Jean

Just returned from 12 wonderful days in Italy and can't wait to go back! Thanks to all the Fodorites who helped me with questions (we planned this on 2 months' notice). It was our first time there; thought I'd add my two cents worth on a few matters: <BR> <BR>PART 1: <BR>Florence: <BR>1. Loved looking at all the street vendors' wares. Don't pay what they ask for an item; most of the time they'll come down considerably on price. Got some good deals on purses and belts. <BR> <BR>2. Definitely call for reservations at the Accademia! We called a day or so before we left & got reservations for the time we wanted. (By calling, the cost of reserving a ticket was nominal; reserving by internet cost more; calling was easy -- we spoke with someone who spoke English & it only took a minute). When we got to the Accademia the afternoon of our arrival, there was a long line waiting to get in. We were able to go right in & pick up our tickets at the reservations table. <BR> <BR>3. Vivoli's gelato was good; however, we had just as good (or better) gelato in other places. <BR> <BR>4. We stayed at Hotel le Cascine near the train station. Nice, clean quad room; friendly staff. We had requested a room away from the noise, so we weren't bothered. Basic continental breakfast with really good coffee included. <BR> <BR>5. We found Auto Europe to be the most economical place to rent a car (from Florence for a week), so that's what we did via internet) from home. However, the day & time we were to pick up our car, we had to wait in line 2 hours to pick up the car. Other people in line were in the same situation. Even though we all had reservations, we all had to wait. I thought maybe we had just hit them on a bad day; however, when we turned in our car the following week (easy turn in; no waiting), the line to pick up cars was just as bad. (There were no lines at all at the National and Hertz auto rentals when we passed by.) <BR> <BR>Will follow up with Rome and Venice by posting tomorrow (I've run out of time for now!)

Joan

I just read your report on Florence and will read up on the hotel you stayed at. Going in September with two other woman. I will read your report on Venice and Rome . We are going for 12 days also.

Jean

PART 2: Rome <BR>1. We found the metro system easy to use and had no problems. We needed to use buses a few times, and I strongly recommend purchasing a bus map at any newsstand. They were a little confusing to us at first. <BR> <BR>2. As far as how to dress, we saw many different things. For women, capri pants seemed by far to be the most popular. Both shorts and pants were also common. Although we did see people wearing white sneakers, there were more black or gray sneakers. Sandals were most common for women. (I wore a pair of Clarks sandals most of the time and they were very comfortable.) <BR> <BR>3. We were in Rome for 4 days. We had no problems at all with pickpockets the first three days, but on our fourth day, we were targets of pickpockets THREE times! All three attempts were on the metro, but the pickpockets got nothing. On the first attempt, a little gypsy boy about 5-7 years old put his hand into my husband's front pocket. My husband grabbed his hand and shoved it out of his pocket & gave the child's father, who was with him, a stern look. The father pretended to be surprised. <BR>The second & third attempts happened on the same metro by a group of 4 girls in their late teens or early 20's. Two of the girls targeted me & two targeted my brother-in-law. They used the scheme you've read about many times, I'm sure: one of the girls hopped on the crowded train ahead of me and blocked my path getting by her; another girl from behind me attempted to take my very small Eagle Creek purse that I was wearing bandolero style. Fortunately, I was wise to them and shouldered my way past. (The only thing I had in my purse were a lipstick, small mirror, and about 2,000 lira.) The other 2 girls attempted the same trick on my brother-in-law (one of them stuck her hand into his front pocket, but he caught her). The girls got off at the very first stop after that, since they weren't able to steal anything from us. <BR>All of the men in our group wore either a money belt under their shirts or the leg pouch under their pants; they had nothing in their pockets. As many Fodorites have warned, this is the only way to go. If you do carry a small purse, make sure you have nothing in it that you can't afford to lose. <BR> <BR>4. Great restaurant in Rome near the Pantheon: Antica Taverna. Wonderful food, reasonable prices, very nice English speaking owner. Great gelato at Giolotti's (the whipped cream they add on top is the best EVER!!). <BR> <BR>5. Although we didn't get to all the sights in Rome, we loved Saint Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Pantheon, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain. We went to the Pope's Wednesday Mass at Saint Peter's, and it was absolutely awesome. We had some personal items blessed (mass blessing). <BR> <BR>6. ATM's were all over Rome, Florence, and Venice. This is definitely the way to go. We also had no problems using MasterCard and American Express. Just be sure to notify your banks and credit card companies of the time period you'll be using these items out of the country and you'll have no problems. This is the first trip we haven't taken any traveler's checks with us; we didn't need them at all. We just took a little lira with us from the USA to Italy until we could get to an ATM machine.

sally

Hi Jean! <BR> <BR>Anything to say about Venice? I'll be there next month!

Capo

Hi Jean. Having been there fairly recently, I enjoyed reading your comments about Rome. We had gelato -- always three scoops! -- at Giolotti's at least once every day, and I agree with you about the panna, the whipped cream, they add on top being the best. We also loved the way the servers artfully slathered the gelato on the cones. <BR> <BR>Glad you managed to fend off the pickpockets. Yep, having nothing in your pockets is the way to go; it's kinda hard for pickpockets to pick your pockets when all they grasp is air.

Marianna

Hi everyone, <BR> <BR>As I live and work in bella Roma it is so nice to hear how much people really enjoy this amazing city. <BR> <BR>Unfortunately the pick pockets and gypsies give it a bad name. So do be careful. I am a tour guide here in Rome and there is not a week that goes by that I don't hear of a tourist being robbed. They are very clever and very, very good at what they do. <BR>So do not carry too much cash on you. Never, never put your wallet in your pants pocket and when you wear those bags on the front around your waist BEWARE of the gypsies carrying cardboard notices asking for help. They will rob you!!underneath it. Also be very careful of mothers with babies, it is all a sympathy ploy to distract you while someone else is trying to rob you. <BR> <BR>Having said all that, please know that Italians in general are wonderful people and more often than not they will always warn you if you accidentally leave your bag open or appear to be in danger of being robbed. <BR>Your personal safety is not a problem but your money is at risk! so beware. <BR> <BR>However regardless of all that Rome is one of the most amazing and beautiful cities in the world. i am very lucky to work here as a tour guide. <BR>So if anyone would like any information on any of the wonderful tours that my company offers such as the Vatican, The Ancient City (forums), Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps etc and/or Pompei and Capri, please feel free to email me direct at <BR>[email protected] <BR> <BR>I would love to help anyone out on general stuff about Rome as well, so feel free to contact me. <BR> <BR>Regards <BR>Marianna

Jean

Joan, <BR>Hotel le Cascine's website is www.hotellecascine, if you want to look further at it. I can't remember right off the bat what we were charged, but I will look at our receipts & find out if you'd like. We had 2 quad rooms and 1 double. <BR>sally, I promise to write about Venice tomorrow! <BR>Capo, I forgot to mention that the 4 girls who targeted us all had some type of shawl wrapped around their wrists and lower arm (1 arm only). I'm sure they planned to hide whatever they were able to steal "up their sleeve", as they say. After having no problems for the prior three days, I don't know if we looked as though we weren't watching out, or if we were just "in the wrong place at the wrong time". Still, though we were all tired and trying to make sure the 10 of us all got on the metro together, I'm glad we had our wits about us enough that no damage was done. <BR> <BR>

top

topping