant means you can pretty much skip any line anyway - but it was good to have a backup plan. 

The Vatican museum was vast and had different areas. I think we managed to explore it all. It was great to end up at the Sistene Chapel to see the famous Michaelangelo ceiling. You weren't allowed to take photos in there however. We ended up walking absolutely miles this day, mainly around the museum.

After our morning of exploring, we decided to grab some lunch. I once had a friend tell me he bought 2 gelatos and 2 drinks in Vatican City and it was something ridiculous like €60, so we left the area and went and found somewhere local to our apartment in Borgo. We found a place that had been recommended by many other bloggers and vloggers called Pizzeria Bonci. When we got there we could see it was very popular as the queue was huge. We took a ticket and awaited our turn in line. The counter was stacked with many different types of pizza with all different toppings including broccoli, potato and then your standard pizzas too. You choose what pizzas you want, and how big and then you pay for them according to weight. It's a great idea. We had 3 fairly large pieces each and it was just over €20. They box it up for you and you can then take it away and eat it as there isn't much seating outside.

We then went and got our first Gelato of the trip from Old Bridge Geletaria, which was absolutely delicious and a huge 3 scoop cone was only €4!

For the afternoon, I had plans for us to head back to the area of Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona so we could wander in our own time but I think the previous day had caught up with us so instead we just chilled out at the apartment for a few hours before dinner.

We both had a bit of an upset stomach (we think it was the pizza, as it is sat out and then re-heated when you order) so we stayed in for dinner and cooked bolognaise jacket potatoes.

Rome Honeymoon – Day 3

After a busy first full day in Rome, today was about to get busier! I have always wanted to go to Pompeii but thought it was miles from Rome. When I found out you can do a day trip there, I had to get us some tickets. I am very thankful to everyone that donated to our honeymoon fund at the wedding, the generosity of our friends and family meant that we had a bit of extra money to book excursions and things that we could only dream of doing. Due to the time of year, this actually included a visit to Naples instead of Mt. Vesuvius, which suited me just fine as I don’t think I fancied a long climb/walk up a volcano!

A 7:30am start meant getting up early for us as the meeting point was about half an hour from our apartment on public transport. Luckily the buses and metro start really early so we didn’t have any problems planning out routes and I wrote down the names of all the stops we needed to take before we went. We left in plenty of time just in case there was cancellations or no bus came and we had to walk but we still managed to be late as the metro station was closed. We couldn't actually find the meeting point. We literally ran from the metro and still didn't know where we were going. Google maps was rubbish. James called the tour operator and the lady on the phone directed us to the office. We got in and showed our ticket. At this point we were 20 minutes late. They spoke in Italian to each other and looked at their watches concerned. Thankfully the bus was still waiting as another family was running late. We got dropped off at the coach and got on (it was packed as everyone was waiting for us) but I am so thankful we got on or I would have been devastated!

The tour began with a coach journey to Naples. We got to stop off at Naples Bay and it was beautiful. I would love to come back to Italy and stay this side one day. We then made our way to Pompeii, it took just over 3 hours. When we arrived in Pompeii we were treated to a pizza lunch before starting our tour. We then made our way to the ruins and another tour guide took over from there.

Pompeii was absolutely massive, you would need a whole day to properly look around the ruins here and I'd love to come back. It's very eerie seeing the ruins and then seeing Mt. Vesuvius leering over you in the background thinking it could technically erupt at any given moment. We had around 2 hours in Pompeii to explore with our guide. He really brought Pompeii to life, if we were here alone we wouldn't have really known what we were looking at but it was great to see what used to be shops, homes and even a brothel.

I found it fascinating that you could even see marks in the road where the chariots used to drive, over many years they have left lines in the road. It was great to see all this preserved history.

After a long day we headed back to our apartment, we grabbed a takeaway from a local place called Mama Eats and took it back to the apartment to eat. We then went to bed ready for another day.

Rome Honeymoon – Days 1 & 2

It’s been a while since I’ve done any form of travel post (or post at all for that matter -oops!) so I thought I would share some of the highlights from our recent Honeymoon to Rome. Neither of us had been to Italy before and we were both excited to explore. We got married in December and originally I wanted our honeymoon to be a ‘lay on a beach and do nothing’ kind of holiday, however my husband is better suited to having things to do. Looking at anywhere warm in December was proving difficult, most places across the equator were lovely and hot but either cost an absolute fortune or there was a risk of the Zika virus, no good for travelling when pregnant.

Photo by Dan Sunderland

Eventually we decided to go a few months later, to give ourselves something to look forward to. We chose Rome as we knew there would be plenty to do, on what is probably our last ever child free holiday together for a long time! I anticipated it would be cold, but it’s not the type of sunbathing holiday anyway so none of that mattered. As it happens, the weather was pretty good most days, lovely and sunny in the afternoons.

Our flight was on a Monday, so to save us time and stress I booked us in to a hotel at Gatwick for the Sunday night where we had a picnic in the room and got a nice early night. Breakfast was included the next day and after that we headed to our Purple Parking carpark and got a shuttle bus to the airport.

