Returning to Rome: A Love Affair with the Eternal City

I first explored Rome with family back in 1997, and immediately fell in love. I returned two years later to explore with friends, while on a much longer and larger Contiki tour of Italy. When I visited the third time, it was 2012, and I was alone.

It had been seven years since I’d been back. I hopped on a flight and decided to spend a mere four days wandering the streets of Rome, with nothing but a change of clothes and a notebook. Before that, it had been thirteen years since my last real visit to Italy.

I knew this most recent trip would be very different from the start. It would be the first time my other half would step foot in the country, his first introduction to my Italian family, and the first time my sisters and I had been to Italy together in over thirty years.

We flew with my niece (who slept most of the overnight flight, stretched out across three empty seats) and landed in the early afternoon. We had a car waiting to pick us up at Fiumicino Airport, which dropped her off with her parents (who had already been travelling around Italy for two weeks) and then made our way to our hotel.

View of our room and wrap-around balcony (with round bed) in the Pantheon Caesar Relais Hotel, Rome, Italy

The Pantheon Caesar Relais is an adorable boutique hotel overlooking the Largo di Torre Argentina. The room was chic and stylish, with its big round bed and artifacts built into the floor, but small and somewhat difficult to maneuver with it's limited space and sunken bedroom. The wrap around balcony was, by far, its best feature, providing unobstructed views of the ruins, the sunsets and the people below. The one stipulation my other half wanted in a hotel in Rome, was a balcony, which are somewhat difficult to find, especially in the area we were looking.

View from our balcony, the Largo di Torre Argentina, Rome, Italy

TIP: Rome is a very large city, with the most popular spots located in the center. If you're looking to stay within walking distance, look for accommodations within the grid of Piazza di Spagna to the north, Piazza Venezia to the south, Castel Sant'Angelo to the west and Termini Station to the east.

The ruins located in the Largo di Torre Argentina sit twenty feet below street level and are currently inaccessible to the public, other than one staircase which leads only to the cat sanctuary. Yes, that's right, a cat sanctuary among the ruins! In February 2019, it was announced that an extensive restoration of the site would begin, to add walkways, lighting and turn the current storeroom into a museum, but undoubtedly the current pandemic has pushed the 2021 deadline.