Anybody have advice for me about Rome?

Whoo hoo, my sister and her hubby are letting me tag along in April! Great opportunity; all I have to pay for is airfare, food, tours etc, they got hotel thru 'points'
I will be flying by myself though, (fret,fret..) and getting myself to/from airport and hotel or train station. I have a thread in Vacations and Travel and got a bit of advice there on some attractions.

Good for your Sally! I'm jealous :) Let me look some stuff up for you as I go through my Italian language forums. As far as language, don't worry about that, most everybody speaks english. In fact that is a complaint with some students, they go hoping to pratice their italian, but everyone wants to speak to them in english. The only thing that comes to mind right now, if you don't want to look like a tourist, don't drink cafe latte in the afternoon. Not much help I know. If you come up with any specific questions, let me know and I can ask my teacher in class on Thursdays. How long do you go for?

Here's a link to a websites that people on my forum most often refer others to.
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/instructions/index.htm
http://goitaly.about.com/od/romeitaly/Rome_Italy_Travel_Information_Rome_for_Visitors.htm

Here's a Rome Airport Guide I found since you said you'd be flying by yourself (you're a braver girl than I)
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/planning/rome_airport.htm

And forums dedicated excusivily to travel in Italy
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/frm/f/862600685
http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ab-goitaly

I'll keep my eyes peeled for anything else that might help you out.

Ciao, ciao!

Aaaahhh... in April, you will definitely want to visit the Spanish Steps to see the azaleas(?) in full bloom.

This message was edited Nov 16, 2007 8:51 AM

One more thing I thought of. Don't know if you've heard it or not, but there is a dress code for the Vatican if you plan to go. Jeans and such are OK, but no shorts or sleeveless tops (even nice blouses). This is pretty standard for most churches in Italy.

http://www.drivinguide.com/vatican_city_dress_code.htm

Sally, flying in to Rome is easypeasy, but be advised that you might have to w a i t a while for your baggage. There's just something about baggage problems at that airport. Anyway, you can grab a train from the airport into the main train station in central Rome. It's not difficult to figure out.

I highly highly recommend you picking up a copy of "Lonely Planet's Rome" -- a wonderful travel guide. I much prefer the Lonely Planet series to Fedor's and the other mainstream travel guides. They are good for pointing out "off the beaten bath" as well as touristy places. I do not travel internationally without a Lonely Planet's. I have an older addition of it (maybe five years old?) which you are more than welcome to borrow if you would like. Now that I'll be working in Annapolis, I will practically be in your neck of the woods on a regular basis.

Have you been to Italy Wrightie? It wouldn't surprise me the international world traveler that you are. Unfortunately I'm an armchair virtual traveler :( I hate to fly and get super stressed when traveling.

Wrightie, crossed threads, so I see you have been :) So you got that new job you applied for, Congrats!

Yeppers. I've been there on business, but managed to sneak in a couple of personal days as well. I flew in to Rome, where I spent a couple days stomping around the sites in the city, then took trains down to a little fishing village a couple hours Southwest of Rome. Also took another day and went down to Pompeii.

If you will only be staying in Rome and immediate vicinity, then you simply cannot go wrong with this book. It will give you everything that you need to not only survive alone in the city, but to THRIVE: http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/Primary/Region/EUROPE/Mediterranean_Europe/Italy/PRD_PRD_1435/Rome+City+Guide.jsp?bmUID=1195220814175

However, if you want to go further afield, then you might consider getting their book on "Italy" instead. I have traveled all over Asia and parts of Europe since the early 90's, alone, with Lonely Planet Guides. There's no better guide, imo.

Sorry, I keep thinking up new things. If you would prefer not to stand out as an American (boy, are we easy to spot - lol), then I'd suggest packing dark colored clothing (can't go wrong with black), and avoid wearing sneakers. I find that Europeans tend to dress a bit more "fancy" than we Yanks, so if you'd prefer to blend in with the masses, then that would be my suggestion.

