Joanne

Dan: <BR> <BR>Welcome home and I'm so happy you had a glorious trip. I was one of those pulling for you and hoping you would decide to go in the weeks before you left. I noted on your post at the beginning of the trip how proud I was that you decided to go and were on your way! <BR> <BR>Printed your trip report and will read it at leisure. Again, so glad you went and now you can enjoy all the fabulous memories! <BR> <BR>j

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Welcome back Dan, Very nice report. Now that Italy is your new favorite destination, and having done the major art cites, now you can plan to see the places in Italy that are even more photogenic. You would go crazy at the Lakes or the Cinque Terre or the Amalfi coast or the Dolomites. I have always said it takes 6 weeks to see Italy. You have started well--you might as well plan your next trip now.

dan woodlief

Yes Bob, I am dreaming already. The very mention of those places makes me drool. Our flights provided stunning views of the Dolomites, Alps, and other areas, so I got a small taste of what is to come. I really consider myself a world traveler more than a European traveler, but a place like Italy (or France) can make you want to go back again and again and again. I pick up my first few rolls of photos today and can't wait.

Karen

Dan, What a wonderful report especially for a person like me getting ready to go for the first time. Thanks for all the effort. I have question. You said your hotel Primavera is the same building as the Reidenzia San Pantaleo. Which is nicer the hotel or the San Panatleo? I was considering staying there and this is the first I heard of which hotel was in the buliding? Also would you recommend a room facing the street or the back in the San Pantaleo? Are they owned by the same people? I have to ask, What book was your wife reading? IT must be something good. I need to know. Can you tell me more about your website? Thanks Karen

dan woodlief

Karen, <BR> <BR>I am not sure if the same people own the two hotels. I didn't think to ask, and I had wondered the same thing. I think the Primavera had rooms on two floors, and the other hotel had rooms on a couple of floors, but I didn't look that hard. I think the building had six floors, and there were some apartments in the building. Our hotel desk was on the first floor (second for us in the U.S.). The large outer door opens into an inner courtyard, where a few cars are parked. You then go through a second door to the elevator, which is creaky but very functional and large enough for quite a bit of luggage. If you use it, be aware that it does not stop for you if someone else is already in it. You watch for the light to go out and push the button as quickly as possible. The elevator is heavily used. The square only has about four buildings on it and is about one short block south of Piazza Navona. It is an extremely convenient location. There is a news kiosk outside, an ATM machine on the wall of the building right by the door, and a McDonalds right down the street if you want a late-night Coke to take back to the room. There are bus stops very near the hotel, and we used the buses quite a bit. Campo de' Fiori is about a 5-7 minute walk in the opposite direction from Piazza Navona, and you can reach the Pantheon in about the same amount of time. You can take a bus to St. Peters in less than 10 minutes. I am not sure which hotel is nicer. I know you hear a lot more on this site and elsewhere about the Residenza San Pantaleo. I learned about Hotel Primavera in Cheap Sleeps. They are about the same price. $110 for our room with complete bath (fairly large and new).You will find more on the hotel on www.twenj.com under "Hotel Selection: Tips and Tricks <BR>by Margo Classé." We stayed in room 13. I would definitely ask for a room off the street. Our's was not on the main street but faced a small side street. The double-paned windows with shutters kept out a lot of noise, but it is still a noisy spot if you are a very light sleeper. The shutters make the rooms extremely dark, which should help with sleep too. <BR> <BR>My wife just took along a couple of romance novels. I don't think she would have wanted any heavier reading, considering how much walking I made her do. <BR> <BR>My Web site is a personal site for travelogues and travel photography. I am really into photography. The site is called "The One-eyed Traveler" (think about looking through a camera lens). The address is www.oneeyed.homestead.com. I do all my own scanning right now, so I expect it will take me a month or more to get all my selected Italy photos online, but I already have loaded about 200-300 from other trips. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps. <BR>

