Marty

Sandi: I, too, have stayed at the Leon Bianco and wondered about that angel. I stayed in that room in June, and our friends had it when we stayed there in November. We asked about all of the paintings on the walls and ceilings, but the owners did not know, because the building "came that way". I don't remember but 2 flights of stairs. Both times, we enjoyed the fact that we could arrive at the door from the water taxi.

Paulo

Great report, Sandi, congratulations. IMO, everybody travelling with teenage children should read it to get "inspired". I bet that 40 years from now this trip will still be very alive in your son's memory. Glad you enjoyed your trip (even with a bottle and plate short
Paulo
PS. When we travel, each of us carries a very light folded nylon travel bag just in case the airline decides to enforce the 5kg limit on hand luggage ... breakables are then transferred to these bags on the spot.

DINA

GREAT GUIDE SANDI !!

hOW LONG DID YOU STAY IN ROME AND DO YOU THINK THAT 3 DAYS IS ENOUGH TO SEE THE MAIN SITES?

Cathy

Great trip notes! I'm printing them to save.On the experience of having your bags weighed, well, we went in and out of Milan, on AA, and they did the same thing to us!! My husband was so mad b/c the check-in agent said we would have to pay $150.00 for each overweight bag that was checked, and we had two! This was for CHECKED bags, not carry-ons, and they didn't weigh much different if at all from when we came in from Chicago, as we didn't buy much at all. they were about 3 to 5 lbs each overweight, yet we had only three bags total, so my husband said he wouldn't pay and he would go to an airport shop th buy another bag and transfer some things into it, and make it a fourth checked bag. It just felt like a scam to us, we had never encountered this anywhere else, and we have traveled with these bags stuffed before, to Spain, London, etc. Finally the agent, seeing we weren't going to pay anything, said he could get us a box to put some things in, and he did. But how embarrassing to open up our bags with dirty clothes, underware, etc. right in front of everyone and put stuff into a box, which we wrote on with magic marker and taped the seams with strapping tape. AND, the guards came over to watch what was in our box (maybe our bags ,too?) so they wouldn't have to worry about sending them thru the x-ray, my husband was guessing, or else to look for something else to give us a fine about? It was the only sour note of our week in Milan. Still, I can't wait to go back to see more of Italy. --Cathy

sandi

Dina,

We spent 3 nights in Rome. I think it would have been better to spend a min. of 4 maybe even 5 to see just the main sites not to mention the "off the beaten path" stuff. We didn't even get to the beautiful gardens ans so many other places.

sandy

Hi Sandi,

The other Sandy here, I'm in Denton and see you're in Dallas, almost neighbors. I LOVED your travel reports, just like being there, thanks for posting them.

I hope you can make it to the 1st Texas Fodorites gettogher Jan 27 in Austin, would love to meet you and see your pictures.

You have my email, drop me a note and let me hear about your next travel plans.

Sandy

Maisie

Thanks for reporting your trip. I am planning to take our 7 year old and wasn't sure if he's still too young, or which citities or time of year he would enjoy. I'd like to try skiing since he likes that but now might be too soon for the best deals, right? Appreciate any advice.

sandi

Maisie,

I can't respond on the skiing at all, never done it. But I can say that when my son was 5 we took him to the north rim of the Grand Canyon and hiked many miles everyday and he loved it. He was really into rock climbing etc. He said that that's what he wanted to do when he got big. You have to know what your kid is into at the time and go with that. It may be totally different next year. If you can plan a ski vacation that's in your budget, go for it but you might want to research to find some new interesting things to throw in the mix. Something that'll broaden their horizons a bit.

Susan Smiley

Dear Sandi,

Thank you for taking the time to do such a thorough report for all of us. I am new to this website and will be a regular thanks to reports like yours. You should be a travel writer. I copied your info for our trip to Rome this summer and for a future return trip to Italy with our two teenage daughters .

Did you hear anything about the Eden Hotel or the Hassler while you were there? Do you think it would be helpful to have a personal guide in Rome if we only have 2 1/2 days?

Thanks so much. Susan Smiley

sandi

Susan,

Thanks for your kind words. I don't know about those other hotels you mentioned. If you haven't already, you may want to do a search on this board for those specific hotel names to see if they were mentioned by anyone else. Personally, I think that if you prepare yourself ahead of time for a particular city like Rome, a guide is not necessary. Get a good thorough guidebook and read it through. Figure out the things that are most important/meaningful for you and your family to see and mark those as "must see" and the others are of a lesser priority. Then a good streetmap is a must. We used the plastic-coated compact "Streetwise Rome". It was perfect and easy to use. Get familiar with where things are before you go...then walk your little legs off! It's so much fun. Good luck!

nancy

Sandi

I guess I was still recovering from the letdown of Xmas - New Year's when you posted this trip report in January. But better late than never. GREAT INFO!
Thanx,