What do you think about leaving kids for a night out, when you're traveling?

Alt account.My husband and I are planning a trip to Rome in the summer. Our daughters will be 11 and 8 at the time. We will be getting an apartment for about a month (through airBnB or similar). We are all very excited--my husband and I traveled a bunch before having kids, but this is our first big international trip as a family.My husband and I have talked a bit about going out for a date one or two times (in the evening), and leaving the girls in the apartment. The door will be locked, they will have a cell phone (and we will have one, so they can contact us), and we wouldn't be going far--most likely we'd just go for dinner and a walk, all in the general neighborhood of the apartment. The girls would have food, their books, and the TV, and are capable of putting themselves to bed. The girls are well-behaved, and while we haven't chosen the apartment yet, we will definitely be choosing one in a calm neighborhood (i.e. not seedy). We wouldn't do this the first few days (or maybe not even the first week), but after we're a bit more settled in and the girls are used to the place.My husband sees no problem with it at all, and I'm inclined to agree that it would be fine, but when I told my mom she was aghast at the idea (it should be noted that she has almost never left the US and was a pretty overprotective parent herself).What do you guys think? Is there something we're not taking into consideration? For you, when would you feel comfortable leaving your kids in an aparment/hotel room for a few hours, while on vacation?TL;DR: Husband and I are taking a trip to Rome and want to leave our daughters (11 and 8) in the apartment for a few hours in the evening on a few days, so we can go on some evening dates. No problem, or crazy idea? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2pAnCxT