Follow Us to Italy

My husband and I returned last week from a week and a half stay in Italy. I am an avid reader of the Travel section and each week clip articles of interest to me. Before leaving for Rome, I consulted my file on Italy and found a number of articles that ultimately gave us some great leads during our trip. Here is an idea of some of The Times travel tips we used:

For typical Roman trattorie and authentic, reasonably priced eats, we lived by Mary Simon’s “Dining Where the Romans Do” (July 14). We ate at Ristorante Virgilio, La Campana and Da Mario. Our biggest dining disappointments in Rome occurred when we deviated from this list and tried other restaurants.

We found that all of the trattorie Simon reviewed fill up quickly after 8 p.m. But if you arrive about 7:30, you can either get seated before the rush or put your name in for a reservation for the 8 p.m. opening.

Viviane Wayne’s “Life Among the Ruins” (March 24) turned us on to Ostia Antica, which we visited on our last day in Rome. As she noted, we spent hours wandering through this fascinating ancient city, amazed to find ourselves one of the last people to exit the ruins at closing. Getting there by Metro and train was no problem, and the town itself is surprisingly charming. Thanks for the great tip!

Keep the great articles coming!

BETH BROUSSALIAN

Laguna Hills