Remembering fondly my Christmas 2013 7 days in Rome trip...

welcome to the Forums, Jenn.

Glad that you joined us.

Those are great memories. Although I love my visits to Rome I've never been at Christmas. What a great idea.

Maybe somebody who was there at the same time will chime in....

You are making me “homesick”! Our five years in Rome were an adventure and the holiday season was spectacular. We also spent a Christmas week there before our transfer and it was a terrific time to visit with lovely lights, moderate weather, and although daylight is short, roaming Rome in the evening and nighttime hours is delightful and far better than in the heat of summer.

I'm thinking of the Cafe Anafiotika on the slope of the Acropolis in Athens, where my wife and I sit on the roof as the sun sets, eat and drink beer, and enjoy the wonderful views, both of the Plaka and the Acropolis itself. (Birders, this is a great place to see fly-by Hoopoes.) We have gone there once or twice in the spring for the last few years, though not this year of course; the same couple of waiters are always there, and they recognize us! After the meal they bring us complimentary ouzo, which on occasion has made negotiating the stairway down from the roof into an adventure in itself :-)

We really miss Athens, and hope those guys still have their jobs. Fortunately Greece is doing pretty well virus-wise. Can't wait to go back.

Over the past 16 years of annual visits, there are so many memories to cherish during this awful time. I think the one that keeps coming back (and most welcome) is the first sunset I saw in Sorrento. It was my first day there so I was just roaming around (ok, thinking about dinner). I noticed a lot of people heading in the same direction, so I followed to the park overlooking the Bay of Naples. There it was: Apollo's chariot on fire as it headed across the sky and began its descent into the waters off of Capri. As it touched them, it was as if steam came up and the remaining flames put on their own light show behind the steam and the clouds. No one was speaking or moving. When the sun fully disappeared, one young lady started the applause and everyone joined in. It was also wonderful to see that when people started to move away, they were all smiling.

You know, it's been the same experience every year. Life is good!

Holidays abroad sound so idyllic. We spent Christmas in London and New Years in Rome last year. In London all museums and some transportation were shut down. Few restaurants were open. The decorated city was magical though.
Rome was very crowded, with Italians, no complaints about them visiting their own country. But it was jam packed, people pushing and shoving, long lines. We didn’t expect it to be so bad. There were more people there than during our last trip there in early October two years ago. So, I would not travel to either during the holidays again. Plus hotels and apartments had much higher prices than normal over these holidays.

We were in Rome the year before, just before Christmas 2012. The Rick Steves guidebook and audio guides on our mobile phones were our main source of touring knowledge. The guided underground tour of the Colosseum was an unexpected delight. Arriving at the Vatican Museums, and finding the entrance maze ropes completely empty - with no line whatsoever - was a surprise. The enormous figures in the presepi manger scene in front of St. Peter’s Square were a surprise, too, considering the more intimate scale we saw in other parts of Italy.

We headed to Sicily for actual Christmas week, and it was fantastic, although we made it back to Rome after New Year’s, so were in the Eternal City on both sides of Christmas. We’d planned to return to Rome this September, first time in 8 years, but now it looks like we’ll have to wait some more.

microjenn, I visited mid-January of 2015 and yes, it was great. No crowds, empty Forum, no line at the Vatican Museum and plenty of room to admire the Sistine Chapel. Even the rain was not a bother. A week there in a future January would be wonderful!

Was in Rome 10 years ago and still have an incredible memory of that marble work on the busts in the Borghese museum....how do you carve marble to make it look like folds of cloth???!!!!

Cyn, my family of six (4 adults, one 17 year old, one 12 year old) want to visit Rome and Sicily for Christmas...if Italy opens up by then...can you give me information about where you stayed in Sicily, what did you do in Sicily, etc. We are thinking of a week in Sicily at Christmas time, and to explore the southern tip to see ancestral villages of my grandfather and grandmother. We will also visit Rome, etc.
Any help would be appreciated. I have been to Sicily a while back so I know a little bit of where and distances between major towns.

Mary - you may want to start your own discussion so that you get advice and information directly. That said I have a couple of thoughts. I really like Ortigia, a small island off of Siracusa. Beautiful old Greek town that has been fixed up to attract tourism. That isn't always a bad thing. Beaches, scenery, boating, food (OMG the food!), history, local arts (don't miss the puppet show). Nearby is the great archeological park. Near that, almost across the street, is a museum I think the kids would enjoy. It's a 'please touch me' museum of Archimedes inventions. I had a ball there by myself! You have a guide who shows you how the different things work (scale models) and then says "you do it." A family in front of me was obviously having a great time. The RS book on Sicily is a good starting place for your planning.

Hi Mary - you could (and probably will) get lots and lots of responses and opinions if you posted a separate question in the Italy category, but here’s a “brief” rundown of our Christmas 2012 trip.

Rick didn’t have a Sicily guidebook yet, so we used his for Rome, but mostly Lonely Planet for Sicily. We flew to Rome, and rented an apartment for a week on the Trastevere side of the Tiber River, through HomeAway.com.

Then flew to Palermo airport, rented a car, and immediately headed west, to see the Segesta ancient Greek temple and theater site, then on to our Erice B&B. From there, we drove mostly counter-clockwise, first heading south, making lodging reservations day by day, without specific reservations needed at the time, except for our Christmas agritourismo. Many were 1-night stands.

Selinunte, then Castelveltrano, then Agrigento (better-preserved Greek temples than in Greece), then up to the agriturismo Il Vecchio Frantoio for Christmas Eve and Day. It was featured in a 1999 Rick Steves TV program on Sicily, long before he published any Sicily guidebook. It’s in what is now a national park. The big dinner on Christmas afternoon was us at a big communal table, in a big room full of other big tables, and course after course. I think we were the only non-Italians there.

Our next destination was the ancient Roman Villa at Piazza Armerina, with the incredible tiled mosaics. Then on to Caltegirona for 2 nights, seeing more Greek and Roman sights. Modica, a chocolate capital, then Siracusa, then Taormina, where it poured rain.

We took our rental car by ferry onto mainland Italy, and drove up to the Amalfi coast for a week around New Year’s, where we finally turned it in. If staying on Sicily, of course, the car could be turned in there.