15 Days in Italy - Cost breakdown & notes
Oct 23rd, 2015, 03:25 PM
#42
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Apparently Fodors doesn't like the use of multiply slashes in words since I couldn't post a few times when I copy/pasted my notes.
Rome:
Expense Breakdown (Converted to USD, exchange rate is €1 to $1.15 ):
Total Lodging (Studio Apt from Airbnb @ 4 nights): $663.20
Total Food & Drink: $243.39
Total Misc. (Souvenirs, Wine, Umbrella, etc): $134.03
Total Tour/Ticket Fees: $390.43
Total Transportation: $92.12
Total Costs (Not including transportation to Rome from Venice): $1523.17
We spent 4 nights in Rome and this was the last leg of our trip. To get to Rome, we took the high speed train from Venice to Rome which took 4 hours approximately. Our Airbnb was about 3 minutes away from Piazza Navona and it was a great home base location.
Piazza Navona was incredible, we really liked the energy and the fountain and the many restaurants surrounding it. They had a lot of street artists that put on performances of their art which was cool and the live music that they played made it a romantic evening our first night as we walked around the Piazza and just took in the sights and sounds.
We visited the Pantheon on our first night and that was truly incredible. I would definitely say the Pantheon was one of the highlights of our trip. The architecture of the building, the statues, the huge round dome shaped ceiling, it was just breathtaking and we really enjoyed looking around and taking pictures in that area.
On our second day in Rome, my wife and I ran along the river and there was a conveniently located running trail that went on for many miles. So for all you runners out there, if you're training for a marathon, there is definitely a place to do your long-run and while the running trail is below the city (You take some stairs down to the river, it's about 50 feet below the city level), you can still see things along the running trail.
Afterwards, we walked to Vatican City for the "Art & Faith" tour that we booked from the Vatican City website. I would highly recommend booking your tickets in advance and booking on their website as you can save a significant amount of money. Tickets were about $41/person for the tour which lasted for over 3 hours.
The outside of Vatican City was pretty cool and there was an insanely long line of people waiting for something, I would assume it was to enter St. Peter's Basilica, but I'm not sure. Our tour started from the Vatican Museum in which it appeared we probably saved 1-2 hours by booking tickets in advance since the line outside the museum was probably a few hundred people deep around 11:30 AM.
Our tour guide wasn't great unfortunately since she had a thick accent but she was super knowledgeable about everything. We walked through the Vatican Museum and that was pretty interesting and there was a lot of art/sculptures. I will admit that we spent a lot more time in the Museum than I would have liked, but for those that like art history, this would be an incredible experience.
After about 1.5-2 hours, we finally get close to the Sistine Chapel in which the next 30 minutes or so was amusing since our tour guide kept saying, "and we will soon see the Sistine Chapel" and she said "Sistine Chapel" at least a few hundred times I'd say before we actually entered the Sistine Chapel. Basically she really hyped it up.
So while you're touring around the museum, you can take as many pictures as you want or video record anything as long as there is no flash. Apparently you're not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel and our tour guide emphasized this. Upon entering, the Sistine Chapel it's extremely crowded, it was like being at a concert and you're pushing your way through from one end to the next and there is a lot of art on the ceiling. To my surprise, not everyone abided by the "No pictures/videos" rule and there really is no enforcement of that rule either.
What's interesting is that while the Sistine Chapel is considered a holy place and you're supposed to stay quiet in reverence, but the staff of the Sistine Chapel in loud speakers kept saying "SHHHHH" and "NO PHOTOS" throughout our time there which I personally thought was louder than all the noise the tourists were making. Either way, we were able to see the famous painting of Adam and God nearly touching fingers and the many other fresco stories painted on the side walls and ceiling. I was a little surprised at how many paintings there were and how "hidden" the Adam and God painting was since I always thought that painting would be front and center.
The tour then took us to St. Peter's Basilica and that was pretty cool since we got to see the famous Pieta (Mary holding Jesus' body) and the many other famous sculptures. St. Peter's Basilica is huge btw, apparently it's the longest church in the world.
Our third day in Rome we checked out the Spanish Steps (which was under renovation unfortunately) but still pretty cool and got a Roma Pass which ultimately turned out to be a bad investment for us (I'll explain later). The two-day pass costs €24/person.
