rajshiv

This is not really a trip report. It is more like thanks to all the wonderful information that people on this forum so generously share. I would talk about our impressions here, so that someone else might find something useful. We believe that the many interesting trip reports, the several meticulously answered and debated questions and our reading and planning resulted in a great trip. We would like to contribute a bit too. This is my first attempt at recording our travel experiences and it might not be as interesting as a lot of other reports that I have read here.

Background info:

This was our first trip to Italy. ‘Our’ includes my husband and I. We are in our early thirties, have recently discovered a love for traveling and hope to make the most of being in London.

As some of you might know from my previous posts, there were several changes that were made to our plans, however in the end it all turned out well. We were in Rome for three and a half days and in Florence for a day and a half. We were in Rome from 3rd September- 6th September and then in Florence from 6th September- 8th September 2009.

Accommodation:

Our apartment in Rome was in Trastevere (http://www.vrbo.com/220827), an area we absolutely loved staying in. There is a vibe in this area that is completely infectious and there are loads of fabulous restaurants.
This is a very comfortable apartment for two. It is right at the entrance of Trastevere, in a side street and therefore completely quiet. The tourist information centre is at two minutes walk. The number 8 tram and the H bus are also at 2 minutes from the apartment. It is extremely convenient for using the public transport.

This place has been recently renovated and has been kept with care. It has everything that you can imagine, including bathrobes and house slippers. There is a phone in the apartment that you can use free of cost to make reservations for restaurants etc. The best part though is the owner – Romula. Nothing is too much trouble for her. She is the most welcoming host I have ever come across. She was a great help to us for getting our visa. She offered us an early check in and even kept our bags in her car on the day of our departure. Though we kept insisting on collecting our bags from her office in Vatican, she drove down to Trastevere just to hand them to us.

The only downside for this apartment I would say is the lack of natural light. It is on the ground floor in a narrow street so the light that comes in through the window is limited. However as we were usually out during the day it did not bother us much. Also we did not use much of the kitchen, and cannot say for sure how good it would be for gourmet cooking. I would definitely recommend this apartment.

Alloro BnB (http://www.allorobb.it/)

This BnB is very conveniently located. It really is maximum 5 minutes from the station, if not less. The owner is gracious and the breakfast sufficient. We are very sound sleepers and did not hear any sounds (though our room was facing the inner courtyard). This meant that again we had limited natural light. When we booked the room available was a small room with twin beds. We thought we would be ok with the twin beds as it was just for a night. However this is not a room that I would recommend for a couple. The beds are not pushed together, but kept vertically, because the room is L-shaped. We had not expected this, however at 70euros/night, I don’t think we should ask for more. The bathroom was clean and the towels good. I would probably go back to this BnB, but definitely not to this room.


Rome

We had planned twice before to go to Rome and each time had to cancel because of one reason or the other. This was the third time, and we were almost third time unlucky. I got an interview call, which clashed, with the dates of our trip. I told the organization about my trip, and they did say that they would try and change dates. However I wasn’t very hopeful, as there were three interviews that had to take place and two of them were panel interviews. When I got to know about the format I actually asked them not to postpone, as I didn’t think it proper to inconvenience so many people because of our trip. I had almost given up, when I got a call couple of days before our date of departure that the interview had been postponed to 14th September. I did a little dance, called up G (my husband) and frantically started putting things in place for our trip.

The planning of the trip is very well divided between G and me. G does all the boring stuff (getting visa papers in place, booking flights, museums, working out about transportation, getting print outs of maps etc. I in the meanwhile read books, spend numerous hours at Fodors, shortlist apartments/ hotels and try and work out our itinerary.

Before leaving I had read Michelangelo and the Pope’s ceiling and Agony and Ecstasy. I also looked at wikipedia to get a sense of ancient Rome (not a bad source honestly). We watched Under the Roman Sun, Gladiator and A Room with a View again. We also saw Angels and Demons (which is quite as bad as the book), however it did make us feel excited about visiting Rome.

To be continued…

JulieVikmanis

Great start. I'd say it's a proper trip report. Each person has their own way of reporting. There is no prescribed way to do it. Yours is just fine. Looking forward to more.

kybourbon

Neither of your links work for me. I've stayed at Alloro so know the website, but would like to see your apartment in Trastevere if you have another link.

http://www.allorobb.it/Eng/index.html

Holly_uncasdewar

Nice report. Would love to hear about your eating experiences.

