Rome, Italy - Travel Scrapbook | Danny and Simone's Travel Scrapbook of Rick Steves' 7-Day Best of Rome (and a little Paris too)

Reflections

Simone's reflections......

Rick Steves' philosophy on travel resonated with me the first time I was introduced to his travel books. Travel freedom along with travel smarts and a "back door" attitude makes for wonderful travel experiences. Otherwise, just stay home and watch travel shows on television.

"Great Guides, Small Groups, No Grumps" - So True - our tour fit this description perfectly. Every one was pleasant, on time and genuinely looked forward to history lessons as we visited Rome's treasures. Danny and I can't say enough about Lisa, our main guide and Francesa, our second guide. Both made this tour come alive, Rome manageable and history a lot of fun to learn.

One week is entirely too short to become BFF (best friends forever), but it is certainly plenty of time to share a delightful week with others who appreciate the kind of travel experience Rick Steves encourages. Our group members came from states all over the U.S.—Washington, New Hampshire, California, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Minnesota, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. I'm sending a BIG SHOUT-OUT to my Buddy Bill — I could never spot you right off, but I always kept looking :-).

Our family's travels — We have been many places over the years and we dream of many more places we wish to visit (Athens, Greece, Australia, Tahiti). Between the four of us, we've been to Amsterdam, Holland, Bahamas, Brugges, Belgium, China, Hong Kong, Jamaica, WI, Tokyo, Japan, London, England, Paris, France, Puerto Rico, Toronto, Canada, US Virgin Islands and now Rome, Italy. We would love to take other Rick Steves tours or at a minimum use his guide books to travel in Europe.

ROME:The History Channel's Engineering an Empire - If you get a chance to catch this particular episode, it really brings home the engineering marvels of many of the buildings we saw. It is amazing the technical ability the Romans posessed that was later lost for centuries after the empire fell. http://www.history.com

This is my first website - honest. I was tipped to an easy website service from my girlfriend's teenage son. I purchased one of their premium services and my own domain name. No coding experience was needed nor used. If you have a comfort level using Microsoft Word, Publisher or Powerpoint, then you can build your own website. No HTML needed!

Walking Totals Chart

Rick Steves Walking Key:

Light - Two to four miles of mostly level walking

Moderate - Four to six miles and/or up and down hills and/or some stairs

Strenuous - Six to ten miles, lots of stairs, uneven terrain

	Walking Key	Steps	Miles
Day 1 - Welcome to Rome	Moderate
Day 2 - Caesar's Rome	Strenuous	15,058	7.129
Day 3 - Renaissance Rome	Strenuous	14,786	7.000
Day 4 - Italian Treats	Moderate to Strenuous	10,637	5.036
Day 5 - Ostia Antica	Moderate	11,695	5.537
Day 6 - Baroque Treasures	Moderate	16,399	7.764
Day 7 - Pompeii & Naples	Tour Over	23,251	11.008
Day 8 - Last Day in Rome	Rome	4,833	2.288
Day 9 - Paris Arrival	Paris	3,834	1.814
Day 10 - Paris	Paris	17,417	8.246
	Totals	117,910	55.822
BE IN SHAPE	BELIEVE IT!

We tried to take good notes and to share historical and travel tidbits, but if there are any mistakes or omissions, please charge it to our heads and not our hearts.

All Roads Lead to Rome!

Peace and blessings,

Danny and Simone