We attempted to visit Ostia Antica, the ruins of an ancient port city in Rome, but unfortunately when we got there we found out that a plumbing issues forced them to close the place down for the day. It takes about 35-40 minutes or so to get to Ostia Antica from the Colosseum stop. While we were disappointed that we couldn't go, we were glad about 30 minutes later since it started pouring rain and so we decided to go back to the apartment and veg. We didn't do too much on our 3rd day in Rome given the rain, but we still got to visit a few Piazza's after the rain fall and had some good Italian food.
On our final day in Rome, we had a packed schedule. We first had a tour of the Colosseum plus the underground at 9:30 AM which we paid a ridiculous amount of money for ($212 for 2 people). Let me emphasize that you should definitely attempt to book tour tickets from the Colosseum website in advance (like weeks/months before) since it's like 75% cheaper than going through a touring agency (We went with Dark Rome tours). I believe it's at most $30-40/person to do the tour if you book it on the Colosseum's official website vs. going with a touring agency.
The tour was awesome since we saw the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and finished up in the Colosseum. The Roman Forum was incredible and hearing the history and just seeing the ruins was amazing. Palatine Hill was also pretty cool. The Colosseum's outside is incredible. Inside, I was a little surprised at how "small" it was in the center stage area, but perhaps it was because half of the platform was removed to see the underground area. It was still a great place to take photos and imagining what it was like to be a gladiator back then. The underground was cool just given the ropes/pulley systems the Romans had implemented to transport people/animals from the bottom to the top through trap doors.
After the nearly 4 hour tour of the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Colosseum, we decided to go back to Ostia Antica since we found out they were open.
I have to say that Ostia Antica is definitely worth the trip and really completed our experience of Rome. The ruins were cool and while they were not as well preserved as Pompeii's, it was still fairly well preserved. The city is huge and we only did about 75% before we decided to make a mad dash to the Borghese Gallery in which we had gotten reservations for 5 PM.
We actually got to the Borghese Gallery at 5:15 PM and apparently that was OK since it's a 2-hour reservation slot that you can tour the entire gallery. Our Roma pass gave us a €4.50 discount/person for tickets (normally tickets are €13/person). We also decided to do the audio tour which was €5/person and that was 100% worth it. This tour had a lot more information than the previous audio tour we had at the Naples museum and the way they performed it made it super interesting for two people who aren't that into art history. For those looking to save money, if you're okay with staying close together, the audio tour device is like a phone and you can connect headphones to the bottom so one person can listen to the phone speaker and the other person can listen through their headphones.
The Borghese Gallery was definitely our favorite art gallery/museum that we went to in our trip to Rome and I would definitely recommend it even for those that don't care too much about art.
Overall, Rome was an awesome city to visit. It's definitely a lot more touristy than I thought it would be but it's a great place to go site-seeing/touring around.
------------------
Roma Pass:
Now in regard to the Roma Pass and whether or not it's worth it. For us, it wasn't worth it since it cost €24/person for a two-day (you get 1 place "free" and free public transportation and discounted entrance fees) and we did the following:
Round Trip to Ostia Antica: €3/person
Ostia Antica: €9/person
Borghese Gallery: €4.50 savings/person
Total: €16.50 vs. cost of €24.
Unless you plan on using public transportation a lot or going to a few museums, I just don't see how it would be worth it for the 2-day Roma Pass.
Even if you were to go to the Colosseum first:
You save €12, then you get a €4.50 savings at Borghese, you're still sitting at €16.50 total and you need to make up the €7.50 either with another trip to another museum/site or use public transportation at least 3 times. Even with the €36 one, Borghese and the Colosseum will save you €25 (€12 + €13) and you're still looking to save spend at least €11 to break even. I guess YMMV, I personally wouldn't do it next time since we didn't use public transportation much since Rome is a very walkable city.
------------------
Other observations/notes:
1. Apparently you have to pay anywhere from €1 to €1.50 to use public restrooms at train stations. The restrooms are very clean though compared to some of the other restrooms I've seen.
2. Rome is about 20%+ more expensive than the other cities. Beer averages around €5-6 vs. the other cities where it was €3-4.
3. There are a lot more street peddlers in Rome than the other cities. I would definitely not even communicate or make eye-contact with them since they will literally follow you around asking you "how much" multiple times and then when they finally realize you don't want to make a purchase some of them will proceed to curse you out.
4. I would definitely not rent a car in Italy unless you really want to see the countryside. Every city we visited was very walkable and driving seemed to be really stressful given the narrow alleys and the many pedestrians on either side of the road.
