Over Christmas, I ended up going to Rome! With my job, I have to take some of my holiday time over Christmas. I wound up thinking to myself, why not go on holiday during that period? But I didn't want to leave Dad on his own over Christmas. So then I thought, why don't I invite him along as his Christmas present? Christmas last year wasn't the best time of year for us, so the best thing to do is to do something completely different.
The flight was late evening, not my favourite type of flight as you spend all day waiting around, but I do like flying by night and seeing clusters of cities lit up below me. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy to see anything much. Heathrow was packed as it normally is at this time of year, but efficient.
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| This was my reading material for the trip! |
I spend most of the time in the airport reading - I finished Into the War before getting onto the plane! I also got us a small bite to eat, since we hadn't ate since lunch and you don't always get a lot on small European flights. Just a Costa panini, and a drink each - caramel latte for me, and orange juice for Dad.
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| My nails were painted like watermelons for the trip! |
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| We're the second Rome flight on the list! |
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"This is where Muhammad Ali flew like a butterfly
in 1974 on his way to fight George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle."
These facts were placed around Heathrow two years ago for the 70th anniversary of the airport. |
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| I also met Mary Poppins! They were entertaining children (and adult children) and staying in character! |
On the flight, we did get fed a small bag of either crackers or biscuits. The flight was also remarkably short, arriving ahead of schedule despite a slightly delayed take-off. And I have rarely seen an airport more confusingly laid out than Rome Fiumicino.
I love the bit where you get to a new country for a first time, and either your friends meet you off the plane, or you take public transport, or there's an arranged driver to meet you, and you see a new city for the first time. I missed so many good pictures from the airport to the hotel as we went by!
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I am glad I got this picture, though - the colours on the ferris wheel
really stood out against the night. |
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| This was the Christmas tree in the hotel! |
We were staying in a hotel named, somewhat confusingly, the Sina Bernini Bristol, in the Barberini piazza, just a short walk away from the Trevi fountain. Since we got in so late, it was tempting to go straight to sleep, but we decided to go for a quick walk around the local area, and find a place to eat, since we were getting peckish again.
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| This was our hotel room - it was rather small, but it worked. |
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| One of the windows was full of pretty dresses like this one! |
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| This building had incredible lights outside, and I called it 'the diamond building' until I learnt the actual name of it. |
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| We found this small bottega, which was just what we were looking for. |
I've got to thank this bottega, actually. It was late, and closing down, and served us just a light bite that we needed. I have a feeling it would be even better earlier on, so if you ever find yourself in Rome and after something to eat, give this place a try.
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| We had porchetta, in slices of bread. Porchetta is an Italian method of roasting pork! |
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They also had some lovely looking desserts! I meant to make a return trip here
later in the week, but there was never a good time. |
After the meal, we headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest, ready for a long day of exploring Rome tomorrow!
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