Ky: click on the links, then delete the ) at the far right in the url box, and hit enter. That'll take you to the sites.

rajshiv

JulieVikmanis and Holly thanks a lot for your encouragement. This being my first time, it really helps. Kybourbon as Holly pointed out for some reason the link took the bracket as a part of the link. I was pasting from the word doc, don't know what happened. I remember your feedback on Alloro and it was really reassuring.

Holly I was thinking of mentioning about our eating experiences towards the end of the report. However they would not be too detailed as I don't keep notes and we are no connoisseur of food/ wine. However we do enjoy eating and most of our recommendations would be budget options. Will come to that soon.

annhig

hi raj,

nice start.

regards, ann

sarge56

raj, I noticed that the Trastavere apartment allows smokers. Are you and/or hubby smokers? If not, did you notice any odor of smoke in the unit? This looks like a perfect place for me and my DD for next April, but I'm highly allergic to smoke and can smell it from miles away. Very sensitive nose.

Thanks! (And this is a great trip report! Everyone has their style- and this certainly qualifies as a trip report!)

Paula

rajshiv

ann and Paula I really appreciate the encouragement, you people are very kind. I have written part of the next installment. Hope to post it later in the day today.

Paula as for the apartment, well neither my husband nor I smoke. Although I am not allergic to the smell of smoke, I really dislike it. I did not notice any smell in the apartment, except for the potpourri that Romula uses. I think the smokers allowed option is a typo in all probability. I have written to Romula about this, as soon as I hear back from her I will let you know.

Will continue soon...

Holly_uncasdewar

raj: I think a lot of us here enjoy good eating, but stick to the budget options, as it's the only way some of us can take the trip in the first place. Reports on those places are far more valuable to me, and many others I'm sure, than reports on the 100 E. per person type places. Looking forward to the rest of your report!

huliavalakki

Rajshiv - very interesting - especially for budget minded travelers - r u vegetarians? looking forward to your complete report. have u done switzerland also recently - thanks

pjsparlor536

ttt

rajshiv

I am sorry for the delay in continuing with the report. The weekend was completely crazy. I am continuing with the next installment. Will also try to do the next one today.

Rome contd.

G also downloaded the Rick Steves’ walking tours (free downloads), and these were of immense help. Someone on fodors had suggested this and we are really grateful. I am pasting the link again, just in case someone else wants it. http://www.ricksteves.com/news/trave..._downloads.htm

We flew Ryan Air to Rome. I know a lot of people have had horrific experiences with Ryan Air. However ours was perfectly fine. I realised that you can get really good deals with Ryan air. We got the one-way tickets for 1 pound each. We paid 10 pounds extra for online check in. I did not get the insurance cover, because we had a 1 pound ticket and the BnB in Florence could be canceled three days before arrival. However for our Rome apartment we would have had to pay the full amount. If it were simple to claim the money back we would have considered taking the insurance. But getting the insurance from Ryan Air is quite a task, so we decided to take the risk. We do have annual travel and health insurance.

As we have a visa electron so we paid total 11 pounds per head for our ticket from London Stansted to Rome Ciampino. Our taxi charged us 45 pounds from our place to Stansted. All in all it was 22+ 45 pounds for two of us for London to Rome. I think we got a brilliant deal. Our return flight was from Pisa and we got a similar deal from Pisa to London. The in flight experience was neither great nor bad. For the amount we spent for tickets, I was grateful that we were getting to travel. Our flight reached on time at 9:40 am.

At Ciampino on the suggestion of people on the board we took the Terravision bus into the city centre and then took bus number H to Trastevere. The moment you get out of the immigration, you can see the Terravision counter. The ticket is 4euros/ 6 euros each. We also got our three day Roma pass from the counter next to Terravision. Getting the Roma Pass at the airport is extremely easy and I think a great idea. The moment you start using public transport, you validate your pass and start using it. It was extremely useful for us and we got great value for money as we visited Borghese museum, Colosseum, Forum and Palatine.

It took us about 1.30 hours to get to our apartment. We reached our apartment at around 12:15pm. Romlua was there to hand over the keys and explain things. She even showed us where the super market was and we went along with her to buy some basic stuff like milk, water, biscuits etc. This I believe was a wrong decision as we were both already quite tired. I had been working on an application till quite late the night before and I felt my head was about to burst due to sleep deprivation and heat. I am almost ashamed to acknowledge that the heat in Rome did bother me quite a bit. I am form India and when I read about the scorching heat, I always thought I would be able to handle the heat in Rome. Maybe because I haven’t been to India in the summers for about three years now, my ability to handle heat has gone down drastically. I think I will have to go and practice next year☺.

