Cassandra's trip report - Part 1 General observations about travel in Italy
Jun 1st, 2005, 05:31 PM
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Cassandra's trip report - Part 1 General observations about travel in Italy
Following our admittedly whirlwind trip of 5 cities in 16 days, I'll begin with a few overall observations:
1. About graffiti: Italy remains a country of great beauty; graffiti remains its worst and most ubiquitous blight.
2. About taxis: All taxis will circumnavigate to your destination; all drivers will contrive to increase your fare. Learn debating Italian or be resigned.
3. About bathrooms: As in any country not one's own, expect bathrooms to be mysterious. The initiation mechanism, timing, and duration of toilet flushing will vary widely. No one seems to know why there are sinks both inside cubicles and outside in areas shared by both genders. Shared-gender sink areas, while completely sensible in concept, are still unnerving to Americans used to complete gender segration. Nonetheless, on average, we found Italian public "toiletti" in the cities cleaner than many American public restrooms.
4. About clothing: Whoever said that if you go where tourists go, there's no reason to try to dress as anything else, was essentially right -- the exception being upscale restaurants with a snobbery surcharge. What's in for (younger) women -- tiered or bias-cut cotton skirts or sun dresses with (I don't know how they walk all day) flip-flops. Always keep modesty expectations in mind if you plan to visit a church or cathedral. Otherwise, it’s impossible to get wardrobe planning right, so leave your suitcase ¼ empty and plan on buying to correct mistakes.
Women’s clothing universally needs more pockets, IMHO. However, men wearing Travelsmith-type vests and coats with multiple pockets and zippers should not be surprised to be pulled aside by airport security, especially if there are bulky books, apples, film canisters, extra socks, and sweet rolls from breakfast making suspicious bulges.
Overnight-dry travel knits don’t dry in 24 hrs., especially if a maid (resentful that she didn't get the 3-5 Euro/piece laundry fees for doing it herself) closes the bathroom door on lines of hanging laundry so that shower mist is trapped in with the clothes until you return late at night. Strongly recommend “drying rehearsal” with all clothes before you leave.
5. About room location: Guests are assigned to the least desirable room they’ll accept; if you haven’t made an explicit request for quiet or upper floors, or if you get in late, you’ll be put where other guests would rather not be. For some reason, the higher the number, the better the room often seems to be. If you are given rooms 20 and 21 on the "first" floor, the rooms will probably be noisier, smaller, darker than rooms 28 or 29 on the same floor, and upper floors are almost always better.
6. About currency exchange: Despite Fodorite warnings to demand being billed in Euros, many places now have notation on bills that "decision to bill in foreign [i.e. US] currency is final." Asking ahead of time does no good, and you may not know until the bill comes that you will be billed in dollars -- and YES the exchange rate is always worse than if you were billed directly in Euros and your bank then applied its own exchange rate.
7. About language: You can get along with some basic tourist Italian, but lots of fun can come from staying alert about signage, etc. For example, while torrone (nougat) can come "fragile" (breakable, light)or "duro" (hard), my preference was "morbido" (chewy, soft). "Morbid torrone" is now my favorite Italian treat. I also noted warnings not to climb the some of the Boboli steps because of "hearth problems." And best/worst linguistic giggle was the brand name of a product analogous to Preparation H, called "Proctoflan."
8. About restaurants: The best recommendations may not come from hotel personnel, who may have a "special" relationship with local restaurants. Of all sources (guidebooks, etc.), we found "Fodors' Choices" most reliable. Don't EVER order anything that is listed with a price per kg. or gram: you'll pay 3-4 times what any other entree costs. Don’t avoid a place because you think you’re "just paying for the view" -- sometimes you WANT to pay for the view and the food is sometimes actually good.
9. About luggage: my two Travelpro pieces were disappointing. The shoulder-strap tote on wheels had a strap pull out, requiring tricky machinations with safety pins for the whole trip. And the "Walkabout" 22" rollaboard always fell over on its front (even though not expanded), because it balances (NOT) on a bar in the middle of the bottom. Poor design. But having 2 rolling pieces, both small, was a godsend on long train platforms.
