DLN - where's your Italy trip report?
 

dln - you promised a trip report from your Italy travels last month (right?)... I can't find it - you're a very active poster! Have you completed it yet?

THANKS!

You are a real sweetie to ask! I'm in a bit of a quandry about writing a TR because I haven't sorted out how to edit myself. Maitaitom made a comment in his about it being longer than the trip he made--he should see the notes I took! How about 50 hand-written 5"x7" pages (small writing)?

I also came back sick and exhausted. I have one of those unfortunate personality traits of not knowing when enough is enough, especially when it comes to vacation. Want an example? Pull out your Rome map and follow my husband and me around for our first full 24 hours in Rome:

1. Bus from Trastavere to Villa Borghese; arrival 10:15 am
2. Two hour guided tour of museum
3. Rent surrey for one hour and ride up and down the hills of the Borghese Gardens
4. Get lost in Borghese Gardens afterwards trying to find a little cafe in Pincio Hill
5. Settle on mediocre cafe oppocite the Villa Medeci
4. Walk from it to Spanish Steps
5. Walk down Via Margutta to Piazza del Popolo
6. Walk down Via Corso to Mausoleum of Augustus
7. Onto Trevi Fountain
8. Carry on to Piazza Barberini
9. Up the hill to Church of Santa Susanna where we valiantly try to stay awake during 6:00 Mass
10. Stroll down Via XX Settembre towards the Quirnale, where we catch a beautiful sunset
11. Onward to Piaza Venezia to Lgo. Torre Argentina
12. Over Garibaldi Bridge back to Trastavere
13. Walk for 45 additional minutes before we find a restaurant cheap enough to not break my 40 euro (give or take) budget.

I figured we walked between five and ten miles every day for two weeks. I'm still recovering and my dear sweet husband is still reeling about the energizer bunny he married. It was, however, an amazing trip! We had adventures.

I should think that in the next two weeks I can start something up, and thanks so much for asking.

"How about 50 hand-written 5"x7" pages (small writing)?"

dln, I feel your pain. I look forward to pouring a mai tai (or two...or three) and reading your report. Once you get going, though, it should come to you on what to leave in and what to pass on.
((H))

You mean, Tom, that I shouldn't tell everyone about skinny dipping at the Roman ruins in Sorrento?

"You mean, Tom, that I shouldn't tell everyone about skinny dipping at the Roman ruins in Sorrento?"

Skip the dinner reports and concentrate on the above episode, unless, of course, you picknicked at the same time.
((H))

Thanks, dln. I totally understand your trepidation! It's overwhelming to review a trip - but fun too. (And so useful for the rest of us!!) Good luck... And even just your highlights (definitely do go to this restaurant, wow, this tour stinks, etc) would be great! :)

Looking forward to the trip report ... sounds like you shouldn't leave ANYTHING out! Tory

"sounds like you shouldn't leave ANYTHING out!"

I guess not, since it sounds like dln didn't leave ANYTHING on!
((H))

It only APPEARED that way...details upcoming...

DLN -
I'm so glad that somebody was more bold than I and posted a thread asking you directly! After asking about your report and not yet a reply on some other threads down the line, I didn't want to come off as stalking you! I am relieved to see it is, in fact, in the works. I kept thinking I was missing it somehow as I saw other posts from you now and then. You deserve time to peruse the board before posting a trip report, but darn the additional memories it must trigger further lengthing your report! Lucky readers, but more work for you.

Sorry you got sick. I guess you found your limits! I can't imagine. I need time to recover if I only daytrip 30 miles from home! Seriously, upon return from even a week-end trip, I feel disoriented for a time period. The longer away, the more.

LOL on your #13! I know how thrifty you are with a budget. Not frugal, just efficient. I admire that, as I tend to give in too easily on the spot.

I feel your pain as I just finished trying to design a 4- page brochure in a short time frame complete with sizable photos & legible text for an 8,000 sq.ft. luxury home w/every conceivable amenity inc. quarters, acreage, location, schools, etc. and not leave anything important out! A travel report would have been much more fun, but either way, it feels like one's head is being tightened in a vice.

Take your time so you can enjoy it. I can patiently but anxiously await!

Oops! I tried to edit and still mis-spelled. That should be ... lengthening.

RLA, I'll write a trip report if you promise not to write comments longer than my trip report.>:D<

Darlin DLN, is this true?? You are thrifty?? Well, I never !

Re: getting sick, there are so many people complaining of coming home from trips and suffering from flu like illness or bad colds. Is this the new price of travel? :(

I would like to know the technical part of skinny dipping in Italy..having seen the way the men follow a lady down the street and carry on, how were you able to skinny dip and live to tell about it ? :D

dln-No kidding. Sorry!

Scarlet - "thrifty" may have not been the best word. I know you are j/k around having fun, but what I was trying to say is that based on our past conversations and some of her other posts, it appears that 1) she is smart to use one whatever the limits may be, and 2) she is highly skilled at meeting it. I'm sure you would agree, that she has very good taste, is a very discerning traveler, and likely doesn't have to travel with a budget but does so because it is most wise for anyone to do so. IF she wanted to travel with champagne taste on a beer budget, no one could do it better. You can be sure it would be a quality trip at any budget, and she would be a pro at meeting it to the penny! Wish I had someone like her to manage my money!

Sorry, RLA, I would not presume to comment on how much money DLN has or does not have. She does seem to have very good taste and a lovely personality, but having not met her, I think I will refrain from discussing her spending on trips.

scarlett, feel free to comment on my free spending ways in Europe. I'm not ashamed of splurging on 5E dinners and 60E hotel rooms. I know, I know, kids in china are starving, but I feel compelled to show them haughty frenchies what real american buying power is all about!

How much does a surrey (I assume its like a mule-pulled wagon) cost to rent for one hour?

Degas, sweetie, you know that Scarlett does not discuss money! If I did, the next thing you know I would have to tell someone how much those damn drapes cost that I made into the nicest dress, they would want to know how much the Yankee spent on my new home...la dee dah, I leave those tiresome details to others~
Now about wine~

scarlett, now I know why the drapes in my hotel room were missing. The confused staff said a good looking southern gal, who looked to be barely out of her twenties, had stayed there the night before.

Degas,
You need to stay in hotels that either have better lighting or staff with better eyesight ((F))