13th Birthday in Rome

In September we ate dinner at Ciampini. It is open air and at the top of the Spanish Steps overlooking the city and St. Peter's. The view was fantastic. Call to reserve a table overlooking the city. We got there right before sunset and were lucky enough to the sunset along side of St. Peter's in the distance.
Ciampini - Tel: +39 06 678 5678 /Address: Viale Trinita dei Monti /Closed: November - April.... Quote from internet - " There’s no nicer place to lunch on a warm day than Ciampini, set high above the city between the top of the Spanish Steps and the entrance to the Villa Borghese, just by the Villa Medici. All the tables are outside, so you really do need a good day, and this explains why the place is shut from the end of October until April – the Romans have a different view on what’s chilly in comparison with hardier Northern Europeans. Ciampini is a bar, a gelateria and a rather classy restaurant. Whatever you choose, the view across the rooftops of Rome is delightful."

(continued) We took a taxi from our hotel to the Ciampini After dinner at Ciampini we walked down the Spanish Steps and had fun watching the crowds and then sat by the fountain for awhile at the bottom before starting our walk back to our hotel. It was more expensive then some other places we ate at but it was worth it for the view and sunset. There also was a fish pond in the center of the lower outside part. There is a small glass enclosed part that had the sliding glass wall that was open when we were there. I wish we had sat in that part. It was up a few steps. I wish we had a table up there for the best view in the house. You should request table by the edge up there if possible, even though we had a nice view were we sat too.

We went to a perfect restaurant in Rome. I don't even know the name. The restaurant was recommended to us by a local. It was a small family restaurant. They kept bringing food until we were done and charged the same price as stopping for pizza in the touristy zone (we did sit down to eat our pizza which doubles the price).

Italians are great romantics. Talk to someone in the area of your hotel (hopefully you aren't right in the tourist area). Tell them it's your daughter's 13th and you want to find a restaurant to make it special. It wouldn't surprise me if they walked you to their favorite restaurant, introduced you to the owners and called their family to come to dinner.

Our daughter had her 8th in Cinque Terra. We watched and grinned as she had an hour long conversation with several older women who spoke no English (she only knew "I'm hungry" in Italian). By the end of their conversation, they had bought her chocolate eggs with little prizes inside for her birthday present.