Helpful Information: Italy
Jun 11th, 2004, 03:01 PM
#201
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,525
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To book advance reservations at the fabulous Galleria Borghese--and you must--go to www.galleriaborghese.it
Jun 12th, 2004, 07:29 AM
#203
Taking babies and children:
If your baby is in diapers, either bring enough with you or figure out how much the baby weighs in kilos, because the weight on packaged diapers is in kilos, not pounds.
Baby food: not found at the grocers, but rather in the pharmacia. While some of the names are the same, the taste is entirely different. Salt is added. Stuffed bell peppers, containing rice, tomatoes and chopped lamb or beef found in little shops makes a good alternative for little ones who have teeth.
Children under 6 generally travel free on trains and other public transportation.
The type of stroller you buy is essential. A cobble-stone street can kill the wheels or cause the baby to fall out of the stroller if not properly secured. The stroller should be light-weight, but sturdy. One that changes from sitting up to completely reclining is best, since the baby can sleep.
Eating in restaurants is no problem.
Carry a damp washcloth in a plastic baggy and plastic bags to dispose of diapers, etc., at all times.
If your baby is in diapers, either bring enough with you or figure out how much the baby weighs in kilos, because the weight on packaged diapers is in kilos, not pounds.
Baby food: not found at the grocers, but rather in the pharmacia. While some of the names are the same, the taste is entirely different. Salt is added. Stuffed bell peppers, containing rice, tomatoes and chopped lamb or beef found in little shops makes a good alternative for little ones who have teeth.
Children under 6 generally travel free on trains and other public transportation.
The type of stroller you buy is essential. A cobble-stone street can kill the wheels or cause the baby to fall out of the stroller if not properly secured. The stroller should be light-weight, but sturdy. One that changes from sitting up to completely reclining is best, since the baby can sleep.
Eating in restaurants is no problem.
Carry a damp washcloth in a plastic baggy and plastic bags to dispose of diapers, etc., at all times.
Jun 18th, 2004, 04:53 PM
#206
Thanks Bob! My kid's 14 now, and we're heading back to Italy next week, but I still remember him at 13 months and us attempting to navigate the canals in Venice!
P.S. -- we stay at the same hotel in Paris -- room 55.
P.S. -- we stay at the same hotel in Paris -- room 55.
Jun 25th, 2004, 04:22 AM
#209
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bus service from Rome to Sorento:
Volaviamare offers Rome to Naples by bus, then hydrofoil to Sorrento. The fee seems quite reasonable (25 euro).
An alternative inexpensive option is the MAROZZI Rome-Sorrento bus service which costs € 16
www.marozzivt.it
Volaviamare offers Rome to Naples by bus, then hydrofoil to Sorrento. The fee seems quite reasonable (25 euro).
An alternative inexpensive option is the MAROZZI Rome-Sorrento bus service which costs € 16
www.marozzivt.it
Jul 1st, 2004, 05:17 AM
#210
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
ParadiseLost ([email protected])
Date: 06/30/2004, 07:25 pm
Message: [My directions were a link on the twenj.com website but now that that site no more I thought I would repost them here. Regards, Walter]
This trip requires 1 easy change of trains, from the metro to a commuter train. You can get there and back (R/T) with either 2 Rome Metro/bus tickets (1e each & valid for 75minutes), a 1 Metro/bus Daypass (4e), a 3-day pass (11e) or a Weekly pass (16e).
So the *exact* same ticket you used to board the metro (or bus) is also valid on the Ferrovia Rome-Lido commuter train to Ostia Antica.
It took me ~50min from the Termini metro stop to Ostia Antica's train station and then a 10 minute walk to the site.
Take Metro Line "B" towards "Laurentina" and get off at the "Piramide" stop (4 stops from Termini). It's a small station, the Metro stop is outside and below streetlevel and the Lido trains are unseen but parallel to the metro tracks at street level. Exit the metro car and turn left and you will see escalator/stairs and a sign "Ferrovia Roma-Lido".
Top of stairs, turn left (crossing over the metro tracks) and you will see 6 platforms. *All* of these trains go Lido and stop at Ostia Antica but not all are used during the off-peak non-rush hours. An electronic signboard at the head of the platform will show which train is leaving next and at what time (If they are all blank don't worry, one of them will light-up ~10min before departure.
Also it will be the only train/platform that the locals are using. {There is a w.c. in the station and on Platform 6. If you have time step *right* outside the station and see the Pyramid of Cestius c.18-12BC and the Ostia Gate & walls AD 271-5 with a small museum or visit the Protestant Cemetery nearby (resting place of Keats & Shelley-well his heart is buried there.
Also the snackbar in front of the station has some cheap decent food}.
Board the train and to ease your mind look above the door at the train station map. Ostia Antica is the 6th stop and takes ~25min.
At the Ostia Antica stop when you 1st get off the train, just across the tracks will be the small station just to the left is a w.c & water faucet, and ~20M in front of the station is a blue pedestrian overpass that you want to take.
