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| Check out the Vatican in the background |
Yesterday I promised to give you an explanation of why I love Rome and here's why: it's absolutely gorgeous!! I felt like I had been transported to a whole new world when I was in Rome. The sites, the history and the architecture completely blew my mind. Where else can you walk down the street, and stumble upon columns randomly on the side of the road that have been there for thousands of years? It was... amazing. I also found Rome to be hot, frustrating, confusing, dirty, and chaotic. We experienced tons of train delays, gobs of goo (literally stuck my hand in them over and over again), rude people (no one spoke English, and even our hotel was rude to us) and confusing maps, but it was so worth every minute. We only spent 2.5 days there, but I wish I planned a whole week in Rome! If you ever get a chance to check out this city, please do! :-)
What I wore: I had planned a trench coat to go with my new polka dot dress from Zara, but it was at least 95 degrees, so I nixed the coat. Even still, I spent all day with sweat dripping down my back while we ran from one sightseeing spot to the next. Lesson learned: definitely bring a breezy sundress and sandals if you visit Rome in September! It's hot.
Dress: Zara, $30 (fairly recent)
Belt: Gap, $15
Necklace: My Stella & Dot website
Shoes: White Mountain c/o Ross, $25
Watch: Michael Kors, family gift
Bracelets: Banana Republic and Stella & Dot
Purse: c/o It's in the Bag, $79
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| The outfit I planned |
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| My favorite thing ever: St. Peter's Basilica |
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| A typical street in Italy |
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| Hanging out in doorways |
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| At the Pantheon: can you spot me? |
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| Trevi: my favorite fountain |
I love that dress! You always look so fashionable and pulled together!
ReplyDeleteExcellent photo graph! my favorite picture is "my favorite fountain"
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seriously!?! you are too adorable!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that outfit.. & those shoes!!!! fabulous. simply fabulous!!! have an amazing time on your vacay!!! Rome is a whole lotta fun!!! :)
ReplyDeleteLove this outfit (and all your other outfits as well!).
ReplyDeleteIs the Zara dress from the woman's collection or TRF (which I believe is similar to Junior/smaller sizing)? I have had no luck finding it on their website.... :(
Hey J, Totally non-snarky question here, but did you check the weather before you went? I noticed some of your outfits had to be changed because of weather. I just wonder if the weather was vastly different from what you expected it to be based on weather reports or if you just guessed? Again, I don't mean to be snarky at all, I am planning a trip to Europe next Spring and I am already thinking about outfits!! (fellow clothes horse here! ha) Actually, it would make a great post if you talked about why you chose your outfits and how you packed for your trip! Thanks! Love your blog!!
ReplyDeleteI love so much Italy , I had to agree with you , Rome was so dirty but Napoles was dirtier, You had to watch where you walking because Dogs Poops everywhere,I had to ask you did you try the pizza??
ReplyDeleteThank you sunshine! It was on a sale rack when I got it, so I'm really not sure. It was on clearance about 3 months ago at this point, so might be pretty difficult to find! :-(
ReplyDeleteCinnamon, stay tuned because I plan to do a full "what to pack" post and lessons learned. In short though, YES I was totally shocked at how hot it was in Milan, Rome and even our last day in Paris. I was checking the weather all summer long to get an idea, and In Paris I know for sure they were having a warm streak because my cousin confirmed it. I'm also not great at knowing what "80 degrees" feels like, and I assumed that since i live in Florida and everything feels cold to me now that I would be chilly the whole trip. So... a whole combo of things, but yes I was very surprised. :-)
ReplyDeleteGirl even in flats you have the most rockin' hot legs ever, hope that didn't sound too creepy, ha! ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd I absolutely love that dress and have loved all your outfits thus far during this trip...can't wait to read more! :)
The Zara dress is really cute!
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We love Rome, and everywhere else in Italy. Sorry you found people to be rude, that never happened to us. We alway tried to speak a little of the local language (we lived in Germany), and certainly European cities can be chaotic. Maybe we got used to it from living in Europe. It's a fabulous city; wish we could have spent more time there. Hard to plan on the weather. Southern Med countries stay warm in September. We spent a week in Greece late September. Beach and swimming. The day after we returned I went to Norway and Sweden. Wool sweaters and jackets. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome bag! Do you think you could fit a DSLR camera in there?
ReplyDeleteWhat a great dress! I need to visit Zara asap - I love polka dotts, and this dress is just so cute and simple at the same time. I like that you can style it whatever way you like)))
ReplyDeleteLooks like you've had a great European holiday)
http://tri-skelos.blogspot.com/
Love love LOVE that dress.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I say that before we have kids we have to go to Europe and Rome is at the top of our list!
