We left the hotel and headed for the Spanish Steps, took photos of the presepi, strolled down Via Co

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While this trip was bubbling up in the back of our minds for quite some time, it did not become a reality until early October. Consequently, there was some scrambling done and my various posts on this forum bear witness to that!
Why: we discussed a Christmas trip last year and the boys asked to go back to Rome; one wanted to stay away from warm or hot weather as he lives in Texas; the other wanted to get away from the deep freeze of Chicago. Rome was a good compromise with temps supposed to be in the 50 s. We hadn t been there in a few years and that was that. We looked at this as a family finale for now as we are getting ready to retire, neither son is married at this point and jobs could move either of them at any time.
How: We flew on United, different days depending on vacation and work schedules, and managed to converge within 36 hours of each other; Taxis from the airport were the easiest way to get to the hotel since we were all jet lagged and as I mentioned, some were travelling solo. We did not find a taxi that would take a credit card but one driver downtown los angeles office space offered to stop at a bancomat along the way. The one near baggage claim in the airport was jammed with weary/bleary travelers downtown los angeles office space trying downtown los angeles office space to figure downtown los angeles office space out how to use the darn thing so we just gave up and grabbed a cab.
Where: This is where it got interesting; since we would need two hotel rooms, I started looking for apartments as an option. Thought I d found the right spot, sent a deposit only to find that the final payment terms were going to be a huge hassle since we were arriving on a Saturday (banks closed), ATM s have a 500e/day withdrawal limit per card and we only use one bank here (so no option to use multiple ATM withdrawals), the landlord/agency did not accept paypal except for the deposit, downtown los angeles office space no credit cards, etc. I tried to find an alternative that was acceptable given that we did not want to open new bank accounts to get additional ATM cards for this trip and did not want to carry a large amount of cash with us. No luck .so it was back to the drawing board about 10 days before departure. At least I had more time than MaiTai Tom! I did learn a lot about Italian banking and transaction laws however. I also was glad that I d kept all of our email correspondence in one email trail so when there was a question of returning the deposit, I had all the lack of terms and conditions needed to get it done quickly. I found two hotel options downtown los angeles office space and booked them both with free cancellation in case the landlord changed his mind. In the end, we leveraged some hotel points and the (endless) business travel downtown los angeles office space perks to stay at the Westin. We had two rooms booked and were upgraded to a two bedroom suite with a nice central living room between the bedrooms so privacy issues were null. In all, there were three TV s so everyone could watch what they wanted if they wanted. Our room was on the corner of the fourth floor so we had a great view down the street. Internet was free as was breakfast for 2 of us each day (more on that later)
Travel day up early and off to the airport. I had two choices when booking the flights; either an early morning downtown los angeles office space departure with a long layover in Dulles or a later morning departure downtown los angeles office space with under an hour in Dulles. I opted for the safer plan and since we were delayed due to weather by almost an hour out of Chicago, it was the wise move. I ve learned that even if the airline says it s a legal connection, that is based on perfect conditions, weather, timing, etc. A lot of people on our flight were stressed and worried about missing connections. We took our time, had lunch and hung out in the United Club for the afternoon. The flight to Rome left on time, landed on time and had zero issues a good flight.
Checking in was painless at the Westin, downtown los angeles office space our room was available and we took a short nap of around 2 hours to freshen downtown los angeles office space up and prepare for the first day s death march until It was reasonable to find dinner and then crash.
We left the hotel and headed for the Spanish Steps, took photos downtown los angeles office space of the presepi, strolled down Via Condotti and found a small piazza for lunch. We were taking off coats and scarves, sitting outside while others were bundled up against the cold . A decent but not outstanding lunch and then off to do some more wandering. We were attacked downtown los angeles office space by two centurions outside of Hadrian s Temple who wanted photos and some sword play. My son played along and we were charged 30e for the opportunity. Chalk it up to experience and the fact that they probably target those of us with our eyes half open. I was prepared to give him 10e but each of the guys demanded it. I could have walked away but honestly, I was just too tired to argue. We ended the day at the Pantheon and Trevi for some quick photos then back to the hotel for a power nap of an hour or so.