Exit the platform via the pedestrian tunnel and into the station. Just walk over the highway on that ped walkway and just go *straight*, after a couple of hundred meters or so you cross a 2 lane road and the parking lot for the site is 50m in front of you.
In the parking lot the ticket booth (w.c.) & entrance is 50m to the left.
Tickets are 4e and I suggest getting the audio guide (4e with picture ID or possibly CC for security). Also have on hand (the Blue Guide Rome is good) or buy a guidebook/*Map* of the site (available at ticket booth & museum). Don't forget to visit the museum (w.c.) and the very historic Synagogue (alittle off the beaten track) on the site.
*Also* be sure to bring water or even better pack a small picnic lunch and have a quiet picnic it any of the hundreds of secluded out of the way spots. There is also a restaurant at the museum.
After the audio guide tour is over be certain to visit the western end of the site. You can walk around so alone among the maze-like buildings and paths and make amazing discoveries on your own.
I like the area in the V section of Decumanus Maximus and Via Della Foce. Look for a 2 storey building that you can climb on top of in this area (good view) but also that particular area has some excellent areas to explore and find mosaics, frescos and some pretty cool rooms.
One overlooked really cool site is under the Baths of Mithras where the "Mithras and the Bull" statue was found, now in the museum but replaced by a copy. On the main road thru the site (Decumaus Maximus) ~75m west of the Capitolium/Forum area, you come upon a main intersection. There is a road (90deg) to your left & right and the main road goes straight but at a slight left angle, at a 45deg angle to your right there is a road/path, take it. You will see on the right 2 red tile covered protected sites followed by 5 trees in a row, take a right after the 5th tree, you will come upon the Baths on your right (it's the last ruin, 2 columns and a taller lone column with a capital on top. Now see the short (3 sections, 1m high) modern cast iron fence (NW corner of the Baths) below that is the entrance to under the baths and statue. If you walk past the statue there is a maze-like tunnel that takes you under the baths, and you can see how they operated.
Date: 06/30/2004, 07:25 pm
Message: [My directions were a link on the twenj.com website but now that that site no more I thought I would repost them here. Regards, Walter]
This trip requires 1 easy change of trains, from the metro to a commuter train. You can get there and back (R/T) with either 2 Rome Metro/bus tickets (1e each & valid for 75minutes), a 1 Metro/bus Daypass (4e), a 3-day pass (11e) or a Weekly pass (16e).
So the *exact* same ticket you used to board the metro (or bus) is also valid on the Ferrovia Rome-Lido commuter train to Ostia Antica.
It took me ~50min from the Termini metro stop to Ostia Antica's train station and then a 10 minute walk to the site.
Take Metro Line "B" towards "Laurentina" and get off at the "Piramide" stop (4 stops from Termini). It's a small station, the Metro stop is outside and below streetlevel and the Lido trains are unseen but parallel to the metro tracks at street level. Exit the metro car and turn left and you will see escalator/stairs and a sign "Ferrovia Roma-Lido".
Top of stairs, turn left (crossing over the metro tracks) and you will see 6 platforms. *All* of these trains go Lido and stop at Ostia Antica but not all are used during the off-peak non-rush hours. An electronic signboard at the head of the platform will show which train is leaving next and at what time (If they are all blank don't worry, one of them will light-up ~10min before departure.
Also it will be the only train/platform that the locals are using. {There is a w.c. in the station and on Platform 6. If you have time step *right* outside the station and see the Pyramid of Cestius c.18-12BC and the Ostia Gate & walls AD 271-5 with a small museum or visit the Protestant Cemetery nearby (resting place of Keats & Shelley-well his heart is buried there.
Also the snackbar in front of the station has some cheap decent food}.
Board the train and to ease your mind look above the door at the train station map. Ostia Antica is the 6th stop and takes ~25min.
At the Ostia Antica stop when you 1st get off the train, just across the tracks will be the small station just to the left is a w.c & water faucet, and ~20M in front of the station is a blue pedestrian overpass that you want to take.
Exit the platform via the pedestrian tunnel and into the station. Just walk over the highway on that ped walkway and just go *straight*, after a couple of hundred meters or so you cross a 2 lane road and the parking lot for the site is 50m in front of you.
In the parking lot the ticket booth (w.c.) & entrance is 50m to the left.
Tickets are 4e and I suggest getting the audio guide (4e with picture ID or possibly CC for security). Also have on hand (the Blue Guide Rome is good) or buy a guidebook/*Map* of the site (available at ticket booth & museum). Don't forget to visit the museum (w.c.) and the very historic Synagogue (alittle off the beaten track) on the site.
*Also* be sure to bring water or even better pack a small picnic lunch and have a quiet picnic it any of the hundreds of secluded out of the way spots. There is also a restaurant at the museum.
