Pack Your Bags

Packing your bags for a jaunt to Rome? Here’s a list of the top 10 must-haves items, from the extremely essential to the utterly unnecessary:

1. Capelet:  completely unnecessary but totally stylish, especially when hanging out in a piazza for a late night drink or visiting a church.
2. Collapsible cup or eco-friendly water bottle: clean water runs abundant in Rome at the many beautiful fountains.  Save the ocean and bring a cup.
3. Comfortable Shoes:  Rome is a pedestrian city and foot comfort is very important.   While here, your feet will fight moisture, blisters, and sunburn.  For fashion conscious:  skip the stilettos and slip into wedges, the idea stylish shoe for cobblestone walking.
4. Hand Gel—Rome is gritty, grimy and full of pigeons, you never know when you will need to clean up.
5. Mosquito Repellent: tiger-mosquitoes, especially in the summer, love human feasts, and with Rome tourism at a high, it is a mosquito orgy.  Pharmacies sell Autan, an Italian favorite, but delicate flowers should pack DEET.
6. Sunglasses: not just for eye protection, a very stylish pair may help you get better service at the local bar.  Suggestion:  as bling as possible
7. Sunscreen Stick:  whether hazy or blue skies, winter or summer, the Roman sun always gets you tan. For freckle fearful and hair-vain like myself, a pocket-sized sun block stick is the perfect protection.
8. Tight Jeans: a seemingly frivolous item but Winter requirement for anyone with any sense of social perogatives
9. Umbrella, Jacket, Scarf, Hat:  Fall and Winter mean cold weather and rain.  Since you’re walking around a lot, bring your favorite wind-resistent jacket, scarf, hat and umbrella
10. Zip-off Pants and Knee Length-Skirts: must-haves for the summer when taking a quick walk through St. Peter’s Cathedral in the 100+ heat where you have to abide by the covered shoulders, covered knees requirements.