At first, we were going to book a hotel through those recommended by LonelyPlanet, since LP is rarely wrong when it comes to recommended accommodations. But we decided to look at the recommended hotels through German Wings, the airline we used (German Wings is a GREAT option for cheap flights within Europe), and found an AMAZING deal for the Casa della Palma. We cross referenced this recommendation and other recommended hotels with reviews on Trip Advisor (my favorite resource for hotel reviews) to make our final choice, booking through the German Wings site to get the deal.

Our room (the "study") was lovely, with a very comfortable bed and big screen TV with satellite reception (great for watching BBC World after a long day of touring). The bathroom is awesome. If you stay at Casa della Palma, definitely take them up on their offer for a car to drive you to and from the airport (if you are two people, it's not much more of a cost than if you took all the public transport options to get there and back, without any of the hassle). Also, definitely take the hotel up on its 30-minute orientation offer - they give you a hand drawn map of the neighborhood with restaurants, grocery stores and bus stops marked. For the price, this hotel simply CANNOT be beat: it's clean, it's safe, and depending on the other guests, very quiet (but the last point is true of any hotel). And the food at the nearby Il Gatto e la Volpe is delicious and cheap! You can get to central Rome oh-so-quickly on public transport from the hotel (but do ask them to mark the bus stop nearest the train station that will get you back to Casa della Palma, so you can use the Metro from downtown when needed).

I won't go into a moment-by-moment account, just say what we saw, with a few comments about such, and then add a very fun story at the end (and, if you want, you can skip to the pictures of the adventure:

• January was a great time to visit Rome, except for the rain. The crowds were more than manageable, and many of the buildings and ancient sights literally shine when wet.

• The Rome bus system is awesome; cheap and very reliable.

• Per the movie Roman Holiday, I had to visit the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) in the portico of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. I know that it's a totally cheesy touristy thing to do, but I could not pass it up. Most of the other tourists there were great -- everyone was happy to take photos of each other with their respective cameras.

• The Colosseum at night was magical. We also visited it in the daytime, and we allowed ourselves to be fished for a group tour of the inside that turned out to be terrific - we got to go to the front of the line, and got some very interesting info (although I suspect the audio tour offers even more information). Don't let anyone tell you the inside of the Colosseum is not interesting; it's fascinating.

• The second part of the group tour took us to the Palatine Hill, and that was outstanding. Our guide, from Canada, really knew her stuff, and made the site come alive. We were so sorry not to be able to take the company's tour the next day of the Vatican or that afternoon out to the Via Appia Antica and the catacombs.

• The Pantheon is magnificent, in every sense of the world. We have seen a lot of Roman ruins all over the world, and many of them are more extensive and better preserved than what is in Rome, but the Pantheon is the largest well-preserved Roman-empire era building I've ever seen.

• Piazza Navona, Rome's most famous square, is quite dead in winter (unlike summer). The most interesting parts of our visit there were (1) seeing and hearing some protesters outside the Brazilian embassy (Alex got the lowdown: there was an Italian criminal inside the embassy) and (2) asking for directions from two older Italian men and, in addition to getting their interesting stories, getting directed to the Pasquino statue, something I bet most tourists blow by.

• Fontana di Trevi is SPECTACULAR, even when it's too cold to jump into. Wow. Pictures really don't do this sight justice. All other fountains anywhere pale in comparison.

• We only got to see the outside of Castel Sant'Angelo, unfortunately, because of the time when we arrived. This, along with lots of other sights we had to miss because of time, mean I really have to go back to Rome.

• The only reason to visit the Vittorio Emanuele Monument is for the outstanding view of the Roman ruins (zowie) and the free bathroom (which is a huge schlep to the top of the building).

• Vatican City still had its kitschy Nativity Scene up out in the square. We didn't get to see any of the Vatican Museum; if I couldn't spend a whole day there, or even just half a day, I didn't want to go at all. I can't stand rushing through a museum. Later, while on a tour, the guide said to remember when you are looking at all the incredible, beautiful cut stone in the Vatican, including columns, that such was not built for the glory the Christian God, but for the glory of the Roman Empire and its Gods many hundreds of years before.

• I'm really glad we have seen so many other Roman sites in so many other places; it made the visit to Rome much more meaningful. As I said, many of the Roman sites we've seen in other countries are more extensive and better preserved than what is in Rome, so when you see the skeleton of remains in Rome, you can get a better sense of what it looked like back in the day if you have seen other sites. Another helpful tool to get a sense of the grandness of ancient Rome: Google Earth Rome (requires you to have a very recently-manufactured computer, very fast processor and broadband).

• Here's a tip: the chocolate vanilla muffin at the Starbuck's in Bonn-Cologne is better than any drug on Earth.

Now, with all that said... on the Saturday of our trip, as the three of us were roaming around Rome, Alex and I were talking non-stop, with Stefan following behind the gabby twosome. It had been raining off and on all day. We were just walking away from the Spanish Steps as a heavy shower was dissipating and heading to the Fontana di Trevi. Alex and I were babbling away and we both looked up, and who is passing us on the street?

Dame Judi Dench

(for those of you who don't know -- she's "M" in the last four or five Bond movies, and Queen Elizabeth in "Shakespeare in Love", among a million other things. She's considered one of the greatest actresses EVER)

She passed us, and Alex and I stopped in our tracks, staring at each other with our mouths open and our eyes huge. I started saying, "It's Judi Dench! It's Judi Dench! That was Judi Dench!" and Alex was saying, at the same time, "We have to talk to her! We have to go back and talk to her!" And Stefan was standing there trying to figure out WHY we are suddenly completely freaking out.

Alex starts leading me back down the street, saying, "We have to talk to her! We cannot let this moment pass! We must talk to her!" and as Dame Judi turns the corner, I start calling out awkwardly, "Dame Judi? Dame Judi?" And she and her companion turn, and we introduce ourselves and ACT LIKE TOTAL DORKS. Except for Stefan -- he just stood there quietly, wondering what in the world was going to happen next. We were stupid silly. We gushed like school girls meeting a rock star.

Dame Judi was graceful, she was refined, she was kind, she apologized for the weather, and she shook each of our hands and introduced us to her agent, who seemed to be finding us somewhat amusing. We let them go on their way -- it was starting to rain, and Dame Judi had not an umbrella. So we didn't ask for a photo, we didn't ask for an autograph... you will just have to take my word for it.

We went our separate ways, and I burst into tears. No, really, I did. I was beside myself. Alex told me that we were destined to speak to Judi Dench because I didn't talk to Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward when I had the chance. We were on a natural, ridiculous high for the rest of the day.

Rome is really awesome, but I cannot lie: the highlight of the trip was meeting Dame Judi Dench.

Pictures of the adventure (but no Dame Judi).

So, is Italy redeemed for me? To a degree, yes: the Italians there were quite nice (but the immigrants even nicer), there was 99% less trash than Naples experience, and I never once saw a stray dog (although I'm sure that's different in the summer). We felt much more safe in Rome than we felt in Naples. But I am really glad we have been to Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are truly mind-blowing in comparison to the relatively few ruins you will find in Rome, and make it much easier to visualize the grandeur of the ancient world of Rome.

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