Rome!

Parent Cafe
101

A cheaper good hotel to consider is the Exe Hotel Della Torre Argentina
http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Hotel_Review-g187791-d258994-Reviews-Exe_Hotel_Della_Torre_Argentina-Rome_Lazio.html

We’ve stayed there. It’s got a VERY convenient and central location (between the Pantheon & Campo di Fiori), but it’s on a VERY large, busy boulevard-- right on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II. The rooms in the back (not facing Corso Vittorio Emanuele II) are quiet. The rooms facing the boulevard have sound-proof glass in the bedroom window, but not in the bathroom window (but you can just close the bathroom door). The hotel is less than a 5 min walk to the Pantheon (that’s inclusive of time to wait for the crosswalk on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II). The restaurant Vecchia Locanda that I recommended earlier is in an alley right between the hotel & the Pantheon.

The bus stop for the public bus is RIGHT IN FRONT of the hotel, and the bus goes right to Termini (the train station), so it enables cheap access to the train station and therefore cheaper access to the airport. The rooms are comfortable and the bathrooms are nice. Just don’t opt for the breakfast-- it’s awful. But there are cafes everywhere as soon as you walk out the front door.

The hotel is a good value and I would stay there again, especially if the kids came along and we had to spring for more rooms.

102

'scuse my confusion about availability. Clearly, I wasn’t looking at 2016. Ugh. Stupido.

103

BTW-- the Domus Aurea has reopened. Well worth a vist and you can book tickets here.

www.coopculture.it

104

Thanks again. I keep saying it but I am getting great advice!

I saw that musica, and was really interested.

105

Busdriver and lookingforward, thanks for your perspective. It’s how we like to travel and we won’t be spending much if any time awake in the room. We are not fussy travelers.

GMTplus7, your advice has been invaluable.

I know I’m forgetting other posters but I am so appreciative.

106

Go inside the St. Ignatius church near the Pantheon (San Ignazio). Very unassuming/uninviting facade…but inside is magnificent! The free version of the Sistine Chapel…the ceiling frescoes are wonderful. And we actually attended Mass there…wish all masses were like that one…done in 20 minutes :slight_smile:

107

Agree with gosmom - and for that matter, if you like churches, go inside any you encounter. Many are very special and all are different. Visitors are quite welcome during opening hours and if you want to see the art, bring coins to feed the lights in the side altars. (inexpensive)

Last time I was at the Vatican Basilica, I ran into two Japanese women who were quite upset. They had been so overwhelmed that they had forgotten to look for Michelangelo’s Pieta (which is near the entrance). They were going to have to go through the security line again to see it. I mention this only because the Basilica - quite apart from the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel which are a separate entrance - can be overwhelming (and wonderful) and if you’re interested in this stop, you might want to research some of the opportunities with a good guidebook as not everything is well marked. For example, the Grotto underneath the Basilica is open and free, you can climb to the Dome for a fee, take various tours free and fee based, etc. If you don’t mind heights, I love the Dome accent, you also get close to the mosaics inside the Basilica, but there are steep stairs and it isn’t a simple climb. Views from top outside are incredible.

I have to be careful. Too many suggestions for you - not my trip to plan, unfortunately!!!

108

Don’t be too careful momofadult, are you kidding, this is great!

Great advice too gosmom :slight_smile:

109

Rome is one of my favorite cities! Here are a couple of places I’ve been, that I recommend highly:

Ara Pacis: The Altar of Peace, commissioned by the Roman Senate in 13 BC, to honor the return of Augustus to Rome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ara_Pacis) Very large (see photo on Wikipedia) and housed in its own museum, which often has another exhibit running.

Capitoline Museum: Stunning. A bronze of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf, many other bronzes, paintings, and historical items

Forum of Augustus: This is breathtaking–just the idea of being in the Forum. On an early visit, we mistook Trajan’s Forum (also interesting) for the Forum of Augustus. Both are great to visit.

St. Peter’s: The climb to the top is well worth the effort for the vista of Rome, and the interior view of the dome. Seeing a tomb in the crypt that is very probably St. Peter’s had a profound effect on me. It is interesting to contrast St. Peter’s with the Mausoleum of Augustus (a grassy mound) and to contemplate the tides of history.

Bus audio tour of Rome: Personally, I liked this, although it is a super-hokey-touristy thing to do. The most memorable for me was the comment that Northern Europeans are ruining the atmosphere of Trastavere.

Largo di Torre Argentina: A cat sanctuary in the heart of Rome. Very interesting, even if you are not a cat lover.

St. Paul’s outside the Wall (Basilica San Paolo fuori le Mura): a stop on the bus tour, and very lovely. Founded by Constantine I over the burial place of St. Paul.

