Stranded in Rome

Been away with the bf to celebrate our 11th anniversary. We decided on Rome. He'd been before and loved it; I'd never been. We picked an interesting weekend to go!

We left the UK on Friday in bright winter sun. We landed in Rome to heavy rain. On the train on the way in we noticed a light dusting of snow. By the time we got to the city centre it was snowing quite hard. There was more snow on Saturday night - in fact this weekend saw the heaviest snow they'd had for 25 years!

It was pretty miserable at first. Wandering through slushy streets on Friday night our feet soon got soaked. It was hard to imagine how we could see the sights when it was snowing hard. But Saturday dawned cold but clear so we set out - first stop the Trevi Fountain which was about 20 metres from our hotel.

We walked to the Vatican but the queues to get in to the basilica were about three hours. No thanks! After going back to the hotel for a change of shoes we set out for the Spanish Steps. This time I had an idea - why not line my shoes with plastic bags? Not stylish but it kept us dry.

From the top of the steps we walked along the hillside overlooking the city spread out before us with white rooftops. My favourite part of the trip I think.

That night we learned our flight home on Sunday had been cancelled due to the snow - not in Rome, where the airport had been cleared, but this time at Heathrow. We were lucky to be able to rebook for Monday so we had the whole of Sunday in Rome too.

Sunday was bright and sunny so we went to the Colosseum and the Roman ruins. Sadly both closed due to snow so we could only see the outside. Then we walked across the river to a lovely neighbourhood called Trastevere. Highly recommended for aimless wandering.

We returned in the evening to the amazing pizza place we went to on Friday night. Not very stylish but the best pizzas ever - super thin crust and charred on the edges.

Today a final delay of one hour at Rome airport while they waited to Heathrow to give them permission to take off - still some delays due to the earlier snow. Can't wait to see how much snow there is at home. We'll be greeted by a slightly frantic cat. We have a timer dish for when we go away but it only does two days. So his last meal was yesterday at 9am. Poor thing!

Throughout the trip bf kept saying "Imagine how lovely this would be in the summer." I said "Yes but we are here and it's lovely now." No point wishing for something else and the way I see it we saw a view of Rome that few people will see.