I Write About Books and Things: Roaming Through Rome, Day 3&4 - 25/12/18&26/12/18

As today was Christmas Day and Dad and I weren't sure what places would be open, we decided to walk to some of the sights we could reach on foot. This meant we made it to the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, saw the outside of the Pantheon, and ate much gelato.

Here's an outfit of the day for today - I love breaking this outfit
out when I need something smart and cute!

The first place we walked to was the top of the Spanish Steps, looking downwards.

Look at the view!

There was a church at the top of the steps, which we went into to take a quick look around. There are a lot of churches in Rome. I lit a candle in this one for my mother.

This candle tree is one of the prettiest I've seen.

There was obviously some kind of Christmas Day Run taking place in Rome today! Rather them than me.

This is from the bottom of the Spanish Steps, looking back up where we've been.

This fountain is situated just at the bottom of the steps.

There was a street full of Cartoon Network Christmas lights. Blossom is here as an example.

The letters S.P.Q.R, standing for 'Senatus PopulusQue Romanus' - Senate and People of Rome - is everywhere in Rome. It's a holdover from the Ancient Roman days. It's on drains, lampposts, and even clocks.

I had fun trying to hunt the letters out in as many places as I could.

Along this next street, we found a souvenir shop. We bought postcards and stamps for mailing home, one to keep as a souvenir, and I bought a fridge magnet with SPQR on it, as a permanent reminder of what these letters stand for.

This shop, Bartolucci, had many different woodwork cuttings, and has been going for
hundreds of years!

I also had something quite amazing - my first Italian gelato! This one had
tiramisu, hazelnut and kinder bueno.

We got to the pantheon, which was closed, but you wouldn't know it from the number of people milling about.

The front of the pantheon!

I just find it fascinating that there is graffiti on this wall. Graffiti is
not a modern idea, and these markings could go back centuries.

I am glad that we had Christmas day to look around some of these places. When I came back later in the week, I noticed that Rome in general was a lot busier than in was on these days.

And here's the famous Trevi fountain.

And here's one of me in front of the Trevi

This is just the Trevi, from another viewpoint - I find the views that other people don't see fascinating.

Something which I loved were these little displays of food
outside of all the restaurants. Can you see the SPQR grate?

Look, ice cream on it's own does not a full meal make, so what better way to top up your lunch of ice cream than with... more ice cream. This was from Il Gelato di San Crispino, a pretty famed gelato spot and one of the most well known I had easy access to.

Pistachio gelato!

So for that evening, we were eating in a restaurant on top of the hotel called the Guido Ballerino. We think it might be the tallest building in central Rome, so the view was nothing to scoff at. And it's also Michelin starred!

I mean, yeah, it's nice, but I've seen better, haven't you?

Dad had the 'taste of Rome' menu, featuring pumpkin tortellini pasta, sweetbreads (which are neither sweet nor bread) and nougat, and I had melon starter and cheese and prawn ravioli. All of it was exceptional, I tried some of Dad's menu, too.

Dad suggested we did a cheers on the roof, with our glasses of prosecco.

Melon slices, candied walnuts, blue cheese on bread.

Burrata stuffed ravioli with prawn!

Honestly, this was probably one of the best meals I've had in my life. I'm still thinking about it, even now!

Purchases of the day! Fridge magnet and postcard.

Day 4 was a very quiet day, since many parts of Rome were again closed we stayed around the hotel, reading and using the spa facilities. I think it can always help to have a quiet day like this while on vacation. We did do a few things, though! I had a massage, in the hotel, which took up much of the morning. I always get the same feeling from a massage that I get from naps - groggy and a little disorientated, but it passes soon. They're just too relaxing.

Had to leave the hotel for lunch, at least. Here's my first time having
pizza al taglio - pizza by the slice. This was from a restaurant by the Trevi Fountain,
but forgoing all wisdom about touristy areas, this was really good.

Also had to top it off with an ice cream, and this one came with a macaron, my
favourite thing ever. This one was nearby the hotel, called The Gelatist.

For dinner, we found a little trattoria down a side street called Da Olimpio, which has been going since 1962. It shows, and if you're in this region of Rome, after a not-so-touristy place and looking for something traditional, I highly recommend it here.