Visiting Rome's finest treasures with the best guide in town

On our last day in Rome we met up with one of Mart's childhood friends, Marco, who gave us the absolute best tour of Rome we could ever have dreamed of. 
He took us to countless incredible spots, told us fantastic stories, got us to eat the most amazing specialties... and he made sure we had the real Rome experience by showing off his driving skills in the busy afternoon traffic; it was terrific!

Late afternoon in Tivoli

After our walk trough the gardens of the Villa d'Este we took a stroll through the small town of Tivoli before getting back on the bus to Rome. It was Halloween and we saw lots of kids on their way to party in their fancy costumes on one of the squares (cute vampires, princesses and ghosts not pictured below).   :-) 

Rome 2014 - Tivoli

One morning we left the apartment early and set out to the Villa d'Este in Tivoli, outside of Rome. What an amazing site! The villa, and most particularly the gardens, were absolutely stunning.
You'll probably be able to tell how excited I got by the amount of photos I took. :-)

Rome - Via di Villa Torlonia 10

When Mart's dad was 17 he lived in Rome for a year with his parents, brother and sisters. He hadn't gone back since, and so our week there was a very special walk down memory lane for him. 
One afternoon he took us to the house where he had lived with his family; we didn't go in but it was lovely to walk through the neighbourhood and retrace his footsteps almost 50 years later.

Rome 2014 - Forum and St. Peter's Basilica