Rome 2007 - Trip Report
Mar 16th, 2007, 10:11 AM
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Rome 2007 - Trip Report
ROME, ITALY – February 23, - March 2, 2007
Friday – We are on our way to Rome! This will be our second time there (the first time was in 1998). We scored exit row seats, so we’re pretty comfortable.
Saturday – Arrive at 9:15. Our driver was waiting for us after we collected our bags, and this was a real luxury to not have to worry about a cab. But this driver was very picky about his car – he actually swatted my husband’s hand when my husband tried to adjust the vent for the back seat! But he finally turned on the vent a little more and drove us to the Residenza Canali, which is right around the corner from the Piazza Navona. We had pre-arranged this pick-up from the hotel for 45E, but the driver tried to say it was 55E after he dropped us off at the hotel. But my husband just handed him 50E and he said, “Well, okay.” I’m not sure what all that was about.
The Residenza Canali was everything we wanted it to be. It was on an old, cobblestone street. There are no elevators. Our room was on the 2nd floor (third floor in USA). The bathroom was very modern. The room was small but perfectly adequate. We could open our windows and wooden shutters to look out at the small street below. It was perfect. Our rate was 130E per night if we paid in cash, which we did. It would have been 145E to charge it to a credit card. The front desk people were very nice and helpful.
Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we left our bags and went exploring. We walked around the Piazza Navona, over to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and then we had lunch near the Trevi Fountain. This was the only time I felt like we were “taken” with regard to a meal. We had bruschetti and pizza (shared one pizza); I had water and my husband had Diet Coke (Coke Lite in Europe). There was a cover charge (only place in Rome where we paid a cover charge) and also a service charge. The bill was 39E, which I thought was a lot. We then walked back to the hotel and crashed for about 2 hours (with the window and shutters open!). After we got up, we had our first gelato of the trip and then went exploring some more. We ate at the one of the restaurants on the Piazza Navona (can’t remember name). I had gnocchi and husband had roasted chicken with potatoes. We then stayed there and listened to some of the musicians playing in the Piazza. After awhile we ordered hot chocolate, and then we eventually wandered back to our hotel.
The weather was great during our trip – low to mid sixties on most days, and it only sprinkled rain once.
Sunday – We had breakfast at the hotel and then walked across the bridge to the Castel Sant’ Angelo. It wasn’t open yet so we walked down toward St. Peter’s. We didn’t plan to go in to St. Peter’s this time, and it was fun just wandering around. We eventually made our way back to Sant’ Angelo and toured the castle. The views are amazing from the top, and we took lots of pictures! By the time we walked back across the bridge, vendors were selling sunglasses, purses, paintings, and lots of other things on sheets they had spread on the side of the road. We stopped at a little outdoor café for lunch – again, we had bruschetta and pizza. We dropped off our souveniors at the hotel, and then walked along the Tiber River, and then up the ia Condotti to the Spanish Steps. I was surprised at how crowded the area was, considering this was the last week of February. We then our made to the Trevi Fountain and threw in our coins to ensure our return trip to Rome!
After that, we explored the little side streets in the area. As you can see, we love wandering just to see what we can see. We had dinner at another restaurant on the Piazza Navona. This time there was some drama with one of the musicians playing in the square. This lady had also been singing there the night before, and she has a beautiful voice. She played the guitar and sang. While she was singing on this night, a policeman came up to her and started yelling (of course in Italian) at her. A small crowd had already been watching/listening to her sing, but when the policeman started yelling at her, a bigger crowd came. It seems that the policeman was telling her she was singing too loudly (at least that’s what we think he was saying). The crowd was sort of booing at the policeman, and he finally walked off. The singer looked very upset, and then began trying to sing and play again, but she stopped and started crying. A young man standing near us said (in English), “She cannot go on!” This guy was very disgusted at the policeman. The singer eventually got herself together and began singing again, and now people were tipping her paper Euros instead of coins because they felt so badly for her. The policeman continued hanging around, but he kept his distance from the crowd. My husband and I weren’t sure if this was all contrived to get more tips, or if this was for real. But anyway, it was drama on the Navona!
Monday –We had set our alarm clock early enough so that we could walk to St. Peter’s for our Scavi Tour at the Excavations Office. We really enjoyed the tour; our tour guide was really good and gave us lots of information. After the tour, we walked back over the bridge and up Viso Vittorio Emanuele. We explored that area, bought some postcards, and then returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage. They called a cab for us to take us to the St. Regis (where my husband's company started paying!)
Friday – We are on our way to Rome! This will be our second time there (the first time was in 1998). We scored exit row seats, so we’re pretty comfortable.