Miata, thank you! I am sooooo looking forward to the job change (and better money ... every other Fri. off ... 2wk shutdown btwn Xmas & NewYear... lol) YIPPEEEEE!!!

Good for you Wrightie! Can't beat working less for more money! More money for plants and more time to plant them.

Here's an amusing little flash movie that's very poplular on the Italian forums. You'll really appreciate it Wrightie having lived in England.
Europe and Italy – by Bruno Bozzetto
http://www.animationarcade.com/animation/europeanditaly.html

LOL. That is so true. Sally, you Must watch Miata's clip! Also, if you are a coffee drinker, you will want to study up on how to order coffee in Italy!!! :)

And throw out everything you've ever learned at staryucks!

If I can add to the great advice you've already been given....

Although miata is absolutely correct that many, even most, folks will speak English, many times you will get a much warmer reception if you at least *attempt* to make yourself understood in Italian with a few simple phrases - excuse me, do you speak English, please, thank you, where is... and the worse your attempt is, the more likely they'll switch to English so you won't get a barrage of Italian! But I did get a number of folks complaining that Americans just assume that everyone speaks English and never bother with some simple words - and consider it pretty rude.

Wrightie is great to point out the tennis shoes. Same with shorts and baseball caps.

I thought St. Peters was one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

I was totally underwhelmed by the Vatican museum - tons of tapestries and religious themed paintings.... perhaps if I were Catholic it would have been more enjoyable.

The Sistine Chapel was much smaller than I expected. And very crowded - but if you're going in spring, you'll have a much better time as it's off-season until May, I think.

I have *never* had gelato in America that came close to Italian gelato. Make it a daily priority.

The Trevi fountain was also a favorite of mine. The Pantheon was pretty cool.

I missed the catacombes (sp?) but I heard that they're very interesting.

They have done a lot of construction on the Coliseum lately, but they've been great about keeping it very accessible. Very close to it is a huge amount of Roman ruins, very cool to go through. Make sure you break in your shoes before you go, you'll want to walk everywhere, although they do have public transportation I never had the opportunity to use it there.

Okay, this is going to sound awful, but pick pocketing is *rampant*. Small time theft is not considered a big deal. Do not hang your expensive camera around your neck if slicing through the strap will make it go away. Do not use a fanny pack for the same reason - although they make them w/metal threads going through them that are better. Keep your money on the front of your person. No wallets in back pockets. I carried a back pack the entire time on one arm, in front of me and kept my money in front pockets of my jeans. If you do it right it won't be an issue, but boy will you be bummed if you get ripped off - it just sours your whole trip. I didn't have a single problem.

Don't even think about driving over there. They're maniacs with no apparent regard for life once on the road. >smile< Even the Vespa (scooter) drivers are *very* aggressive.

HTH!!! I would go back in a heartbeat and am sure you will feel the same way. Don't let my warnings put you off at all - it's just something that you should be aware of.

Pagancat, from all that I've learned from Italians and those who have traveled to Italy you're spot on. All the italians on the forum say they love when someone attempts to speak italian, so if you want to make the effort to learn some phrases Sally, don't be embarassed to try to speak there. And if you've learned any spanish, try not to mix it in (very easy to do). Chances are they will understand, but I know some Italians who don't care for it. Especially when someone says gracias instead of grazie (GRAHT-see-yeh).

Please do watch your valuables, I've heard the same about pickpockets. I also have a friend who had some luggage stolen at the airport. Also I've heard a tip to descreetly refer to your travel maps and guides if you have to while out to avoid broadcasting "lost" or "don't know where I'm going". I too don't wish to put you off, but a little caution never hurts. I've heard more good experiences than bad :) but bad experiences suck!

Thank you all for all the help, and keep it coming if you have more random thoughts. This is excellent! Now I have a good reason to go to the book store and buy a decent pair of shoes for once. Gotta work on changing my Mercis to Gratzies

I am convinced all Italians are on suicide missions when they drive. I laughed out loud at that video and the crosswalk, bus stop, and theatre were oh so true.

