Rome!

Parent Cafe
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Yes, there are pickpockets, but if you do the right thing you needn’t worry. We started out with paranoia, then relaxed. DH wore a waist wallet and I carried a Travelon purse. It wasn’t too big or fat at all…I wanted a slim size. Wore it crossbody, it had the metal lining and locked zipper. I always just walked with my hand over the lock when in crowded areas. Nothing ever happened. When I sat to eat, I would put the purse on my lap, but the strap was around my back at the waist. I could relax that way.

DH is always aware of his surroundings, I am not. He told me once when we were walking from the Piazza Novanna to the Pantheon someone was following us too closely. We stopped and made him walk past us. We started walking behind him, and sure enough it was a pickpocket. Very unassuming male in his 30’s, with a jacket over his hand/arm. Considering it was a warm day, why the jacket? Another man in his 20’s was keeping about a 6 ft paced distance behind him with a backpack. They were walking briskly.

I really never felt there were tons of beggars, but I used to live in South America. Now there you see lots of beggars. I was more hounded to buy flowers, but still not that much. I wouldn’t look them in the eye, and just say no without a smile…or sometimes just ignore them. They would back off quickly.

You’ll have a blast!

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Yes, we found in France (I know, not Rome!) that some of the little markets or bakeries were excellent sources of delicious inexpensive sandwiches that we could split and sit at a park or on a bench somewhere in the midst of our walking. Sure wish we had that here!

@deb922 , have a WONDERFUL safe trip and indulge in all the delicious food - you will walk it off! Can’t wait for a full report upon your return!

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When you read TripAdvisor, I swear you have to filter out some reviews. Some nationalities just seem to gripe more than others.

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We shopped at that supermarket, GMT. I remember buying a “dishrag” that I used as my face cloth all week, as the hotels don’t provide them.

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That’s right about washcloths. Deb…Rick Steves online store sells really good fast drying ones.

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We got back from Rome Thursday! Had a really great time, but am glad to be home.

Our hotel was great, Roma Nazionale. Right next to the parliament building, it was quiet as there were no cars in the square and a large police presence which was reassuring given the week we were there. Hotel had washcloths and terry cloth robes in the room. And a really nice breakfast buffet, I ate like a pig and drank many cappuccinos :wink:

We were close to the Pantheon and Plazzo Navona. We would go there in the evenings to see the nightly entertainment. One thing was that after the Paris bombings there was not any entertainment and the Pantheon was closed. I’m not sure if that was usual to not have entertainment on the weekend. GMT, we found the grocery store and the wine bar, both were great.

There were tons of restaurant suggestions, we had trouble finding what we were looking for and it became a chore. After the first couple of days, we ate somewhere convenient, it was too much energy to hunt something down and we were happy with the cheap eateries as we were with expensive ones. We aren’t that picky. And by the end of the week, we were tired of all of the food we were eating.

Conmama, your advice was so helpful. We loved the Pristine Sistine tour, it was a highlight of the trip. We liked the tours we took, in fact I booked a coupe more while we were there.

I do have to say that 8 days was a little long for us. We are pretty active, walked over 10 miles every day. My H is a bit of an odd duck and did not want to sit and drink wine and enjoy the scene. So when we had down time, he wanted to hang out in the hotel room. It frankly got a bit old. We decided that we are week vacationers. 10 days was too much for us. Not to say that we didn’t have a good time. It’s just that we (he) is not good at relaxing and hanging.

We did a day trip to Venice. Yea, I know a bit crazy. But we took the first train out, it was just under 4 hours and then we took a tour of the Doge’s palace and walked around. Then took the 6 o’clock train back to Rome. It was a long day but enough. Venice was nice but forgive me, nice in a Mackinac Island type of way. One day was plenty.

November was prefect time to go. 70 each day and not a speck of rain. We lucked out. The crowds were low, in fact our tour guide remarked how uncrowded the Sistine Chapel was.

One tour we enjoyed was the Scavi tour of St. Peter’s tomb at the Vacitian. Very special tour under the basilica. You have to email the Vacitian and they tell you when you can go.

Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice and encouragement. It was a trip that we throughly enjoyed. And now that we’ve been to Europe, I think we will enjoy our next trip even more. My H was very nervous because he didn’t know what was going on. It will be much better next time.

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So, so happy for you and your H! Sounds like a wonderful trip. I’m glad you were flexible to go with the flow on your daily plans. Next time you need to bring an additional peson who will sit at a sidewalk cafe and people watch!!!

So where’s your next dream trip??!! :wink:

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Great trip report, deb. We loved the cappuccinos, too. I agree with you about the difficulty in finding restaurants. We even tried using GPS and it was still difficult. “Venice is nice in a Mackinac Island type of way” made me laugh. I guess that sums up my feelings, as well. It sounds like you had a good time.

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So glad you enjoyed the trip! My last Rome stay was 3 years ago with my son who is, like your DH, not a cafe relaxer. I can appreciate the desire for some down time with scene and people viewing. I remember being tired from keeping up with DS’s pace! I’ve generally had bad luck finding specific restaurants no matter where I am. I know many enjoy fine dining, but that has become one of my least travel priorities also. Aren’t we lucky with places like Rome with so many individual options! Welcome home!

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@deb922, so glad you had a good time! I’m pretty sure I know the area you stayed, it was close to the Pantheon. I agree that 8 or 10 nights…not sure how long you stayed, would have been too long for us, too. We were there 4 nights, could have done 5 at the most. It is just an exciting city. My DH is very high energy and likes to go go go…although he is good at cafe sitting and people watching. I just don’t have his energy and like your DH, wouldn’t have minded relaxing in our hotel sometimes, but DH always feels like we are wasting out time sitting in the hotel. One afternoon I told him I just had to go back and put my feet up with some quiet.

Glad you enjoyed the Pristine Sistine? Our guide was a Frenchman, and very good…maybe talked a little too much, but you could tell he was passionate about the subject. I’m glad you made it to Venice, even for an afternoon. We were there 1.5 days and it was enough. I was glad to spend a couple nights, as it does take on a much different charm than during the day.

Like you, we are glad to have this first trip under our belts. Next time we won’t be unsure about everything, and will know how to pace ourselves, sort of what to expect. It really is a beautiful city, though, isn’t it? We loved the Piazza Novana the best.

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Love the trip reports!

Our family of 4 (couple plus 2 grown children) really liked our VRBO 2 bedroom rental near Narvano plaza. There were 2 sets of keys, so sometimes we did different things. For example, on the first morning I slept, the kids took a run, and DH went out for early morn photos and coffee at a cafe. We stayed 4 nights and only ate breakfasts there (food from the market down the street). But it was a great home base, good for hanging out and planning our outings. Two hotel rooms would have been much more expensive and not as enjoyable.