Saturday – Arrive at 9:15. Our driver was waiting for us after we collected our bags, and this was a real luxury to not have to worry about a cab. But this driver was very picky about his car – he actually swatted my husband’s hand when my husband tried to adjust the vent for the back seat! But he finally turned on the vent a little more and drove us to the Residenza Canali, which is right around the corner from the Piazza Navona. We had pre-arranged this pick-up from the hotel for 45E, but the driver tried to say it was 55E after he dropped us off at the hotel. But my husband just handed him 50E and he said, “Well, okay.” I’m not sure what all that was about.
The Residenza Canali was everything we wanted it to be. It was on an old, cobblestone street. There are no elevators. Our room was on the 2nd floor (third floor in USA). The bathroom was very modern. The room was small but perfectly adequate. We could open our windows and wooden shutters to look out at the small street below. It was perfect. Our rate was 130E per night if we paid in cash, which we did. It would have been 145E to charge it to a credit card. The front desk people were very nice and helpful.
Our room wasn’t ready when we arrived, so we left our bags and went exploring. We walked around the Piazza Navona, over to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and then we had lunch near the Trevi Fountain. This was the only time I felt like we were “taken” with regard to a meal. We had bruschetti and pizza (shared one pizza); I had water and my husband had Diet Coke (Coke Lite in Europe). There was a cover charge (only place in Rome where we paid a cover charge) and also a service charge. The bill was 39E, which I thought was a lot. We then walked back to the hotel and crashed for about 2 hours (with the window and shutters open!). After we got up, we had our first gelato of the trip and then went exploring some more. We ate at the one of the restaurants on the Piazza Navona (can’t remember name). I had gnocchi and husband had roasted chicken with potatoes. We then stayed there and listened to some of the musicians playing in the Piazza. After awhile we ordered hot chocolate, and then we eventually wandered back to our hotel.
The weather was great during our trip – low to mid sixties on most days, and it only sprinkled rain once.
Sunday – We had breakfast at the hotel and then walked across the bridge to the Castel Sant’ Angelo. It wasn’t open yet so we walked down toward St. Peter’s. We didn’t plan to go in to St. Peter’s this time, and it was fun just wandering around. We eventually made our way back to Sant’ Angelo and toured the castle. The views are amazing from the top, and we took lots of pictures! By the time we walked back across the bridge, vendors were selling sunglasses, purses, paintings, and lots of other things on sheets they had spread on the side of the road. We stopped at a little outdoor café for lunch – again, we had bruschetta and pizza. We dropped off our souveniors at the hotel, and then walked along the Tiber River, and then up the ia Condotti to the Spanish Steps. I was surprised at how crowded the area was, considering this was the last week of February. We then our made to the Trevi Fountain and threw in our coins to ensure our return trip to Rome!
After that, we explored the little side streets in the area. As you can see, we love wandering just to see what we can see. We had dinner at another restaurant on the Piazza Navona. This time there was some drama with one of the musicians playing in the square. This lady had also been singing there the night before, and she has a beautiful voice. She played the guitar and sang. While she was singing on this night, a policeman came up to her and started yelling (of course in Italian) at her. A small crowd had already been watching/listening to her sing, but when the policeman started yelling at her, a bigger crowd came. It seems that the policeman was telling her she was singing too loudly (at least that’s what we think he was saying). The crowd was sort of booing at the policeman, and he finally walked off. The singer looked very upset, and then began trying to sing and play again, but she stopped and started crying. A young man standing near us said (in English), “She cannot go on!” This guy was very disgusted at the policeman. The singer eventually got herself together and began singing again, and now people were tipping her paper Euros instead of coins because they felt so badly for her. The policeman continued hanging around, but he kept his distance from the crowd. My husband and I weren’t sure if this was all contrived to get more tips, or if this was for real. But anyway, it was drama on the Navona!
Monday –We had set our alarm clock early enough so that we could walk to St. Peter’s for our Scavi Tour at the Excavations Office. We really enjoyed the tour; our tour guide was really good and gave us lots of information. After the tour, we walked back over the bridge and up Viso Vittorio Emanuele. We explored that area, bought some postcards, and then returned to the hotel to pick up our luggage. They called a cab for us to take us to the St. Regis (where my husband's company started paying!)
Mar 17th, 2007, 07:57 AM
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The St. Regis Grand IS very grand. The doorman wears a top hat! We had a pink and white chandelier hanging in our room (which was really more like a suite). The bathroom was huge. We got settled in and then walked around the area. The hotel is right by the Piazza de Repubblica. We had a reception at the hotel that night, so we didn't go out.
Tuesday - We started the day with breakfast in the Ritz Ballroom - very nice. Then we had a short business meeting at the Auditorium della Conciliazione. After the meeting, we had a tour of St. Peter's. Our tour guide was Francesco, and he was a FAST walker. We had a hard time keeping up with him. We actually lost one of our group, but Francesco did not stop. We learned quickly to keep up with him. He told us some fascinating history about St. Peter's. We had been there before, several years ago, but I don't think I would ever tire of seeing the inside of the church. It is beautiful.
