Roman Daydreams

Work has been boring lately. Seriously boring. It's the time of year. Things slow down in my department. So I've had a considerable amount of time to surf the internet, do homework (I'm taking an online class), facebook... but mostly, I check out travel deals and research hotels in Rome. Specifically hotels near the Pantheon. Having nothing to do at work for eight hours a day is a horrible little catalyst for my Italian (Roman) obsession.

You see I'm planning a two-week vacation for next spring. And it's going to be fantastic. After this spring's three-day Roman fling, I've been dreaming of going back. The past three days at work have even lent themselves to giving me time to daydream of strolling down the Via del Corso. Lunching on authentic pasta con pancetta in the Piazza del Popolo. Making short work of a dark cioccolatta e nutella gelatto con crema! And yes, even flirting with HOT Roman men, the self-same descendants of the ancient Romans, in fluent Italian. Perhaps I should have mentioned them first.

Just one problem with those daydreams. I don't speak Italian! But somehow in my daydreams I'm as fluent as an acrobat is lithe.

Okay, I speak a little Italian. Ma solo um 'po, e non multo bene! (But only a little, and not very well! - Though my knowledge of that phrase, combined with a convincing and [I'm not ashamed to admit] rehearsed-in-the-shower oratorial delivery has in the past led groups of Italian sailors to begin conversing in native Italian dialects, rather than straight Italian, with me around!) My Italian was ample to get me around on the aforementioned previous Roman holiday. Quite nicely, I might add.

Here's the proof:
Italian detour blog 1
Italian detour blog 2
Italian detour blog 3
Italian detour blog 4
Italian detour blog 5

But I digress. I'm good at digressing.

The point is that after several months of lightly perusing hotel listings and three days of labored searching through hotel listings, my obsessive compulsion to find just the right hotel in just the right location at just the right price has paid off!

I was about to book a lovely little hotel. It's located in a 16th century palace. It's facade is covered in ivy vines. Nothing luxurious, but nice, cute and clean. It was price was affordable (given the Euro to Dollar conversion) and location desirable. But something urged me on. You see, my taste of Rome this past April helped me to understand something about Rome: It is a city where you have to be in the know. Sure, many cities are like that, but with Rome, that attitude includes over a millennium of inherited family pride, patria and a sense of self-identity so engrained in a people that they feel no keen need to advertise an especially lovely little family run albergo (hotel) on a monster site such as priceline or hotels.com. The people come to them and find them. Always have, always will. After all, it's ROME!

Bearing that in mind, I knew what I was looking for. I had a picture in my mind's-eye of the perfect little mom and pop hotel located in an alley adjacent to the Pantheon (You might ask "Why the Pantheon?" Because that's where the picture-perfect Roman holiday takes place this spring in my head! Don't ask ridiculous questions!).

The hotels were either gorgeous and correctly located but way too expensive, or attractively priced but located by the Vatican or by Termini station (the main train station, about a thirty minute walk) instead of by the Pantheon. Dilemma! Dilemma! Dilemma!


I almost caved and booked something that I wasn't perfectly happy about. And then, after three days of exhaustive searching, I happened on this little item:

The Hotel Mimosa. Undyingly proud (in only the way a Roman could be -seriously, check out the website) of it's 1-star accomodations and service. Located directly (and I mean practically as an appendage) behind the Pantheon. Fantastico! And what's even better - the price! Several hundred dollars less expensive than the other modestly priced place I was looking at. I know, I know, you get what you pay for. I tripadvisor.com'd it for reviews and found it to be exactly what I was expecting it to be - something more akin to a hostel than a hotel. Bingo. I'm a single traveler. I'm from the US, home to the dollar, which is getting crappy exchange rates currently. Were I married and looking for a romantic getaway with a gorgeous, flower-laden balcony and snooty people to cater to my whims, I'd book this hotel. But this trip is down and dirty backpack traveling. With an en-suite bathroom.

I'm satisified.

Plus, as an added bonus, in case I should change my mind there are no penalties for cancellation (a rare thing in Rome) up to seven days prior to arrival. 5 nights @ 70 Euro/night. The other hotel: 120 Euro/night. Convert to dollars.  That's a three hundred dollar savings that will be spent on pasta, gelatto, chocolate pastries, museum entries, shameless flirting with hot Italian men (okay, that's free) and a flight from Rome to Istanbul, Santorini or Cyprus. (To be determined later.) Brava!