I was fortunate enough to travel to Rome with my company EC this year. They decided to do a team building event in Italy, everything paid for. It was my first time in Rome and I had a lot of fun getting to know the city and my coworkers.
Facts about the city:
Modern Rome has 280 fountains and more than 900 churches.
The mascot of Rome is a she-wolf that cared for brothers Romulus and Remus, the mythological founders of Rome. Romulus and Remus were twin brothers. They were abandoned as babies and put into a basket in the River Tiber. They were discovered by a female wolf, who nursed them until they were found by a shepherd. When Romulus and Remus became adults, they decided to found a city where the wolf had found them. The brothers quarreled over where the site should be and Remus was killed by his brother. This left Romulus as the sole founder of the new city, Rome. The date given for the founding of Rome is 753 BC.
I cannot complain much about my company EC. This year they decided to take us on a paid trip to Rome, as a team building event. I never had this type of opportunities in Portugal, so I’m very grateful. Also, it was the first time I was in Rome and that city was in my bucket list for a long time.
We were 22 people from the Admissions department. My best friends from Admissions couldn’t come so I had to be opened to make new friendships which was good. I shared the room with Keiko from Japan. She’s a sweetheart. Also, I got to know Florian, a french new guy, that I loved. He’s super funny! Rina and Mo were also there. We went on a Friday after work and we came back on a Sunday afternoon. It was short but good.
On Friday we just arrived to the hotel and had some rest. We stayed in Hotel Nizza, in Via Massimo d’Azeglio 16. The hotel was OK, but not that great. However, the breakfast we took the next morning was very good!
We started the in Piazza Venezia. Piazza Venezia is the central hub of Rome, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso. It takes its name from the Palazzo Venezia, built by the Venetian Cardinal, Pietro Barbo (later Pope Paul II) alongside the church of Saint Mark, the patron saint of Venice.
One side of the Piazza is the site of Italy’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Altare della Patria, part of the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of Italy. The square is at the foot of the Capitoline Hill and next to Trajan’s Forum. The main artery, the Viale di Fori Imperiali begins there and leads past the Roman Forum to the Colosseum.
Then we walked until Fontana di Trevi. I always wanted to visit this place and throw a coin to make a wish! It’s very beautiful. Fontana di Trevi is a fountain designed by the Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Pietro Bracci. Standing more than 25 meters high, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. It was completed in 1762. The central figures are Neptun flaked by two Tritons.
The fountain has appeared in several notable films, including Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, Three Coins in the Fountain or Roman Holiday. An estimated 3,000€ are thrown into the fountain each day. In 2016, an estimated US $1.5 million was thrown into the fountain. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome’s needy. However, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain, even though it’s illegal.
After that we walked to Piazza di Spagna. Since we went to Rome during the Black Friday weekend, we did that. I bought a nice jacket from Zara. Piazza di Spagna, at the bottom of the Spanish Steps, is one of the most famous squares in Rome. It owes its name to the Palazzo di Spagna, seat of the Embassy of Spain among the Holy See. Nearby is the famed Column of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The imposing 135-step staircase was inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIII in 1725, in order to connect the Bourbon Spanish embassy to the Church of Trinità dei Monti. The Spanish steps, once a year, host a famous fashion show and they are used as a catwalk. All the shopping streets lead to this square so it’s an ideal point to start shopping.
Later that afternoon, some of us went to the Vatican City. We didn’t go inside but it was worth going there to see the impotent cathedral. St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica represent the most Christian place in the world and the home of the Pope. The Vatican city is the smallest state in the world. The Vatican was built over the tomb of Saint Peter.
The Vatican’s position as a sovereign state within a state was guaranteed by the Lateran Treaty of 1929. It’s has 920 inhabitants and an area of approximately 44 hectares. Inside the Vatican there are 11 museums and some of the most famous art in the world, like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and Pieta.
Then Keiko, Florian, Irina and me went to have a closer look at the Colosseum. The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater ever built. It was commissioned in AD 72 by Emperor Vespasian and completed by his son in 80. Vespesian ordered the Colosseum to be built on the site of Nero’s palace, to dissociate himself from the hated tyrant. His aim was to gain popularity by staging deadly combats of gladiators.
The Colosseum could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 spectators. It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles and dramas based on Classical mythology.
On Saturday night we went to have dinner all together in an amazing restaurant called Alfredo alla Scrofa. This is considered the restaurant of the celebrities and they even have a lot of pictures of famous people that went there on the walls (Greta Garbo, Dean Martin, Andrea Bocelli, Jimi Hendrix, etc.). The food was amazing and we tried the famous Fettuccine Alfredo. The restaurant was funded in 1907.
After dinner we stopped for some pictures in Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona has three amazing baroque fountains. The central one is Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, designed by Bernini in 1651. At the southern end is the Fontana del Moro with a basin and four Tritons sculpted by Giacomo della Porta (1575). At the northern end is the Fountain of Neptune (1574) also created by Giacomo; There is also the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone and the Pamphili Palace.
We went to some bars and pubs close to this square and then we headed back to the hotel. The next morning we had breakfast again in the hotel and then we took a flight back to Malta. It was a very nice weekend!
Wanderlust World 