Yes Hotel Rome Travel Blog: The Rome travel guide

Our Blogger: Angelo

One of the most exciting sporting events in Rome is the annual Marathon which will see the city center turned into a pedestrian  zone with concerts, shows and performances

It will take place March 21, 2010 at 9.00am where the race will start at   Via dei Fori Imperiali, under the shadow of the Colisseum.

For those who would like to live a great day this marathon is a not-to-be-missed event. Even if you are not the sport type, there will be a parallel event, the “Roma Run”, a non-competitive 4 Km run for those who want to be part of the celebration but are not trained marathonists.

They also will activate the “Marathon Village”,there will be dining, health care items, bus service, radio service of civil protection, resuscitation centers: everything necessary to  enjoy of a sporting event in all safety

You can also be the protagonist by participating and obviously having the chance of winning this incredible race . Here at Yes Hotel and Hotel Des Artistes we will have many people from all over the world participating,  join us to make your dream a reality!

REGISTRATION FEES
• € 35.00 – until November 23, 2009
• € 42.00 – until December 21, 2009
• € 55.00 – until January 28, 2010
• € 65.00 – until March 8, 2010

Recommended changes or any requests and / or additions to the rankings will be accepted by 25.03.2010 and should be sent to the e-mail info@tds-live.com. Thereafter, standings will be final.

For more info please visit www.maratonadiroma.it

Our Blogger: Angelo

September 19th and 20th at 2010 Elton John is going to offer two concerts at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. Sir Elton John will be companied by legendary drummer Ray Cooper at both concerts which starts at 20.30. The English musicians are going to perform some of the biggest hits of Sir Elton like Rocket Man, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Your Song, Daniel, Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Nikita and Elton Joh’s last ballad the Boy in the Red Shoes.

Legendary Sir Elton John as everybody knows him, was born in the London suburbs at 1947, has made a long and remarkable career, received numerous Grammy Awards and at least 250 million sold albums. During the years ’72 and ’96.

Ray Cooper has worked for example with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and many many other artists. He has played in many Elton John’s albums and last time they performed in concert together was in Russia at 1979.

The concert will be held at the Auditorium Parco Della Musica, one of the most modern music venues in Rome that can be easily reached from Yes Hotel or Hotel Des Artistes.

Our Blogger: Rhodora

Polenta is loved by everybody…this dish has on the table of Italian families for generations!!

Polenta is a corn meal mush, but is more than that! It’s the staple food of the North of Italy, where after pasta, is one of the favourite dishes. It can be served in innumerable ways: as a first course, baked, with stews, or even as a bread substitute.

For citizens of Rocca di Papa , a small village near Rome, Polenta is too a unique and complete food, it is added to the usual simple condiments (with tomato sauce, sausages, meat, cheese etc), the condiments that the old farmers use to this day  to create to create dishes that satisfied the gourmets.

And it is in Rocca di Papa for the second year that will be a special gastronomic event in occasion of Valentine’s Day: “La Polenta degli Innamorati” ( The polenta of Lovers). The event will be surrounded by so many moments of entertainment with music and with “Il bacio più lungo” (The longest kiss), all the couples attending this event are invited, it consists in a kiss of mass to enter on the Guinness world record as the major kiss of mass ever!

La Polenta degli Innnamorati will be held on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, Frebruary 14 and February 15 at the center of Rocca di Papa, one of the many little towns that can be explored from Rome using as a base a well-located hotel like Hotel Des Artistes or Yes Hotel.

Our Blogger: Ilaria

Ilaria, born and bred Venetian, introduces us to this peculiar Italian tradition.

Children are fascinated and a little bit frightened by this enigmatic, funny eerie character whose   existence sink its roots into the ground of paganism.

In days of yore , on the twelfth night after the Christmas day (the 25^th of December), day of the winter solstice, people used to celebrate death and rebirth of nature through the pagan figure of “ Mother Nature”.

The night of the 6^th of January , tired tired after spending all her energy during the year, she appeared in the shape of an old and benevolent witch  who flew through the sky on a broom giving away gifts and candy to everybody. By now completely dried, Mother Nature was ready to be burned like a branch , to be able to born again from her own ashes as youthful Nature.

Like others traditions in Italy ( Christmas itself for example) the originary pagan meaning of epiphany (term deriving from greek that means “manifestation”, “appearance” , implied of divinity , used from the Christian tradition to nominate the first Jesus Christ’s manifestation) has been modified during years becoming as we know nowadays. In Italian, the name “epifania” (- epiphany ) itself transformed into “bifanìa” and than again into “befanìa” , the word then changed  once and for all into “befana”, and designates now  the old benevolent witch .

The “befana” is still pictured as the old mother natured described above, and in the rural tradition people used to prepare a puppet with her shape and burn it the night between the 5^th and the 6^th of January as a rite of purification ( the Italian movie of 1973 “Amarcord” by Federico Fellini shows this rite in the first scene ).

So if you’re walking through fancy open-markets during Xmas time, don’t be astonished to see many little puppets shaped as an old smiling witch on a broom..

You’ll also see a lot of colourful Christmas socks : according to the tradition children must hang them on a wall so that they can be filled with candies, chocolate or toys by the Befana. Children must be careful anyway: if they haven’t been good boys during the year, the “befana” will bring them peaces of coa insteadl!

This festivity is the last afterNew year’s day, that’s why here we call “epiphany” the festivity that all festivities takes away : “ L’epifania tutte le feste porta via”.

Make a reservation today at Yes Hotel or Hotel Des Artistes and discover Italy and all its traditions in person!

