Planning Rome With A Teenager
Major Concerns?
- How do you make Roman History interesting to a teenager? It's dry and, sorry history buffs, pretty boring. Sarah's homework was to buy a few guidebooks, read them, and decide what her important "must sees" were. Her tentative decision: We'll plan on hitting the highlights - Roman Forum, Colosseum, Pantheon and definitely St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel. Other than that, we'll spend most of the time around the fountains, walking through Rome, stopping when something interests her and of, course, shopping.
- She is a very picky vegetarian eater. Doesn't like a lot of different vegetables, only pizza with tomatoes and cheese, no ravioli or other filled pastas, won't eat fish... Solution: I'm packing two boxes of her favorite dry cereals, Doritos, Potato Chips, and small cups of peanut butter for emergencies. There will always be spaghetti, pizza, Gelato and french fries at McDonald's. For three days, Sarah can live on this easily.
- The very long plane ride to Rome. Sarah has been known to barf on moving vehicles. We'll just have to wing it but perhaps a little Dramamine will help along with the 8 movies United Airlines shows going back and forth.
- From her parents, we needed a Power of Attorney giving us permission to treat her medically if something happened, authorization to take her out of the country and Sarah's passport. That should cover it.
- A big challenge will be keeping her suitcase and backpack down to the bare minimum. All she needs are: blue jeans, warm fluff jacket, light weight windbreaker to go over, something to sleep in, undergarments, running shoes/sneakers for all the walking and a few cosmetics.
- Shopping. This will be a big can of worms. We're Americans. The Dollar is in the toilet against the Euro and anything Sarah could possibly buy at home will run 66% more in Italy. Her challenge will be to find "inexpensive" souvenirs for "very best friends"...and family. She's bringing her own money for the all-important shopping and....we'll see....
Other Rome Planning:
- Where to stay? Out of the thousands of choices, I picked All'Obelisco Bed and Breakfast above the Spanish Steps hoping that this area will be the most convenient and liveliest for a teenager.
Other than that, we're all very excited. Sarah has the 7th grade class winning card for the most exotic Spring Break destination, and ex-Marine and I are looking forward to seeing Rome through her eyes and sharing a very special experience. Follow along. There will be no punches pulled, videos recorded and whining included... Ciao...
