Christmas in Rome?
May 15th, 2005, 10:53 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 38
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Christmas in Rome?
Has anyone ever spent Christmas in Rome?
I get a week of paid vacation from Christmas to New Year's and would like to use it by taking a vacation with my husband to Italy. We'd likely want to do 4 days in Rome and 4 days in Venice, celebrating Christmas in Rome and New Year's in Venice.
Any travel tips/suggestions/advice appreciated.
I get a week of paid vacation from Christmas to New Year's and would like to use it by taking a vacation with my husband to Italy. We'd likely want to do 4 days in Rome and 4 days in Venice, celebrating Christmas in Rome and New Year's in Venice.
Any travel tips/suggestions/advice appreciated.
Jun 6th, 2005, 05:28 PM
#3
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,178
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Very strange - this question was posted on the "Travelers Lounge" board, but when I posted my reply it switched to the Europe board (& made me look pretty stupid in the process!).
If you go to the Travelers Lounge you will find the original post is still there with 0 replies.
Jim
If you go to the Travelers Lounge you will find the original post is still there with 0 replies.
Jim
Jun 6th, 2005, 05:56 PM
#5
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 891
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I have a daughter in the Peace Corps, stationed in Kenya. For health reasons, I cannot go to Africa, so we spent Christmas 2003 in Rome and Christmas 2004 in Venice. OMIGOSH.
Both cities are so wonderful that one cannot really compare them. They each have their own special charm.
I was initially concerned that Rome might be incredibly crowded b/c of The Vatican's Christmas Day Mass...and I DO mean MASS. However, Rome proper did not look any different than it did on the other days that week. Crowds were not a problem at any time. In fact, I would have to say that the only problem ...
easily rectified with advance notice...was everything's closing early on Christmas Eve. Took some doing to find a restuarant for dinner, but find one we did. Everything seemed to be open on Christmas Day.
Everything stayed open the usual hours in Venice on both days, as far as we could tell.
We walked everywhere in both cities. No need for vaporettas or subways or buses. From the airport to the city was the only time we needed to ride.
Search this site for trip reports and answers to all sorts of questions. It'll be fun. AND you are going to have such a good time in Italy!!
Both cities are so wonderful that one cannot really compare them. They each have their own special charm.
I was initially concerned that Rome might be incredibly crowded b/c of The Vatican's Christmas Day Mass...and I DO mean MASS. However, Rome proper did not look any different than it did on the other days that week. Crowds were not a problem at any time. In fact, I would have to say that the only problem ...
easily rectified with advance notice...was everything's closing early on Christmas Eve. Took some doing to find a restuarant for dinner, but find one we did. Everything seemed to be open on Christmas Day.
Everything stayed open the usual hours in Venice on both days, as far as we could tell.
We walked everywhere in both cities. No need for vaporettas or subways or buses. From the airport to the city was the only time we needed to ride.
Search this site for trip reports and answers to all sorts of questions. It'll be fun. AND you are going to have such a good time in Italy!!
Jun 6th, 2005, 11:51 PM
#6
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,178
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sorry to butt in on this thread (again!) but cruiseluv asked about the "Travelers Lounge".
If you open the pull-down "Change Forum" menu (at the top of the questions on the left-hand side) you will see that it is one of the choices that appears.
It doesn't seem to get very much traffic & I have also noticed that a posting I made there previously does not appear on my list of posts when I click on my name - as I said, very strange
Jim
If you open the pull-down "Change Forum" menu (at the top of the questions on the left-hand side) you will see that it is one of the choices that appears.
It doesn't seem to get very much traffic & I have also noticed that a posting I made there previously does not appear on my list of posts when I click on my name - as I said, very strange
Jim
Jun 7th, 2005, 04:21 AM
#7
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 3,899
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes, I have spent Christmas in Italy.
I arrived in Rome with my family (Mom, brother, sister in law, best friend) on Christmas Eve. We had arranged tickets to the Pope's mass at St Peter's Square. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and blustery and none of us was up to sitting in the rain and wind for 3 hours.
We went over to Trastever for dinner and had a lovely evening.
Christmas morning we went to mass near the hotel and then wandered around Rome. It is very quet this time of year, obviously, but it was wonderful and uncrowded.
Next day we took the train to Florence where we spent 5 days wandering the streets, visiting friends, etc.
I arrived in Rome with my family (Mom, brother, sister in law, best friend) on Christmas Eve. We had arranged tickets to the Pope's mass at St Peter's Square. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and blustery and none of us was up to sitting in the rain and wind for 3 hours.
We went over to Trastever for dinner and had a lovely evening.
Christmas morning we went to mass near the hotel and then wandered around Rome. It is very quet this time of year, obviously, but it was wonderful and uncrowded.
Next day we took the train to Florence where we spent 5 days wandering the streets, visiting friends, etc.
Jun 7th, 2005, 05:10 AM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Rome is wonderful at Chrisytmas. The only problem, as noted above, is Christmas Eve dinner, which tends to be a family affair in Italy, so many restaurants are closed. I would suggest finding a restaurant which will be open and making reservations, perhaps at one of the hotels. We wandered from door to door and finally found a place under street level up near the Tomb of Augustus. Food was OK, the place was full of visitors like ourselves including a table of drunken Germans who sang "Silent Night" and other Carrols.
Later that night we attended midnight mass at Santa Maria d'Aracoeli on the Capitoline. They have a statue of the baby Jesus carved from wood supposedly from an olive tree on Gethsemane. They bring the statue from the altar to a creche. Hundreds (thousands?) are there to seee it, as is the media. Religious hysteria on view, both moving and bizarre. You'll feel like you're in the religious riot in La Dolce Vita.
Christmas morning we went to St Peter's and saw/heard the Pope's address to the crowd, then climbed the Janiculum and followed the ridge into Trastevere where we had lunch in Piazza Santa Maria.
Rome is one of my favorite places to spend Christmas, though Paris isn't too bad either . . .
Later that night we attended midnight mass at Santa Maria d'Aracoeli on the Capitoline. They have a statue of the baby Jesus carved from wood supposedly from an olive tree on Gethsemane. They bring the statue from the altar to a creche. Hundreds (thousands?) are there to seee it, as is the media. Religious hysteria on view, both moving and bizarre. You'll feel like you're in the religious riot in La Dolce Vita.
Christmas morning we went to St Peter's and saw/heard the Pope's address to the crowd, then climbed the Janiculum and followed the ridge into Trastevere where we had lunch in Piazza Santa Maria.
Rome is one of my favorite places to spend Christmas, though Paris isn't too bad either . . .
