Rome is a good idea , small towns can 'get" to you.
Day trips involve planning, sitting on buses, or driving to spend 1/2 day in another small town.

St Cirq, Muffy will not be traveling with them. She has cancer.

Muffy has cancer? OMG I always pictured her as a young girl/woman, twentysomething. How sad!

Oh, I don't think I would like the dry heat of Morocco. I like a humid, tropical climate.

When I was in India, in Fatepur Sikri, I almost died as it was 117F!!!

We really, really think we are going to go to Rome if everything works out in the next few days.

No, Muffy is not travelling with us as she has breast cancer. She is not doing too well.

Thanks for all the help.

Thin

Oh Thin I am so sorry to hear that.

I didn't find the heat in Morocco to be all that dry, except for the time I was there in blazing July.

Rome...well, we can certainly give you a gazillion tips on THAT! Look into Hassler alternatives - it was looking a bit shabby-chic when I had a drink there in October of 2006. And the bartender looked like he was going on 100.

Ok, Melen. What hotel do you recommend instead of the Hassler?

My sister Jennifer loves the Hassler. She stays there all the time.

Thin

Your posts are always so much fun.... until reality intrudes. Hope all goes well with you and yours.

Years ago we used to spend part of the summer at a place on Squam Rd.( which I'm certain has now been replaced by a mega mansion of some sort.) Do you ever rent your place on Main St. (Is it to the left or the right?)

John, The Hassler is a classic and despite being a tad down-at-the-heels in recent years certainly a respectable address. Since I don't typically stay at totally high-end places (my favorite Rome hotel is the Modigliani), I'm not your reference for hotels, but I would check out the Hotel Aldrovandi Palace and the Cavalieri.

Even if the Hassler has lost a notch or two, you just can't go to Rome IMO without going to that bar and having a campari, or two.

My house is near Madaket Rd. But please don't come and sit on my front steps and eat your ice cream cone.

And please don't be like Jennifer Garner and park your Big Black Escalade or Range Rover on my front lawn.

No, we do not rent out our family home.

Thin

LOL, well can I come as a quest

LOL

Mimi, I am not joking. You wouldn't believe how many people sit on my front steps and eat ice creams cones and then throw their napkins in my yard!!

And yes, Mrs. Ben Affleck parked her big honking SUV on my lawn!!!!!!!!!

Once, a family from India was caught looking through my front windows! Then they knocked on my front door and asked one of my sisters how much we paid for our house!!!!!!!!

Now you know why I stay at my little isolated cottage in the Poconos instead.

Thin

Good grief!

Hi Thin,

If I could go anywhere in Europe this summer, I'd go to Sardenia

or to

Hotel Fuerte Conil on the costa de la Luz in Andalusia

Tripadvisor reviews: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...Andalusia.html

Well, my house in St-Cirq is on one of the Grande Randonnée routes and you would not believe how many people think it's just dandy to have picnics ON MY ROOF (the house is built into a cliff and the road goes right over my roof). I can't tell you how many times I've had to go clean up after German hikers who lunched on top of my house!

Oh, well, just booked our flight to ROME.

No turning back now.

It is all for the best as Keith and I are too nervous to sit and relax. We are better off staying in big cities with LOTS AND LOTS to do.

And I do love the Borghese Gardens.

Thanks for all your help. Now we just have to wait until end of August to fly to Germany.

Ciao,
Thin

Melen, that is the trouble with vacation properties in top tourist spots.

Thin

Try to stay grounded in reality and not set yourselves up for disappointment. After all, you can't expect Rome to measure up to the standards of Stroudsburg or Hawley - haina or no?

Well, Seamus, Stroudsburg is now a suburb of New York City. It is amusing to see all the crack dealers plying their trade amongst the pine trees. LOL!


We are trying to book the Hotel Modigliani. Waiting to hear from them. Taking Melen's recommendation seriously.

We are also looking at Hotel Portoghesi. It looks a little dark but we like the location.

We were thinking of the Algergo Senato overlooking the Pantheon, but they don't have anything available. Just as well because we were fearful of street noise from the very-visited square out front.

The Hassler was just way too expensive for 9 nights. Our hotel bill would have been close to 5 thousand dollars.

The Aldrovandi Palace looks nice but it is at the other side of the Borghese Gardens. That's too far to walk.

Anyone else with recommendations?

Thin

Thin, I'm glad you're back and in full force. The forum needed to be spiced up! Happy Travels!

We have stayed at the Portoghesi many times. GREAT location, nice lobby and roof deck, the rooms are pretty drab and ordinary. The bathrooms are tiny. If you go, ask for a room facing the front of the hotel on the top floor. You can open the shutters and see Rome go by.