5. At least in Rome, waiters frown and may turn you away if you let them know that you only want to have drinks only. This was really surprising to us and happened more than once!
Rome:
Expense Breakdown (Converted to USD, exchange rate is €1 to $1.15 ):
Total Lodging (Studio Apt from Airbnb @ 4 nights): $663.20
Total Food & Drink: $243.39
Total Misc. (Souvenirs, Wine, Umbrella, etc): $134.03
Total Tour/Ticket Fees: $390.43
Total Transportation: $92.12
Total Costs (Not including transportation to Rome from Venice): $1523.17
We spent 4 nights in Rome and this was the last leg of our trip. To get to Rome, we took the high speed train from Venice to Rome which took 4 hours approximately. Our Airbnb was about 3 minutes away from Piazza Navona and it was a great home base location.
Piazza Navona was incredible, we really liked the energy and the fountain and the many restaurants surrounding it. They had a lot of street artists that put on performances of their art which was cool and the live music that they played made it a romantic evening our first night as we walked around the Piazza and just took in the sights and sounds.
We visited the Pantheon on our first night and that was truly incredible. I would definitely say the Pantheon was one of the highlights of our trip. The architecture of the building, the statues, the huge round dome shaped ceiling, it was just breathtaking and we really enjoyed looking around and taking pictures in that area.
On our second day in Rome, my wife and I ran along the river and there was a conveniently located running trail that went on for many miles. So for all you runners out there, if you're training for a marathon, there is definitely a place to do your long-run and while the running trail is below the city (You take some stairs down to the river, it's about 50 feet below the city level), you can still see things along the running trail.
Afterwards, we walked to Vatican City for the "Art & Faith" tour that we booked from the Vatican City website. I would highly recommend booking your tickets in advance and booking on their website as you can save a significant amount of money. Tickets were about $41/person for the tour which lasted for over 3 hours.
The outside of Vatican City was pretty cool and there was an insanely long line of people waiting for something, I would assume it was to enter St. Peter's Basilica, but I'm not sure. Our tour started from the Vatican Museum in which it appeared we probably saved 1-2 hours by booking tickets in advance since the line outside the museum was probably a few hundred people deep around 11:30 AM.
Our tour guide wasn't great unfortunately since she had a thick accent but she was super knowledgeable about everything. We walked through the Vatican Museum and that was pretty interesting and there was a lot of art/sculptures. I will admit that we spent a lot more time in the Museum than I would have liked, but for those that like art history, this would be an incredible experience.
After about 1.5-2 hours, we finally get close to the Sistine Chapel in which the next 30 minutes or so was amusing since our tour guide kept saying, "and we will soon see the Sistine Chapel" and she said "Sistine Chapel" at least a few hundred times I'd say before we actually entered the Sistine Chapel. Basically she really hyped it up.
So while you're touring around the museum, you can take as many pictures as you want or video record anything as long as there is no flash. Apparently you're not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel and our tour guide emphasized this. Upon entering, the Sistine Chapel it's extremely crowded, it was like being at a concert and you're pushing your way through from one end to the next and there is a lot of art on the ceiling. To my surprise, not everyone abided by the "No pictures/videos" rule and there really is no enforcement of that rule either.
What's interesting is that while the Sistine Chapel is considered a holy place and you're supposed to stay quiet in reverence, but the staff of the Sistine Chapel in loud speakers kept saying "SHHHHH" and "NO PHOTOS" throughout our time there which I personally thought was louder than all the noise the tourists were making. Either way, we were able to see the famous painting of Adam and God nearly touching fingers and the many other fresco stories painted on the side walls and ceiling. I was a little surprised at how many paintings there were and how "hidden" the Adam and God painting was since I always thought that painting would be front and center.
The tour then took us to St. Peter's Basilica and that was pretty cool since we got to see the famous Pieta (Mary holding Jesus' body) and the many other famous sculptures. St. Peter's Basilica is huge btw, apparently it's the longest church in the world.
Our third day in Rome we checked out the Spanish Steps (which was under renovation unfortunately) but still pretty cool and got a Roma Pass which ultimately turned out to be a bad investment for us (I'll explain later). The two-day pass costs €24/person.
We attempted to visit Ostia Antica, the ruins of an ancient port city in Rome, but unfortunately when we got there we found out that a plumbing issues forced them to close the place down for the day. It takes about 35-40 minutes or so to get to Ostia Antica from the Colosseum stop. While we were disappointed that we couldn't go, we were glad about 30 minutes later since it started pouring rain and so we decided to go back to the apartment and veg. We didn't do too much on our 3rd day in Rome given the rain, but we still got to visit a few Piazza's after the rain fall and had some good Italian food.
