Hi friends, I am (finally) back in my beloved Rome. I arrived on Saturday am on a Delta flight. I was so lucky, no problems AT ALL on the two flights - DCA to ATL and then ATL direct to Rome. The Delta crew had it nailed down, but no kidding, you do have to be at the airport 3 hours early - they are rigorous about the documentation to get on the plane to Italy. I had my COVID white card (the CDC card) my passport, my negative antigen test and my printed out passenger locator form. It was easy but time consuming.

ATL was crazy busy with at least 30 people among the hundreds, not wearing masks at all. and that does not include the food court which had at least a hundred, unmasked and eating.

Rome is glorious. The weather is a little iffy each day but it is BUSY, and has been in the high 70s to 80 each day. Gorgeous. There is a line around the Pantheon of at least 40-60 people every single day, at any time, to get in, but I am just skipping it.. The historic center is bustling, and I walked up to the the Spanish steps on Via del Corso and Condotti and it was wall to wall people, to the point that I put my mask on walking through the busiest places. The Italians truly seem so happy to see me. It is my mission to single handedly boost the economy of Italy this week (LOL).

It is obvious that there are many shops, and small bars and trattorias that have closed and that is a sad sight. For some reason, I have no desire to visit the regular spots I love, the churches, with the Caravaggios, etc., for some reason I just want to wander and walk. Today I met friends who operate a tour company called Through Eternity Tours and we biked on the Appian Way. It was wonderful, but man it's HARD to bike on those stones. I have always wanted to do that, so it was fun.

It's so beautiful to be here, surrounded by this history but for me at least there is a certain sadness. I think that personally, it's because my mom passed away 2.5 months ago, and while it is healing to be here, I miss calling her to talk to her from Italy.

I honestly feel safer here than in the US ....80% of the entire Italian population over the age of 12 is fully vaccinated, Thursday/Friday I will travel to Florence for a dinner, got tix to the Ufizzi, the Pitti Place and will go to the Palazzo Medici Ricardi as well. You do need your "fully vaccinated" card to get on the train now.

So, what I will say is that if you are trying to decide, hovering on the fence, come. It's beautiful and a joy to be here. But we all have to decide when we feel safe. For all those out there who are traveling now - travel safely, and enjoy.

So happy for you, SusanG! Enjoy.

Abbracci!

Great update and thanks for posting! I’m in Florence now after Milan and Venice and it’s been very similar to your report. Great thunderstorm last night btw. Have a great rest of your trip and condolences on your loss

I’m in Rome too, last week it got considerably less crowded on Tuesday and picked back up on the weekend. There were not many people at the Trevi fountain or Pantheon on Wednesday, for example.. I hope it’s the same for you!

Seems like a lot of Americans around. It is wonderful that people are traveling again. Enjoy!

Thank you for sharing your experience. As an Italian in love with my country, it is great to see that confidence is picking up again!

Thanks so much all. Rather a gray day, raining in Rome today, and perhaps tomorrow, and Wed. Who cares? I am in Rome. YourtrueItaly, you should indeed been love with your country. Wish I was here more. Safe travels all, and un abbraccio forte!

Thank you, SusanG. It is so nice to see more TRs. Sighing for Italy. More soon, please.

Thank you, SusanG. It is so nice to see more TRs. Sighing for Italy. More soon, please.

Looking forward to following along!

thanks Susan, this is so helpful. We will be in Rome in two weeks. I agree with what you said about feeling safer here in Italy than in the States. Everyone is wearing masks, here. Not so much back home. Enjoy the rest of your trip (and I'm so sorry for your loss, I know how hard that is). Will you be getting out of Rome at all?

Hi Lauramsgarden. I am going to Florence for two days tomorrow. There is an event for the Uffizi with a group I belong to, so tomorrow I get to go to to the Pitti Palace, my dinner, and Friday the Uffizi, and the Palazzo Medici Ricardo.

It is so great being here, even with some tiny bumps - I wanted to go to the Palazzo Barbarina, was all set to see a special exhibit and when I got up int he morning and checked the site BOOM, closed for renovation. Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is closed still for renovation.

