By Doriana Mazzone
This is a story about how I decided to go to Rome, Italy for the Weekend!
Last year in May of 2023, I booked a random last-minute trip and took my sister with me! We went on a 3-day getaway to a Wellness Hotel and Spa Resort at QC Termeroma in Rome, Italy!
Yes, you read that correctly. We flew from Toronto to Italy for a few days!
As the saying goes, “When in Rome, Do as the Romans!”
Living in Toronto as an Italian-Canadian, I embrace both the Italian lifestyle and the Canadian work culture.
Here's the preface to this trip:
Approaching the age of 40 at the end of the month marked a significant milestone for me. Since my mother passed away a few years ago, I felt the urge to embrace spontaneity once again, something I hadn't experienced in quite some time. This was the perfect moment to do so!
I wanted to go away but not for a long time.
I wanted a very simple, chic and classy getaway.
Being from Toronto, it is common for Torontonians or Canadians to travel to the US for a short visit or take a trip down south. Normally, they will go to New York, Miami or Las Vegas and rightfully so, as these cities from Toronto typically are about a 3-5 hour flight and going to Rome, Italy from Toronto is an 8-hour flight!
But here's the thing, I don't like travelling south and I don't like travelling to the US.
So what would be the most Gemini thing I could come up with?
A weekend getaway to Rome of course!
So I called my sister, who needed more of a break than I did from her household, and the rest was history.
Every time I fly back to Toronto from Italy, I have a habit of ending my trip by staying at QC Termeroma in Rome. I've stayed and experienced this Wellness Spa a few times before. I didn't want to go to Italy and make an extensive trip out of it, I just wanted to go to this Wellness Center and then come home!
I couldn't have thought of a better place to spend the weekend.
Thankfully my sister said yes. Double thanks because she works for Air Canada so I didn't have to pay for those flights!!
Let me break down "Why travelling to Italy for the weekend" actually made more sense
On this trip, we left for Rome, Italy on a Wednesday night and returned to Toronto, Canada on Sunday.
In total, we were gone 4 nights and had 3 full days in Rome, Italy.
This is the point form version:
Leaving Toronto, Canada to Rome, Italy:
Is always an evening flight. (Between 8-9 pm) Depending on if you are leaving with Air Canada or Air Transat.
This means you're sleeping on the plane and you arrive in Rome by noon the following day. Remember there is a 6-hour time difference from Toronto to Rome. Italy is ahead by 6 hours.
Which means, you’re not travelling throughout the day.
This means you get on the plane, go to sleep, and when you wake up you’re in Italy.
This means I'm not at the airport at 6,7 or 8 am, for a flight that leaves at 11 am, to land at 4 pm, to get to the hotel at 6 pm, and then be tired and go to sleep and already waste my first day! Get my drift?
And Coming back from Rome, Italy to Toronto, Canada looks like this: (you’re gonna love this!)
When you leave from Rome to Toronto, your flight is typically in the early afternoon. 2 pm-ish. Again, depending on the Airline you take, Air Canada or Air Transat.
Flying from Rome to Toronto is typically a little bit longer (more wind) so it’s a 9-hour flight.
But you’re also “travelling back in time - 6 hours!”
So in conclusion, because we didn't stay in Italy long enough to be affected by the time difference and flying back to Toronto was going to be a 9-hour flight, but a 6-hour back time difference, this meant that we arrived in Toronto on the same Sunday afternoon by 5-6 pm!
Isn't that funny and interesting? We leave Rome by 2 pm on Sunday to arrive home in Toronto by 5 pm on the same Sunday. See, that’s GIRL MATH right there, HA!!
The 3-Day Itinerary I planned for a weekend in Rome!
3 nights at QC Termeroma in Rome.
Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner - All meals included - because I didn't want to think about where to eat.
Daily access to spa grounds from 9 am to 11-PM / Midnight.
2 massage treatments
And this is the breakdown of what we actually did on the trip:
WEDNESDAY
Flying out from Toronto to Rome.
