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. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe to Max Nomad for new travel
videos published every day. I'm Max Nomad and I will
talk to you again soon.