I have heard that you can only do 2 floors at Palazzo Mission (the most underrated museum in Rome!). And it has been raining. Did go on a bike ride on the Appian Way with friends from a great tour group Through Eternity Tours and I had this romantic view that it would be so incredibly. Well, it WAS, but man that was hard work. PLUS, try riding your bike on those enormous original stones from 312 BC. There are little side paths in the sand on either side but it was challenging. So glad I did it.

Still a line of more than 100 people at the Pantheon, but no need to see that. The Italians are very happy to see me and I am spending as money as I can. LOL.Everyone here looks and feels so much more relaxed than in the US. Even thought I am in DC, the news about COVID is everywhere back there. You all probably know that starting October 15 (or 30?) everyone working must have a Green Pass. People inside are all wearing masks.

Although there are many many empty small storefronts along Corso Emmanuel, there are still many places open. Lots and lots of people in the city. Will be interesting to see Florence. I have seen and spoken to many Americans. Staying at the Hotel Campo dei Fiori and they are treating me like a queen. Beautiful rooms and wonderful staff.

I'll catch up with you in Fiorence! Susan

I am following along to live vicariously through you. ( I hope to get back to Italy in the late spring)
We did a bike ride on the Appian Way in 2014 and I agree that it was hard work! Fantastic for sure but I found the missing cobblestones and loose scree really daunting.

SusanG, being there gives you the most accurate info, but in checking websites...

Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is supposedly open daily 5:00 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. and for Sunday mass at 6:00 p.m.

https://www.santamariasopraminerva.i...asilica-2.html

And, although the Galleria Orsini is closed, the Palazzo Barbarini is open.

https://www.barberinicorsini.org/en/...l-information/

Hi Susan, it sounds like you are having a grand time. This is our first time in Italy so all of it is a grand adventure. We had planned to come in May 2020 but of courrse that was not to be. At that time we had planned two nights in Florence, but decided this time to minimize transfers, so are staying 6 nights outside of Siena, and will just do a day trip to Florence. Not enough to do it justice I know, but a taste is better than nothing. Enjoy the rest of your trip. We will be in Rome by the 17th. Ciao

Hello from DC. Glad you're enjoying Italy. Unfortunately, you're reminding me that it's been too long since I was there last.

Thanks for your report Susan! We are wondering if we can use a proctored Emed antigen test to get us into Italy in November. What exactly did you have to show as your negative test documentation? Do they require paper? Will they take a digital representation?

Ciao tutti! I hope I am replying to the correct thread because I’m doing this on my cell from San Eustacio in Rome, and the title of the thread is not showing up.
I really hope I am replying to the correct thread because when I hit reply the title did not show up. LOL, and the title of the thread is not showing up. Florence was absolutely gorgeous. Quite frankly it was like being in a fairytale. I went to the Uffizi for about 3 1/2 hours one morning… It was magnificent. They have changed things around so that for example the Botticelli‘s are now in two separate rooms. I was standing in front of the birth of Venus and there were about six people there. Maybe eight in the room. I am not kidding you. it was magical. Same thing with a Palazzo Pitti. At the Uffizi there are now two floors that are completely open… And downstairs are a row of Medici portraits that are absolutely glorious… Along with the Caravaggio‘s. It was also freezing cold in the 50s and 60s. I belong to a group called friends of the Uffizi which supports the work of the museum and helps with restoration etc. So I went to a dinner there and it was fun but I was a little nervous… There must’ve been about 60 people there and no one had a mask on. I did a ton of shopping! I was staying right along the Arno at the Hotel Berchielli. The room was really nothing special, but the view out the window of the Arno was incredible. You could open up two windows and look out to your left there’s a Ponte Vecchio and it was just glorious.

