Visiting Rome

rawfa

rawfa

Veteran
Hi guys,

I'll be visiting Rome for a couple of days with my girlfriend now in february and I was wondering if anyone has any tips (other than the obvious tourist places to visit).

thanks,

Rafa
 
Yeah...dont sit down and have a cappucino..it costs more.
Bring lots of money and watch out for the pick pockets...lol

Just walk lots and you will see places you never imagined.

Make sure to visit Castel Gandolpho, the place where the pope stays for his summer holidays, its near a massive lake and its beautiful, just 1/2 hour south of Rome.

Have a safe trip.

cheers
Eureka
 
Thanks for the tips. Castel Gandolpho sounds amazing. I'll only be there for like 4 days so I'll have to be really selective. If I have half as much fun as I did when I visited Venice I'll consider my self lucky. Beautiful place.
 
I've never been but have been told if I go to carry all items in front pant pockets. Lots of pick pockets out there, it's true.
 
There is a walking catacombs tour that is pretty sweet, and of course the vatican museum. If you go, go an at least a half hour before it opens, and pass through all of it to the sistine chapel. An hour into the opening it will be elbow to elbow in there, and it is not the same. Then you can go back and look at all the rest.
 
The pick pocket thing is more true than you can imagine. I went just a couple months ago, and it happened to me. My cell phone, which held inside it a 2gb flash card of all the pictures of my trip to europe, was stolen right out from under me. Literally.

At the hotel I was staying at, one lady had her entire purse stolen which held her passport and all travel documents, one business man had his briefcase AND wallet stolen at the same time, and didn't even realize it...

They come in groups of five or so, and they're good. They'll distract you by handing you fliers or tickets of some sort, and before you know it, BAM, you're naked in the middle of the street.

Also, you'll see gypsies in popular places. Usually some sort of REALLY strange deformity walking around in the middle of a tourist attraction to get your attention. Well, as you stop and look, the others (sometimes small children), sneak up behind you and snag your wallet.

My Mother's husband almost got his stolen from stopping to watch a gypsy breastfeeding! They know us "stupid americans" can't not be mesmerized by a beautiful woman breastfeeding...
 
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ryan brown said:
They come in groups of five or so, and they're good. They'll distract you by handing you fliers or tickets of some sort, and before you know it, BAM, you're naked in the middle of the street.
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lol. The image of that would make a great commercial!

And whats a 'gypsy breastfeeding'? I mean, was it just some beautiful gypsy giving her kid the nip or was it actually a street show performance thing?

Rawfa---totally jealous. I haven't been able to make it to Italy (our Europe for that matter) yet but I keep looking forward to it. I can't decide which country I want to see more over there...Italy, France, Ireland, England, Germany, Spain, Amsterdam etc. Have fun!
 
You will have a great time I am sure, Roma is a wonderful city. I lived in Pordenone for 3 years (45 min NW of Venice) but I spent alot of my free time down in Rome. As everyone has said, watch out for pickpocketing they are no joke, especially around the subways and train stations.
 
Rick Meyer said:
lol. The image of that would make a great commercial!

And whats a 'gypsy breastfeeding'? I mean, was it just some beautiful gypsy giving her kid the nip or was it actually a street show performance thing?

Rawfa---totally jealous. I haven't been able to make it to Italy (our Europe for that matter) yet but I keep looking forward to it. I can't decide which country I want to see more over there...Italy, France, Ireland, England, Germany, Spain, Amsterdam etc. Have fun!
Click to expand...

I have spent alot of time in all of those countries, my favorite by far is Germany, they people are so nice and welcoming. If you are able to I would suggest saving up for a Eurorail pass, they have them for different lengths of time from a week to several months. With the pass you can get on almost any train in Europe and jump from country to country, a couple of times I woke up on a train that I picked at random and had no clue what country I was in lol. I made it to 12 countries in 30 days when I was using my pass. The nights I didnt sleep on a train I slept in a hostel for about 15 euro a night. If you are on a budget it is a great way to see Europe. I have never been a fan of traveling around the world only to stay at a hotel.
 
Well, you've already been to Italy before so you should know about the pickpockets and gypsies -- we saw both when we went to northern Italy. I think southern Italy is actually quite a bit worse for thievery, though, so watch out. My wife's best friend had ALL of her luggage stolen out a friend's car when she was there a couple summers ago.

