November 23 - Rome/Civitavecchia

While staying in Civitavecchia, we've been staying at the Hotel Treghetto.  It is a nice locally owned hotel with very friendly staff.  The concierge has been great. He has helped us with tips on where to visit and where to eat in the village and the best values in getting to Rome and back.

The rooms are large with marble floors. If I had one complaint, it is the size of the bathroom.  It is very small by North American standards, but not unusual for older European hotels. The breakfast is huge with all the foods that you normally see in the Italian hotels.  Lots of fruit, chesses, cold cuts, cereals and pastries.

If someone suggests going to Italy in late November or December, run away and ignore them.  This is their rainy season and it rains alot.

We decided to go to Roman neighbourhood known as Trastevere and take a nice leisurely stroll through it.  This is a residential area adjacent to Vatican City.  It has many bars, restaurants, shops and magnificent looking apartment buildings.

We started the tour by taking the subway to the Circus Maximus, where Charleton Heston raced chariots 2000 years ago.  In a plaza next to the Circus Maximus there was a political demonstration going on with many marchers and brass bands.  That was quite colourful.

From there we crossed over the Tiber River into Trastevere.  Because it was raining so hard we stopped in a bar called “The Hole” for lunch.  The bar was in a quaint little square filled with other restaurants and apartments.   After lunch we continued our walk about the neighbourhood, but was raining so much and was so cold that it was not really enjoyable.

It was raining so hard that my jacket was totally soaked.  So I had to stop into a store and buy a warmer waterproof coat.  It looks very continental.

For dinner we decided we go back to Piazza Navona.  Last year we had a wonderful meal there.  It was Sea Bass that was cooked in a thick salt crust.  Despite all that salt it does not take on the salt flavour and it was moist and tender.  We went back to Tre Scalini in the Plazza Navona and we ordered it again.  It was fantastic, just we remembered it.  Well worth the walk in the cold rain.

I swear that if I lived in Italy I would weigh about 600lbs and still not be able sing opera.

A word of warning about the tourist maps of Rome.  If you use them, you will most likely end up lost and walking blocks in the wrong direction.  Our walk to Plazza Navona should have taken about 15 minutes but by following the map it took at least twice as long and we only found the square by good luck. 

Pictures from Rome