Rome at Christmas
A four-day travel guide. What we did, where we went, ate and shopped.
The thing about Italy is that in everyday scenes every step is imbued with “Bellezza" beauty and loveliness. Where art is interwoven from the most mundane to the most grand until you become so saturated by it that you become immune to the heightened experience of it. The treasure of Italy is discovering that beauty does infuse the beholder until it seeps into every cell.
I went with a friend for four days across Christmas. She: because her partner was visiting his family and she wanted to do something for herself. Me: because I like to get away from the social expectations people have for Christmas and fill my time and senses with things that are meaningful to me.
We stayed in a quirky little hotel in the centre run by a kind and careless Italian named Massimo. Upon seeing us he upgraded us to the room with the best view free of charge. The wallpaper was gold with a nod to the renaissance era and the bed was hard — we didn’t sleep as well as we wished — but it was cheap, cheerful and in the perfect location.
My highlight was going to Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore for midnight mass on Christmas eve to listen to the choir. It felt like being enveloped in an 18th-century oil painting while receiving a sound bath.
It was her first time, so we had to do some of the key sightseeing: the Vatican and the colosseum and the forum. These are all huge, magnificent, tremendous expeditions that took up a whole two days and are worth seeing no matter who you are, in my opinion. The rest of the time, we let our feet wander, and simply sought out good places to eat, and vintage stores. Those, are what I am going to share with you.
Vintage Stores
Food
Nannarella, Osteria, Roma Trastevere
Enjoy!