Side trips:

Ostia Antica: The old Roman harbor (now somewhat inland), very easy to reach on public transportation from Rome. Interesting apartment and shop lay-outs with mosaics. Sleeping dogs.

Villa e’Este: Villa in Tivoli, can be reached by bus on a side-trip. Lovely interior and elaborate outdoor fountain system.

110

QMP and I wound up in Babington’s Tea Room near the Spanish steps one summer day immediately following a downpour. Traditional English tea. Founded 1893. I really, really like it.

There is a Ferrari store near Babington’s. I bought a tie (red, white, black stripes) for my husband, which he really liked. Also, there are leather-goods shops where one can get beautiful purses.

Two places where I have not been, but hope to go when they are open:

Antico Caffe Greco, founded 1760. I believe that Goethe was a customer. Also Keats, Byron, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Wagner, Ibsen, Hans Christian Andersen, and apparently Casanova. Closed all of August.
Sant’Eustachio Il Caffe, another tradition in Rome.

In 1971, I had the most wonderful fruit, purchased from a cart somewhere near the Campo de’Fiori. I am not sure whether this is possible now. I also had a superbly rich chocolate confection that counted as my entire lunch, from a shop somewhere in that general vicinity. Sorry I can’t be more specific.

Other tourist locales:

The Coliseum is an absolute must-see, of course. The tour guides are excellent, in general. One side comment from QMP: There are no atheists in the restrooms at the Coliseum (much like foxholes).

The Arch of Septimius Severus is nearby, and it is glorious.

I really liked the Campus Martius. Nothing there but a field, and the knowledge that you are in the Campus Martius!

111

One more comment: If you are in the Termini train station, you should watch out for pick-pockets.

QMP and I were traveling to Florence, by train from Termini. We had a total of 6 pieces of luggage–two large suitcases, two carry-ons, and two small suitcases. Either of the small ones would suffice for Pizzagirl to take a 6-week around-the-world trip, no doubt; but in this case, the excess luggage wound up being really useful.

When our train pulled in, a man offered to help us with our luggage. We refused politely several times, but he was insistent. So finally we accepted his offer. However, due to the number of suitcases we had, he could not handle them all. So he took the two small suitcases and the two carry-ons, leaving me with the two large suitcases. One I pushed ahead of me down the aisle of the train, and the other I dragged behind me, as the man, our luggage, and QMP went on ahead to our seats.

From behind, I was bumped in the train aisle by a woman who appeared to be pregnant. She managed to get past the suitcase I was dragging, but she could not get past the one that I was pushing on ahead. So I turned to her, and said, “I’ll move that out of the way for you.” At that moment, I looked down at my purse. My purse was a Coach bag with a flap and zipper. To my extreme astonishment, the flap had been flipped, the zipper opened, and my billfold/wallet-type thing was slanted half-way out of the purse–but nothing taken yet! The woman moved on down the aisle after I moved the large suitcase.

Personally, I feel lucky that the suitcase was blocking her way. Since we did not lose anything, I am able to admire the skill with which the pick-pocketing was almost accomplished.

After that, I reverted to using the waist-belt that goes under your clothing, to hold credit card, passport, tickets, and some extra cash. QMP: “That’s not a good look for you, Mom.” Indeed it wasn’t. But it was considerably more secure.

112

…watch out for pickpockets anywhere. Including kids. And on crowded busses. DH got hit. (Just follow the usual tourist precautions.) So conventional wisdom is, if you take credit cards, have the account numbers and the international callback number to the US recorded in another place. I’m a fan of travelers checks, because you can have them replaced pronto. But don’t even bother telling me I’m one of the last people who do.

You also need to let the card companies know, before flying, that you will be traveling.

113

Yes, that is good advice (lookingforward #111); but personally, I think the density of pick-pockets is somewhat higher at Termini Station in Rome than some other touristy places. I believe Rick Steves agrees on this.

114

Near the Colosseum. Good motto is always, “forewarned is forearmed.” I don’t mean anyone should be paranoid. But it’s a pita to deal with.

115

The Rome train station is the worst. Some of the main attractions are pretty bad also, but you are kind of trapped when you have your luggage. What we did in Rome, was to store almost everything in one of those waistbelt deals under your pants, that QuantMech was referring to. Unfortunately, my husband would pretty much have to unzip his pants to get to it. Thankfully he was not arrested for that! :smiley: I also kept a credit card, drivers license, and some Euros in a buttoned up pocket, that was easy to get to. I figured that if that was stolen, no big deal.

