Christmas in Rome, Part 3 (& the last)

Our last 2 days in Rome were over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We deliberately planned to spend these days relaxing without a lot of organized sightseeing.  Not only was this a nice break after a few busy days, but we knew that many sites would be closing for the holidays anyways.

Dusk near the Ponte Sant'Angelo that crosses over the Tiber River.

The Pantheon at night.

One of our favorite things to do when we travel is just walk.  We like to explore on foot, taking in the local sights and sounds at a pedestrian pace.  Rome was beautiful to walk through during the holidays.

Beautiful lights throughout the city.

A hotel beautifully decorated for Christmas.

Lots of beautiful Christmas trees everywhere!

The Trevi Fountain is a beautiful spot in Rome, though the atmosphere is extremely touristy and chaotic.  Legend says that if you stand with your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your shoulder, you will return to Rome again.  I guess it works because I threw in a coin in 1998 and, 17 years later, I was back!  We all threw in more coins and so I guess another trip to Rome is in our future.  That's fine by me.

In early December, Sinterklaas (the Dutch equivalent of Santa) had brought the boys gifts at home. Sinterklaas also left a note explaining that Santa knew we'd be traveling light over Christmas and thus he was not going to bring toys to Rome.  So the boys weren't expecting big gifts, but they were still very happy to see that Santa found our stockings and filled them with candy and small toys.  It was a different Christmas than ones in the past, but it was a really nice day for everyone.

Converting umbrellas into stocking holders...

After lazing around in the morning, we headed to Villa Borghese, which is Rome's equivalent of Central Park.  The grounds are beautiful with playgrounds, wide open spaces, a lake, beautiful trees and plants, and calm walkways.  We "flew" a kite (running had to take the place of wind), rented quadracycles, had a picnic, and just hung out for the rest of the day.

No wind, but the boys ran to make the kite fly.

We really enjoyed our time in Rome.  We saw a lot of sights, enjoyed lots of delicious food, and enjoyed a few days of just relaxing over Christmas itself.  Next stop: Bologna!