February, Friday the 13th.

The day our journey to the Eternal City begins.

That very evening you find yourself standing in front of the Colosseum, and everything feels strangely familiar, even though the last time you were here was more than ten years ago.

Probably because you have kept meeting it in films, books, and stories along the way. Back then you told yourself: one day I will stand here again.

Now you do.

We arrived at exactly the right moment, just as the evening lights were being switched on. A little tired from the journey from Zagreb, yet still full of anticipation.

If this was only the first encounter, tomorrow we truly begin. But first, let’s go back to the beginning of the story.

I started thinking about organizing Rome in mid-December, two months before departure, when I bought tickets for the Vatican Museums. Even then, some time slots were already sold out. Later, during the trip, out of pure curiosity I checked the availability of morning tickets again and found myself scrolling through the calendar all the way to May.

On the official Colosseum website, it said that ticket sales open only one week in advance. Villa Borghese, one of the more sought-after tickets in Rome, wasn’t even in our plans, so I didn’t check that at all.

Then I put Rome aside for a while.

Writing about Portugal and Barcelona had priority.

The real reminder that it was time to start planning came about three weeks before departure, when I had a red note in my calendar telling me to arrange travel insurance.

That is something I never think twice about. The one time I skipped it, something unexpected happened and our flight tickets were lost because we had to return home early.

Since then, I insure everything: flights, accommodation, tickets. The cost is about five percent of the total value, but those few percent buy peace of mind. And that is worth the most.

Insurance sorted.

The travel plan, however, still didn’t exist.

The closer departure came, the more I reminded myself that I should at least put together a rough outline. Only a week before, when I booked the Colosseum tickets, did I finally sit down seriously. After that, things moved quickly. Apparently, with every new trip we organize, it all becomes a little easier, with less overthinking.

One constant during that last week was Ryanair faithfully inviting me, day after day, to check in early if I reserved and paid for seats. Day after day, I resisted.

That daily pressure inevitably makes you question whether you will end up sitting together, even though I still believe that a minor child cannot, and should not, be seated away from a parent. As far as I could find, certain safety guidelines exist, although there are no clear rules that strictly oblige airlines in this regard.

Anja wrote the introductory post on the Sunday before departure, and by Thursday I was holding a sixteen-page travel booklet in my hands, printed on both sides.

That afternoon before departure always brings a certain nervous energy. Do we have everything sorted before we leave? Have we prepared everything? Are the passports still valid, even though you know they are? Will everything fit into the suitcase? Will it be too heavy? Will everything be fine with the flight?

Questions without real meaning. You know it will all work out. It already has thirty times before. And even when something went wrong, we always managed to solve it.

But the subconscious has its own rhythm.

And then Friday the 13th morning arrives.

Unlike the previous afternoon, there is no nervousness.

Only the anticipation of the first trip of the year.

Check-in Without Paying for Seats

On Thursday, the day before departure, Ryanair sent one final email offering early check-in, of course with the mandatory purchase of seats.

I had read that if you choose not to pay, you can check in 24 hours before the flight. And indeed, at 12:55 the check-in window opened. Even there, it kept trying to sell seats, but I simply wasn’t willing to pay another €40.

Partly out of principle, and partly because I was genuinely curious to see what we would get.

When it gave me one last warning that we might not be seated together…

Click.

You press the random allocation button and suddenly feel like you have done something wrong.

But you haven’t.

The girls were placed at the front of the plane, seats 4A, 4B and 4C, while I ended up near the back in 34C.

Honestly, I expected a middle seat but got an aisle instead. The only downside there is that every time someone walks past, they bump into you a little, because everything on these planes feels tighter than ever. The same arrangement happened again on the return flight.

At least in our case, the myth about low-cost airlines separating children from their parents did not hold up.

The only real change was that you now need their app, since physical boarding passes are no longer accepted. I already had it installed.

Seats assigned, travel plan ready, suitcases packed. Now it was real.

By Train from Slovenia to Zagreb

Our flight was scheduled for early afternoon, so we decided to travel to Zagreb by train. Yes, the journey takes three and a half hours, but it is incomparably more comfortable.

On the train you can stand up, stretch, go to the restroom, and there is no worry about getting stuck in traffic.

I bought the return tickets a few days earlier. What I didn’t know was that the ticket is valid for an entire month and you can take any train you like.

