Enjoying the report! Thought it strange though that there was no mention of gelato.
Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
I know, we were way too low on our gelato quotient for this part of the trip. Womp womp. We made up for it on the cruise though!
So many beautiful pictures!
Glad you had an enjoyable lunch!
Thank you!
Finding food on our own was actually something I was a bit worried about because on our
ABD we had so many included meals that we hardly ever had to worry about eating on our own. But I think we did okay for ourselves this time. We ended up in some touristy places here and there, but I was ok with it. lol
No show socks and I have a struggling relationship as well
Glad you realized what the problem was though and that it didn't affect the rest of your walking! Did you end up going with the Skechers Go Walks??
I was VERY glad we figured it out (well, actually, DH did!) on the second day because I was really upset thinking my entire trip was going to be this struggle. I could barely walk a few steps before the socks were slipping down!! I had worn them a lot at home and had no problems, but I think the difference is that EVERYWHERE at home is flat whereas in Rome, many streets were on an incline. Yes, I did do the Go Walks! Once I got the sock thing straightened out, they were actually very comfortable shoes and held up for the whole week. They were the only shoes I brought aside from a pair of black flats to wear to dinner once we got on the cruise ship, so I'm glad it didn't take long to figure out the problem.
I love those Mickey/Minnie statues at the Disney store!
I'm sure you all were pooped! Glad you were able to get a solid night of sleep!
The Disney stores are totally worth visiting just for the cute decor!
We were soooo exhausted. I think I could have fallen asleep on a bed of rocks at that point lol
The TR and pictures are awesome. I agree about the cold. I struggled with what to pack as I have two closets worth of winter coats but they are extremely bulky. As the temperatures looked like it wasn't getting warmer I made a last minute purchase on the recommendation of friend who knows I hate to be cold and bought a packaway Jacket from LL Bean. Best money spent in a long time! It was so light but so warm and I could pack it away and fit it in my bag so there was no walking around with a heavy coat over my arm. I'm getting one for my husband. Here is the jacket. Beth
https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/119872?feat=primaloft packaway-SR0&page=women-s-primaloft-packaway-jacket&csp=f
Thanks so much Beth!!
I bought the jacket I did in preparation for weather in the 50s to 60s, not 30s and 40s! That was a big knock to my preparation. And I had a thin fleece I threw in my suitcase (thank goodness) but it wasn't really thick enough to add much warmth unfortunately. Nice find on the LL Bean jacket! Thanks for the link!
I continue to feel that Dustin has missed his calling. I presume that he is happy with his regular job but he really should do photography on the side.... He has such a great eye for composition. Keep the pics and trip report coming.
Chris
You are too sweet! He has definitely grown in his photography skills, and I love the material he gives me to work with to make the TRs complete. Such a great souvenir to have such beautiful pictures to remember our vacations.
Looks like you took the reverse of our walk - we went from Piazza Navona (actually started at Campo Di Fiori) to the Pantheon to the Trevi Fountain and eventually to the Spanish Steps. You should have used your Rick Steves' guidebook and you wouldn't have gotten lost! We loved using Rick Steves when we were there, but we didn't bother with any of the audio guide stuff.
We didn't have a book, unfortunately, just a few podcasts DH had downloaded before we left. That would have been a good idea! I think we left the hotel a little too confident that we remembered where to go and decided to just wing it until we realized we had no clue where we were going. lol It wasn't too bad though, I don't mind being a tiny bit lost in Rome and stumbling across beautiful artwork and architecture.
Only Primi, no Secondi? And no wine? Doesn't seem very Italian... we drank wine like water there!
We saved the multi-course meals for the cruise. I just couldn't eat that much, no matter how much I wanted to!! There will be a distinct lack of wine in this TR as neither of us are big wine drinkers.
I am trying to remember we arrived in Rome on a red-eye getting in around noon Rome-time. I think we stayed up past 7:30 though! We didn't do all the things you did though - it was mostly get to the hotel and go get some dinner. I wouldn't have had the energy to walk around Rome like that!
On our 2014 trip we arrived around midday as well, and it was perfect. We did okay just walking around in the afternoon, doing the food tour that night, and I think we were able to stay up until around 10 pm or so. This time, getting in as early in the day as we did was really tough. We didn't want to nap, but we were both completely exhausted after only getting a few uncomfortable hours of sleep on the plane. But our only other affordable flight options would have gotten us in late afternoon to early evening, and we definitely didn't want to give up that much time in Rome pre-cruise. It was a struggle all day not to give in to the exhaustion!
Really enjoying the report, and the gorgeous pictures! I love watching Rick Steves when he's on!
Thanks so much, Heidi! We watched a lot of Rick Steves before both this trip and our 2014 trip. He's very informative and entertaining! What a nice job to have...
I am really enjoying your trip report and the beautiful pictures....thanks so much for sharing. I cannot wait for the next report.
Thanks for following along!