After returning to the hotel, we decided to walk to the Borghese Gardens. We didn't have time to see the gallery, but we enjoyed walking around the gardens. The day was so warm that my husband was just wearing short sleeves, and we saw people having picnics in the park barefooted! We picked up some pizza and drinks from a little stand and had our own picnic. It was great and very peaceful. We felt like we were risking our lives as we were walking back toward the hotel, but there were no incidents. I am amazed at the Rome drivers; they seem to be so alert to everything around them.
That evening, we went to the Villa Miani for dinner and entertainment. This was a beautiful villa, overlooking the city. We could see the lights of the whole city below us. The view was amazing.
Tuesday - We started the day with breakfast in the Ritz Ballroom - very nice. Then we had a short business meeting at the Auditorium della Conciliazione. After the meeting, we had a tour of St. Peter's. Our tour guide was Francesco, and he was a FAST walker. We had a hard time keeping up with him. We actually lost one of our group, but Francesco did not stop. We learned quickly to keep up with him. He told us some fascinating history about St. Peter's. We had been there before, several years ago, but I don't think I would ever tire of seeing the inside of the church. It is beautiful.
After returning to the hotel, we decided to walk to the Borghese Gardens. We didn't have time to see the gallery, but we enjoyed walking around the gardens. The day was so warm that my husband was just wearing short sleeves, and we saw people having picnics in the park barefooted! We picked up some pizza and drinks from a little stand and had our own picnic. It was great and very peaceful. We felt like we were risking our lives as we were walking back toward the hotel, but there were no incidents. I am amazed at the Rome drivers; they seem to be so alert to everything around them.
That evening, we went to the Villa Miani for dinner and entertainment. This was a beautiful villa, overlooking the city. We could see the lights of the whole city below us. The view was amazing.
Mar 17th, 2007, 11:29 AM
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Wednesday - breakfast at hotel, then we had a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. I forgot to mention earlier that a lot of the tour companies have a system called "Whispers," where everyone wears headphones, and the tour guide speaks into a microphone. We can all hear the tour guide without standing right next to him/her, and we can wander around the site taking pictures, etc., but we can still hear. This also cuts down on the very loud talking that most tour guides have had to do, so I think it's a good system. The last time we were in Italy, we didn't see anyone using this system.
After going back to the hotel for lunch, my husband and I decided to walk back down to the Colosseum, because our tickets said they were good until 4 p.m. We walked down Via Nazionale toward the huge Monument Victor Emanuele, where the tomb of the unknown soldier is. There are lots and lots of steps here, but a pretty view once you get to the top. Then we walked to the Colosseum, but our tickets wouldn't open the turnstile. A guard came and looked at our tickets and said, "You've already been here this morning?" We said yes, but we thought we could get in until 4 p.m., but he said the tickets were only good for one entrance. Then he asked where we were from, and said he was fine if we went in again and he opened the turnstile for us -- a very nice man! This time we just wandered around the Colosseum at our own pace without a tour guide. We stayed for quite awhile. We then took a taxi back to the hotel.
That evening we had a reception at the Palazzo Taverna, and then it was back to the Auditorium della Conciliazione for entertainment by the Ten Tenors of Australia. It was a good show. We then walked over to the Santo Spirito for dinner. It was a very busy but fun day.
Thursday - This morning we took a tour of the Trastevere district. There were only 6 of us on this tour. We toured the Villa Farnesina and saw Rafael's frescoes. We also explored the Santa Maria Trastevere. This area was where we saw several gypsies! One of them was quite persistent, coming up to my husband several times until we were all firm with him to leave. But then he left, so there were no problems.
Instead of going back to the hotel, we had the bus driver drop us off at the end of Via Condotti. This street and the streets around it are filled with shops and restaurants. We got lunch from Fior Fiori near the Spanish Steps, and we took it to the Spanish Steps to eat. It was nice sitting there watching all the people. This was the first day of March, and there were throngs of people everywhere.
We then shopped, walked, shopped, walked and made our way back to the hotel. On the way I got a beautiful red leather purse, husband got a tie, and we got some souveniors for the kids and family.
At 5 that we evening our group had a private tour of the Sistine Chapel. We had not been there on our previous visit to Rome, and it was incredible.
That evening we had dinner at Meo Patacca. Dinner and entertainment were both very good.
Friday - we left hotel at 8 for our 10:45 a.m. flight. We were hoping for exit row seats, but instead ended up in the middle of the plane (with me in the MIDDLE middle and husband in aisle middle). Flight was 11.5 hours non-stop. Because of high winds, we took a big northern arc over Greenland. We've never flown that far north, and it was amazing to see the icebergs floating in the ocean and the shoreline along Greenland.