By the time we came back from the super market it was already 1:30.My headache had become quite bad and we were both extremely hungry. We just went out and got some take out pizza from a small shop across the car park. Must say the person behind the counter was very friendly and generously gave us a fried ball of potatoes complimentary. Though I hate to write this, but the pizza at this shop was the most terrible pizza we were to have in Rome/Florence. It was greasy, not fresh and tasteless. We realised that sitting down and eating a pizza ( instead of a take out pizza is always a better option), even if it takes a little longer. Good food keeps you in good humour and you can see and enjoy places more.

It was almost 2:30 and we were both tired and cranky (after the bad food). We had thought about visiting Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori area before our 5:00 pm appointment at the Borghese museum on our first day. However neither of us had the energy to do so. We took a shower, switched on the ac at full blast and slept for an hour. We left our apartment at around 4:00 and got to Borghese in good time. We collected our tickets, got the audio guide and waited for our turn to come. In the meanwhile we noticed the first of the many drinking fountains that we would find in Rome. I love drinking water and must say that Rome is really “water drinking friendly.’ You can easily find cool (as in cold and also cool fountains) water for drinking in most places, at least in the tourist areas that we visited.

I am trying to write the next installment. Should be able to post it by today evening.

rajshiv

Holly I will try and include our eating out experiences along with the report. I too think that budget options for eating out are very useful and often the guidebooks are not the best sources for food recommendations. Especially the less expensive ones.

Paula, as I said earlier, I wrote to Romula for the apartment in Rome. She said that technically it's not allowed to smoke in her apartment. But she also said that as she doesn't stay there she can't be 100% sure if people ever smoke there or not.

huliavalakki, yes we are vegetarians. We did not recently go to Switzerland, but we did go there couple of years back.

pjsparlor536 thanks for topping the report. It gave me the motivation to get on with the next installment.

ellenem

Enjoying your report!

bardo1

Raj,

I am checking in for the report - so far so good.

<i>We got the one-way tickets for 1 pound each.</i>

Did you really have to share that!?!? Rome is at least $1000 RT from where I am!!!

rajshiv

As I am sure you all must have realised there are no cool fountains water, but 'cool water fountains' in Rome!!

Dayle

Raj,

I am so enjoying your report! What different opportunities you Europeans have from the Americans. For us, it costs close to a $1,000 to fly to Rome - and 16+ hours of flight time!

rajshiv

I know Dayle, I feel really lucky and want to make the most of our time here. We are traveling to Venice on the coming weekend for three days. We are really looking forward to that now. Another of the Ryan Air's 1 pound deal!

rajshiv

Bardo you’ve been of great help with my Venice apartment selection. I am really glad you are reading this. As for the one pound deal, well why do you think we had the luxury of sleeping on the afternoon of our arrival in Rome. We (yes G and I both, more on that later) did our Trevi fountain coin tossing bit. Hopefully we would be in Rome again, sometime soon.

The Borghese Gallery

I had read and heard a lot about Galleria Borghese both here and from my aunt who has just visited Rome in July. I had fairly high expectations of the museum, however nothing had prepared me for what we experienced. The audio guide was very helpful and I would recommend it. Though most sculptures are terrific, and I really liked Pauline, Bernini’s David and Apollo and Daphne. However the one that really awed me was Pluto and Proserpina. The expressions, the indentation of Pluto’s fingers on Proserpina’s skin, the vitality and energy in the posture…all of it completely blew me away. G’s favourite was Canova’s Pauline.

This is one museum in which we could have happily spent another couple of hours. We actually took so long on the lower floor that we did not do justice to the paintings on the floor above. Once we reached the upper floor I just sat in the big room above and was trying to soak in all that was there. G in the meanwhile was listening to the audio guide. He called me towards himself and said “ look at this, this is another Bernini.” The sculpture was The Goat Amalthea with the Infant Jupiter and a Faun (http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/htm...2amalthea.html). I looked at it and said “this isn’t all that great”…and G said ‘well yes, he made it when he was ten.’
Honestly, I just stood there gaping. After visiting Borghese, I was a little disappointed that I had not read more about Bernini or his work. In fact I would really appreciate it, if someone here could recommend some book on Bernini.