Other than that, I can't wait to go back. Which will be awhile now that we have 3-day-olds.
 
Rick Meyer said:
lol. The image of that would make a great commercial!

And whats a 'gypsy breastfeeding'? I mean, was it just some beautiful gypsy giving her kid the nip or was it actually a street show performance thing?

Rawfa---totally jealous. I haven't been able to make it to Italy (our Europe for that matter) yet but I keep looking forward to it. I can't decide which country I want to see more over there...Italy, France, Ireland, England, Germany, Spain, Amsterdam etc. Have fun!
Click to expand...

I've been to all those places (Venice, Dublin, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Oporto...where I lived for 16 years) and I can honestly say that my favorite city is Barcelona. Have in mind that I AM NOT spanish (I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and I've only been living in Barcelona for 4 years, so I'm not playing favorites here. Barcelona has sun 365 days a year, it's has people from all over the world, it has beautiful architecture, and you can fly anywhere VERY cheap. The one thing I don't like about here is that people have a bit of an attitude (not everybody, of course). You walk into a store or a restaurant and most likely the guy from the store will act like he is doing you a big favor...in this sense I think other cities in spain are more easy going (I LOVED Seville by the way)
 
Its funny everyone has a story , but you just want to go back, I suppose thats what makes Italy ...well Italy.
 
eureka said:
Its funny everyone has a story , but you just want to go back, I suppose thats what makes Italy ...well Italy.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is true...even though I really hope I don't have a story like that to tell when I get back.
 
Hey Rawfa,

I lived in London for 8years and i never got to your city, Barcelona.
I wish I had....
Maybe this year....Who knows...lol
 
It's an amazing city and I'm sure you won't regret it. If you do come by drop me a line and I'll give you some tips.
 
I was just there in September for the first time. Let's see...tips

1) Gelato is awesome. Tiramisu flavored gelato is the bomb! :-)
2) 4 days is tough. Personally, what we did was took one of the bus tours (you can get them by the train station) at the beginning. They hit up all the major attractions and you can get off and on (like a normal bus) all day with your ticket. We rode the whole route to get the lay of the land, since we knew we would be doing a lot of walking it helped us to get oriented and a more familiar with the place. Plus if it's a nice day, sit on the top (which is open) and it's great for photos too.
3) Get one of the metro passes. I forget how much they are but it ended up being very worth it (we were there for a week though....YMMV).
4) Oh, about photos...I ended up buying one of the tiny Canon digital cameras...and an 8GB memory card and I am so glad I did. Size was definitely an issue since it's something I wanted to carry around, as I wanted to take as many pics as possible. Sounds real touristy I know...but I don't know when I'll ever be back there. One of my friends on the trip brought his big ol Digital SLR and he found it a bit annoying at times due to the size.
5) Learn some Italian! ;-)
6) If you like wine, when you're in a restaurant make sure you order the house wine if you want to save some $$$, and know how to ask for it in Italian...otherwise some substitutions may occur :) I'm not a wine expert by any means, but I thought the house wine was great.
7) I don't have a seventh tip. I just didn't want to stop at 6. Enjoy yourself, it's a beautiful city!
 
I just arrived from my trip and my girlfriend and I were blown away by Rome. I've travelled a lot and I have to say this was the most impressive trip I've ever took. This city is simply fantastic. Walking through the roman ruins, the coliseum, the pantheon and so on are beyond believe. I mean, these monuments are colossal. I love Barcelona but there's nothing here with the same magnitude of what I've experienced in Rome...AND all roman people we've met were SUPER helpful and nice. After reading all the horror stories here at the forum I thought I wouldn't even be able to enjoy the trip because I would have to be looking over my shoulders the entire trip. It was nothing like that and not once have we felt insecure. I recommend this trip to everybody. We loved it so much that we are already looking into trips to Florence and Sicily.

P.S - My girlfriend took around 1700 photos and I shot about 3 hours of footage with the Hv20 (when I have time to edit I'll post a short montage)
 
rawfa said:
My girlfriend took around 1700 photos and I shot about 3 hours of footage with the Hv20 (when I have time to edit I'll post a short montage)
Click to expand...

Definitely do. I'd like to live vicariously through you if you don't mind.


Glad you had fun.
 
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