A evening in Rome – Christmas in Europe

Tired as we were, we decided we weren’t going to miss out on a dinner at our favorite restaurant in Campo dei Fiori, the Carbonara.  The walk to the bus terminus at Termini Station was quite a hike and the area around the back of the station was none too salubrious.  When we got to Campo dei Fiori, it felt like a home-coming as it was so good to be back in the familiar grounds of the piazza and its surrounding restaurants and shops.  For a moment, we thought that the restaurant was closed, but on approach realized that the normal al fresco dining did not exist in winter.  As we were ushered to the upstairs section of the restaurant, we discovered that there was quite a trade going on and waiters were zapping back and forth serving the hungry hoards.  I had tagliatelle with porcini … it was delicious.  Mission accomplished!

After dinner we strolled to Piazza Navona to check out the Christmas Markets.  The square was filled with stalls, but it was more like a fair and what was being sold were cheap imported goods such as toys.. like the santa on a parachute singing jingle bells which we bought.  It was disappointing and definintely didn’t have the atmosphere of Innsbruck.

Helen