When we got back to Rome, we checked into a great little hotel on the Via Nazionale called the Hotel Cortina. It was one flight up, and the street below offered plenty of shopping, restaurants, and entertainment. Great little find, and the price was right, for Rome.
Since we hadn't been in Rome for a number of years, we spent the next three days hitting the high points and checking out some areas that we had missed before, like the Circus Maximus. We ate at some fantastic restaurants that were reasonably priced, and we returned to La Vecchia Conca, a restaurant that we frequented when we were there last, about 12 years ago. It's still operated by the same family and the food was just as good as we remembered.
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| The Monte Pincio Park. We call it "no-nose" park, since vandals seem to like to knock the noses off the statues. The city replaces the noses, and the vandals get 'em again. |
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| Piazza del Popolo from No-Nose Park |
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| Castel Sant' Angelo near the Vatican |
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
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| A light moment inside St. Peter's. |
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| The Roman Forum ruins, with the Colosseo in the background. |
For our last night in rome, the cruise line put us up at the Hotel Parco dei Principi, which was a very nice 5-star property with a spa. It was 'way nicer than anyplace we'd pay to stay...they fed us a nice breakfast the next morning and we boarded the coach for the hour-and-a-half drive to Civitavecchia and our boat.