On our final day in Rome, we had a packed schedule. We first had a tour of the Colosseum plus the underground at 9:30 AM which we paid a ridiculous amount of money for ($212 for 2 people). Let me emphasize that you should definitely attempt to book tour tickets from the Colosseum website in advance (like weeks/months before) since it's like 75% cheaper than going through a touring agency (We went with Dark Rome tours). I believe it's at most $30-40/person to do the tour if you book it on the Colosseum's official website vs. going with a touring agency.
The tour was awesome since we saw the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and finished up in the Colosseum. The Roman Forum was incredible and hearing the history and just seeing the ruins was amazing. Palatine Hill was also pretty cool. The Colosseum's outside is incredible. Inside, I was a little surprised at how "small" it was in the center stage area, but perhaps it was because half of the platform was removed to see the underground area. It was still a great place to take photos and imagining what it was like to be a gladiator back then. The underground was cool just given the ropes/pulley systems the Romans had implemented to transport people/animals from the bottom to the top through trap doors.
After the nearly 4 hour tour of the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Colosseum, we decided to go back to Ostia Antica since we found out they were open.
I have to say that Ostia Antica is definitely worth the trip and really completed our experience of Rome. The ruins were cool and while they were not as well preserved as Pompeii's, it was still fairly well preserved. The city is huge and we only did about 75% before we decided to make a mad dash to the Borghese Gallery in which we had gotten reservations for 5 PM.
We actually got to the Borghese Gallery at 5:15 PM and apparently that was OK since it's a 2-hour reservation slot that you can tour the entire gallery. Our Roma pass gave us a €4.50 discount/person for tickets (normally tickets are €13/person). We also decided to do the audio tour which was €5/person and that was 100% worth it. This tour had a lot more information than the previous audio tour we had at the Naples museum and the way they performed it made it super interesting for two people who aren't that into art history. For those looking to save money, if you're okay with staying close together, the audio tour device is like a phone and you can connect headphones to the bottom so one person can listen to the phone speaker and the other person can listen through their headphones.
The Borghese Gallery was definitely our favorite art gallery/museum that we went to in our trip to Rome and I would definitely recommend it even for those that don't care too much about art.
Overall, Rome was an awesome city to visit. It's definitely a lot more touristy than I thought it would be but it's a great place to go site-seeing/touring around.
------------------
Roma Pass:
Now in regard to the Roma Pass and whether or not it's worth it. For us, it wasn't worth it since it cost €24/person for a two-day (you get 1 place "free" and free public transportation and discounted entrance fees) and we did the following:
Round Trip to Ostia Antica: €3/person
Ostia Antica: €9/person
Borghese Gallery: €4.50 savings/person
Total: €16.50 vs. cost of €24.
Unless you plan on using public transportation a lot or going to a few museums, I just don't see how it would be worth it for the 2-day Roma Pass.
Even if you were to go to the Colosseum first:
You save €12, then you get a €4.50 savings at Borghese, you're still sitting at €16.50 total and you need to make up the €7.50 either with another trip to another museum/site or use public transportation at least 3 times. Even with the €36 one, Borghese and the Colosseum will save you €25 (€12 + €13) and you're still looking to save spend at least €11 to break even. I guess YMMV, I personally wouldn't do it next time since we didn't use public transportation much since Rome is a very walkable city.
------------------
Other observations/notes:
1. Apparently you have to pay anywhere from €1 to €1.50 to use public restrooms at train stations. The restrooms are very clean though compared to some of the other restrooms I've seen.
2. Rome is about 20%+ more expensive than the other cities. Beer averages around €5-6 vs. the other cities where it was €3-4.
3. There are a lot more street peddlers in Rome than the other cities. I would definitely not even communicate or make eye-contact with them since they will literally follow you around asking you "how much" multiple times and then when they finally realize you don't want to make a purchase some of them will proceed to curse you out.
4. I would definitely not rent a car in Italy unless you really want to see the countryside. Every city we visited was very walkable and driving seemed to be really stressful given the narrow alleys and the many pedestrians on either side of the road.
5. At least in Rome, waiters frown and may turn you away if you let them know that you only want to have drinks only. This was really surprising to us and happened more than once!
