This is Part I of our trip report (March 9 - 19th)

Trip Itinerary

11 days (including travel days). Five nights in Palestrina (outside Rome) staying at Anne’s Place B&B. Three nights in Sorrento, staying at Il Roseto B&B. One night in Rome at the Hotel Golden. Third trip to Italy (first trip was 10 days in Rome; second trip was 10 days in Florence.)

Days 1 & 2:

We left on Northwest Airlines from Boston through Amsterdam to Rome. The flight was routine, with typical airline food and service. The Amsterdam airport is large and clean with good signage. We had to walk from one end of the airport to the other to catch the connecting flight to Rome, which felt refreshing after sitting like a sardine for seven hours.

Our flight arrived in Rome on schedule. We made our way to the train station, and bought tickets for the Leonardo Express. The weather was cool and dreary, and Rome looked dirtier and more graffiti-ridden than I remembered from our first visit. Upon arrival in Termini, we obtained some euros from the ATM and bought our tickets to Palestrina (2,30 euros). The ride to Palestrina took about 35 minutes, and as the city gave way to suburbs and finally the countryside, we wondered if we had made a mistake in staying so far away from the center of the city. The contact point in Palestrina with Anne’s place was closed, so we had some trouble finding a way to call the B&B. Finally, we were able to contact the B&B – Anne’s husband David picked us up and drove us to our lodging place.

By the end our stay at Anne’s Place, our misgivings about its location were allayed by the helpfulness and kindness of our hosts, Anne and David. In addition, we truly enjoyed getting know our fellow guests. After dealing with the hustle and bustle of Rome, it was very relaxing to spend time in a peaceful small town (with Anne and David providing safety net). Spending time at Anne’s Place was something like going to summer camp for adults.

Hi dickensdad -

We also were pretty upset at the graffiti in Rome, but seemed able to overlook it after we had gotten settled in and truly began to appreciate the city.

I'm looking forward to more of your report. I kind of wish you had put "Italy" in your title because I almost overlooked it. You may have used "Italy" as the subject for your post but everything is lumped together on the Europe board.

I am interested in your experience at Il Roseto in Sorrento. We're staying there next month, and don't know what to think. We'd originally planned Villa Monica, but they double-booked, so we ended up here. I checked the reviews before accepting the change, but am still concerned.

I have reposted our trip report for the first three days of the trip, using Italy trip report as the title.

Thanks for the suggestion.

We stayed in Sorrento during the latter part of our trip. I will post comments about Il Roseto when I cover days 7-10 of the trip.