Our flight was lunch time, so we got some snacks/drinks for the flight and off we went! We arrived in Rome around 4pm. I hadn’t booked any transport to the hotel so hoped we would find a reputable taxi rank but being flustered when we got there with no clue where to go, we got in a taxi with a company that ended up costing nearly 3x the price it should have done. Lesson learned, we arrived safely at the apartment and to be fair to the taxi driver he did give us a tour and explain what we were seeing for the 45 minute journey.

Our apartment was one that I found on Airbnb and very reasonably priced. The location was near to Vatican City and also close to Metro and bus routes. When we arrived we got settled in before deciding to head to a nearby supermarket to get a few bits for the room. The good thing about having an Airbnb was that we had a kitchen area so we knew we could prepare some food at home which was a bonus, and a money saver. We stocked up on snacks and breakfast foods and then came back to the apartment to rest ahead of our first full day.

Day 2 we woke up early and got ourselves ready. I booked us in for a free tour at 9:20am and it was about a half an hour journey to the start point. I am pleased I booked this as it gave us a chance to familiarise ourselves with the location and we also got to learn a bit about the history of Rome. The tour was really good and lasted a good 2-3 hours. There was no obligation to tip at the end however we did because we thought it was fantastic and really well organised. We visited Spanish Square and Spanish Steps, Immaculate Conception Column, The house of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Saint Andrew Church, Bernini’s Angels, The famous “Galleria”, Column of Marcus Aurelius, Prime Ministers House, Temple of Hadrian, Pantheon, The Tomb of the Kings, Tomb of Raphael, Saint Ignatius Church, Andrea Pozzo’s Tromp l’oeil and finally the Trevi Fountain.

After the tour we decided to find somewhere for lunch. We ended up at McDonalds as the area we finished the tour in was a little bit busy and it was harder than we thought just to find somewhere for lunch. It's all very well finding a nice place for a slice of pizza but these places don't have any seating so it was sometimes easier to pop into a McDonalds just for a sit down.

After lunch we headed towards Castel Sant'Angelo. I had planned both bus routes and walking routes so we could play it by ear and see how I felt. Castel Sant'Angelo was right near to our apartment, so luckily for us afterwards it was easy to stagger back home and freshen up.

For dinner, we tried to find somewhere nearby on Tripadvisor. The 3 places we picked out we couldn't actually find - we found this a lot, the names had changed on some of them. We walked around and finally found a little pizza restaurant and sat outside under giant patio heaters. I really felt like I was on holiday and the pizza was great - first full day was a success.

My Airbnb Experience - New York

I’ve seen Airbnb around for a while now but was never really certain exactly what it was. Airbnb is the worldwide alternative for hotels. When planning our trip to New York, hotels were coming up ridiculously expensive for just a week’s holiday. For 2 of us we were looking at about £800-1000 for the week for a reasonably standard hotel. Even looking further afield outside of Manhattan, the prices were extortionate for what was essentially a bed and a bathroom. Seven of us were going to New York so the prices soon added up and realistically I couldn’t afford the costs! I decided to look into Airbnb to see if there was an option for seven of us to stay together.

I browsed many apartments in New York ranging from £100-£300 a night. I then found a 3 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn which seemed perfect for what we needed and close by to a subway station to get us into the centre and other amenities. The apartment slept 8 people and had a kitchen, 2 bathrooms and an en-suite. Having a kitchen also meant saving money on food as we could have breakfast and prepare meals at home rather than eating out for every meal. Before I chose the apartment I looked at many others and read the reviews until I found one that I thought was suitable. For the week the apartment came to just over £1100, Around £160 each – so affordable for a week’s accommodation and LOADS cheaper than a hotel!

When I booked the apartment it required me to pay the full balance right away which is worth noting, you will need to have the money before you book. We did this on a credit card for that extra protection if something was to go wrong. I added a comment when booking that we were staying for my mums 50th birthday and our host responded almost instantly saying he couldn’t wait to host such a momentous occasion and said if we have any questions then he would be happy to help out. Airbnb holds the money until after you’ve arrived. We were booking 9 months in advance so it’s good to know the host isn’t just going to run off with your money!

A couple of days before we flew, our host popped us a message saying if we had any questions then we could ask, we were also given the wifi password and code for the door as it was a keyless entry which was also brilliant. When we arrived our host was just finishing getting everything ready and was there to greet us and show us around. Although they lived just below, we didn’t see much of them and we were able to enjoy our holiday with absolutely no interruptions but knowing they were close by if needed. A couple of nights we ordered take-aways and used the hosts phone number as our English ones weren’t accepted and the host was so great about this. Communication was excellent and they were always there when we had a question or needed a recommendation for something in the area.

The apartment itself was exactly as the photos, clean and very spacious. It was everything we could have hoped for and served the seven of us very well. I would always look to airbnb for future holidays as the price and convenience was just fantastic. Airbnb have properties all over the world so are great for wherever you plan to travel, including UK breaks!