10. About trains: First class may give you more room, but the 1st cl. cars are always toward one end of the train. Because Eurostar trains ALWAYS reverse direction at major city stations, you may have to walk 12 car-lengths both boarding and leaving the train (e.g., a train from Naples to Florence will reverse direction in Rome). The logic of the arrangement of seats is mysterious, and again, direction may reverse at intermediate stops. They will offer you a pitifully small and almost silly free snack in 1st cl. but ask for the "dolce" or "cookie" because otherwise you'll get a bland oversized-cheerio type of cracker that will give you hours of thirst.
11. About elevators: be glad if the hotel has one, expect it to be small, and don't assume that just because you fit all fit in with your luggage, the elevator will go. Some elevators have quite pointed and embarrasing warning lights about weight.
12. About guidebooks other than Fodors: Rick Steeves is unimpressed by any gardens; and although he can be useful about some kinds of get-around-the-crowd tips, he is often incorrect about times and schedules.
Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 on Rome; Sorrento, Pompeii and Capri; Florence; Bellagio and Como; and Venice.
1. About graffiti: Italy remains a country of great beauty; graffiti remains its worst and most ubiquitous blight.
2. About taxis: All taxis will circumnavigate to your destination; all drivers will contrive to increase your fare. Learn debating Italian or be resigned.
3. About bathrooms: As in any country not one's own, expect bathrooms to be mysterious. The initiation mechanism, timing, and duration of toilet flushing will vary widely. No one seems to know why there are sinks both inside cubicles and outside in areas shared by both genders. Shared-gender sink areas, while completely sensible in concept, are still unnerving to Americans used to complete gender segration. Nonetheless, on average, we found Italian public "toiletti" in the cities cleaner than many American public restrooms.
4. About clothing: Whoever said that if you go where tourists go, there's no reason to try to dress as anything else, was essentially right -- the exception being upscale restaurants with a snobbery surcharge. What's in for (younger) women -- tiered or bias-cut cotton skirts or sun dresses with (I don't know how they walk all day) flip-flops. Always keep modesty expectations in mind if you plan to visit a church or cathedral. Otherwise, it’s impossible to get wardrobe planning right, so leave your suitcase ¼ empty and plan on buying to correct mistakes.
Women’s clothing universally needs more pockets, IMHO. However, men wearing Travelsmith-type vests and coats with multiple pockets and zippers should not be surprised to be pulled aside by airport security, especially if there are bulky books, apples, film canisters, extra socks, and sweet rolls from breakfast making suspicious bulges.
Overnight-dry travel knits don’t dry in 24 hrs., especially if a maid (resentful that she didn't get the 3-5 Euro/piece laundry fees for doing it herself) closes the bathroom door on lines of hanging laundry so that shower mist is trapped in with the clothes until you return late at night. Strongly recommend “drying rehearsal” with all clothes before you leave.
5. About room location: Guests are assigned to the least desirable room they’ll accept; if you haven’t made an explicit request for quiet or upper floors, or if you get in late, you’ll be put where other guests would rather not be. For some reason, the higher the number, the better the room often seems to be. If you are given rooms 20 and 21 on the "first" floor, the rooms will probably be noisier, smaller, darker than rooms 28 or 29 on the same floor, and upper floors are almost always better.
6. About currency exchange: Despite Fodorite warnings to demand being billed in Euros, many places now have notation on bills that "decision to bill in foreign [i.e. US] currency is final." Asking ahead of time does no good, and you may not know until the bill comes that you will be billed in dollars -- and YES the exchange rate is always worse than if you were billed directly in Euros and your bank then applied its own exchange rate.
7. About language: You can get along with some basic tourist Italian, but lots of fun can come from staying alert about signage, etc. For example, while torrone (nougat) can come "fragile" (breakable, light)or "duro" (hard), my preference was "morbido" (chewy, soft). "Morbid torrone" is now my favorite Italian treat. I also noted warnings not to climb the some of the Boboli steps because of "hearth problems." And best/worst linguistic giggle was the brand name of a product analogous to Preparation H, called "Proctoflan."
8. About restaurants: The best recommendations may not come from hotel personnel, who may have a "special" relationship with local restaurants. Of all sources (guidebooks, etc.), we found "Fodors' Choices" most reliable. Don't EVER order anything that is listed with a price per kg. or gram: you'll pay 3-4 times what any other entree costs. Don’t avoid a place because you think you’re "just paying for the view" -- sometimes you WANT to pay for the view and the food is sometimes actually good.