ReplyDeleteIt's always very hot in Italy and Greece in September through October. You should researched or asked someone
ReplyDeleteThanks for replying!! I know packing for me is going to be a disaster since I like options and even more so, if I have to think of warm weather clothes and cold weather clothes! Looking forward to the packing post!!
ReplyDeleteLol, I had exactly the same problem when we went to Rome exactly 2 years ago. I remember running around in long pants and wishing I had packed at least one sundress because it got so hot. It's just really hard to pack the right clothes when traveling, I feel like I never take the right things :( Can't wait to read your post about "What to Pack" ;)
ReplyDeleteI did a lot of research. "Very hot" is relative though, depending on who you ask. :-)
ReplyDeleteDee, thank you! Yes, it would definitely fit a DSLR. I had fruit, granola bars, bottles of water in there everyday, and on the plane I would also have a magazine, iPod, sunglasses, etc. Very big and I love the option of the cross-body strap. Was perfect for traveling.
ReplyDeleteK, see tomorrow's post about the weather - we went from Rome to London, talk about a climate change! :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha thank you Shayla! Glad you are enjoying the posts! :-)
ReplyDeleteI tried some pizza in Milan, it was delicious! The gelato in Rome was my favorite though. YUM.
ReplyDeleteAll your pics are bringing back some great memory! I want to go back! Fortunately, we went in May before it started getting too hot.
ReplyDeleteI was in Germany and Switzerland while you were traveling. I tried to pack for the predicted temperatures but didn't get it right. I needed a rain jacket but didn't have one and really needed a warm weather outfit when we got further south. It's difficult, no matter where you go.
ReplyDeleteWish I was there!!!! so bealutiful. Btw: LOVE the dress!!! do you have the link for it? = )
ReplyDeleteGoing through your pictures everyday is brutal for my wanderlust. Rome is one of my favourite cities in the world. Thanks for the inspiration to get my euro study abroad plans finalized!
ReplyDeleteLoving this outfit!
ReplyDeleteAnother outfit in flats! I thought you were a heels only girl :) I do like those shiny shoes!
ReplyDeleteAwww I went to all these gorgeous places last summer! How I miss it. Your pics are gorgeous and of course your outfits are wonderful!
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-Jess
I am OBSESSED with this dress!!! It's so cute and looks great casual like you have it but would also be really cute dressed up for work! I'm going to Zara soon to see if I can get it! And I hope you made a good wish in the Trevi!
ReplyDeleteThis summer was a disaster in Germany, even us Germans were thrown off by the weather ;-)
ReplyDeleteCan you give me some advice for going to Rome? Hubby and I are going to Rome May 5-14.. We'll actually be on a cruise, but Italy will be our main location
ReplyDeleteI'm sooooo jealous, i want to go back to Rome so badly! Happy to help, what kind of info are you looking for? My favorite thing ever is St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican - it's free so be sure not to miss it. The Colosseum and Trevi Fountain were my other two favorites, but honestly the entire city is amazing and it would take you days to see the whole thing!
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what I want to know.. Did you find that you had to really watch your belongings and such? I keep hearing that on my chats on Yelp with others who've been.Also, I was told by some not to pack a duffle bag and then the Europeans say that they laugh at Americans that they see pulling wheeled suitcases over bridges… What did you find to be more helpful to you? As far as shoes go, were those boat shoes comfortable walking around on excursion because I have a pair that I want to wear, but not sure how comfortable I’ll be..
ReplyDeleteOf all the places we visited, Rome was the one I would watch my belongings the closest. And they will laugh at you (an American) no matter what you are doing or wearing. We can't help it, we stand out. :-) I had a big wheeled suitcase that I only took with me on the subway to and from the airport. There are no elevators or escalators most of the time so you will be up and down flights of stairs with whatever you pack! My boat shoes were pretty comfy. Only thing that made them not comfy was how hot it was - I wished I had sandals b/c it was so hot in Sept!! Boat shoes are the way to go though IMO!
ReplyDeleteAwesome.. I saw your article on packing for Europe and I am really trying to stick to two main color themes: Tan/nuetral and some other bold color.. Not yet figured out.. Thank you so much for the time you took to answer me.. Early May should most definitely be a lot cooler than September.. If I remember reading I think that the average temps are like 73 degrees during that time.. Which should be awesome..
ReplyDeleteI didn't read all of this conversation so I'm not sure if you've already left for rome but here's a word of advice-don't wear heels! wedges are the way to go when you are going to be walking on cobblestone.
ReplyDeleteHi J! Great posts! I'm flying into Rome, jumping on a 7 day cruise then back to Rome for 3 days. Would you recommend a day trip to Tuscany? Your outfits are awesome, and I too am looking for just the right light, travel purse.
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