Decisions, decisions, decisions......

I had always wanted to go to Italy but really............I had always wanted to go to the Tuscany area of Italy and found that impossible without renting a car and having to drive sooooooo the next best thing was to fly to Rome and take some tours from there or at least that was my plan.



 This is how I began, by studying this map. I wanted to find a hotel that was centrally located so you see that blurred spot in the center of the page that says Parliament?  It seemed to me that was sort of  a central spot  from most everything. The problem is that this area is old and so are the hotels. It is my understanding that most rooms are quite small and many do not have AC. Besides wanting a nice to place to stay we also prefer to have a hotel that has a restaurant and bar so that cut down several choices and so where did we end up?

http://www.hotelnazionale.it/

It was hard for the shuttle driver to find because it is directly across from the Parliament and limited traffic is permitted. Right off the bat we were so fortunate that the check in person could speak English and  he began getting all the info needed and making calls so we could cancel the two credit cards that were lost. It may not look like much outside but it is lovely inside......

A small area in the hotel lobby and fresh flowers everywhere.

We requested twin beds and they push them together:) You can see the little entrance area there to the left. You have to put your key in this slot to access electricity and of course you take your key with you when you leave. Keeps people from leaving the lights and tv on.

There was a full size sofa that made out into a bed with a table in front over the to right of this

 table with two chair in front of the window that opened out to the Parliament plaza.


There was always a wonderful breeze even though sometimes it was noisy. I had hubby go down and take a picture of me pretending to be the Pope:)

I surely felt like Royalty with a bidet and a square toilet!!!

The other interesing toilet tidbit is that it was like a old time toilet with the water storage up top

and see that knob looking thing on the wall? You push it to flush the toilet. Interesting thing in Rome........trying to figure out where or what to push to flush.


Our room included a breakfast buffet and what a spread.........

 first display

 second display

 Pastries and cereals

Coffee and juices and two types of bottles water

cappuccino to your liking (this is very popular in Rome)

Care for fresh carrot juice? I saw one lady make a drink from apples and carrots. an then there was this........

A machine with constant boiling water to make a soft (five minutes) or hard (ten minutes) boiled egg and notice how all the eggs are brown? Just above this was a toaster machine with a couple of different breads.

We so enjoyed the buffet to begin our days. By the way....the coffee there is MAGNIFICO!! So much so that I even had a couple of cups in the afternoons which I never do.