9. About luggage: my two Travelpro pieces were disappointing. The shoulder-strap tote on wheels had a strap pull out, requiring tricky machinations with safety pins for the whole trip. And the "Walkabout" 22" rollaboard always fell over on its front (even though not expanded), because it balances (NOT) on a bar in the middle of the bottom. Poor design. But having 2 rolling pieces, both small, was a godsend on long train platforms.
10. About trains: First class may give you more room, but the 1st cl. cars are always toward one end of the train. Because Eurostar trains ALWAYS reverse direction at major city stations, you may have to walk 12 car-lengths both boarding and leaving the train (e.g., a train from Naples to Florence will reverse direction in Rome). The logic of the arrangement of seats is mysterious, and again, direction may reverse at intermediate stops. They will offer you a pitifully small and almost silly free snack in 1st cl. but ask for the "dolce" or "cookie" because otherwise you'll get a bland oversized-cheerio type of cracker that will give you hours of thirst.
11. About elevators: be glad if the hotel has one, expect it to be small, and don't assume that just because you fit all fit in with your luggage, the elevator will go. Some elevators have quite pointed and embarrasing warning lights about weight.
12. About guidebooks other than Fodors: Rick Steeves is unimpressed by any gardens; and although he can be useful about some kinds of get-around-the-crowd tips, he is often incorrect about times and schedules.
Stay tuned for Parts 2 and 3 on Rome; Sorrento, Pompeii and Capri; Florence; Bellagio and Como; and Venice.
Jun 1st, 2005, 06:31 PM
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Cassandra, please add:
If you rent an apartment or stay at a hotel with old-fashioned locks, your key will inevitably stick every time you *really* need to get inside.
Everyone else will be able to work it with no problem.
Great report! Can't wait for the rest.
If you rent an apartment or stay at a hotel with old-fashioned locks, your key will inevitably stick every time you *really* need to get inside.
Everyone else will be able to work it with no problem.
Great report! Can't wait for the rest.
Jun 1st, 2005, 07:03 PM
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The weight warnings in elevators..LOL. At our hotel in Paris it was "surcharge". Too funny. All this stuff about receipts done in dollars, makes me think that next trip I will use more cash. Nice not to get those bills when you get home anyway. Fun reading so will be looking forward to the rest.
Jun 1st, 2005, 08:06 PM
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Forget all this, Cassandra, what about the laptop?
Actually, very enjoyable read, but I want to know if you actually did all these things in order to bring us the benefit of your hard-won experience.
Re: laundry. If you roll things in a towel, walk on it to press out the excess water, and let it sit for 20 minutes before hanging it up, it will dry a lot faster. You can also hang it in the room or the closet and it won't drip.
Re: room location. My favorite room in Orvieto at the Palazzo Piccolomini is Room #1, so I don't think I'd trust that rule if I were you!
Re: Travelpro. I used to have some that was absolute trash and fell apart in 5 minutes. I thought they'd gotten better, but apparently not. Many roller bags whatever the brand fall over forward -- I think it has to do with the weight distribution. If you always rest it up against a wall, pillar, or another bag, it will remain upright. It takes some discipline, but it's become a habit now that I don't even think about.
Anyway, looking forward to more!
Actually, very enjoyable read, but I want to know if you actually did all these things in order to bring us the benefit of your hard-won experience.
Re: laundry. If you roll things in a towel, walk on it to press out the excess water, and let it sit for 20 minutes before hanging it up, it will dry a lot faster. You can also hang it in the room or the closet and it won't drip.
Re: room location. My favorite room in Orvieto at the Palazzo Piccolomini is Room #1, so I don't think I'd trust that rule if I were you!
Re: Travelpro. I used to have some that was absolute trash and fell apart in 5 minutes. I thought they'd gotten better, but apparently not. Many roller bags whatever the brand fall over forward -- I think it has to do with the weight distribution. If you always rest it up against a wall, pillar, or another bag, it will remain upright. It takes some discipline, but it's become a habit now that I don't even think about.
Anyway, looking forward to more!
Jun 2nd, 2005, 04:11 AM
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A rather interesting, although hardly representative, of conditions in Italy.
I'd really love to have witnessed your hissy fit at the front desk when you found out you got exactly the room that someone with such a negative outlook probably deserves.
I'd really love to have witnessed your hissy fit at the front desk when you found out you got exactly the room that someone with such a negative outlook probably deserves.
