Back from Rome and Paris
 

Been home about a week from Paris and Rome. Wanted to share this: about wearing black clothes to Europe. Great idea any time of the year but summer. I took black pants, black skirt and black dress. (yes, I know I probably overdid it) I was so tired of my black clothes and wish I had brought some light-colored sun dresses. <BR> <BR>Other than that we had a terrific time -- took our 17 year old son with us. What a surprise how much he enjoyed the museums, churches, etc. Of course, we also did the Moulin Rouge, which he really liked! <BR> <BR>Any questions - please let me know

Hi Julie: When you went to le Moulin Rouge, did you have dinner there as well? If so, how was it? We're leaving for Paris this Friday and are planning to go to le Moulin Rouge but haven't yet decided if we'll just see the show or do both. Thanks

Vicki -- we just did the show (which include champagne) -- not dinner. We had read that the food is not great for the price so I can't tell you about that. But the show was very fun. I hadn't wanted to go but my husband talked me into. Glad I went -- beatufiul girls, beautiful costumes and some very humorus funny men. Go and enjoy!

Dear Julie: <BR>We are going to Rome Sep 14th and have reservations at the Hotel White near the Trevi Fountain. It is $238 a night so I'm thinking of changing our reservations to something a little less expensive, since we won't be in the room <BR> very much.Where did you stay? Would you recommend it? Thanks for any help. If you have an e-mail or fax for the one you stayed in, would appreciate it.

We're thinking about going to Rome next summer. What are the must-sees? Good resaurants? Any other tips? We need all the help we can get.

We stayed at the Hotel Regno [[email protected]] -- a few blocks from the Forum and Coliseum. For 3 of us the price was 360.000 italian lire (includes breakfast) Large rooms in historical building with bathroom and shower. If you go request a room that does not overlook the busy street - although we were so tired every night it really didn't keep us awake. <BR> <BR>Rome is fantastic but can be overpowering. 1st day we got there we went out on own and the heat, noise, and sheer number of sights to see overwhelmed us. The next day we signed up for the Christian Tour through our hotel. We had a small group and a wonderful guide. And then we did the vatican tour through the same company. Way too crowded and couldn't hear what was said. On our 3rd try we had a tour with Scela Reale of the forum -- what a difference. The highlight of our trip to Rome. I would definitely suggest you sign up for at least one of their tours. Can do in advance from home. <BR> <BR>The must-sees are everything! But of course we didn't get time for that. Just wandering the streets and popping into a church that wasn't in our guide book we found some wonderful sights. <BR> <BR>My husband did get pick-pocketed by a very young gypsy girl. (this is after I told him repeatedly not to carry anything in his pants pockets). Fortunately she just got $150 in travelers checks -- but so quick! <BR> <BR>All in all -- loved Rome (but not as much I did Paris). <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>Every place we ate was great -- we just stopped at sidewalk cafes when we were tired and hot and had a beer and pasta or pizza, salad. Just sitting at one and watching the people is a fun part of the trip.

Dear Julie: <BR> <BR>I am going to change my res. to Hotel Regno. Tour Scela Reale, how do you contact them from here. I need travel agent overseas to make a res. for travel within Europe. We will go to Italy, Turkey, and Israel, so I need to connect within Europe with a travel agent. Peggy

Peggy, check out www.scalareale.com. They list all the tours and prices and you can book via the web.

Peggy -- just to let you know the Hotel Regno is within walking distance of the Trevi Fountain and many other sights. But I do suggest taking a taxi to Vataican City.

Julie, <BR>roughly how much did the taxi to the Vatican cost? did you have to wait long to get one? thanks, <BR> <BR>--beth

Beth -- when we wanted a taxi, our hotel called for us. Only took 5-10 minutes wait. Can't remember how much our ride was as my husband paid for it, but it was not expensive. <BR> <BR>

Hello, I couldn't connect with the Scela Reale tour group using the address listed above. Is this address correct, and if not what is? Thanks

Stephen, just change the .com to .org/ Regards, Walter <BR>

Peggy - Just returned last week from Rome. We stayed at the Hotel Cesari located on the Via Di Pietra. The Hotel was one block from the main shopping areas and three blocks from the Trevi Fountain in one direction and three blocks from the Pantheon in the other. A double room cost 340,000L per night. This equates to about $185.00. The cost includes breakfast of bread, meats, cheeses, cereal, juice and coffee. Rooms were nice sized with full bath and a small refrigerator. Air conditioning worked pretty well also. <BR>

Thank you Walter!

oops! sorry for the misprint on Scala Reale's website. .org it is! For some reason the tour associations in Italy are non-profit. It has something to do with how they are regulated. But I guess that means they can have .org domain names.

We just returned from Rome and stayed at the Hotel Delta across the street from the Colosseum and very close to Colosseo Metro stop. It was a modern rather than historical hotel, but it was extremely well cared for and very clean. A huge Italian style continental breakfast was included--pastries, coffees, fruit. It was located beside a park and about 1/2 block down the street was a good, local restaurant called just Pizzarita, I think--huge servings of delicious food. We used the Metro to go to the Vatican. Everything is within walking distance from hotel and taking the Metro to Spanish Steps stop made it even easier. The hotel is also very close to S. Petro in Vincoli. The pictures at http://www.italyhotel.com/roma/delta/delta.html are very real. I was fooled once by pictures of a London hotel. Rate was $185 for a double with shower.

OK...I have to know...what is le Moulin Rouge?

Ross-- Moulin Rouge is a variety show with the main performers being men and women dancers (women are mostly topless) in a variety of costumes. It is very well done and the highlight is, of course, the can-can! Also 2 or 3 other acts which are pretty humorous. I believe it is the oldest dance-hall in Paris still operating. Worth seeing at least once