I’ve received a lot of helpful advice from this community over time, so I wanted to share a summary of our recent trip to Italy as a way of giving back. The trip was taken by my wife and me (both in our early 40s from Canada), and we stayed for about three weeks in Italy before continuing on to Spain. We didn’t rent a car.
We arrived in Rome on October 1 and stayed in a small boutique hotel between Piazza Navona and Campo de’ Fiori. The location was very central and walkable, which worked well for getting around, though next time I might choose a slightly quieter area such as Trastevere.
On our first day, after arriving tired from the flight and settling in, we went out to eat. However, shortly after, my wife unexpectedly broke her front canine tooth completely, which was a stressful and surprising situation on the very first evening in Rome.
I searched for an English-speaking dentist and contacted one online, and the clinic responded quickly. They arranged an appointment for the next morning. We walked to the clinic, which took about an hour, and it ended up being a positive experience since we got to see parts of the city we wouldn’t have otherwise visited. The dentist was efficient and fixed the issue within an hour, which resolved the problem.
During the trip, we experienced disruptions such as public transport issues, strikes, and protests, which caused us to adjust our plans frequently. As a result, we walked a lot and adapted our itinerary as needed.
We visited major landmarks like the Colosseum and Vatican area from the outside but didn’t go inside. Instead, we focused on exploring churches, local neighborhoods, and enjoying food and drinks. We also visited the Profondo Rosso (Dario Argento) museum, which I found particularly interesting.
Overall, the trip didn’t go exactly as planned, but we made the most of unexpected situations and adapted along the way. The next leg of our journey involved traveling by train to Sermoneta with plans to visit the Gardens of Ninfa, though some assumptions there didn’t work out as expected.
I can share more details if there’s interest.
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