Jun 2nd, 2005, 04:11 AM
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Thanks for the kind words. I do try to think of trip reports as collections of hints for others on the same itinerary. Mostly, anyway.... ;-)
And yes, I'm aware there are some sweeping generalizations here based on our "admittedly" short trip, and I wouldn't have said what I did about room numbers if it hadn't held true over at least 3 of our hotels. But I'm sure it's not a rule always -- more like a warning hint. (But for what it's worth, I'll take a railstation public restroom in Italy over any in the US.)
The laundry fiasco happened partly because of the obviously cheesed-off maid but also because it was raining and DH's clothing was NOT drip dry and there was a lot of it. We exhausted the towel supply trying to get things dryer, and there were only 3 available hangers to hang things in the closet. Next time we came back at lunch after the maid had cleaned and draped things all over the room to get them dryer faster. I recommend that approach!
The Laptopper -- gorbless him: The laptop did, indeed, come in very very handy when we discovered none of our supposedly internationally-equipped cellphones were working. It was also great to download camera flashcards and trade photos (although note: it was pretty hard to find blank CDs for sale in the old parts of the cities). Two of our 5 hotels had internet access -- the most expensive had free wireless; the other required a steep fee and BYO phone cords (so we temporarily snitched the phone cord from one room for the other hook-up). But we still needed access to an internet cafe in Florence, and they are enormously cheaper than typical hotel-phone hook-ups. (Note: for international phone calls without cell service, the phone cards you buy in a tabacchi are 100% the way to go -- easy to use and cheap at 5 E for 100 min.)
Otherwise, Laptopper did have to put out a couple of work-related fires along the way, one of which had ruined sleep and the next day for him -- but at least he was then able to dowse the fire enough to feel comfortable continuing to enjoy the trip. Mostly, it provided DVD-type entertainment for him at times when the rest of us were reading books (and I'll leave that without comment). He was delighted when the train had powerports.
Finally, Marilyn -- yes, I actually "did" these things, I think -- not sure what you meant! Everything but wearing flip-flops and leaving 1/4 space in the suitcase -- although I could have expanded the rollaboard if necessary. (Which thing did you think didn't actually happen?)
And yes, I'm aware there are some sweeping generalizations here based on our "admittedly" short trip, and I wouldn't have said what I did about room numbers if it hadn't held true over at least 3 of our hotels. But I'm sure it's not a rule always -- more like a warning hint. (But for what it's worth, I'll take a railstation public restroom in Italy over any in the US.)
The laundry fiasco happened partly because of the obviously cheesed-off maid but also because it was raining and DH's clothing was NOT drip dry and there was a lot of it. We exhausted the towel supply trying to get things dryer, and there were only 3 available hangers to hang things in the closet. Next time we came back at lunch after the maid had cleaned and draped things all over the room to get them dryer faster. I recommend that approach!
The Laptopper -- gorbless him: The laptop did, indeed, come in very very handy when we discovered none of our supposedly internationally-equipped cellphones were working. It was also great to download camera flashcards and trade photos (although note: it was pretty hard to find blank CDs for sale in the old parts of the cities). Two of our 5 hotels had internet access -- the most expensive had free wireless; the other required a steep fee and BYO phone cords (so we temporarily snitched the phone cord from one room for the other hook-up). But we still needed access to an internet cafe in Florence, and they are enormously cheaper than typical hotel-phone hook-ups. (Note: for international phone calls without cell service, the phone cards you buy in a tabacchi are 100% the way to go -- easy to use and cheap at 5 E for 100 min.)
Otherwise, Laptopper did have to put out a couple of work-related fires along the way, one of which had ruined sleep and the next day for him -- but at least he was then able to dowse the fire enough to feel comfortable continuing to enjoy the trip. Mostly, it provided DVD-type entertainment for him at times when the rest of us were reading books (and I'll leave that without comment). He was delighted when the train had powerports.
Finally, Marilyn -- yes, I actually "did" these things, I think -- not sure what you meant! Everything but wearing flip-flops and leaving 1/4 space in the suitcase -- although I could have expanded the rollaboard if necessary. (Which thing did you think didn't actually happen?)
Jun 2nd, 2005, 04:19 AM
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Wow AuntIda- what a negative post, and assumption! You are WAY off base.
