Accommodation:
As I had been to Rome previously I more or less had an idea of where I wanted us to stay. During my first trip I stayed about a ten minute bus ride away from the Vatican City, which was much too far from the center. I knew that I wanted us to be centrally located in Rome near Piazza Navona and also near a major street which would provide quick and easy access to a bus route.
Additionally, having stayed in a variety of lodging throughout Europe (hotel, bed and breakfast, hostel, private apartment) I had come to learn that my first choice was a private apartment. I enjoy the complete privacy an apartment offers: no one to bother you, ask you questions, or awkward moments when the cleaning lady stops by. Additionally, you don't have to worry about making too much noise when coming in late at night or talking. Furthermore, private apartments are usually situated in ideal locations of a city (i.e. historical center) and often feature small kitchens, and eating and sitting areas, which I very much appreciate. Finally, the reason I like to stay in private apartments the most is because they are a great value, often much less expensive than what you would pay to stay at a hotel or bed and breakfast.
Per the advice of a co-worker, I ended up selecting an apartment for us through Rental in Rome. In all other situations where I have rented an apartment, it has always been done after having read reviews on Trip Advisor or user reviews from VRBO. Unfortunately, I had a difficult time finding any sort of reviews on Rental in Rome on the internet period, but I trusted my co-worker and went forward with the rental agreement. We ended up selecting an apartment just off of Campo de' Fiori called Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment. The rate was only 110 Euro per night, plus a 20 Euro agency fee. The apartment was housed on the ground floor of a building from the 16th century that had recently been remodeled. Outside the apartment was a beautiful and quiet courtyard. Even though our apartment was only about 100 yards away from Campo de' Fiori, you never would have known for as soon as we opened the door to the courtyard, we were met with silence.
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| Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment |
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| Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment |
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| Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment |
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| Kitchen in the Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment. |
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| Eating and sitting area in the Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment. |
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| Bathroom in the Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment. |
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| Inner courtyard of the Cappellari Hi-Tech Open Space Apartment. |
Dining:
To be completely honest, Rome's dining options overwhelmed us. In hindsight, I should have done more research in advance of specific places we wanted to eat at. Instead, we would often find ourselves wandering around trying to pick a place for dinner that didn't appear to be overly touristy. This not only wasted time, but it caused a lot of stress. Additionally, picking restaurants strictly from just peeking at their posted menus does not provide one any indication of the potential quality of food.
Note: for whatever reason (and much to my disappointment), I did not take many photos of food in Rome so I apologize for the lack of visuals that normally go along with my restaurant descriptions.
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