If you would like to try Airbnb for yourself, I have a code to get you £30 off your next trip, just use my link HERE. You don’t have to use it right away, you can click my link, make an account and your £30 will be stored and ready for you to use at a later date (within a certain time range). There are apartments all over the world and even if you’re looking for a short break in the UK there is bound to be something out there waiting for you. There are even pet friendly places or you can save even more money by renting just a room instead of a whole apartment. The possibilities are endless!

Have you ever used Airbnb – what was your experience?

New York Day 2 - Grand Central Station, Library, Times Square

My second day in New York was just as exciting as the first, and fairly busy too. We had breakfast in the apartment and hopped right back onto the J train from Gates Avenue, Brooklyn. We started off by heading to the public library, the one used in the film 'A Day After Tomorrow' (amongst others no doubt!). We didn’t intentionally plan to visit here but happened to be nearby so thought it was worth stopping in and was something we wanted to see during our trip. We had a quick look around, it was massive - we wouldn't have had time to see the whole thing so we looked for the most exciting rooms and then left. A lot of people were just like us, popping in and taking photos but there were people actually using it as a library so you had to be quiet so you didn’t disturb them.

After going here we continued walking and happened to see Grand Central Station which wasn't far away. I wanted to go here after seeing it in so many films and it was huge - across multiple floors! The marble décor was beautiful, although the area was not well lit so I couldn’t take too many photos without them blurring. Me and Phoebe climbed the stairs and had our photos taken Serena Vanderwoodson style. I hoped I'd see a flash mob or a proposal but sadly saw neither of these things. When I came home from my holiday I found out that you could do an interesting audio tour so if I ever venture back to New York I will have to add that to my to-do list!

We then went for a walk to a museum we had tickets for but turns out I had read the map wrong and took us completely the wrong way so we went to Times Square instead. Oops. On route we visited St Patrick's Cathedral which is directly opposite the Rockefeller Center. It was huge! Phoebe lit a candle whilst we were there and we had a quick walk around but did not want to disturb the songs that were going on. We then finally arrived at Times Square. It was smaller than I thought and quite underwhelming as some of the screens were broken but I knew I wanted to return at night where I imagined it really came to life. We went to the M&M store as it is a must for me, I have been to 4 in the world, I just need to visit the Shanghai branch now and I am done!

After this we then went to Macy's. By this point I really needed the toilet and spent ages climbing multiple floors to find one. I then finally found the mens after following various signs and it turns out the ladies was a fair walk around the corner. It was so complicated! Macy’s is absolutely huge, there was no way I could navigate the store. I did find the giant floor piano however so that was fun. After another long walk back to the closest subway station we all made our way home and got a chinese take-away for tea. It was good, but I prefer my local! It was a full on day, over 10 miles walked in total – my feet were hammered already and we had many days of walking ahead of us yet!

Please watch the daily vlog if you're interested in seeing this day come to life!

Hollywood - Travel Diary

I was lucky enough to spend my birthday last year in Los Angeles and a visit to Hollywood and I thought I would share some photos of the places that I got to see whilst I was in California. 

We wanted to walk as close as we could get to the Hollywood sign but unfortunately the day we decided to do it, the trail was closed and we were unable to get as close as we would have liked and our best view was from the Griffith Observatory. We went on a little hike around that area which was very tiring in the extreme heats (compared to England!) but it was a nice walk.

We then decided to hit Hollywood Boulevard and check out the walk of fame. I enjoyed walking along this route. There was also some nice shops for us to look in. We also went to The Chinese Theatre and had a look at the outside and the hand/foot prints on the floor. It was so busy here.

The best thing we did in Hollywood was go on a little tour of the Hollywood Hills. Our driver was great, he took us around the celebrity houses and up high so we got a great view over the city. 

Apparently this is Jason Statham's House, whether he lives there still or not I don't know. All I know is it is worth a LOT of money. Not bad for a local Norfolk lad is it, haha. We also got to see a number of celebrity houses including Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Jackson, The Osborne's, Christina Aguilera and many more Hollywood stars.

We then headed down Rodeo Drive. I couldn't resist taking a photo of this insanely expensive Bugatti, owned by the late designer Bijan Pakzad parked outside House of Bijan boutique - rumoured to be the most expensive store in the world. Needless to say, I did not go inside!

The large building at the end of this photo is the hotel used in the film Pretty Woman when Richard Gere hires out the penthouse suite. I bet that wasn't cheap! 

Recognise this hotel? It's the one also used in the film Pretty Woman. You may remember the scene at the end where Richard Gere climbs the fire escape to retrieve Julia Roberts. That was filmed here!

I had a great time in Hollywood. There was so much to do, I wish we had more time to spend there.

I'll be honest it was nothing like what I expected. There were areas that were rather run down and a lot of homeless people around. You don't see this sort of thing on movies but I guess that's real life.

Have you been to Hollywood?