January 1, 2013 - New Year's Day in Rome

Now that the new year is here I won't put the "Day number" in the titles of the posts. It seemed to be making the days pass by all the faster. We want to try to slow down the passage of this journey.

As Hilton Gold members, Ron and I were entitled to complimentary full breakfast in the hotel's Restaurant L'Uliveto. As I had read "rave" reviews on flyertalk.com AND it was priced at a whopping 100 EU per person (a ridiculous price for ANY breakfast), he and I went down there, expecting a spectacular experience, while Pat and Mike went to the Imperial Lounge. Ron even donned his New Year's finery, including a tie! We were very disappointed in the breakfast - there wasn't even an egg-cooking station. Rubbery fried eggs were in a chafing dish! There was rice (which I like with eggs), but it was very over-cooked and dry.

We met downstairs in time to take the hotel's complimentary shuttle bus into the city at 11:30. It dropped us at Piazza Bernini, and we walked (difficult to follow the map, as often the street names aren't visible on the buildings). We made our way to the Trevi Fountain, which was crowded despite being off-season.

Artichokes in sidewalk produce stand

Zucchini Blossoms

Trevi Fountain

Pat throwing coin into Trevi Fountain

We continued along a busy pedestrian street, and came to the Pantheon, which, unfortunately, was closed that day - even though I had read it would be open until 1 PM. We went further to Piazza Navona, one of the largest and most famous squares in Rome. 

The square was too crowded with a Christmas market still taking place, so we quickly found a side street and a taxi stand. We returned to the hotel in time for a snack in the lounge before meeting our tour guide downstairs at 2 PM. I had booked with Ezio, but his brother-in-law, Peter, showed up. He was a nice guy, but he was less than fluent in English, which made for a difficult afternoon. Luckily, I had the Rick Steves' book with me, so could fill in some of the details. We didn't get out of the van too many times, so don't have many pictures.

Viktor Emmanuele II Memorial (Built 1911)

Colosseum

Pyramid of Gaius Cestius

Swiss Guard at Vatican City

Peter convinced us to go into another church, San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains), and it was probably the best one we had seen. It was built in the fifth century to house the chains that held St Peter, and is famous for the Michelangelo statue of Moses, which was part of the tomb for Pope Julius II. It was never completed.

We got back to the hotel about 5:30, and took a break to have a card game in the lounge. There were some Italian fellows who, to put it bluntly, were slobs. They were laying on the sofas in the beautiful lounge with their bare-feet, wearing tattered shorts and flip-flops. One of their t-shirts had ridden up, and his belly was hanging out. There should be a dress code in the lounge!

That evening we took a long taxi ride to Via Della Vita to the Ristorante Life, where we had an 8 PM dinner reservation. It was a more modern restaurant, and turned out to be a great choice. We were in a small dining room and chatted with a French couple next to us. The menu was extensive! I started with burratta cheese  in a phyllo pastry with patanegra ham and asparagus. Ron had noodles with mushrooms and truffles. Pat and Mike shared a Greek salad, and each had pizza. Ron and Mary had a special fish encrusted in salt.
The waitress was very friendly and helpful. A nice experience.