When planning a trip, be sure to plan for at least two weeks away. Anything less, is just not enough. It seems like it is too much, perhaps…but, trust me. You will need every single minute of the fortnight.

You have to:

• Get there
• Overcome travel fatigue and/or jet lag (most often, both)
• Decompress from work
• Settle into being together as a family
  • and by that I mean, all the time, without work or school to be a distraction
• Fit in all of the key sights, the ones that make the “Top 10 Lists” (or, in this case mine). He sure to check these out, if you haven’t already – and get there early, trust me, this matters more than the sleep you give up:
  • Trevi Fountain
  • Pantheon
  • Piazza Navona
  • Spanish Steps
  • The Vatican (St Peter’s Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and Piazza san Pietro )
  • Colosseum and Palatine Hill
  • Travestere neighborhood (Tonnarello’s to have the city’s “second best” Carbonara despite it’s moniker as #1)
  • Museums (so many – check out VI VE aka Vitoriano a Palazzo de Vinezia, or the Borghese and it’s gardens)
  • Quirinal gardens and the Palazzo (if you can get in)
  • The Aqueducts and the Appian Way

After that, you can see them again or go back to your favorites trying a variety of foods, but often the same ones, just to be sure you found the best.

• Pasta and Pizza (your choice, often available at the same place)
• Street cafes
  • for cappuccino or any other variety of espresso you prefer, along with cornetto con crema
• Gelaterias for gelato (as often as you can, maybe even twice a day)
• Wine and apertifs (Aperol, Campari, or Limoncello spritz) along with the “must have” post-dinner sips of Limoncello – just to remind you that this is one of the most amazing places on earth

See what I mean? You need at least two weeks away, and that might just give you time to do nothing a day or two, to just shop, drink, eat and repeat. Try it. I know you will like it. Ciao bella Roma!

~ Dawn aka Ragazza del Cappello (aka Hat Girl)