Rome Italy Adventure 2022 New Years Eve Day 6

Day 6

Dear Adventure Avenue,

We had a very leisurely morning. We went down to breakfast. My mom and brother had the same thing they’d been having (buffet and pancakes). My dad got the salmon waffles which looked delicious and he said they were very good. I had the pancakes but with the fruit on top. They were also very good.

We then went back to the room to relax a little bit before heading out on an adventure. We walked to a gelato shop called come il Latte but it wasn’t open yet and we weren’t even ready for lunch let alone gelato, so we kept walking. We passed by a grocery store and immediately went in to buy some goodies to take home. I got some cookies, and my mom got some orange marmalade because marmalade is hard for us to find in the states.

Then we kept walking to this church my dad had seen from a ways away. It was Basilica S. Maria Delgi Angeli e dei Martiri. The church had an equinox line set up so that on certain days of the year, the sun would line up perfectly.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay for very long because the church was closing for the celebrating of something. We’re not quite sure what, but it was closing.

By this time we were quite hungry but couldn’t have gelato first before lunch so we walked and walked and walked but couldn’t find an affordable and good place to eat (we were in the ritzy banking district – we actually asked an Italian if there were any good restaurants and she said everything in this area is very expensive), so we ended up back near our hotel at La Bruschetta.

These are the nicest people, and we love their restaurant.

Gelato

We walked to il Latte for our gelato, and it did not disappoint. They made the cones fresh there on a mini waffle press and the gelato was in the circular tubs – so it was the real deal. It was also a bit more expensive than others that we’d had, but it was worth it.

I had salted caramel and pistachio. Each flavor was so rich but true to the actual flavor.

Games and Cocktail Hour

After coming back and resting in the hotel for a spell, we went up to the roof before the New Years Eve celebration started. We played cards and enjoyed the beautiful setting. I had a virgin mojito.

La Bruschetta for Dinner

I had the lasagna which was delicious! We, of course, had to get a Nutella pizza.

During the night we were awoken by the sounds of explosions going off – or at least that is what our brain registered until we realized it was midnight and the restaurant next store to our hotel was being used as the launch site for some industrial grade fireworks. People were definitely bringing in the New Year. Unfortunately for us, it was rather disruptive to our sleep, but we survived.

The view from our hotel window.

Airport Adventures

The next morning, we took a cab to the airport. We got there very early only to find out the American Airlines desk was not being staffed, so we could not immediately drop off our luggage. After waiting for a while, I found a number of someone we could call. They told us the worker should be there or be almost there.

Sure enough, they were there in the next five minutes. It turns out that they had two people working the gate and the check-in area because as we boarded our flight, we saw the same two people.

Before we boarded, we went to the Rome lounge, which was not great because you had to leave the lounge to use the restroom – (one of the perks to lounges is that you get a private (cleaner) bathroom.