Saturday morning we boarded a bus from Rome to Siena and a few hours later settled into our 3-star hotel for a five day stay. We happened to be perfectly situated steps from the old city center so we dropped our bags and walked out the front door to explore. In minutes we knew we were in the heart of Tuscany, walking the medieval city and it’s labyrinth of narrow, cobblestoned streets.
Click on the pic below for a video of our last days in Rome and explanation below;
After checking off most of the sights on our Rome-to do list we just spent a few days wondering around, getting lost in the side streets and finishing up that list. We spent an afternoon cruising the atmospheric neighborhood of Trastevere, stopped in a few more breathtaking churches and yesterday we dropped by the Vatican. We didn’t bother going in as they had some lineups and we have been before, instead we decided to save it for the spring when we return with some friends and family.
The first time we visited Rome seven years ago, we were gob-smacked to see the Coliseum and the ruins of the Roman Forum in it’s city center, the architecture, history, culture and natural beauty that surrounds it.
If you’ve had a bucket list dream of traveling a year in Italy as a tourist, slowly moving from north to south, living La Dolce Vita as we have then fugeddaboutit! The Schengen Visa agreement of which Italy and most of the other EU countries are part of, only allow a tourist to enter and remain in the Schengen zone for up to 90 days within a 181 day period making a year long stay virtually impossible! Sorry to shatter your dreams but you’d have a better chance by floating up to the Italian shores in a dingy and claiming refugee status!