Flying out from Toronto to Rome is an evening flight. This means you're having dinner on the flight, then sleeping overnight and the next morning, without ruining your circadian rhythm, you arrive in Rome by noon.
THURSDAY
Arrived in Rome by noon.
Got picked up by the shuttle service I usually call to bring me to QC Termeroma in Rome.
QC Termeroma is located 10 minutes by car from the Rome Fiumicino airport, which is super convenient.
At 2:00 pm we checked into our rooms and put on our bathrobes because that's all you need to wear here.
Walked the grounds - napped on the lawn chairs and went into the pools
Appertivo time on the grounds at 5 pm.
8:30 pm dinner. (late dinners are a real thing in Italy, and I only do it when I am there)
Back to the pools after dinner to 11 pm.
FRIDAY
Breakfast: 9:30 am - beautiful breakfast with plenty of fresh options.
10:30 am, Called for a taxi to take my sister and me to Central Rome.
After spending the entire afternoon in Central Rome, it was also Apperitivo time at our Wellness Hotel so we were back by 6:30 pm at QC Termeroma in Rome (You can't miss appertivo hours in Italy… I think it’s a by-law! -I’m kidding. It’s not! But it’s important not to skip meals!)
Then it was more rest and relaxation time on the grounds.
We had dinner at 9 pm - We decided to have dinner on our balcony in our room because we wanted to go back out to the saunas after dinner and also because we wanted to stay in our bathrobe.
End off the night back in the baths in the underground caves until midnight.
I’ve been to Rome many times, I've seen all the sites. My sister has also been there. But we wanted to go and spend a few hours in central Rome to go for a leisure walk, have a coffee and an apperitivo and of course, do a little bit of shopping. I had the taxi drop us off at Piazza Navona and from there we casually walked through the streets.
You don't really need a map once you're in central Rome, there are enough tourists and signage to let you know where you have to go. Let's just say on our way for an appertivo, a cafe and shopping we still ended up passing through The Spanish Steps, The Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. You can walk through any street in central Rome and stumble upon a monument without purposely looking for it.
SATURDAY
Our last full day in Rome, Italy.
At this point, it was day 3 but it felt like it was already day 8.
That’s another thing people are not aware of when travelling to Italy.
Is the Italy TIME EFFECTS!
In Toronto, the weekend passes by in the blink of an eye, one day it's Friday and the next day it’s Monday. For some reason, in Italy, 3 days feels like 1 week, 1 week feels like 1 month, and 1 month feels like you’re a citizen at this point.
Breakfast- 9:30 am.
Called for a taxi again - we wanted to do a little more shopping. There was an outdoor mall nearby Parco Commerciale Da Vinci and that's where we went for a few hours.
Came back for lunch at 2:00 pm.
Enjoyed the rest of the afternoon soaking in the sun in the pools, in our bathrobe, and sleeping on lawn chairs.
Then of course - Appertivo Time - 5:30 pm.
7:00 pm - We got ready for our massage treatments - I usually like to book massages toward the end of the trip.
9:00 pm - After the massages - it was time to get ready for my birthday dinner at the restaurant.
Then we changed back into our bathing suits and bathrobe for an evening in the saunas till midnight.
SUNDAY
Departure day - Rome back to Toronto
Breakfast - 8:30 am - we could have done the baths but my sister was paranoid with time which she regretted later… at the airport of course)
Our shuttle service picked us up. And our flight back to Toronto was at 2:00 pm.
If you don't think I took advantage of every spare minute of not giving a f$ck about doing nothing, you better believe it. Sometimes I forget that I live a very different lifestyle than most people, and I see how much my sister, a mother of 2 children actually needed this more than I did. You don't have to wear yourself out to feel like you need a rest and relaxation trip. You should do it as a reminder to slow down and enjoy life. There’s a reason why Italians call it “ La Dolce Vita”, it’s enjoying the simple pleasures of life!
And that's the story of how we went to Rome for the weekend!
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