Christmas & New Year in Rome

We have packed our bags at the end of December and moved all our tiny bits & bobs to our grandparents’ place in the outskirts of Rome for the Christmas & NY celebrations, for some time full of food, family (drama) and games over the festive period.

And we did indeed enjoy some of the greatest food, weather and time with that crazy side of the Roman family.

But how am I meant to describe it all, if not with pictures? This is a collection of shots from those two weeks away, and maybe a word or two on each, who knows. It is February, so slightly late with the Christmas madness, but I did take some really needed time off all things blog and work, so here it goes.

We have traveled with Ryanair even though one of my sisters cannot deal with them, at all. She just plain hates them, their planes, and their policies. But a cheap (sort of) ticket nonetheless, she had to agree to disagree with the rest of us and board the plane.

To this beautiful view, I managed to get her to enjoy the flight. Yay! We landed just in time for lunch, and of course, we stuffed our faces until we could not rise from the sofa again. When we eventually did, it was because of the amazing sunset we got to see through the 5th floor flat, with their yellows and blues and overall beauty bits. Even the sunrises were pretty cool, if I may.

We have spent most of the time eating and hanging out with the fambam as per normal occurrence, and we have also added some sort of ‘culture days’ here and there where applicable – because we are cool like that.

The Vatican Museum was – and always is – free on the last Sunday of the month, which may come as surprise for Italians and museums, in a land where nothing comes free.

Bear in mind, though, you will have to be there bright and early, waaaay before it even opens, to join the queue. We have queued for something like 2 hours in the cold and, while it was fun to hang out with my ladies, a lot of the people in the queue would have not made it inside as the last admission is 12 o’clock – and opening time it’s 9 am!

We set in two groups and, while one went to join the queue, the other one got coffees and pastries at one of our newfound favorite coffee shops in Rome, Pergamino – find it here.

We also went back to the city centre a few times, last time with dad in tow – he’s been to Sicily over Christmas to see my grandma 🙂 – so we managed to get dropped off by my uncle, on his way to work, and had a nice walk to see my cousin Rosa – who not only is a great photographer here, but also has a beauty page on Instagram here! – so we managed to wander around the Jewish Quarters and a side of Rome Fred had seen very quickly, including the Colosseum, Fontana di Trevi and the Altare della Patria.

Everything washed down in coffee from our new-found love at Il Faro , with a side of Tiramisu, beignets with fresh cream and chats.

All in between food, family time, games, and even more movies and food. Oh yes, you might have gathered we have been eating like piglets.

Oh, and I almost forgot: the weather was absolutely fantastic, we had daily walks with the dogs and both Chicca and Ketty enjoyed our presence a lot. Or better, they both loved sleeping with Cristina and being fed 24/7.