"Roma!" a Rome Travel Page by npsdguy

We stayed at the Intercontinental on Via Sistina, at the top of the Spanish Steps - it's a great hotel, with very friendly and helpful staff.
We got in the habit of walking down the Spanish Steps each morning on our way to find coffee and hot chocolate for breakfast. Actually, as it was approaching New Year's eve, we had to make our way down the steps through the crowds - the entire city was jammed packed with people!
We eventually settled on a regular cafe in the Piazza Del Popolo. Cafe Americano for me, Hot Chocolate with whipped cream for him, and two Crostino's with Mozzarella and Proscuitto - the best way to start any day!

Yeah, Rome is old. We toured the coloseum - see tip for tourguide! and then wondered through the Forum. We also clambered our way over the Vittorio Emanualle II memorial thingy and were amazed at the views we got of the city from there. During one of our rambles around the city we stumbled across the Torre Argentina, where there are the remains of three or four temples, which turned out to be the oldest in the city, and the place where Ceaser was assassinated! There was nothing there to really indicate this, and no real tourist crowds - in fact the whole place is a cat sancturary!
My favourite place though, is the neghbourhood of Trastevere. It's probably the oldest in Rome, the streets are narrow, the houses are old, the piazza's intimate. You have to visit the church of Santa Maria - beautiful painted ceilings all in gold!

Being christmas and new year, the Piazza Navona was busy with a christmas market making it more magical through which to wonder. We checked out each stall, fascinated by the dolls of old witches, which are sold to kids - the story is that the old lady visits children on twelfth night and gives sweets to those who are good, and curses those who are not - or something like that! The Piazza Campo De Fiori is also a great place for people watching. It's a colorful place!