In June 2020 I decided to travel to Rome in Italy
immediately after the country had reopened its borders.
In this video, I want to show you what travel
in Italy is like now and share my top 20 things
to do in Rome during the new normal.
(upbeat Italian music)
All right, I'm super excited.
We're heading out for the number one sight in Rome today,
which is of course the Colosseum.
So luckily I did some research before coming here
and already pre-booked my ticket online.
So now I should be able to just go to the ticket booth
and go straight in.
(both speaking foreign language)
Alright, this is really weird.
Like I'm here completely by myself now in the Colosseum,
one of the seven wonders of the world.
And there's literally no one around me,
as you can see, this is a strange feeling.
The Colosseum is the number one site in Rome.
Commissioned in 72 AD by the Roman emperor Vespasian
it was used for bloody gladiator fights,
animal hunts, executions and reenactments of famous battles.
During the inauguration games in 80 AD,
more than 9,000 wild animals were killed in the arena.
The shows in the Colosseum were extremely popular
and up to 80,000 people could be seated in the amphitheater.
(epic orchestral music)
It's truly an incredible sight.
And imagining that there would be like tens of thousands
of people here watching people fight to the death,
it's chilling really, if you think about it.
After visiting the Colosseum,
I continued my ancient Roman tour.
Alright, so I'm now at the entrance
to the Foro Romano and the Palatino.
It's a combined entrance now, it's changed.
I'll link the location down below so you can find it easily
on Google Maps.
And once inside, you have the choice of either visiting
the Palatino, Palatine Hill first or the Foro Romano,
the Roman Forum.
We're gonna start with Palatine Hill
because that's where the city where the originally founded.
According to legend, Palatine Hill is where Rome
was founded, Romulus, in 753 BC.
From its humble beginnings almost 3000 years ago,
Rome rose to become the greatest empire
the world had ever seen.
An empire that stretched from Britain all the way
to the Middle East and lasted a thousand years.
Palatine Hill was the most sought after neighborhood of Rome
and the place where the palace of the Roman emperor stood.
It offers spectacular views of the Roman Forum below.
Now we're in the Roman Forum.
And it was here that the north center of the ancient
Roman empire was, it was here that most of the important
temples and official administration buildings were located.
It was also the central marketplace
that was here and you can still see the ruins.
It's super fascinating to walk around here and imagine
yourself in the footsteps of Julius Caesar, Augustus,
and many of the other famous Romans that once
wandered these streets.
Time to take a scooter.
And to complete our tour of ancient Roman sites today,
now, here we are at the Pantheon.
The imposing 2000 year old Pantheon is Rome's best
preserved ancient monument.
Originally a temple to all Roman gods,
it was consecrated as a Christian Church in 608 AD.
The building features the largest un-reinforced concrete
dome ever built.
Once inside, you can look up to the so-called Oculus
that lets light stream into the Pantheon
and symbolically connect to the temple,
to the gods of ancient Rome.
Really an impressive building,
especially consider it's been like this for 2,000 years.
That's incredible.
I crossed the Tiber River to get to my next destination.
We're now in a part of town that's called Trastevere
and Trastevere is a great place to have aperitivo.
So pre-dinner drinks with snacks.
So here we are now having aperitivo
and it looks absolutely delicious, and as you know,
this is my favorite drink in Italy, this beats up it all.
Oh, it's so good.
So cheers and let's see what evening brings.
After the aperitivo I walked around Trastevere
some more and found a nice restaurant.
It's time for dinner now and I've got the most
typical Roman dish.
Is spaghetti alla carbonara.
Spaghetti alla carbonara is a tasty Roman pasta dish
made with egg, Parmesan cheese, bacon and black pepper.
It's really good.
After dinner, I took the bus back to my Airbnb,
which was close to the Colosseum.
Good morning!
So today we're doing something really special.
We're traveling to a new country without leaving Rome.
How's that possible?
Actually, we going to the Vatican State,
which is an independent state inside
the city limits of Rome.