We pitched not one single hissy fit anywhere, never even requested any room change -- just checked into the rooms we were assigned and figured it was a lesson for booking next time: if you want a quiet or upper-floor room, ask for it when you book. Since there were 4 of us and our one specific pre-arrival request was for twin-bedded rooms, we figured our choices were going to be limited anyway. I said what I said specifically to alert other travelers to consider their options at the time of booking, not on check-in.
(And for what it's worth, I put in my time as a desk/reservations clerk in an earlier life, and yes -- you do make decisions about who gets the desirable rooms, just as who gets desirable tables in restaurants.)
We pitched not one single hissy fit anywhere, never even requested any room change -- just checked into the rooms we were assigned and figured it was a lesson for booking next time: if you want a quiet or upper-floor room, ask for it when you book. Since there were 4 of us and our one specific pre-arrival request was for twin-bedded rooms, we figured our choices were going to be limited anyway. I said what I said specifically to alert other travelers to consider their options at the time of booking, not on check-in.
(And for what it's worth, I put in my time as a desk/reservations clerk in an earlier life, and yes -- you do make decisions about who gets the desirable rooms, just as who gets desirable tables in restaurants.)
Jun 2nd, 2005, 04:47 AM
#14
Cassandra, I hope you ignore the jerks and continue with your entertaining narrative. I'll take a humorous editorial any day.
Fodors is suffering this week from an epidemic of pi$$y, nitpicking, cranky posters.
No one but Eloise believes you are asserting your observations as stone cold facts. And goodness knows who peed on AuntIda's weetabix this morning.
Fodors is suffering this week from an epidemic of pi$$y, nitpicking, cranky posters.
No one but Eloise believes you are asserting your observations as stone cold facts. And goodness knows who peed on AuntIda's weetabix this morning.
Jun 2nd, 2005, 05:03 AM
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I'm enjoying your report, Cassandra.
About hotel room assignments, IME, if I stay one night I'm almost always assigned a room next to the elevator, often noisy with people who congregate and talk loudly in the halls.
The longer I stay, the better the room location.
About hotel room assignments, IME, if I stay one night I'm almost always assigned a room next to the elevator, often noisy with people who congregate and talk loudly in the halls.
The longer I stay, the better the room location.
Jun 2nd, 2005, 07:31 AM
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Hotel room baths were an adventure in Italy. One hotel we stayed at in Rome had a breathtakingly beautiful bathroom. Lovely green marble everywhere, shiny gold fixtures in modern designs, etc. But almost totally nonfunctional.
The toilet seat was square. Terrible uncomfortable and difficult to arrange various body parts when you did have to sit down. Didn't flush well either.
When I went to wash my hands in the sink, I realized that the gorgeous water spout was so close to the back of the sink that I couldn't get my hands under it. So we had to fill the sink to wash our hands.
Finally, the shower (and it was so luxurious and pretty) would spray water every direction except wherever you were standing--including spraying over the door (at least it had a door) onto the tile floor. When you stepped out of the shower onto that stunning, polished green marble floor, you found out just how slippery wet, polished, marble could be.
But, Lord, it was so beautiful.
The toilet seat was square. Terrible uncomfortable and difficult to arrange various body parts when you did have to sit down. Didn't flush well either.
When I went to wash my hands in the sink, I realized that the gorgeous water spout was so close to the back of the sink that I couldn't get my hands under it. So we had to fill the sink to wash our hands.
Finally, the shower (and it was so luxurious and pretty) would spray water every direction except wherever you were standing--including spraying over the door (at least it had a door) onto the tile floor. When you stepped out of the shower onto that stunning, polished green marble floor, you found out just how slippery wet, polished, marble could be.
But, Lord, it was so beautiful.
Jun 2nd, 2005, 08:31 AM
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Oh no, I didn't mean that I thought you were making things up! I just wondered if you really had consistent problems with bad room locations, taxi drivers ripping you off, and being billed in "foreign currency." Not to mention breakfast sweet rolls in pockets!
Will we hear more about what you loved on the trip? As much as I'm enjoying your writing, it seems like you had more hassles than fun, and I can't believe that's so.
Will we hear more about what you loved on the trip? As much as I'm enjoying your writing, it seems like you had more hassles than fun, and I can't believe that's so.
Jun 2nd, 2005, 08:48 AM
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Thanks for posting your report. One thing puzzled me, though. Where in Italy were you billed in dollars? Having spent a fair amount of time in the country over the last few years (just returned from Sicily), I have never experienced this and wonder what the details were and how you handled them.