Morning mist passing by Radovljica.
The construction-covered station in Ljubljana.
The narrow Sava valley near Trbovlje.
The castle above Sevnica.

Past Zaprešić, and soon you arrive at Zagreb’s Main Railway Station.

The day before, I booked a taxi through Welcome Pickups, because Anja had read that taxi drivers sometimes charge unreasonable prices.

If I were travelling alone, I would probably just take one of the taxis waiting outside the station. But with the girls travelling with us, I prefer not to leave things like that, and any potential stress, to chance.

At the Airport

The drive from the railway station to the airport takes just under half an hour. About a kilometre before arrival, the area is filled with fenced parking lots for cars. Clearly, some people quickly recognised a good business opportunity.

Zagreb Airport feels just right. Small enough to navigate easily, yet large enough not to feel crowded.

We checked in our suitcase. It was a little over the allowed 23 kilograms, but they did not make an issue of it.

I have never fully understood that concept. If I arrive with my 85 kilograms and a 23 kg suitcase, everything is fine. But if someone who weighs twenty kilos less shows up with a 25 kg suitcase, suddenly there is a problem and an extra fee.

A slightly strange kind of mathematics.

Flight to Rome

Through security, where my backpack was once again pulled aside. This happens to me regularly, probably because my cables are always a tangled mess. I really need to organise that better.

The flight itself was calm and uneventful. Above all, it was quick. We landed in just over an hour.

Rome welcomed us with sunshine.

Train into the City

After collecting our luggage, we headed straight to the train.

I bought the tickets for the Leonardo Express through the Trenitalia app, which we later also used for our return to the airport and for our trip to Tivoli. Otherwise, there were plenty of ticket machines available everywhere.

The ride to Rome takes just under an hour.

You look out of the window, waiting to spot church domes or some ancient ruin, something unmistakably Roman. But the closer you get to the city, the less romantic the view becomes. Wires everywhere, construction sites, worn railway infrastructure, and careless graffiti on neglected walls.

Not exactly a postcard view.

But the moment you step off the train, everything changes. The idea of travelling through Rome suddenly becomes real. The dull impression from the approach into the city disappears instantly.

Now we are here. Rome is in front of us, whatever it may turn out to be.

Full of anticipation, we head towards the exit.

First Contact with the City

The station is large enough to serve a city of nearly three million people. Spacious enough for the crowds to spread out, and clear enough that finding the exit is effortless.

You immediately notice the Carabinieri. A few metres away, soldiers as well. For a moment, it feels slightly unusual. Later, our host told us that this is completely normal for Rome.

As you walk towards Monti, you start noticing something else. Traffic. Italians drive, well, in an Italian way. Not every pedestrian crossing has traffic lights. Often you are left to the mercy of drivers, who mostly seem to have left that mercy at home. Only when a large enough group of people starts crossing do they finally have no choice but to stop.

And this small daily battle for the right to cross became something we experienced again and again throughout the trip.

Monti and the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

As you walk down from the station, the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore opens up in front of you, one of the four papal basilicas. They are, in a way, the VIP churches of the Catholic world.

But today the goal was an apartment with a bed and a shower, not a church. So we kept walking.

When I look for the right area to stay, I always try to find something close enough to the main sights, yet far enough that the crowds are not overwhelming. Close to a railway or metro station for easy logistics, and at the same time a solution to our eternal problem: enough restaurants and shops nearby.

That is how I found this apartment in the Monti district.

Our host, Semi, was already waiting for us around the corner. He explained the neighbourhood and showed us the entrance.

The building was under renovation, and the first impression was honestly a bit sceptical. We exchanged a few looks, wondering how this would turn out, because from the outside it looked quite rough. The stairs were covered, unfinished electrical wiring hung from the walls, and some corridor windows were broken or simply missing.

Then he opened the apartment door. A completely different story. Clean, tidy, and at first glance comfortable enough. The only downside was the shower, one of the smallest I have ever seen. But if that is the only issue, the location makes up for it.

Out Again, Because You Can’t Resist

Five minutes. That is how long we lasted.

When the Colosseum is only ten minutes away, it is hard to stay inside the apartment.

We dropped off our things and headed back out.

The street was full of people, restaurants, and bars. Everything within easy reach. The metro station just a few minutes away. Very similar to Santa Catarina in Porto from our trip through Portugal.

First impression completely repaired. For the better.

As long as you were not trying to cross the street.

