People watching happens day and night on the Spanish Steps in Rome.

“Whenever I go anywhere but Italy for a vacation, I always feel as if I have made a mistake.”   Erica Jong

My sister will be in Rome between Christmas and New Year’s, based on a dinner conversation.  The other couple said their favorite Christmas ever was in Rome.  The weather is nice, the City is not crowded, there is so much to do and see –  or you can just chose to sit on the Spanish Steps and people watch.  These Steps are also delightful in February.  A great place to visit in Rome before joining us for our retreat, Feb. 15 -22, 2015.

These lovely steps, built between 1723 and 1725, have 135 steps flowing from the top where the Trinita dei Monti church overlooks a small piazza, to the bottom at the triangular Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Square).  I always wondered why they were called the ‘Spanish Steps’ in Rome, far from Spain.  Apparently this area around the Spanish Embassy was considered Spanish territory in the seventeenth century.