Going on holiday is probably one of the easiest ways to meet
new people, and even though there was a language barrier; Rome is a place that
most people can speak a bit of English.
My partner in crime Linsey is the same as me in the fact we’ll
talk to anyone, and we meet a guy called Stefano while trying to find out hotel
(see previous post about getting lost!) Not only did he give us directions, he
actually walked us to the hotel himself which was 10 minutes out of his way. We
were a bit wary at first, but he was harmless and took a shine to Linsey.
The next person we met, became our new best friend; the
hotel barman Salvidor! He was the nicest guy, got to know us well and even gave
us free drinks on the first night, and on the afternoon we were leaving. He
gave us great recommendations, such as going up the dome at St Peter’s church.
And at a fountain we posed by we did wonder why people were drinking the water,
was it sacred? Salivdor’s view on this, no they are crazy, I hope you didn't
drink it!
Mario at the hotel reception was the third person we got to
know and he also had great local knowledge, even though he lived in New York
for the past 10 years. Now I thought that this only happened in films, but
Mario was quite weary of the mafia, he’d whisper the word if it was in
conversation. Both Salivdor and Mario both asked when we'd be coming back to Rome halfway through our stay!
Our second night was when we met 4 people, and all were
British. Going out to the restaurant opposite the hotel (our feet were very
achy), we ended up sitting next to two guys from Southampton called Mike and
Russ. Unlike us having a girlie weekend in Rome, they were off to the football.
It was great to compare views on Rome.
After dinner Linsey and I went to see our good friend
Salvidor at the bar on the roof terrace. In an inspired move Linsey had bought
a selfie stick, and upon hearing the couples behind us talk about them, she
promptly pushed it in front of the couples. What a way to enter a conversation!
One of the couples were American, but we didn't catch their names. However we
ended up chatting to Darren and Kelly from Kent. The best part of the conversation
was the American guy thought I was posh. If you’ve ever heard me speak you’d
think otherwise!
The last person we met was a guy called Martin on our train
back. He was from Vienna and loved Rome, visiting regularly. He was great to
talk to as he gave us recommendations as to which cities we should visit next,
and why we should go to Vienna.
Our hotel features a lot in this blog post, and for anyone
interested in stayed at the Marcella Royal Hotel, and I highly recommend
staying there. Good breakfast, great views and friendly staff, what more could
you ask for. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of any of the people we met, so you'll have to make do with more pictures of me at the roof terrace.
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