Five times to Italy but only once to Rome, part two

And back to Roma...
At this point on our September 2012 trip, we left Rome and headed for Umbria.  We stayed in Bevagna for about two weeks - I'll go into that later - and came back to Rome for two nights before flying home.

I asked a friend who knows Rome well what neighborhood he thought would be good for us.  He suggested the Spanish Steps or Piazza Barberini, to be close to sites we could see quickly and check off our list.

This is not the way we usually do it.  We like a small hotel in an area with residential amenities like markets and laundromats and we don't usually do the whirl-wind tour.  But we just had two days.  I was willing to take his advice.  I searched on Venere, cross referenced TripAdvisor and decided on La Piccola Maison near Piazza Barberini.

We left Bevagna and arrived in Rome after an hour and twenty minute train ride. Per instructions, we emailed the hotel to tell them we had arrived.  They answered right away.  Our room wouldn't be ready until after lunch but we could come now and drop off our luggage.  Again we left the train station, pulling our rolling bags behind us. It was a beautiful, sunny day.  The hotel was a 15 or 20 minute walk from the station and easy to find.  

We could have taken the Metro or a cab but we like to walk.  We learn our way around faster that way, plus it allows me to sit down in front of a plate of ravioli with a somewhat clear conscience.

La Piccola Maison

 After being buzzed into what looked like an apartment building, we headed up the stairs and were met on the first landing by our host, the charming Georgio.  There was a tiny lift for the luggage.  We continued up to the third floor.  There were no public areas, just a stairway and a hallway of doors.  The management sat in a small office.   We left our luggage and headed out.

The area immediately surrounding La Piccola Maison has hotels, apartment buildings and at least one embassy, but no real neighborhood feel or amenities.  There's a Metro station a block away and a handsome 17th century Bernini fountain in the piazza.  Using Google Maps on our phone, we walked around the corner, up a hill and found ourselves at the top of the Spanish Steps.

Roesler Franz's 1880 painting of the Piazza Barberini