It’s incredible: just think that Galileo borrowed the idea of the telescope by small tubes equipped with lenses, a kind toy you could say. This was produced in Holland and Galileo found it in the streets of Venice around the year 1609. And so almost by accident was possible to confirm the revolutionary theories of Nicolaus Copernicus. Now humanity could look straight on the eyes the Milky Way. The striking revelation (or confirmation If you prefer): the Earth is not the center of the universe.

Here is the contribution of the Great Galileo to the human race: changing your point of view, changing the way we look at things (and the way we should look at ourselves).

From October 31^st to January 6, 2010 will take place the exhibition ”The Galileo’s telescope. The tool that changed the world’’ will take place in Rome at the Palazzo Incontro. Opening hours from 10 to 19, every day except Monday. The exhibition displays l replicas of ancient instruments as well as important documents and manuscripts. It’s about a fascinating journey that allows us to know the strong connection between science, culture and religion during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The exhibition also shows the evolution of techniques for producing lenses and mirrors, glasses and dark rooms.

The Palazzo Incontro is located in Via dei Prefetti 22, easy to reach from our locations with the bus 492 arriving there in no more than 20 minutes. Check www.yeshotelrome.com or www.hoteldesartistes.com for more information about our services and location.

Our Blogger: Jona

Whitney is back and on her way to Rome

We all know the extraordinary voice of this American singer who has been active for  25 years now. To the delight of her many fans through her official website, has been officially confirmed the dates of the new tour of the legendary American singer, and we discover that, Whitney Houston will return to Italy after 11 years. The star of rhythm and blues will perform in Forum di Assago in Milan on 3 May 2010. After Milan, she will make a stop in the capital. The Palalottomatica Arena in Rome, the venue of many relevant concerts, will host this great concert on May 4, 2010 at 21.00, and the singer will propose to her affectionate audience a selection of her greatest hits and, of course, the songs from her latest album I Look To You already topped the charts world. “This is my first tour since the days of My Love is Your Love and I am very excited to perform in front of my loyal fans after all this time. I’m preparing a great show and I can not wait to sing the songs of my latest album “These are the words of Whitney Houston. After 25 years of career now, and making a come back after troubled years, Whitney Houston became an artist of great depth, a diva, a legend. One of the most successful female artists of all time, which has sold over 140 million albums worldwide and received 411 awards … and after so long, she is finally back in Italy.

Here at Yes Hotel and Hotel Des Artistes, we will be more than happpy to have you as our guest and to show you the many marvels Rome has to show you.

Ticket prices: Parterre EUR 120.00 Grandstand Central 1 ° ring EUR 130.00 Grandstand Central 2nd ring EUR 110.00 1st and 2nd ring Lateral EUR 85.00 3rd Ring Central Euro 65.00 3rd Ring Side EUR 50.00

Our Blogger: Katja.

Get ready to skate in the Eternal City.

You can get to the perfect Holiday spirit also in Rome ! Have you always wanted to slide gracefully over the ice without falling? This unfortunately takes lot of practice and won’t happen over night. You don’t have to be a professional to go with the flow and enjoy an unusual kind of fun also here in Rome!

One inside ice skating ring is already open and the outside ones will be opened by mid December. And they will be open until February or March. The outside ice skating rings you will find close to the city center, by Castel Sant’Angelo at Piazza Adriana is “Grizing Village” open everyday from 10 until 24, “Sottozero” near the Auditorium Parco della Musica, open mon-fri from 14 until 21, sat from 10 until 24 and sun from 10 until 21 and “Ice Park” at piazza Re di Roma open mon-fri from 14 until 24 and sat-sun from 10 until 24.

All of these places they rent the skates as well. The inside skating ring “Iceland” is located at EUR, easily reached by metro B. Opening hours and other details can be checked at www.iceland90.com/orari.php but during the weekdays the ring  is open for the public in the evenings and sat-sun for the whole day.!

Well, what are you waiting for? Now there will be nothing missing on you perfect Christmas and New Year vacation in Rome! If you are wondering about accomodation, check the websites of Yes Hotel and Hotel Des Artistes, or drop us a line at info@hoteldesartistes.com and info@yeshotelrome.com. We’ll be more than happy to give you our best offer, either for our accomodation-only options or for our special packages for this season.

Our Blogger: Katja

Italy had to wait this great spectacular for 7 years. But now on 11^th – 21^st of February 2010 its finally here in the Theatre Brancaccio! We Will Rock You, the musical has been a great success in Great Britain and other 14 countries where it has been performed.

We Will Rock You is set in the future, on a place once called Earth. Globalisation is complete. Everyone watches the same movies , wears the same clothes, and thinks the same thoughts. A safe, happy GaGa world. All music instruments are banned and a hero is needed …. Galileo the man is the one, but can he help them to Break Free??

A total of 24 Queen’s greatest hits will be heard during the show. Even though Freddie Mercury died in 1991 the legend surrounding the band has remained intact until today.

The original version of this musical is produced by Ben Elton, but the Italian version is Claudio Trotta’s production. The songs are sang in English with a live band but the dialogs are in Italian.

Theatre Brancaccio is located in the city centre of Rome on Via Merulana 244.To make or reservation or inquire about the prices you can call +39 06 85301758,ticket prices range from 22€ until 74.50€.

This musical will definitely Rock You and it will give you an unforgettable evening with the some of the greatest songs in the history of Rock! Stay at Hotel Des Artistes Rome or Yes Hotel Rome and get the best of the city at the most copetitive rates!