In Rome - please e-mail if you're meeting us there

This may feel a little early, but things are CRAZY for us when we get into Rome. So, for those of you who plan to meet your child in Rome, here are our plans:

Arrive Friday around 1, drop off bags at hotel (we can't check in until later), and tour Ancient Rome stuff (Bocca della Verita to Colosseum, then view St. Clemente and St. Pietro in Vincoli). Return to hotel, tired and dusty, around 6:30 for showers, then head to Piazza Navona for self-chosen dinner location and team-based cultural scavenger hunt. Return to hotel around 11 PM.

Saturday: 7:45 Tour Medieval and Renaissance Rome (Mausoleum of Augustus, up to Piazza del Popolo, then down along a route which ends at lunchtime at Piazza Navona). Lunch on your own. Afternoon: Vatican Museums (if your preference), then later tour the Vatican together. Return to hotel for showers, then dinner at Pizzeria Montecarlo (located just west of the Piazza Navona) around 8 or 8:30. Spend an hour or two at Piazza Navona, then return to hotel to pack bags and sleep briefly.

Sunday: We catch our shuttle from the hotel at 6:30. Thus, checkout at 6 AM.

You can each choose how it would be best to hook up with us to transfer bags and child. The best way I have found in the past is to meet (with bags) at Pizzeria Montecarlo, so that we can all have our last dinner together. Some people choose to take bags back to their hotel that evening after dinner and a little time at the Piazza (i'm always happy to share my favorite Tartufo spot - Tre Scalini - if you want to join me for chocolate decadence). Some people choose to pick up their child with bags (or sometimes without bags) on Sunday morning at 5:30 AM before our departure. It's totally your call. You child will have a Romapass with them which will be valid for the entire day on Sunday, so they can use the Metro or city bus that day with that card.

Even if you want to get your child on Sunday morning, please consider joining us for dinner on Saturday night! It's really a fun, festive spot, with GREAT pizza. If you do plan to join us, please inform me before Thursday as to how many are in your party, so that when I make reservations on Friday morning, I'll have the right number. Also, if you want to share your hotel information and contact info (cell phone, perhaps?)with me by e-mail, I can keep all that on track, and can give you more information on easily meeting up with us (and maybe a few great spots near your hotel).

Grazie tanti!
L :)