Oct 23rd, 2015, 04:51 PM
#43
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I had some similar experiences. The map on my phone was invaluable! And I had a hard time with atm machines in the south; there was only one bank in Naples where my card worked, and I had mixed results with the Trenitalia machines.
Outside of Naples my cards worked at every bank. I can't explain why.
Outside of Naples my cards worked at every bank. I can't explain why.
Oct 23rd, 2015, 11:50 PM
#44
Cadd, I can't explain why your cards wouldn't work in the ATMs, but as for being turned away when you just want a drink, if they are setting up for lunch, or dinner, they don't want their tables occupied by people who aren't eating.
this happens in France too; you just have to find a bar as opposed to a place that offers meals.
Lots of good tips in your TR - thanks for taking the trouble to post in such detail.
this happens in France too; you just have to find a bar as opposed to a place that offers meals.
Lots of good tips in your TR - thanks for taking the trouble to post in such detail.
Oct 29th, 2015, 08:18 PM
#45
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Mels: My husband, college age daughter, and I will be going to Rome and Florence in about two weeks. Only 2 nights in each. I have a few questions:
1) How do I go about booking things ahead of time - like seeing Michelangelo? You stated, "On the second day, we went to the Galleria Academia ($37 pre-booked/person) and that was totally worth it."
How do I do that?
2) Also, how do I go about booking a fast train from Rome to Florence ahead of time?
3) You said that except for dinner, cash is most preferred by shops. How do I get cash? Do you mean American cash or euro? ATM gives Euros or American cash?
4) How do I get from airport Ciampino to our hotel? (which I have not booked yet)
Thanks
1) How do I go about booking things ahead of time - like seeing Michelangelo? You stated, "On the second day, we went to the Galleria Academia ($37 pre-booked/person) and that was totally worth it."
How do I do that?
2) Also, how do I go about booking a fast train from Rome to Florence ahead of time?
3) You said that except for dinner, cash is most preferred by shops. How do I get cash? Do you mean American cash or euro? ATM gives Euros or American cash?
4) How do I get from airport Ciampino to our hotel? (which I have not booked yet)
Thanks
Nov 10th, 2015, 02:49 AM
#47
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1. You can book reservations in advance for the uffizi and academic gallery here: http://www.b-ticket.com/B-Ticket/uffizi/
2. I used the trenitalia website to book tickets, it's not user friendly but you can probably figure it out. Florence is Firenze. Naples is Napoli. Rome is Roma.
3. ATMs give Euros in Italy, I would find an ATM In Italy and withdraw Euros in which your US bank account will convert your US dollars to Euros.
4. Not sure where that is.
2. I used the trenitalia website to book tickets, it's not user friendly but you can probably figure it out. Florence is Firenze. Naples is Napoli. Rome is Roma.
3. ATMs give Euros in Italy, I would find an ATM In Italy and withdraw Euros in which your US bank account will convert your US dollars to Euros.
4. Not sure where that is.
Nov 10th, 2015, 05:47 AM
#49
>>>>1) How do I go about booking things ahead of time - like seeing Michelangelo? You stated, "On the second day, we went to the Galleria Academia ($37 pre-booked/person) and that was totally worth it."
How do I do that?<<<
That price must be from a reseller as it doesn't cost that much (entrance fee is only 12.50€). The official website is Polo Museale which rolls over to their booking agent bticket (link posted by cadd). They will charge a booking fee (4€).
4. You didn't say where your hotel is, but you can take the Sitbusshuttle from Ciampino to Rome (drops at Rome Termini train station which is also on the metro).
http://www.sitbusshuttle.com/en/timetable/
How do I do that?<<<
That price must be from a reseller as it doesn't cost that much (entrance fee is only 12.50€). The official website is Polo Museale which rolls over to their booking agent bticket (link posted by cadd). They will charge a booking fee (4€).
4. You didn't say where your hotel is, but you can take the Sitbusshuttle from Ciampino to Rome (drops at Rome Termini train station which is also on the metro).
http://www.sitbusshuttle.com/en/timetable/
Nov 10th, 2015, 11:54 AM
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I just spent 12 days in Italy in October with my 80 year old dad and two sisters. We were really lucky that between my dad and one sister they had enough airline miles that we were able to fly first class round trip virtually at no cost. We went to Rome, Umbria and Florence. My sisters and I divided researching and booking the accomodations in each city and the prepaid excursions.
