DAY 170 ROME, ITALY

Before dinner we had a drink at the Hotel of Italian Sparkling Wine.  

These two photos were taken on the Patio behind the hotel.  

We dined at a restaurant called Rinaldi at Quirnale last evening.  It was just a short walk from the Hotel.

The dining room was very nicely appointed and the service was quite good.  They were kind enough to place us at a spacious table.

The highlights for us of this restaurant were the ambience of the dining area and the service.  

The food was not a highlight for us but since we do focus on the aspects that we enjoy it did not deter from us having a nice dinner.  We were never rushed and dined for over two hours and that was with no dessert.

These are the items that we had.

We began with Caprese.  We did like the Caprese we had in Sorrento much better than this one.

We had grilled vegetables as another appetizer and thought they were grilled very nicely with just a hint of oil and seasoned very well.

Chicken for Keith.  This one was not a highlight for Keith.  Enough said.  LOL.

Spaghetti with Lobster for Anne Marie.  Again not a highlight but like we said this didn't spoil our time at dinner.

We enjoyed wine that Keith selected from a very expansive wine list of at least 500 or more wines on the list.  

While we were not on Serenity, we slept well last evening.

Keith slept in.  Well at least for Keith.  He first looked up at the alarm clock and with no place to workout he fell back to sleep and slept later than normal.  We had ordered coffee for our room and he got out of bed about 15 minutes before the coffee was to arrive.  After we had our coffee, we got ready to start our first full day in Rome.

The hotel includes a very nice breakfast.  You can have breakfast inside in the dining room or outside on the patio.  It has a very expansive array of items served buffet style to enjoy.  You can also order a range of cooked to order items such as eggs from a menu that is also on the table.  We just went with some items from the buffet table.

After Keith took these photos more items were added to the buffet table.

Many of the items were organic.  

We wanted to mention that this is a very beautiful and unique hotel.  The hotel is a boutique hotel with only 12 rooms.  When you enter then hotel during the morning and early afternoon hours there are two people at the front desk to check you in and help with other items such as what a concierge would do.  The staff is extremely helpful and that includes the people who took the luggage, cleaned the public rooms and our room and the wait staff.  It has the feel of being in hour own private home.  To access the hotel in the late afternoon and evening you ring the door bell as you would a home. Last night before dinner while we sat for around 45 minutes in one of the several public areas no one else was around and when we returned from dinner the same was true other than in both cases the gent who was working the main desk.  

We left the hotel early to get to many of the famous sites before the crowds came out in force.

We first visited the Trevi Fountain which is undergoing major restorations and is empty of water.  



We then made our way to the Spanish Steps also known as the Piazza di Spagna which is the most famous staircase in the world.

We then walked the shopping area which has all of the designer stores.

From there we made our way over to the Pantheon which is the best preserved Roman Monument which was built in 27 BC, but was rebuilt between 117 and 125 AD.

These are some other sites we saw along the way.

It's not often we see roasted chestnuts.  We would see them in New York City though.

We then walked up and down several different streets and eventually as we made our way in the direction of the Hotel we passed by the Trevi Fountain again and that point it was a mob scene with many large tours, including one from Holland America, touring the fountain.

After taking a short break back at our room, we went back out again and this time we walked over to the Ancient City.

After having lunch back at the Hotel, we went out for the third time of the day. This time we didn't bring a camera to give Keith a break and to just focus on seeing all that we could not through the camera lens but through our own eyes.

One of the places that we checked out was a family owned local restaurant for lunch tomorrow that the concierge at the Hotel recommended.  Good news is that we found it as it is located on a side street in a small family type of neighborhood.  Good news is the food looked yummy and lots of locals were dining there.  Bad news is that it is closed on Tuesday's which is tomorrow.  

When we returned to the Hotel we received a recommendation for another restaurant that will be open tomorrow.  We relaxed for an hour and then got ready for this evening.  We will post all about that tomorrow.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.......

"We can learn so much about present and future day from history."  History flourishes in places such as Rome".  - Keith & Anne Marie

Keith & Anne Marie