ROME Italy, December 2009                    Page 1                                    | back to index | next page |

Our 2009 ended in a very interesting way.  Our daughter Aimee and son-in-law Gary had planned a two week trip over Christmas holidays to Rome Italy earlier in the year.  As the date approached sometime in November, they asked us if we were interested in accompanying them. This is quite a blessing when one of your children asks you to be with them on their vacation.  The second blessing is that they offered to pay for the trip.  We couldn’t refuse.

We boarded the plane in at DFW in Dallas to Heathrow in London, then London to Rome. Arriving in Rome at the Fiumicino airport and needing to find the train to the city then a bus/walk/taxi to the hotel was quite an experience.  THE walk to the train station form the arrival terminal was confusing, but e got to the train terminal just on time to see that the train was going to depart in a minute or two.  Quickly buying two tickets and then fumbling through the machine to stamp our tickets, we made it onto the crowded train with all of our bags. We found two seats, but had to leave our luggage in the aisles like most everyone else.  Hot train ride.

Getting to the Stazione Termini rail station, we got off with our luggage and unfortunately took a wrong turn somewhere and ended p at the opposite side of the station we had wanted to be.  We dragged our luggage uphill (cold evening, but warm with clothes and pulling luggage) to the taxi stand in front of the Termini.  What a lot of people milling around!

Aimee and Gary had arrived a couple of hours earlier, and we met to have supper together.  It was Sunday, and many places to eat were closed, but the concierge told us of a spot a few blokes away.  We had our first Italian food in a restaurant, complete with a bottle of wine.

 

Hotel Veneto, Rome:  our home away from home for 12 days in December...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, December 21

The next morning, we were ready to go walking to see the sights. We went upstairs to  the 7th floor to an enclosed outside terrace for breakfast.  This was the first of many breakfasts here, mostly me and Gary, where we ate meat and cheese sandwiches and several cups of coffee with Nutella-spread croissants!  Don’t be alarmed – we walked all of those calories off!

We had an ambitious schedule today.  Walked to the Spanish steps.  Had our first of many stops at the outside vendors for water/Panini/juice etc at the top of the stairs, Christmas tree and nativity scene (built in 1723-25, at the foot of the steps is the Keats-Shelly house, where John Keats died of consumption at age 25)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then to the Trevi fountain (Three Coins in the Fountain),with water supplied from the Acqua Vergine aqueduct. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The church in the corner is SS. Vincenzo e Anastasio.  This was the first of many churches we went into.  Rome has OVER 900 CHURCHES, many of them if not most of them, cathedrals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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