I'll second St Peters as well as trying to get to the Capuchin Church catacombs. For me, I wear what is comfortable when I travel and don't particularly care if I fit in or not. Nothing worse than wearing brand new shoes and ending up walking on the balls of your feet because you have big honker blisters on the back of your heels.

Oh yeah, shoes. I walked too much in New Orleans in hard sandals for a day. never again
Dumb style question. Thinking of those new sporty Mary Janes kind of things. Socks or no? if a jean skirt?
Then remember Shawshank Redemption, does anyone really look at your shoes?

The LP guide has pretty much all of the phrases that you could possibly need for a short trip, along with a pronunciation guide. I believe that I have a pocket phrase guide as well if you want to borrow it. I *always* attempt to speak the local language to some degree and am embarrassed by those who will not at least try.

Speaking of Trevi Fountain and gellato ... the gellato shop on the corner, just across from the fountain is KooKooKrazyKiller deliciousness.

Forgot to mention a big thank you to wrightie for mentioning Lonely Planet Guides. We travel a lot also and we don't pick up Fedor Guides because they just don't seem like a good buy for the money given we like the path less traveled. I had never heard of Lonely Planet Guides until you mentioned them. I'll give them a try. Looks as if we're finally going to go to Egypt. A flight to Valley of the Kings is going to be included but I've not known too many people who have gone there and didn't quite know how to go about looking for the odd ball excursions. I'm not all that great with a search engine so poking around online only yields pretty pictures and the most popular tourist traps. At least for me that's what search engines come up with. Fedors doesn't cover the "path less traveled" destinations in favor of only dealing with the most popular attractions which is fine but we prefer more than that which is the most popular.

Yuck Yuck Yuck ... I totally agree with you, Equil'! I'm all for cruising through the Tourist Traps now and again, but I get far more out of a trip by getting away from the tourists as much as possible. I don't even like the guy (Steve?) that has the series on PBS.

Can I come with you to Egypt, please? I promise to be quiet and pay my own way.

Sure, you can come. Actually, it would be nice to have a female to travel with. Don't get me wrong, my husband and the boys are a lot of fun but they are so male. We have friends who have a condo somewhere near the Pyramids. The condo is deluxe and has 3 or 4 bedrooms. Are you sitting down? It rents for like $750 a week and that includes somebody coming in to clean up after you and to do the linens.

I don't watch tv more than an hour or two a month unless I happen to glance at it when it is on running from room to room so I'm not familiar with any series on PBS.

Sheesh! When I used to work; travel was always to DC, LA, or other armpits and even then it was only a few times a year out of necessity. They changed the policy on us making our own travel arrangements too so we couldn't even get any frequent flyer mileage the last 10 years or so. Getting the travel miles used to be a great deal. Lucky you that you get to travel some place other than armpits for work.

You *MUST* find a little shop that specializes in olive oils and experience an olive oil tasting. If you drink red wine, you will be blown away by how fantastic even the cheapest bottles of vino taste. You must have a caprese salad with mozzarella di buffala (fresh buffalo milk mozz')... to die for.

When packing things to bring back, do get:

* good bottles of local olive oil (I'll pay you to cart one back for me!!)
* coffee beans
* a good bottle of limoncello
* some bottles of red
* chocolates w/ hazlenut (there is no shortage of selection!)

Equil, when are we leaving?

Looks to me as if we're going to go for October again. I'm pulling the kids out of school. Two weeks but they'll actually only miss 8 days of school instead of 10 because that's the month that has a two-day teacher in service so they're off school anyway on Thursday and Friday. I'm sort of looking forward to this. We've been traveling within the US for the past few years because we weren't too comfortable taking kids out of the states what with them being young and what's been going on since 9/11 but things seem to be easing up and kids are older so we're ready to ditch Disneyworld. I've been to Disneyworld so many times since 9/11 that if I even see Mickey Mouse I'd walk the other way.

