Rome

Just back from a hot weekend in Rome - pictures to follow.

* You need much more than a weekend to see Rome
* Unless you really enjoy heat, crowds and queuing July is NOT the time to go
* Beware pickpockets, waiters who serve the wrong meals and hotels who charge for someone else's meal
* Go with just hand baggage if you can to save airport waits and lots of lugging at "Termini" station.

HAVING SAID THAT ... yes, it was worth going.  Colleseum, Vatican, Tivoli Fountain, Spanish Steps, Real Pizza, Sweetbreads, Ice creams ....

Excellent public transport connections ... my advise would be to do your own tour and not take the organised ones that flood everywhere.

Like I say, pictures to follow.  Anyone else any experiences of Rome??

As I posted earlier, to give LisaE ideas of where to go, we were there 2 years ago this Sept. A tad cooler I expect but still warmer than here! I agree with everything you have said. We want to go back, but want to go so many other places, too! I was at a conference when there so the DF saw more than me, and even he didn't get his fill.

Here's a couple of pictures ... not the standard "Postcard" views, I hope ...

Statues near the President's Palace:


Inside the Vatican museum.  In the USA, "Old" is 50 years.  In the UK, it's 300 years. And in Rome, "Old" means over 1000 years!

I Loved Rome!  Those are great pictures Graham!  I was there on a European tour five years ago.  We were there for less then 2 days, so you can imagine how I feel   I would love to go back, not sure when, but everything about Rome was amazing, the food, the wine the old ruins.  It was like jumping into my old History Books at school. 

I just Read Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, so now I really want to go back and see it all again! 

More Pictures!!!!  I love them!!!!

OK ... you DID say more pictures    .... here's one at random and each time you refresh the page you'll get another selection.



As you'll see - we did follow up on many of the ideas from the earlier thread. The two we just missed were Trastavere (for which the tram didn't turn up so we gave up and went the other way ... and Castel Saint Angelo ... just too hot and too long lines to do more in the days.  We did throw coints in the Trevi fountain which means (a) we'll be back and (b) Rome council is a few cents richer.

Hey Lisa did you go to my friend's bar?  The Drunken Ship?  It's near the Pantheon?  Just curious. 

Graham, those are fantastic!  Thank you!!!!  So funny, after reading that book and seeing the Swiss Guard in full uniform, hard to believe them running around like that. 

Love the pics...thanks for sharing them with us.

*sigh*
Constraints of being with a group. Yes, great to see family, but there were nine of us, which lead to waiting for people, having committee meetings on where to go and what to do.
And the heat...made doing anything between 11 am and 5pm almost impossible.

We will be back, but with fewer people and at a more logical time of year.

Hardly got to see anything this time around, I'm afraid.

I LOVED Rome. I spent ten days there in a hotel a stones throw from the Spanish steps. The Colosseum and Vatican City were my favorite. The food was pretty good. I thought it would be more "Olive Garden" so I was surprised to find a HUGE difference between REAL Italian food and Italian/American food. The pizza didnt even seem like pizza  
I thought it was funny when you sit down in a restaurant and they put the bread and wine immediately on the table without asking for it and then they charge you if you eat/drink it. The wine was lovely by the way.
I also spent 3 months in Venice. All the photos and postcards I have seen of Venice didnt do it justice. Its the most wonderful, remarkable place I have ever been!
Looking forward to going back to Italy someday!
Pebbles

Lisa and Graham - Tony and I went to Italy nine years ago in late July/early Aug.  Rome was the starting point of that trip which also included Florence, Montalcino and the Barga Valley in Tuscany.  Tony proposed to me on that trip!     We rented a car from Rome and drove through the countryside to the other places.

It was HOT, HOT, HOT!  The bonus was, it gave me a good excuse to eat ice cream at 10:00 a.m. every day!  I'm not joking either.  Italian ice cream from the vendors is so exceptional; it makes my mouth water just to think of it.  And it tasted even better in the heat.

We walked everywhere.  Despite eating vast amounts of all that gorgeous Italian food, I still shed 7 lbs on that trip.  I sweated it all while walking in the heat.

It wasn't my first time to Italy and I hope it's not my last.  I love it there and it holds a very special place in my heart.

I liked the ice cream so much I bought a gelato machine after we got back. 

Wife & I are talking about going to Rome over New Years.  We've never been but thought it would be fun.
Has anyone been there around then?  Any reasons not to go?  Obviously, it shouldn't be hot then!  Not sure if
it will be heaving with tourists or not?

Thanks,
Matt

There's a papal blessing at midnight on 31st December and a number of other events around Christmas / New Year, especially centred on the Vatican as you might expect. I've often travelled / been away at Christmas and the New Year and found that place are either mega-busy or mega-quiet - no happy medium.   Best clue ahead of time is to check the hotel prices and see if they go up or down around that season, and to look at attraction web sites and see if they note restricted or extended openings.

On the more secular, I found: Rome has a long tradition of hosting an extravagant Toga Party every New Year's Eve. We have a history of incredible parties, each worthy of Roman grandeur and depravity .... at
http://www.romanempire.net/romepage/ArtGallery/Toga.htm

can you imagine a true Roman TOGA party - especially after all the silly drunken ones in college!?

We went to Rome for Palm Sunday and Easter in 2003, the crowds were huge on those days, but not during the week.  The weather was chilly, and it was fantastic to be there!

The best thing about Rome is THE FOOD, THE FOOD, THE FOOD!!!  Did I mention the food?  mmmm mmmm.  And the restaurants stay open late, and the people are fun/characters,  and the midnight masses are beautiful to attend, and the piazzas are always lively.

PS.  I enjoyed your pics, GrahamE