After the audio guide tour is over be certain to visit the western end of the site. You can walk around so alone among the maze-like buildings and paths and make amazing discoveries on your own.
I like the area in the V section of Decumanus Maximus and Via Della Foce. Look for a 2 storey building that you can climb on top of in this area (good view) but also that particular area has some excellent areas to explore and find mosaics, frescos and some pretty cool rooms.
One overlooked really cool site is under the Baths of Mithras where the "Mithras and the Bull" statue was found, now in the museum but replaced by a copy. On the main road thru the site (Decumaus Maximus) ~75m west of the Capitolium/Forum area, you come upon a main intersection. There is a road (90deg) to your left & right and the main road goes straight but at a slight left angle, at a 45deg angle to your right there is a road/path, take it. You will see on the right 2 red tile covered protected sites followed by 5 trees in a row, take a right after the 5th tree, you will come upon the Baths on your right (it's the last ruin, 2 columns and a taller lone column with a capital on top. Now see the short (3 sections, 1m high) modern cast iron fence (NW corner of the Baths) below that is the entrance to under the baths and statue. If you walk past the statue there is a maze-like tunnel that takes you under the baths, and you can see how they operated.
Jul 1st, 2004, 02:02 PM
#212
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,637
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jul 2nd, 2004, 07:09 AM
#213
Join Date: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,893
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Stories about aggressive men at Italy's train stations who disguise themselves as "official" handlers, invading private space and property and catching unsuspecting tourists by surprise, are all too common. DO NOT TOLERATE SUCH BEHAVIOR!
Unfortunately, the Italian authorities are too slow to respond to these annoying con artists and our only defense is to fight back with our wallets (or, at least, make the threat).
I strongly urge anyone who has fallen victim to any hoodlum or rip-off activity while in Italy to write a complaint to the Italian Government Tourist Board and tell them you <b>will NOT return to Italy</b> until you read in the press that the authorities have taken the appropriate action to protect Italy's foreign visitors. (Say this whether you mean it or not.)
Believe me, Italy wants (needs) your business. Let them know you mean business, too.
Write to:
ITALIAN GOVERNMENT TOURIST BOARD
Travel Commissioner: Mr. Eugenio Magnani
630 Fifth Avenue
Suite 1565
New York, NY 10111
...and send a carbon copy to:
ENTE NAZIONALE ITALIANO per il Turismo (ENIT)
Chairman: Mr. Amedeo Ottaviani
Via Marghera 2/6
00185 Roma
Italia
I promise you, your letters of complaint will make a difference.
Travel safely!
Unfortunately, the Italian authorities are too slow to respond to these annoying con artists and our only defense is to fight back with our wallets (or, at least, make the threat).
I strongly urge anyone who has fallen victim to any hoodlum or rip-off activity while in Italy to write a complaint to the Italian Government Tourist Board and tell them you <b>will NOT return to Italy</b> until you read in the press that the authorities have taken the appropriate action to protect Italy's foreign visitors. (Say this whether you mean it or not.)
Believe me, Italy wants (needs) your business. Let them know you mean business, too.
Write to:
ITALIAN GOVERNMENT TOURIST BOARD
Travel Commissioner: Mr. Eugenio Magnani
630 Fifth Avenue
Suite 1565
New York, NY 10111
...and send a carbon copy to:
ENTE NAZIONALE ITALIANO per il Turismo (ENIT)
Chairman: Mr. Amedeo Ottaviani
Via Marghera 2/6
00185 Roma
Italia
I promise you, your letters of complaint will make a difference.
Travel safely!
Jul 9th, 2004, 09:33 AM
#215
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,637
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jul 9th, 2004, 09:35 AM
#216
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,637
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jul 11th, 2004, 09:09 AM
#217
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Lorraine3636
Date: 07/10/2004, 08:05 pm
Message: .... The best [International Calling Card] to have is purchased from a tabbachi store and it's called insieme.
It was 5 euros and you get 120 minutes international calling from the hotel room. The one I first purchased that you use on the pay phone and break off the corner was 5 euros also but only lasted for about 10 minutes. I did use that one for calling other places in Italy, but for international calls it was too expensive.
Date: 07/10/2004, 08:05 pm
Message: .... The best [International Calling Card] to have is purchased from a tabbachi store and it's called insieme.
It was 5 euros and you get 120 minutes international calling from the hotel room. The one I first purchased that you use on the pay phone and break off the corner was 5 euros also but only lasted for about 10 minutes. I did use that one for calling other places in Italy, but for international calls it was too expensive.
Jul 13th, 2004, 10:36 AM
#218
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 16,525
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Private driver service on the Amalfi coast is always a hot topic. Ira, and others have touted Renato Cuomo as excellent, and I am sure they are correct. As an option, I have gotten good feedback on this service as well:
www.tourofitaly.com Much more than just transfer services.
www.tourofitaly.com Much more than just transfer services.
Jul 16th, 2004, 12:06 PM
#220
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,637
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