During the trip we would sort of take turns paying for dinner, cab, etc. We each wrote down what we paid and then when we were back home we reconciled and then split the costs evenly 4 ways. Luckily we didn't have any sort of disagreements about what we were spending. We just reconciled and it turns out the total cost was $1,800 a person not including the shopping we did (mostly in Florence) and a trip to the hospital I had. I felt like I did a ton of shopping and gift buying, but in reality I spent less than $300 on that.
Our trip included:
Rome:
Stayed at a suite near Piazza Navona for 3 nights
Dinner for my dad's 80th birthday - Pierluigi
Tour of Colosseum and Forum
Great lunch at Tucci, right next to Piazza Navona
Dinner at Conte Di Galluccio in Via Veneto
train ride to Orvieto, rented a car at Hertz. This was one of our biggest expenses because we ended up getting an automatic, insurance and the GPS
Lunch in Orvieto
Stayed at a lovely B&B in Castiglione Del Lago for 3 nights
This is where I got lax on writing down where we ate
We did a truffle hunt in Tuscany followed by a truffle lunch and wine at a vineyard. This was the highlight of our trip.
The next day we did an ATV excursion in Umbria around the lake. Unfortunately, the ATV toppled on top of my sister and she broke her arm and was taken to the Perugia hospital. She received excellent care and was not charged.
Then took a train onto Florence. We stayed in an apartment in the heart of the city.
We did a Segway tour of Florence the first morning. Unfortunately, I had gotten progressively sicker on the trip with suspected bronchitis and planned to see a doctor after the tour. Unfortunately, an hour into the tour I had gotten so sick and my blood pressure dropped and I fainted off my Segway while we were in a Piazza. I was taken by ambulance to the Florence hospital. Unfortunately, I did not receive the same quality care that my sister had. I was there for 9 hours and they would not let my family be with me even though my sister speaks Italian and almost no one in the hospital spoke English. At the end I was charged 400 euros. Luckily it turns out my insurance company is going to reimburse me.
We decided to spend the remainder of the trip not doing anything too crazy and mostly shopped and ate. We then took the train back to Rome and stayed in a hotel near the airport for our last night.
All in all, we had an amazing, memorable experience and the cost was not nearly as high as I thought it would be.
During the trip we would sort of take turns paying for dinner, cab, etc. We each wrote down what we paid and then when we were back home we reconciled and then split the costs evenly 4 ways. Luckily we didn't have any sort of disagreements about what we were spending. We just reconciled and it turns out the total cost was $1,800 a person not including the shopping we did (mostly in Florence) and a trip to the hospital I had. I felt like I did a ton of shopping and gift buying, but in reality I spent less than $300 on that.
Our trip included:
Rome:
Stayed at a suite near Piazza Navona for 3 nights
Dinner for my dad's 80th birthday - Pierluigi
Tour of Colosseum and Forum
Great lunch at Tucci, right next to Piazza Navona
Dinner at Conte Di Galluccio in Via Veneto
train ride to Orvieto, rented a car at Hertz. This was one of our biggest expenses because we ended up getting an automatic, insurance and the GPS
Lunch in Orvieto
Stayed at a lovely B&B in Castiglione Del Lago for 3 nights
This is where I got lax on writing down where we ate
We did a truffle hunt in Tuscany followed by a truffle lunch and wine at a vineyard. This was the highlight of our trip.
The next day we did an ATV excursion in Umbria around the lake. Unfortunately, the ATV toppled on top of my sister and she broke her arm and was taken to the Perugia hospital. She received excellent care and was not charged.
Then took a train onto Florence. We stayed in an apartment in the heart of the city.
We did a Segway tour of Florence the first morning. Unfortunately, I had gotten progressively sicker on the trip with suspected bronchitis and planned to see a doctor after the tour. Unfortunately, an hour into the tour I had gotten so sick and my blood pressure dropped and I fainted off my Segway while we were in a Piazza. I was taken by ambulance to the Florence hospital. Unfortunately, I did not receive the same quality care that my sister had. I was there for 9 hours and they would not let my family be with me even though my sister speaks Italian and almost no one in the hospital spoke English. At the end I was charged 400 euros. Luckily it turns out my insurance company is going to reimburse me.
We decided to spend the remainder of the trip not doing anything too crazy and mostly shopped and ate. We then took the train back to Rome and stayed in a hotel near the airport for our last night.
All in all, we had an amazing, memorable experience and the cost was not nearly as high as I thought it would be.
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