Marianna

Hi Dan, <BR>I live and work in Rome now as a tour guide and was very interested to read your report. <BR>Yes everyone has been affected here by the events of 11 September in relation to Tourism as Americans make up such a big part of it. As you say also it is nice because Americans do have a great sense of humour and are so interested in what they see and do. <BR> <BR>I have advising people that if they want to come they should just go ahead and do it! The safety here is excellent with many, many undercover police, normal police and Caribinieri around. Yes it can seem intimidating seeing them with guns but it is for the best. At the Vatican they are in the process of installing airport security checked on the side of each of the colonnade so that you are checked before even entering the piazza itself. <BR> <BR>Anyway it was lovely to hear that after making a difficult decision to go ahead, that you thoroughly enjoyed yourselves while in Rome. <BR> <BR>I have lived here for 4 years and absolutely love this city and as a tour guide here it is my absolute joy to share this with other people. So I was constantly smiling when reading your report, in particular the Italian sense of fashion and telephones, how true!! <BR> <BR>Anyway I would like to extend an invitation to anyone who is coming to Rome, that if I can help you out with any questions about where to stay, the situation as I see it in Rome, the weather, tours and things to do etc, I would be more than happy for you to contact my email at <BR>[email protected] <BR>Regards <BR>Marianna

dan woodlief

Marianna,thanks for the compliments. Yes, I really loved your city. I still love Paris more I think, but it is fairly close between Paris, Rome, and Venice for my favorite city in Europe (alas, Prague has finally been moved back on my list). Paris is a more relaxed and less noisy city than Rome, but Rome has a slight advantage in how easy it is to find excellent food. I have a few questions for you, since you mentioned security. We noticed a definite police presence in Florence and Rome. Many squares and buildings had heavily armed officers, in flak jackets on many occasions. We saw several police helicopters and noticed very heavy security at the big synagogue on the Tiber. We also saw ambulances in many spots in Florence. We had a feeling a lot of this is just the norm. I wondered about the Vatican, which didn't seem to have much security for such a prominent place. How much of what we saw is related to what happened in the U.S.? It didn't bother me; it actually made me feel more secure. The police officers in Florence were particularly nice and provided good directions too.

Judy

Great trip report, I enjoyed it very much.

lisa

Terrific report Dan! It was interesting to read your impressions since I was just in Rome a couple of months ago too. I have to say that Paris is still my favorite, but Venice is right at the top of my list too, and Rome is not far behind. My impressions of the David in Florence and Apollo and Daphne in Rome were just like yours -- they are both astounding. It sounds like you really planned your trip well and it wasn't too rushed.

Stephanie

I am ready to change plans and instead of coming home from London, head straight to Italy for some Calamari and the wonderful sites you mentioned. Thank you.

Joanne

Dan: <BR> <BR>Read your report last evening and thoroughly enjoyed it. Will certainly use some of your suggestions on our return to Italy next May. We have been to Rome many times and once to Florence, but this will be our first visit to Venice and we are really looking forward to it. <BR> <BR>Again, glad you had such a good time and I look forward to seeing your pictures. <BR> <BR>j

Jim Tardio

Great travelogue, Dan. Please post a link when you have your photos ready. <BR> <BR>I'll be checking your site, also.

howard

I totally agree with the previous poster. Dan's report deserves a wider readership.

Diane

Great report Dan! Are your photos developed yet? We took 34 rolls and ended up with two albums (and a box full of dupes and not as extraordinary shots!) Italy hooked us for good, too. What a wonderful place.

dan woodlief

I have had four rolls printed, but they scratched my negatives a little more than I like (scanners really pick those up), so I am mailing all my film to a local pro-lab that doesn't use machine rollers for developing. I am going to just swallow the exta cost on this one. Twenty rolls of 36 to go. So far I have a few that I like a lot. The 20 second exposures I did of the Forum, by placing my camera on the wall and using the timer, turned out great, and I got some good ones of Torcello. I think I may switch over to slides for future trips. Maybe I am a little too picky, but I can't find the perfect travel print film. I used mostly Fuji Reala 100. It prints beautifully. The colors are very realistic with Reala, which is good, but it isn't the most vibrant film. However, it does have very vibrant reds in the right light, and with custom printing enlargements can be really beautiful. One other good thing about Reala is that it tends to handle harsh lighting fairly well (not too much contrast), but it is not as good on cloudy days (I use other film for that). The 20-35 mm wide angle I got before the trip came in very handy, especially in the tight quarters of Venice. It really is great in crowds. You can get wide structures in the shot without having to back up so far that you also get a lot of extraneous things in it too. I was able to photograph the whole Victor Emmanuel Monument in Rome through the fence and still leave plenty of space around it. I expect to have some photos on the Web by the middle of next week, but it will likely take a month or so to complete all the scanning.

Dayle

Thanks for a super report, Dan! Sounds like you really did have a great first trip to Italy! Glad to hear you loved it - I knew you would. I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures. Grazie!