Karen

I am going to try and post my first trip report so please be kind. I am hoping this will help some first timers as much as all the ones I read here helped me. My trip would not have been so great without the help of so many of you, Bob, Rex, Elaine(your packet is amazing), Dean(carried your papers with me) and many others I don't have space to name. This was my husband and my first trip out of the US. I planned this trip alone for over a year using mostly this sight and links I got from here. When I first started I would only look at 4* hotels, but quickly learned their rating system is not like ours. I was not on a budget per se, but am not rich and who doesn't want to get the best for the least amount of money? Best tips: 1. Number your rolls of film and use them in order, and when you bring them to be developed number the envelopes as you put the film in. Sometimes the cities and churches look very similar. 2. Pack light!! It is a pain to get around wallking and on trains with luggage.<BR>3. Get the best maps possible, you will get lost, I promise you.I'll post more of them as I think of them.<BR>We flew from New Orleans to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Rome. Decided not to sleep when we arrived at 8:40am, just got situated, walked around a bit and had my first gelato at Blue Ice, very, very good.Will someone please tell me the difference between gelato and ice cream? It was totally awesome and not like our ice cream but don't know the exact things they do to make it so addicting? Had a 4:00 orientation tour with Scala Reale. It was mostly the area around the Spanish Steps and Piazza Popolo. Helped us get our feet wet and how to stay alive because of the traffic and wild drivers. Stayed at Residenza San Pantaleo, and most of you know I had reservations because of a negative thread right before I left. I decided to stick with it. Only 100E and the location is perfect. The room #5 was their biggest, really a room they rent for three or four people. Wasn't a palace, but it was clean, had air condioning, high ceilings, acceptable bathroom, king and twin beds, two night tables, a small desk with chair, and an armoire. My view was the busy street and below but I enjoyed watching all the Italians going about their daily routine. The window had shutters and very soundproof windows.Very clean and it actually makes you think you were in an apartment. They give you two keys, one for the front door of the building, and another to get the main desk and your rooms. They leave at night. So I felt like it was my own place. We used limoservicerome for 31e. Well worth it. No hassles.

Rex

Thank you for the kind comments.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Lou

Was the price of the limo service per person? or per vehicle? was it shared with others?<BR>

Scarlett

Great Karen! Where else did you eat? What did you think of the city? How long were you there? Did you shop<BR>We are starting to put together another trip,our first had to be cancelled last Sept.So I am getting all my info all over again!<BR>So glad to hear that tips from this forum are used and appreciated

Allie

My hubby and I are planning a trip to Rome next spring. Elaine, I know you don't "know" me, but do you offer this "packet" to strangers like me? We could really use the help!!!

Karen

Lou, The price for the limo was $37E total for two, and I believe it is the same even if you have two more people.Check that out with them<BR><BR>Karen

Randy Malpaso

What's a $E supposed to mean? You'd better not say Eurodollar.

Inky

Hello everyone, nice to see you all again.<BR><BR>Karen I liked your report. Rome is beautiful, isn't it?<BR><BR>One small thing: if you split your report up into paragraphs it would be a little easier to read. Keep it up.

Karen

Randy, I know you are cruelly trying to bash me.According to you, what am I supposed to write if something is in Euros.Please put your time to more meaningful things in life, instead of hanging on a website looking for people who make errors. Are you perfect? If not, I would give some serious thought to what your comments do to others. Unless of course this morning you woke up and found you were God. I really wish all you snobby, critical, and generally not nice people find another website. Their are too many greatly helpful, and genuine people and just a handful of you guys.

ledbetter

Nice trip report! What were the dates of your trip? We just got back this week and I took Dean's tuscany sheets with me too ha ha ha. I'm wondering if we might have crossed paths....

Tammy

Thanks Karen, keep it coming!

Diane

Thanks, Karen. I,too, number my rolls of film. I cut little pieces of paper and number them. Then stick them into the plastic containers. After finishing a roll, I note on the little piece of paper what city I was in and stick it back in the container. Also helps me identify which roles were unused upon returning home.<BR><BR>I haven't been numbering the roles at the photo shop, but will do so in the future. Good tip.

Randy Malpaso

Dont get all sh***y with me, Karen. Your trip report was fine but there is no such thing as a eurodollar. They're called euros, not eurodollars. You didnt make a mistake as you put it, you deliberately typed $E.

Karen

Randy, It was a mistake. If you read my report you would see I didn't do that there.But who are you to correct anyone?You may leave my posts alone and I hope others are fed up with you guys who are always trying to correct others.

Randy screwed up too!

Hey Randy, isn't there an apostrophe in "didn't"??? Geez, how could you make such a mistake?

xxxx

I agree that there are quite a few nasty people on this site at times. Randy's post may have sounded a bit curt, but maybe ignoring these types of remarks is better than getting all upset. I like your info for a first timer to Italy. Please share some more.

Part Two of First Attempt at Trip Report

I am so frustrated. I just got finished writing the whole second part of my trip and when I pushed post my reply it was gone. I can't find it anywhere. It took me an hour. Oh well, <BR> We flew from New Orleans to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Rome. Flight was great except for three screaming babies and toddlers. Two of them cried the whole trip over nine hours. One of the parents was actually throwing the baby in the air and annoying everyone around them.<BR>

Rex

Karen,<BR><BR>This is a live and learn experience - - but for the benefit of others - - what happened to you is that you attempted to post more than 500 words at once.<BR><BR>Too late (probably) to overcome this now - - but when that happens, you can usually "get it back" by simply going "back" in your browser. It will likely still be there (sometimes hours later, as long as you havn't closed that window down - - OR - - tried "again" to re-post to the exact same thread!)<BR><BR>Then you can cut and paste it to a word processor and re-post it in smaller pieces.<BR><BR>For that matter, a word processor is the best way to do a trip report anyway. You can work on it in multiple sittings; run spell-check, save multiple versions (some details are suitable for family, but not for the general public), etc.<BR><BR>Hope you give another shot.<BR>

j

Thanks, Karen. Keep it coming!

Karen

After the tour, went to Teatro di Pompeo and went down to the spot where Caeser was supposed to have been stabbed.Then I went and checked a few of the 4*hotels I had been thinking of, and they showed me a room in each hotel. The lobbies were very nice, but the rooms weren't much different except they cost over 100E more per night. After the tour we walked to the Spanish Steps and sat for awhile and just watched people. I didn't find Rome dirty, the buildings are just old! There was a small amount of graffiti but very minimal. The weather surprised me. It was warm during the day (not hot) and very cool in the evenings. Glad I brought a little black sweater type thin jacket. This was Jun4-8th. It rained a little every day but not enough to ruin anything.The drivers are wild. I almost got hit about 10 times. I don't think pedestrians have the right of way there.<BR> After the tour went to tabbachi(spelling?) to buy phone card to call my kids. The cards are very cheap 5,16E but some say 50 units and others for the same price have 350 units. Make sure to look for that.K