You do realize I would truly love company that doesn't sit around belching out the ABC's and pulling their own fingers to pass gas while reducing themselves to fits of giggles. They can go their way and we can go our way... with my husband's credit cards. One thing I do know, they take our currency.

oh, well. I'm out.

snort.

snort?

Why are you out? If you snort you'd fit right in.

It's 'cause I shoved her over!!!

What a fabulous trip, very cool. Although I'll admit - that is one of the few times I'd probably not be too thrilled about being blonde/ blue/ whiter than Wonderbread - I prefer to kinda blend in. Especially in that region.

BTW, Sally - should anyone be rude enough to try to engage you in any political discussion of *any* sort, plead total and complete ignorance. Tell them that you are fresh off of an Amish farm with no tv or radio.

That was probably totally unnecessary advice.... but people can fool you. I had someone in China try to get me going once - I wouldn't engage and he got pretty mad and started insulting Bush, trying to get me angry. You have to be pretty impervious.

thanks again wrightie. I'll jot down all your tips. Congrats on the job!! I used to work in Annap, off Riva Road. You wouldn't recognize how small it was 20 yrs ago. Homestead Gardens won't be too far off your trip home, if you need a cheer up after a hard day.. Better yet, Main's Greenhouse, end of Riva Road.

now, please do continue about Egypt. That's interesting too!

Sure, Pagancat, a blank expression is pretty normal for me. 8 ^I

Wonderful news!!!! How fun!!! I didn't take the time yet to read the other posts that are here. I wanted to jump in and tell you that you will have to hook up on here with a fellow DG'er who is currently still in Rome I believe. I know her from another forum and will give you her name as soon as I receive permission from her, or the two of you may have already met by then.

What a great gift your sis is giving you. Aaaaahhhhhhhh..........the thought of it is calming to me. Have a great trip.

Ruby

Sally, I am excited for you!!! I think Ruby's idea of meeting DG members from Rome is a nice one.
I have only one thing to add.. Take pictures and lots of them, we want to see Rome too, and lots of flowers.

Chris

Thnaks, Chris, sure thing !! Hmm, I wonder how much trouble I could get in if I tried seed snatchin.....

"Hmm, I wonder how much trouble I could get in if I tried seed snatchin..."

Might not leave you back in the US with seeds on you. Hmm

OMG - if you see something there have someone ship you the seeds!!!!! Send them to yourself!!!

Ever see Midnight Express?

(Yes, I'm kidding!)

I am not sure it is illegal to bring in commercial seed packets. I have done it in several countries. I think it might not be okay in Mexico, though.
But I would like to reiterate the need not to carry a wallet or purse or backpack or any such money and passport stowing item. Pickpocketing is rampant all over Southern Europe -- Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy for sure. Also don't wear gold or other precious metals in necklaces. I had one ripped off my neck once.
Carry your money, credit cards, and passport in a small pocket pinned inside your clothes or in one of those kangaroo pouches around your neck with the pouch inside your shirt.
The Italians rarely engage in violent crime but they are experts and coming up behind and grabbing your purse and pulling it out of your hands and running like Olympic athletes. My travel agent even warned me not to wear rings, though I have.
But the most important thing to do is eat! Italian food is among the best in the world and, on the whole, they simply refuse to eat junk. Fresh fruits and vegetables everywhere. Incredible pasta. Small portions of meat and fish. Superb culinary skill and of course, oceans of wine.

I was denied carrying back COMMERCIAL seed packets from England last Spring. My blood pressure is going up just thinking about it. I wish that I had not been honest at customs. Terrible thing to say, sorry, APHIS. I did mail seeds to myself from England successfully, however. Wish I'd mailed them all. I'm still heartbroken over what I lost... FlippetyFlipp. MEOW.

I have heard that sending them through the mail can damage them. I am not sure how. Did your seeds grow? A friend brought me some packaged seeds from Italy about a month ago. Probably she didn't declare them.