Rome with Noah, Troy and Momma: One Night in Rome for Three Tourists

Annette, Troy and Noah
Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Tevi)

A single night in Rome is far too short of a stay in such a grand city as Rome, Italy. When visiting Rome, you should stay an entire week, two weeks, a month - or longer if you can. This Italian city has enough history, architecture, music, entertainment, night life, drama and excitement to last anyone longer than a lifetime. I've had two vacation trips to Rome. The first trip was for a little over a week. The second trip - the one I am writing about here - was only for one night, but even one night in Rome is memorable enough to add to your journal.

December 2017 - This was the third trip that I had taken to Europe with my brother, Troy, and our mother, Annette. The first was to England in late December 2015. The second was to Italy in December of 2016. This trip was really just a mid-point along our route which would eventually include Venice, Zermatt and Amsterdam.

After our family Christmas Eve gathering at Kayla's new house in Luverne, Alabama (my oldest niece), Troy and I spent the night at our mother's house. The three of us drove to the Atlanta airport the next afternoon, checked our bags, made it through security to the international terminal (very nice addition to the ATL airport) and flew a direct flight from Atlanta to Rome's Fiumicino Airport (FCO). Leaving Atlanta at 6:06pm, it took us a little over 9 hours to get to Fiumicino and arrive around 9:30am (which, coincidentally, is 3:30 in the morning for all of us from Alabama). Momma sleeps a little while flying overnight. Troy sleeps a little. I sleep not at all - so arriving in Rome after an all night flight, for me, is a little rough. The excitement of being in a new country, though, usually propels me through the day. Getting through customs is a little trying. It is a long line with everyone else from your flight, and you are all tired and groggy. Still, have patience. You will be through customs in little to no time and out to experience.

We took a taxi from the Fiumicino Airport (FCO) to our hotel. the Pantheon Royal Suite, located on the Piazza della Rotonda. The taxi ride is only about 30 minutes. You will see many beautiful buildings, parks, villas and such along the way so do not take a nap. We also asked our taxi driver to drive us past the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Altar of the Fatherland (Altare della Patria or the Typewriter) and other sites in that area along the route to our hotel which is really not that far from all those things anyway.

I can readily recommend our hotel to anyone visiting Rome. The Pantheon Royal Suite has many rooms facing the Piazza della Rotonda and the Pantheon itself. Definitely, get one of the rooms facing the piazza. Ours was on the third floor with a small balcony. I think they charge more for those rooms, but get the balcony overlooking the piazza. Since our plane landed in the morning, our room was not ready at the hotel; but the desk clerk let us leave our bags with them while we went across the piazza and had a long lunch at the Ristorante M. Agrippa. The weather was terrific so we sat outside, ate our Italian lunch, drank our Italian wine and watched people pass through the Piazza della Rotonda for a couple of hours. Here is a Google Street View of the Ristorante M. Agrippa (left) and the Pantheon to the right.

Momma at Lunch
Ristorante M. Agrippa
Piazza della Rotonda
Pantheon in background.

Going through high school in the United States, we all see pictures of the Pantheon in our world geography books and history books. I found it really neat to be casually having lunch right in front of it. While we lunched for probably more than two hours, our waiter let us know that the Pantheon was open all day and the crowd would be lighter later in the day. Having finished our meals and our wines and paid our overly-pricey bill (do not eat directly on the piazzas in tourist areas and you do not have to add tips to the bills even if there is not a 'servizio incluso' or something similar on the menu or bill), we got in line for going into the Pantheon. I kid you not, they shut the huge double doors right in front of me after waiting in line (I had not been waiting that long, but I was the next person to enter before they shut the door on me). I think our waiter just wanted us to stay at our table and eat and drink as long as we could, but no worries - we would see the interior of the Pantheon the next morning.

We took a few pictures in the piazza in front of the Pantheon and walked over to the Trevi Fountain (very short walk through the narrow back streets of Rome) before we returned to our hotel.

Momma, Troy and Noah in front of the Pantheon

Momma, Troy and Noah in front of Trevi Fountain

Noah and Momma in front of Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain is very pretty, and I've seen it on both of my vacation trips to Rome; but I have apparently picked the wrong time of day to visit it on both occasions. Both of my stops have found it crowded with tourists and not very enjoyable. I'm sure the crowd lightens up at night. I'll aim for a nighttime visit to Trevi Fountain on my next trip.