I had a lot of fun shopping for handbags along the road that runs along the Arno. However it’s wonderful to be back in my beloved Rome once again. I have today and tomorrow and I leave for the US on Monday. It’s a glorious day here. Jean, I want to thank you so much for checking on the Barbarini website again. I think I had mentioned that I was planning to see an exhibit there that ended the day after I arrived and suddenly the website said as of October 1 they were closed. I checked the next day and it said the same thing so I just gave up. You’re right….. now when I see it it’s that it’s open, and the Corsini is closed. Thank you! Since I wanted to spend a lot of money to Help everyone in Italy with money…I am staying at a hotel… Hotel Campo de Fiori, and they have been absolutely wonderful to me. So I got some laundry done, I get to tip all the ladies who are cleaning my room, it gives me a chance to really spread the wealth so to speak. LOL. Since I’m flying back on Monday this morning I asked if they could help me find a place where I could get the rapid antigen test to get into the United States and they found a pharmacy quite near Plaza Navona so I will be going there this afternoon to get a test.

disappointingly, but not surprisingly. The worst of the fellow tourists I am seeing are Americans. There was a large group staying at the hotel Campo de Fiori, may be a literally like 20 or 25 people, and not one of them was wearing a mask. I think they’re supposed to be wearing them in the hotel… And I said something to one or two of them and they just ignored me. Plus they were so incredibly loud. So I am going to fill up these two days with as much as I can, starting with a Palazzo Barbarini, and hope to walk forever. By the way I don’t know if you all know this but if you go to the pharmacy is here they have these little Band-Aids that you can put on blisters or cuts… They stick right to the blister, but they have a pain medication and also a healing medication right on the Band-Aid… I have blisters all over my feet.

OK that’s it for now. It’s kind of hard to do this on the cell but I will check on it again a little later. I got an email from Delta saying I need to fill out some form to get back in the USA, and I’m also going for the rapid antigen test today. I have no information about the test that you can buy and bring along with you. Frankly I would be a little nervous about that. So once again if you’re on the fence… Make a reservation. It’s wonderful to ce here. See you soon.

@SusanG Sorry for your unpleasant experience with certain Americans. Although anytime in Italy is wonderful, It makes us even more thankful for the five weeks we had beginning late August. Virtually no Americans in sight; Italians all masked indoors and, even in Rome, about half masked outside in more crowded areas. We noticed a big change two week-ends ago, when we spent our last few days in Rome. Americans, and others, were back; crowds were much larger; and masks were much fewer outside. We hid out that week-end in the massive Villa Borghese Park, just up from Piazza del Populo. Sounds like it has cooled down dramatically as well, since we just read that many Italian regions are now allowing residents to turn on their heating systems earlier than normally allowed.

Thanks, SusanG! Too bad about the noisy, maskless idiots. Good travel karma coming home.

Ciao, tutti! grazie to all for the travel wishes and for checking in. Tonight is my last night in Rome. Today, I walked over to the Pantheon as I do every day and sat on the steps of the fountain in the sun and there was a female singer singing "Time to Say Goodbye," and I literally started to cry. Man, I hate to leave. The past 10 days have flown by. HUGE line today to get into the Pantheon. All the way across the square and up the street.

It is FREEZING here - right now at 7 pm, 57 degrees. I had to go have one last lunch of pasta. Tomorrow, I am getting up and going to Forno Campo de 'Fiori, where they will be making 10 cherry tarts, and about a dozen other goodies for me to put in my suitcase.

I went to Palazzo Barbarini today (again, thank you Jean). So many rooms were closed. Luckily the highlights (Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Hans Holbein of Henry VIII - they are all available to see. Rome seems to me to be pretty crowded now - everyone is extremely rigid about masks inside. The instant you step in side someone will remind you if you forgot. It was so crowded today on Via Frattina, around the Pantheon, Navona, etc., that I wore my mask outside. Way too many people like sardines in some of the small streets.

It's also sad to see so many stores closed and boarded up for good. On the street behind the Pantheon (the one where you are walking directly behind the building, that entire street has, boarded up store fronts, one after another. Also I think the cat sanctuary is closed I could not find a way to get in.

It's so good to be back, and the "vibe" here is much better, IMO re: Covid here than back home in DC. Maybe it's just because I am not watching the news. I so hope all of you Italy lovers can come back soon. xoxoxox Susan