It's the State of the Pope and the church,
the Catholic church.
And we're gonna visit the Vatican Museums today.
I'm really excited.
Let's get in line.
I already got the reservation, that's very important
to make the reservation online.
And then you just get in line and you go straight in.
(upbeat music)
The Vatican Museums are one of the best and largest
art museums in the world with about seven kilometers
of exhibitions and innumerable masterpieces,
a visit to this museum is always
an unforgettable experience.
Some of the highlights of the collection include
the Classical Statuary and the Museo Pio-Clementino,
a suite of rooms frescoed by Raphael.
And of course the Sistine Chapel that was decorated by
Michelangelo and is home to some of the most famous
paintings ever created.
So this little room here behind me,
this is the Museo Civico di Zoologia,
Animals Room, it has lots and lots of statues
of different kinds of animals.
Amongst them, also some pretty scary monsters.
All right, so much art made me really hungry
and to save time I decided to just head straight
to the restaurant here in the Vatican Museum.
It also looked pretty good.
See tomato sauce with pasta and it smells delicious.
It looks so good.
And of course you can see we're still in Mvsei Vaticani.
So here we are now in the center of the Catholic world
on St. Peter's Square in Rome behind me,
you can see the St. Peter's Cathedral and the big balcony
in St. Peter is from where the Pope usually
gives his blessing, Urbi et Orbi, to the city and the world
twice a year, usually on Christmas and on Easter.
But this year, it was an exceptional Urbi et Orbi
in March at the height of the crisis where the Pope
was praying for an end of the crisis for the world.
So that was a very special occasion here in Rome.
In a city filled with outstanding churches,
not one comes close to St. Peter's Basilica,
Italy's largest and most spectacular church.
It's a monument to centuries of artistic genius and home
to three of Italy's most celebrated masterpieces,
Michelangelo's Pieta, his spectacular dome,
and Bernini's 20 meter high bronze Baldaccino
over the Papal Altar.
It was very moving for me to discover all the outstanding
Christian art in this church,
during the quiet setting of the new normal.
After visiting the inside of st. Peter's Basilica,
I decided to take the stairs up to its enormous dome.
And once again, a bit of a surreal experience.
On this trip, I'm here on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica,
one of the most important and largest churches in the world.
And there is no one here, no one at all.
All right, so now we've gotta climb a few more stairs
and then we'll be on the viewpoint.
And hopefully we're gonna have a great view
of St. Peter's square and Rome.
Well, if you're claustrophobic,
this is probably not the experience for you.
And yeah guys,
I think the climb was really worth it after all.
Check out this view.
(majestic orchestral music)
I descended to St. Peter's Square and continued
to the next iconic Roman site.
(upbeat music)
All right, and here we are at the Spanish Steps,
they're called Spanish Steps because the Spanish Embassy
used to be in this place.
They're at 135 steps from the bottom,
all the way up to the church at the top.
The Spanish steps officially known as,
Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti,
are one of Rome's major icons.
The beautiful church on the Hilltop is to give
Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti from 1585.
Usually the steps are a very popular meeting place
for tourists and locals alike, but during my visit,
they were almost completely empty.
So, now I'm here in Piazza Navona,
one of the most elegant squares here in the center of Rome.
For more than 300 years, this square here
hosted the main city market.
Piazza Navona features three ornamental fountains,
a dome church, beautiful rock buildings,
and many cafes.
The Central Fountain by Bernini from 1651
is called Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, Fountain
of the Four Rivers.
It is decorated with personifications of the Nile,
Ganges, Danube, and Plate.
And I'm in the Campo De' Fiori,
which is a really popular place here,
especially in the evening for people to hang out,
have a drink.
It has a bit of a dark history though, 'cause this used
to be the site for public executions in Rome,
and the statue of the guy with a hood,
he was executed here actually, burned alive
for heresy in 1600.
Sad story, but a really nice square.
(upbeat music)
I decided to have dinner here on the square
in this really nice looking restaurant.
And this is also a part of the new normal.