San Pietro in Vincoli Church

We left the noise of our street behind as we climbed the stairs up to the Esquiline, one of Rome’s seven hills. The steep steps immediately reminded us of those we had walked on Montjuïc in Barcelona. Two flashes of past journeys within just a few metres.

At the top, you are not greeted by a view of the Sagrada Família, but by the church of San Pietro in Vincoli.

From the outside, it does not look particularly impressive. In fact, it hardly feels like a church at all, more like an ancient residence of a Roman nobleman with a preserved façade. But inside, it holds two things of great importance for both faith and art.

The first are the chains of Saint Peter. According to tradition, one set is believed to be the chains used during his imprisonment in Jerusalem, and another from his later imprisonment in Rome. When they were placed together more than 1,500 years ago, they are said to have miraculously fused, and the church received its name from that event.

Next to the relic there was a note written in Italian, accompanied by a drawing of a one-euro coin. Well, what can you do, we dropped in a euro, and at that very moment something sparkled, lights switched on, and the chains slowly disappeared behind a kind of closing panel.

A lady who had been quietly praying nearby suddenly stopped. I thought she was about to scold us for blocking her view of the chains, but instead she simply took out her phone and started enthusiastically taking photos. Later I read that the panel was actually just a decorative cover meant to protect the relic.

The second thing the church is known for is the tomb of one of the popes. To be honest, it is even more famous because it was designed by Michelangelo. The most striking element of this wall tomb is the statue of Moses. He portrayed him at the moment when he returned with the Ten Commandments and saw how his people had fallen into corruption during his absence.

So what you are looking at is an angry Moses.

Nia didn’t like it. Neither did Nara. I had expected it to be bigger. Anja noticed how incredibly detailed the sculpture was, though she also said that Michelangelo had created even more beautiful works.

And just like that, on a hill somewhere in the middle of Rome, we arrived at the very point of art.

Everyone is free to interpret, understand, and feel in their own way what they are looking at.

Gelato

Back outside again, back on the street, this time heading downhill. On the right, a pastry shop. We stop for the true king of Rome: gelato.

Gelato is an Italian ice cream made with more milk and less fat, which makes it denser and gives it a richer flavor.

We give it a try.

Nia chose chocolate.
Nara went for cookie.
I picked vanilla with caramel.
And Anja chose her favourite flavour, coffee. Without the ice cream, of course.

Everything feels creamier. The flavour is on another level.

And yes, it is excellent.

COLOSSEUM

Security here is taken very seriously. Carabinieri and soldiers are everywhere, and a police helicopter circles overhead almost constantly.

While we were sitting in front of the pastry shop, organised tourist groups kept walking past us, always in the same direction. We knew the Colosseum had to be nearby, but the surrounding buildings still hid it from view. So we simply followed a group of Japanese tourists.

You walk along the street, turn a corner, and suddenly the massive stone masterpiece of the ancient world opens up in front of you.

I didn’t expect it to appear so quickly. I went back around the corner once more. Then I repeated the arrival again.
And I was just as impressed as I had been a minute earlier.

That is the feeling you hope for. The same one you get when standing in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You have always wanted to be there.

And now you are.
Somewhere in the background of your mind, scenes from Gladiator with Russell Crowe begin to replay.

Nearby, a pedestrian bridge crosses above the road and offers an even more striking perspective. Traffic flowing beneath you, the Colosseum rising in front of you.

As you stand on the bridge and look at it, you try to imagine what it must have been like almost two thousand years ago, when crowds rushed here for bread and games. Today, the crowds rush for photographs and for the feeling of standing in front of something truly historic.

Dusk began to fall, and the lights were switched on, highlighting even more clearly the countless arches of the Colosseum.

The girls liked it.
Nara says the Eiffel Tower is still more impressive.
For Nia, the Colosseum wins.

We move closer. You take a photo from the left, from the right, then another straight on. You know that most of these pictures will probably never be looked at again.

But just in case, you take one more.

End of the First Day

Fatigue finally caught up with us.

In the first trattoria we found, we ordered carbonara, pesto, and bolognese. All homemade, and really good.

They were preparing tiramisu right in front of us. It would have been a sin not to order it.

And it was amazing.

The journey had started well, even though it was Friday the 13th.

Tomorrow we head into the Colosseum arena early in the morning, followed by the Palatine Hill and the Forum. Rain is in the forecast, so we will see how things unfold.

If today was only a first encounter, tomorrow we truly begin.