THOUGHTS ON ITALY: This was our second trip to Italy, but it definitely won't be the last. Rome is a wonderful city to spend a week exploring. We could have spent more time there exploring new things. We can't wait to go back!
After going back to the hotel for lunch, my husband and I decided to walk back down to the Colosseum, because our tickets said they were good until 4 p.m. We walked down Via Nazionale toward the huge Monument Victor Emanuele, where the tomb of the unknown soldier is. There are lots and lots of steps here, but a pretty view once you get to the top. Then we walked to the Colosseum, but our tickets wouldn't open the turnstile. A guard came and looked at our tickets and said, "You've already been here this morning?" We said yes, but we thought we could get in until 4 p.m., but he said the tickets were only good for one entrance. Then he asked where we were from, and said he was fine if we went in again and he opened the turnstile for us -- a very nice man! This time we just wandered around the Colosseum at our own pace without a tour guide. We stayed for quite awhile. We then took a taxi back to the hotel.
That evening we had a reception at the Palazzo Taverna, and then it was back to the Auditorium della Conciliazione for entertainment by the Ten Tenors of Australia. It was a good show. We then walked over to the Santo Spirito for dinner. It was a very busy but fun day.
Thursday - This morning we took a tour of the Trastevere district. There were only 6 of us on this tour. We toured the Villa Farnesina and saw Rafael's frescoes. We also explored the Santa Maria Trastevere. This area was where we saw several gypsies! One of them was quite persistent, coming up to my husband several times until we were all firm with him to leave. But then he left, so there were no problems.
Instead of going back to the hotel, we had the bus driver drop us off at the end of Via Condotti. This street and the streets around it are filled with shops and restaurants. We got lunch from Fior Fiori near the Spanish Steps, and we took it to the Spanish Steps to eat. It was nice sitting there watching all the people. This was the first day of March, and there were throngs of people everywhere.
We then shopped, walked, shopped, walked and made our way back to the hotel. On the way I got a beautiful red leather purse, husband got a tie, and we got some souveniors for the kids and family.
At 5 that we evening our group had a private tour of the Sistine Chapel. We had not been there on our previous visit to Rome, and it was incredible.
That evening we had dinner at Meo Patacca. Dinner and entertainment were both very good.
Friday - we left hotel at 8 for our 10:45 a.m. flight. We were hoping for exit row seats, but instead ended up in the middle of the plane (with me in the MIDDLE middle and husband in aisle middle). Flight was 11.5 hours non-stop. Because of high winds, we took a big northern arc over Greenland. We've never flown that far north, and it was amazing to see the icebergs floating in the ocean and the shoreline along Greenland.
THOUGHTS ON ITALY: This was our second trip to Italy, but it definitely won't be the last. Rome is a wonderful city to spend a week exploring. We could have spent more time there exploring new things. We can't wait to go back!
Apr 5th, 2007, 06:47 AM
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Hi Samsaf, thank you for this report. I enjoyed it very much. It sounds like your weather was quite good. We are going to Rome next January, but could wait until February too.
Were the fountains going during that time of year? What were the Borghese Gardens like, anything in bloom yet? That was the only thing I missed during our January trip to Florence & Venice, no fountain were going during that time of year, but I know Rome is warmer...
Many thanks!
Were the fountains going during that time of year? What were the Borghese Gardens like, anything in bloom yet? That was the only thing I missed during our January trip to Florence & Venice, no fountain were going during that time of year, but I know Rome is warmer...
Many thanks!
Apr 5th, 2007, 11:11 AM
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Tiff, the fountains were working when we were there. They were renovating the Four River Fountain in Piazza Navona, but I'm not sure when that will be complete.
I don't think many things were blooming in the Borghese Gardens. It was so warm the day we were there -- it was amazing to see people barefoot in February!
I don't think many things were blooming in the Borghese Gardens. It was so warm the day we were there -- it was amazing to see people barefoot in February!
Apr 5th, 2007, 11:31 AM
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Ah Samsaf, I am Romesick!!! Thanks for your lovely and intersting report.
I guess the taxi driver who picked you up at FCO was indeed picky about his taxi, lol. Just curious, was he an Italian? And that was quite an interesting story about the singer in the Piazza Navona..a sister or cousin of the policeman perhaps??
I guess the taxi driver who picked you up at FCO was indeed picky about his taxi, lol. Just curious, was he an Italian? And that was quite an interesting story about the singer in the Piazza Navona..a sister or cousin of the policeman perhaps??
Apr 6th, 2007, 12:08 PM
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Thanks LoveItaly. Yeah, maybe it was her cousin! We couldn't really figure out what was going on. And we learned really quickly not to touch anything in the taxi driver's car -- even though we were so HOT and wanted to turn the vent on higher!
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