Dinner that night was at La Bruschetta near the hotel on Via Sardegna. TripAdvisor had mixed reviews but we had a very nice dinner with excellent service and reasonable prices. Dinner for three with wine was around 60e including bread and a large bottle of water. Of course, add 30% to that for the exchange rate! Our waiter was funny and attentive without hovering. The other patrons all appeared to be locals and were greeted like old friends or frequent guests.
nice start to your trip, cmeyer despite the extortion by the faux gladiators. I think i remember reading something [perhaps here?] that the local government is trying to get rid of them, but obviously they are still praying on the jetlagged and otherwise unsuspecting.
It's absolutely illegal now for the "gladiators" to insist on money for photos. I'm sorry they were able to get any of your money. The police allow of certain number of licensed "gladiators" to work around the Colosseum, provided their costumes are historically accurate and they've demonstrated a certain amount of knowledge about their subject. There are strict regulations about what they can charge for photos. It seems as though the rest of the them are now staying away from the Colosseum area so they can fleece tourists out of the view of the police.
Our older son arrived at the hotel around 8:30am from the airport. I took him down for breakfast at the hotel and really hoped he got his 33e worth of food! He slept for a bit while the others worked out and then we all walked down to Piazza Barberini to grab the Hop On/Hop Off bus. We decided that would be a good way to get out, get our bearings and not impose too much on our eldest since he d been travelling for nearly 24 hours with little sleep before leaving the states.
Hop On/Hop off was just ok; it was 15e and I don t think we got the value unless you count the fact that our feet and backs were given a break! We did get off at the Colosseum and walked around, took photos of the Christmas Tree and then walked over to our all time favorite restaurant, Mario s, for lunch. They were closing for the holiday from 12/23 to 1/3 so this was our only opportunity. It was a great lunch, downtown los angeles office space the staff actually (or maybe pretended) to remember us from a prior trip. Somehow, I am not positive our little group is that memorable In any case, we got back on the bus and rode over to St Peters for our first of 4 visits to the Square and Church. The crowds weren t as large as I expected but we did wait in line for perhaps 15 minutes. Parts of the interior were roped off for the Christmas Eve Mass so we saw a bit, walked a bit, and worked around the barriers.
By the time we got back, our older son was on the verge of collapse. We all took naps and then let him sleep through until the next day. Fueling up with a big breakfast and lunch did the trick. The concierge recommended a restaurant downtown los angeles office space for the rest of the group, Tempo Bacco, which was within a block of the hotel. Again, nicely done, tiny, great service. The specialty for the time we were in Rome was truffles so DH had steak with truffle sauce, I had linguine with truffles and our son had carbonara (spoil sport). The dinner was a bit pricey downtown los angeles office space but well worth it. There was young couple there (mid to late 20 s) having a thoroughly Italian dinner with antipasti, primi, secondi, salad, dessert, coffee and wine. Not sure how often they eat that much given that she was rail thin!! (in my dreams .)
Back to the hotel by 9 and sound asleep by 10. Plates of fruit and 2 bottles of wine were waiting for us so we had a little snack and nightcap. The hotel rooms were really warm even with the thermostat at 0 so we opened windows and dealt with the street noise. Since we were still jet lagged, that didn t make a huge difference until a few nights later.
There was young couple there (mid to late 20 s) having a thoroughly Italian dinner downtown los angeles office space with antipasti, primi, secondi, salad, dessert, coffee and wine. Not sure how often they eat that much given that she was rail thin!! (in my dreams .)
I always thought that Rome allowing the tacky pushy gladiators to operate there and the human statues who only move when coins are dropped into the boxes and the folks selling plastic wind-up flying birds and even old ladies selling bird seed for to feed the pigeons and on and on was a disgrace and sacrilege to such a monument.
downtown los angeles office space I'd get rid of them all - and now they want to block off the very main road that runs right by the north side of the place and locals are opposing it too - what a different getting rid of that obnoxiously busy road would make - such a more supreme silent environment for both the Colosseum and adjoining Forum.
I apologize for the lag - 'life' got in the way along with a little over a weeks' worth of flu-a. Anyway, rather than slog thru each day, I'll just give the hightlights, lessons learned and suggestions that we got that worked really well.
Food: Great dinners at La Fortunato, Tempo Bacco, Tempo Per