Usually this square would be packed with tourists,
but because of the new normal, it's almost empty.
This is a typical Italian starter.
It's Caprese, which means tomato full
of mozzarella and basil.
Now we're gonna have one of the most traditional
dishes in Roman cuisine.
This is Saltimbocca alla romana and it's definitely
one of my personal favorites.
It is veil with ham on top and it's usually served
with a white wine sauce.
So yeah, Saltimbocca alla romana,
make sure to try that one when you're in Rome.
And it's another beautiful day in Rome.
Been a bit of a late start today because
I'm getting a little exhausted from this trip,
doing so much sightseeing everyday, but here we are.
And today we're gonna go to Villa Borghese,
which is one of the nicest outdoor parks in Rome.
It's a bit Rome's equivalent of a Central Park.
It's a super nice park with lakes and lots
of different paths that you can wander.
Lots of benches and in the lake behind me,
you see people can even go around in boats.
It's a perfect place to hang out on a warm
afternoon in Rome.
So now we are in Piazza Del Popolo,
one of the most iconic squares of Rome.
This obelisk here behind me was taken by Augustus
from ancient Egypt.
I guess it was the first ever Roman emperor.
The huge Piazza Del Popolo, or people square in English,
was first laid out in 1538.
b=Before the age of railroads, this square was usually
a traveler's first view of the Eternal city.
So now I'm here as one of the Rome's best ice cream shops.
And that means something 'cause there's lots of great
gelaterias here in Rome.
This is Fatamorgana and they use fresh
seasonal ingredients and many say that this is the best
artisanal ice cream in Rome.
It worked and I think we got some really
delicious treats here.
So there basil with a Walnut, it's the green one,
and there's pear, vanilla and chocolate.
And there was another one called
(speaking foreign language), the princess kiss,
which is hazelnut with chocolate.
I think they're gonna be so delicious.
I'll try the princess kiss first.
(speaking foreign language)
Mm, incredible.
Oh, yeah, I can see why people believe
it is the best ice cream in Rome.
This is amazing.
(upbeat orchestral music)
And here we are now at the (speaking foreign language),
or Trevi Fountain in English, one of the most
iconic sites of Rome.
The statues represent the sea god, Oceanus,
and the horses represent different tempers
of the sea.
It's such a beautiful fountain and as you can imagine,
usually there will be like thousands of tourists here
making it really hard to visit it.
But with the new normal, it's pretty empty.
The Fontana Di Trevi is one of the most
famous fountains in the world.
It was designed by Nicola Salvi in 1732
and receives its water from the Aqua Virgo,
a 2000 year old aqueduct.
Tradition says that if you toss a coin
into the fountain with your right hand over your left
shoulder, you will return to Rome one day.
I got the coin right here.
I'm gonna toss it and I hope it makes it
all the way into the fountain 'cause I can't
get up closer.
All right, one, two, three.
I hope it made it, I hope it made it.
Maybe you saw it.
I didn't see it.
If not, I'll just come back to Rome anyways
'cause I really love this city now
and it's been such an amazing time here.
(upbeat electronic music)
Since it was my last night in Rome
and to get in the right mood for my trip to Naples
the next morning, I decided to have the most
famous Italian dish.
Obviously, it's time for a delicious pizza.
And this is a place that's been recommended to me
by my Airbnb host.
So I hope it's a good place.
Let's check it out.
(upbeat Italian music)
This is my first pizza in Rome.
It's (speaking foreign language), so that means
it has ham, mushrooms, artichokes, and in this case,
also egg and olives.
Oh, it looks delicious.
This is the most iconic Italian desert,
it's called Tiramisu.
Here, in a creative interpretation with pistachio on top.
Looks good, let's try it.
Wow, this is incredibly good.
This is probably the best tiramisu I've had
on this Italy trip so far.
It's so delicious, wow.
So those are my recommendations for Rome.
What are yours?
If you're from there, if you've been there before,
please make sure to leave tips and advice
in the comment box below this video.
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I'm Max Nomad and I will talk to you again soon.