Favourite 2014 travel photos. Rome, Italy. October 2014.
Temple of Aesculapius
Rome
Pausing in Rome
Favourite 2014 travel photos. Rome, Italy. October 2014.
Last day in Rome
I always end up feeling a bit nostalgic on the last day of any long trip. Maybe a bit bittersweet as well. That lends itself to laid back, slower and somewhat indulgent experiences the day before I hop on a long flight back home. On our last day in Italy, we made our way back to Rome as that’s where we were flying out of the next morning. After dropping our bags at the hotel, we had simple, relaxed plans for the last day – wander around the Villa Borghese park and have a couple of nice meals.
With deep appreciation to the travel weather gods, we had another beautiful day to explore. This one with a few clouds, but warm and not a drop of rain, making it a full two weeks without rain on this trip. Villa Borghese is a massive city park in the heart of Rome and is a lovely escape from the noise and bustle of the city that surrounds it. On this fall day, there were times we felt like we had the park almost to ourselves.
Favourite travel experiences of 2014
As each year draws to a close, I like to think back on my travels and distill down my favourite memories and experiences. It’s part simple reflection and an exercise in gratefulness for the past year. It also helps to plan future trips as I continue to learn about what makes me happy and what I cherish in experiences. As I was doing so this year, it became pretty evident that many of my favourite travel memories this year ended up revolving around food, wine and drink. In no particular order, here are my ten favourite travel related experiences from 2014:
1. Drinking on the roof of a church – And not just any church… I shared a couple of shots of liquor on top of St. Peter’s Bascilica in Rome with six German women. Better than the liquor were the laughs shared and the feeling of cheating a lightening bolt for such behaviour.
Looking back on 2014
By just about any measure, this past year was an interesting one for travels and exploration. It was a bit of a grab bag of locations and for a good part of the year, I was packing my bags about every month en route out of Halifax. Here’s a quick look back at how I accumulated a few more passport stamps, some frequent flier miles, but most importantly, some great memories.
Toronto – Two separate trips to a place that feels like a home away from home let me experience some new restaurants, finally see my first Leafs game, and take in part of a Blue Jays home stand with my Dad. Of all the great memories, sitting with Dad and swapping stories over a few Steam Whistle pilsners is what I’ll remember most.
Spanish Steps
Favourite 2014 travel photos. Rome, Italy. October 2014.
Afternoon in Trastevere in photos
Wandering aimlessly through a city neighbourhood is one of my favourite things to do when traveling. On another spectacularly beautiful Roman afternoon on our recent trip, my wife and I crossed the Tiber River and found ourselves in a charming area of cobblestone streets and medieval architecture. Here’s what a couple of hours in Trastevere looked like through the lens of our camera.
Santa Cecilia (a 5th century church) and its idyllic courtyard:
Monti: Home away from home
I sometimes spend too much time fretting over which neighbourhood to make as a home base when visiting a city. For our trip to Rome, I went back and forth debating where to stay. Not to pat myself on the back too much, but sticking with my gut on staying in Monti is one of the better travel planning decisions I’ve made in a long time.
I completely fell in love with this area of Rome. Monti started to pull on my heart strings immediately, even as I was jet lagged and dragging my suitcase from the subway to our hotel on the way in from the airport. There were cobblestones (I’m a sucker for cobblestones), small shops lining the narrow streets, people spilling out of bars enjoying a drink and not a chain store or restaurant anywhere in sight. The visuals of this place will be what I will always associate with Rome. Below are a few of my favourite photos in what turned out to be far too little time in beautiful, quaint, Monti.
Quiet side street in Monti
Soccer in Piazza della Madonna dei Monti
Looking down on Via del Boschetto
Italian style on Via del Boschetto
Quiet street one afternoon in Monti
Opposite Piazza della Madonna dei Monti
Piazza della Madonna dei Monti
And after the Forum?
This must happen to everyone a couple of days into their first visit to Rome: You’re having breakfast, turning your mind to the day ahead, when you think… “I’m going to see <insert famous historical site here> today” and you’re aware that it feels oddly normal yet still surreal to be heading out to visit another 2,000+ year old site of historical significance. On our fourth day in Rome, I have a memory of asking my wife rather nonchalantly, “So, what do you want to do after we visit the Forum?” That’s always been something special about traveling to me – the juxtaposition of rapidly becoming comfortable in a foreign place (was I really asking about what to do after the Forum???) running up against the anticipation of experiencing something enormous for which you don’t have any adequate frame of reference.
On yet another perfect weather day, we made the short walk from our hotel to the Roman Forum. I could have been perfectly happy to just stand at one end to look out over the site and imagine the scene more than 2,000 years ago:
Playing in the piazza
Favourite 2014 travel photos. Rome, Italy. October 2014.
Bluenose Traveler 