January 2007 - Rome, Italy - Just Passing Through

After spending the holidays and New Years in Miami with our family and friends, we returned to Rome on our way to the Alps, just in time for one of Italy's most important holidays "La Festa di Bambino Gesu" (The Festival of Baby Jesus or Three Kings Day) on January 6th.

Rome was a madhouse!


We soon learned that everyone in Rome and throughout the region of Lazio descends upon the city and takes to the streets all day and night to celebrate Jesus and the Magi. Check out the hordes of people in Piazza della Rotunda (above), in front of the Pantheon. It took us 10 minutes to get through this crowd on our last day "paseggiato" through the city.


Once we made it through the crowd, we headed up to the Tiber and walked along the Lungotevere. Here's a great shot of il Palazzo di Giustizia, which houses Italy's Supreme Court and Ministry of Justice.


Then, we continued west along the Tiber and came upon the Castel Sant'Angelo, which we had already visited, but never get tired of seeing it across and reflected in the river.

And here's one more shot of it with us in front. Surely a repeat picture but it's the last time we'll see it for awhile.

As we passed the Ponte Sant'Angelo (in the previous 2 pictures), another couple stopped and asked if we'd like a picture in front of the castle and bridge in exchange for our taking one of them. We, of course, agreed. This is one of the few pictures of us that isn't self-taken. (More sky and less black-market street vendors would have been prefered but it was a nice gesture.)

From the Ponte Sant'Angelo, you have an amazing view of St. Peter's Basilica behind the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II (yes, in addition to a square, the largest monument, and the busiest street in town, this first King of Italy has a bridge named after him).

And here's the post-card shot with the reflection of the church in the Tiber and all (and without us).

Here's a quick shot of St. Peter's at dusk taken while riding the bus back to our hotel.

The hotel for our 1 night in Rome was awesome! Here's Casandra in front of the doors of the Palazzo in which it was located.


We highly recommend this hotel/B&B for anyone on a budget who wants a modern "Jackie Chan" hotel in the center of town. It's called Best B&B Pantheon (www.bestbb.it 39 392 560 1203). It's just off Torre Argentina, the square enclosing the ancient ruins where Caesar was murdered and today the sight of Rome's Cat Sanctuary. As this square is near one of Rome's major bus and tram stops, it a great place from which to explore the whole city. Also, as the name suggests, it's just down the street from the Patheon!!

After stopping at our hotel, we headed to the Venezuelan-owned spa "Maracaibo Sun" just a couple of blocks from our old apartment in Trastevere, where we'd get our weekly massages. We will definitely miss that!

After our massages, we headed to our favorite Indian restaurant, also in Trastevere. Here's Kenny with his favorite elephant-headed Hindu deity, Ganish.

Finally, here's a shot of Lungaretta as we left Trastevere on our way back to our hotel. We will miss this charming, characteristic neighborhood of Rome the most.