Christmas morning started nice and early after a good night’s rest following our busy day. After a quick espresso, we hopped on our open-top bus for some more sight-seeing. The day was warm and sunny and we took advantage of the open top bus, sitting on the 2nd deck with an amazing view of the city. Our first stop was the 7th on the tour, so we enjoyed the amazing views of history blending with a modern city. We drove past the coliseum, roman forum, circus maximus and lots of other ancient roman ruins. We passed by the Vatican and along the Tiber, before stop in Piazza del Popolo. From there we wandered down the streets and stopped in an Italian restaurant. Our lunch spot was cozy with brick walls and open beam ceilings. The walls were adorned with bottles of wine, the room felt like a cozy wine cellar. We were greeted by our waiter and immediately felt like we were in the kitchen of an Italian home. Starting with a bottle of wine we dove into another delicious meal. I never knew how often artichokes appeared in Roman cooking, but I must say we are both big fans. Tiffany had a big beautiful plate of pasta with artichokes and I went for the trio of traditional Roman pasta dishes. The pasta was simply amazing, easily the best pasta we had while in Rome. Several glasses of wine later, we made our way to the top of the Spanish steps at Piazza del Spagna. The views of the city were breathtaking and gave us an incredible view of the city.
Then we headed back through the winding cobblestone streets in search of the Trevi Fountain. Walking down a perfectly normal street and then we turned a corner and there was the fountain, along with several hundred other tourists. We made our way through the crowds and down to the base of the fountain, where we took turns throwing coins over our shoulders and into the fountain, hoping for luck to follow us. After gazing at the falling water and beautiful sculptures, we left the fountain in search of more gelato. After another delicious fix (this time I went with Chocolate and Pistacio and Tiffany opted for Chocolate and Vanilla) we continued to walk through the old city. As we walked through the luxury shopping district we got to the base of the Spanish steps as the sun was setting. A beautiful backdrop for pictures, we enjoyed the views and crowds. We journeyed down Via del Babuino, the street lined with fine fashions best stores. Unfortunatly, they were all closed on Christmas, but we did get pictures in front of Tiffany’s. Ending up back at Piazza del Popolo, we grabbed a Taxi for a ride back to our hotel to rest our tired feet.
After a few minutes relaxing and resting our feet, we took a short taxi ride across the city to our dinner at Antica tavern, hidden among the winding cobblestones. Earlier in the day we had happened upon the quaint bistro as it was well tucked back off the main street. Even though the night was chilly, we were warm sitting outside under the heaters. Our last meal in Rome began with Chianti and traditional Bruschetta (delicious, but not nearly as good as Tiff’s). Then we followed it up with large bowls of pasta and we shared veal saltimbocca. Topped off with tiramisu and espresso our last dinner in Italy was a delicious success. We decided to take a walk around the city one last time and made our way back to Piazza Navona and their Christmas market. Walking around we soaked in the views of the city. Tiffany even had her palm read by a machine “the mouth of truth”. So any predictions made, HAVE to be true, I mean, who wouldn’t trust a fortune telling mouth? We walked around the city, enjoying the lights as our tired feet carried us towards Hotel Sonya. A final night’s rest awaited before our early morning trip back to Germany. An amazing adventure of food, fun and history. Rome was a beautiful magical city that was alive at Christmas. The trip was an amazing one and an incredible way to spend our first christmas abroad. We wish we had more time to shop, as the city is home to incredible clothing at great prices. Future trips to Italy are already in the planning stages, next time I think it will be the Amalfi Coast in sunny Southern Italy.