But the train station, good Lord! First we had the guy who insisted upon helping us and taking our luggage, aggressively. We figured that he couldn’t outrun us with it. He did help us find the right track, but we were so annoyed. He showed his disgust when all I gave him was a few Euros. After that, there was the gang of young men that kept pestering us, insisting they wanted to help us. But we were already there, we didn’t need their help to get on the train, creepy! We kept saying, “NO!” but they blocked every entrance to the train, and this was in broad daylight. We finally picked an door to enter on the train, and barreled right through them. That is what they actually wanted, so they could pickpocket us as we entered. They tried, but HA! We were ready for them. Absolutely nothing in the pockets, no purses, all wallets and phones buried deep in our suitcases. They might have gotten a gum wrapper.

It is disgusting that the Italians don’t have more police at the train stations. They know what is going on, and the tourists are getting robbed. Later, we were told that what you are supposed to do, is ignore them. Don’t say, “No thank you, or no,” like the polite Americans we are (and that they count on). Just pretend they don’t exist, which is what Italians do. Not like they would have thought we were Italians, we’re obvious Americans, getting on the train to go to the cruise terminal!

116

We got hit on 2 separate trips in rome and once in amsterdam.

  1. on totally packed subway car (we were squished together like sardines), the tourist standing nxt to my mother gestured to my mom to look down. There was a girl w her hand in my mother’s purse. My mom grabbed her the girl’s wrist, but as soon as the train stopped, the girl ran off.

  2. while walking down the stairs from a train platform, I felt something brush my back. I turned around, and there was a girl furtively covering up w a jacket something that she was holding. I had “bad feeling” and tore the jacket from her. SHE HAD MY CAMERA!!! I grapped her arm and started screamming HELP! POLICE!

At that moment a train arrived and passengers started entering the statio with their luggage in tow. They walked past me w curious glances as I was screaming for help and struggling to hold (and punch) this girl. Not one of them stopped to help. The girl tore free from my grip, dropped my camera (damaged it) and took off running.

  1. incident on an Amsterdam tram. We were traveling w a baby and we were struggling to get luggage & the folded up stroller off the tram. A very solicitous passenger was exceeding kind to assist us. When we finally got off and the tram pulled away, that’s when GMTspouse noticed my backpack was unzipped.

LEARNINGS

  • be wary of overly kind strangers
  • keep your backpack and purse in view at all times
  • be wary of really packed, crowded spaces-- it’s an opportunity for wandering hands
117

Sounds worse than Paris and the Eiffel Tower. I keep stuff pin to the inside of my bra, if any hands get in there I will certainly slap them silky. It has not happened to me yet. Taking a taxi seems to be better.

118

I have my “travel clothes” - pants and a jacket to which I have added velcro to create a closure across the tops of pockets. Very handy - for example, if I’m on the way to an ATM and don’t want to open a purse to pull the ATM card out, it will go in a pocket until I’m done with using it. I can keep some bills in the pockets for quick access and the pockets are a place I temporarily stash change or tickets or anything I don’t want to get lost as I walk away after making a transaction if I can’t get to my purse. I also have my billfold literally chained to the inside of my purse. I found a small chain in a travel store that works great for keeping track of the billfold. I often travel alone or in years past with children and no other adult so I had to figure out ways to not lose things if distracted. Works great - I’m sure I would have left that wallet somewhere by now if it wasn’t chained to the inside of my bag. I also use a cross body bag all the time as my regular purse - better for my posture. Money belts at waist, yes (but not through airport security.)

I’ve never been pickpocketed - except on a Chicago city bus and escaped that without losing anything because my kid’s wet swimsuit (returning home from a lesson) was on top of anything valuable. Too much to dig through, I guess. I don’t take pick pockets lightly, though. They are good! I knew something was wrong at the time of the attempt on me ans thought I was watching, but I still missed it until I saw my bag open.

I think I have been taken by cab drivers before - I know I was in Budapest years ago when I took an unmarked cab from the train station. Recently in Singapore, I have a feeling that I was taken for a bit of a longer ride than necessary. I should have mentioned that I would need a receipt - guy seemed so nice that it didn’t occur to me at the time. Dumb. Never a problem to indicate as you enter that you will need a receipt. Note to self…

119

Let’s hope your husband isn’t trying to borrow a couple of bucks! :smiley:

Some of the taxi drivers are completely nuts. Even my kids were amazed. This one driver would accelerate, when there were people in the street (they scattered), it was unbelievable.

Just keep your valuables out of your pockets, don’t carry a purse, wallet, expensive jewelry. Make it impossible for anybody to get to them.

120

^^ Other lesson, travel light.

The second time DH got hit he was in front of the place to buy the ticket back to the airport. That left him with no money for the ticket. The shopkeeper took pity and gave him the money.

Funny thing us he always wore a pouch on a cord around his neck at other times.

Oh and Deb, if you’re cautious, you’ll probably be fine. We’re just sharing war stories.