Hotel, cafe, restaurants and a little history
My husband and I arrived at this vacation in Rome with our tongues hanging out.
We work hard, that’s life, but every few months we make sure to go on vacation, the two of us or with the children, to recharge our batteries.
This time, as a winter destination, I chose Rome because Sicily made us want more and also because the winter weather is supposed to be pleasant, reasonable, and not below zero.
That’s not it! We got lucky and arrived with the snow.
It was freezing, but we survived to tell the story and even had a great time. The surprising cold didn’t spoil the enjoyment of the vacation.
We flew on an Elal night flight, which cost about $450, relatively expensive, but because we flew on an Israeli holiday (Purim), prices jumped.
I decided that if the ticket turns out to be expensive, I would look for a cheap hotel to stay within the budget. And even so, when I travel in the city, I look for a good room, not a luxury hotel for a bellyache. You use the room for sleeping anyway and spend the rest of your time outside of it.
I chose the Juno Pantheon Hotel, in a prime location, a 3-minute walk between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. And when I say 3 minutes walk, I’m not exaggerating, it’s really that.
In between are alleys upon alleys and charming old streets that are the most fun to get lost in and reach wonderful places.
Wonderful location within walking distance to the Spanish Steps, Via del Corso, Piazza Venezia and much more.
The taxi was pre-booked by the owner of the accommodation, it cost 50 euros, a fixed price for a night trip. He was waiting for us in the reception hall with a sign and knew where we were going. It was very convenient.
The taxi entered a narrow alley, I didn’t believe it would pass through it, and it did so without any problem at all. We went up one flight of stairs in a centuries-old building, as befits Rome, and entered an apartment that once belonged to an Italian family and has now been converted into accommodation units that preserve the design of the past.
Central, cheap, clean, heating, air conditioning, TV, internet, spacious shower, what more do you need?
To eat. We went back down the alley, took a few steps to the left. On the corner of the street we found a restaurant called Macaroni.
We were hungry and exhausted, we went in and were not disappointed. It was only after I returned to Israel that I discovered that it was a recommended restaurant. It was 20 seconds from the room. We had a great time.
We went to bed tired and with full stomachs.
Good morning Rome. We woke up early. We left the room before 7 am, the Italian breakfast (yogurt, coffee and pastry) included in the room price was not ready yet, only from 7:30. It is served in a very famous local cafe/bakery/ice cream parlor, but I need my coffee in the morning and I never compromise on that.
We went out to look for coffee! Ten meters to the right of the room door, on the corner of the street, we found the excellent cafe, Margarita, the cafe that would accompany us throughout our vacation, several times a day.
We each had two coffees and a pastry and woke up to a cold but much more positive Rome.
We decided to walk, just walk, and wherever we go, we will go. We arrived at Piazza Navona, which is to the right of the room.
Piazza Navona is an elliptical square designed by Bernini. In its center is a large fountain, the “Four Rivers”, and two other fountains next to it.
The piazza is lined with restaurants and cafes, and tourists with cameras flood it at all hours of the day.
When we decided to just walk again, we came across an excellent delicatessen/bakery called Grano! How did that happen? We walked down the main street of all the brands, Via del Corso.
Eric kept insisting that he didn’t have to leave the country for Zara and Mango. To be honest, I kind of agreed with him, except that I was expecting something more special from this street. When that didn’t happen, we simply turned right into one of the alleys, and there it was waiting for us. This excellent bakery, which also happens to be on the food tour map, is therefore always full.
You order pizza delicacies there by weight. You weigh the piece and pay.
A delight of flavors. We enjoyed it very much and promised ourselves to return (it didn’t work out)….
From there, a few more steps and we reached the Spanish Steps,
Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna 136
Italian stairs
Built with the money of a French diplomat
To connect the Spanish embassy with the Vatican.
The cold overcame me, we headed back towards the room, and discovered that the Pantheon was right next to us.
The Pantheon was a Roman temple and the seat of the Senate. This beautiful building has existed for about two thousand years and it is amazing how much energy and power it contains and even more amazing is how they managed to build such a tall and impressive structure so long ago.
The walking made us lose a lot of calories. We walked all day and just like the army, we too are marching on our stomachs.
We went back to the room to get ready, went down to the alley, a gem to the left, said “About life and death” and entered the Taverna Le Coppelle restaurant next to the room.
It can’t be closer than that.
It turned out perfect for us. What a restaurant!!! How simple yet delicious. A wonderful Italian tavern. That’s it, I was captivated by its charm, all the other restaurants seemed pale in comparison.
I ate ravioli with butter and sage, a very delicate dish.
Eric ordered a pizza that came out very thin, crispy and very tasty.
For the house wine, you pay according to the amount you drink. You get a full bottle and drink as much as you can.