After our visit to the museum we sat in the lovely park and munched on the wonderful biscuits and the olive infused chips that we had got from the supermarket near our apartment. By now my headache was completely gone and both of us felt fresh and rejuvenated. We decided to do the Lonely Planet walk of Centro Storico. It’s a short two-hour walk, which goes through Piazza Colonna, Pantheon, Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Piazza Navona, Campo dei Fiori and Plazzo Farnese. However by the time we reached Piazza Navona, we were quite hungry and decided to look for a place to eat.

We really wanted to eat decent pizza after our afternoon disaster. We decided to go to Da Baffetto, which was very highly recommended by our Lonely Planet guide. We reached at around 9:30 and the queue was not too long. Within ten minutes we were seated. However G who hates standing in queues for dinner made me promise that we either book (if possible) or just eat where there are no lines.

Luckily for us we were seated on the first floor (US second). I can imagine that the outside/ ground floor seating must be more interesting, but honestly we just needed to sit and eat in a cool place. It was reallyyy hot and we appreciated the air conditioning. We shared our table with two other young couples. We ordered one vegetable pizza (I am sorry I can’t do better, I don’t remember the name), one Margherita and some salad, which I have, no recollection of. For drinks I had still water and G had a beer. Our total bill came to around 25 euros. The service when we arrived was very fast, however by the time our order was taken things seemed to have slowed down a bit. We got our pizzas a good 35-40 minutes later. However we didn’t mind the wait much, as watching our waiter balance some 6-7 pizzas at one go was quite fascinating. Moreover G kept trying to convince me that Rome seemed like a better city than London, but I hadn’t switched sides yet, so we kept arguing about that for a while. Soon enough our pizzas arrived and I quite liked my margherita, G though thought the veggie pizza was good (not earth shattering). In hindsight I would agree with him, but more on that later. Our dinner did not feel rushed, and in fact had to ask for our bill. Over all I would rate our eating experience at around 3/5.

However what I absolutely loved was the gelato shop next to Da Baffetto. I now forget the name but it starts with F, something like Frigdarium. The man behind the counter is simply fantastic and keeps the banter flowing with whoever comes in. The gelato is simply out of the world. I am spoilt forever I believe and now my Ben and Jerry seems full of preservatives. I think we shared a biscotti and vanilla (he suggested it), and the combination was really good. The next two days I spent giving the other gelato shops in Rome a fair chance, but each night in the end had to come back here. It really was the best gelato.

There is an interesting incident that happened at the gelato shop though. It just seemed so much at odds with how things are in the UK, that I thought of mentioning it here. There was a very nice blond girl behind the counter along with the man at the shop. We were standing there waiting for our cups of gelato, when these two youngish guys came along. The man behind the counter started making fun of the limited mental faculties of the blond girl, well because she is blond. The girl was pretending that she was offended, but by and large took it in good humour. I found it a little surprising because I don’t think any one would talk like this to an employee in the UK. Political correctness is not really observed a lot in India and I was wondering if it is the same in Italy, or it was a one off incident.

We took our gelato and sat at Piazza Navona for a while. We then decide to walk back to Trastevere. Even at around 1:00 – 1:30 pm the city felt completely safe. Both G and I absolutely loved the idea of a piazza where people can come together and sit. We kept trying to think of similar places in London where one could do this.

Realisations from the planning phase and our first day in Rome

• Keep checking Ryan Air, you never know what you will find (morning vigils have proven to be particularly useful).

• Write to apartment owners irrespective of their quoted price if it is a gap period/ a last minute rental. This has worked for me thrice now. Once in Inverness, then in Rome and now for Venice. There was a gap period of three nights for the Trastevere flat and we got it for 80 euros/night. Romula said her usual rate is around 130 euros/night, during September.

• Ryan Air allows food on the flight ( or at least I saw people with prêt and starbucks bags) . We weren’t sure about this and bought croissants and coffee to drink before the flight. At 6:00 in the morning we couldn’t eat much, and just threw away what was left before boarding. The flight food didn’t look appetizing and by the time we got around to having lunch I had already started a headache. There is a prêt on the Stansted Airport, and I am most definitely going there before our flight to Venice. Travel time does add up no matter where you are coming from.

• Sleep if you must, even on a trip, it makes the rest of it better.

• Once you find an amazing gelato place, just stick to it.

• Even if you think you are not a museum person, do visit Borghese, you never know what you will discover about yourself.

Day two is the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica and our best meal in Rome. Haven’t written that part yet. Will work on it tomorrow morning.

bouradly

I had quite a different experience at Da Baffeto. Of course, I was traveling solo and I did read a warning here on Fodor's about how some places might not be willing to serve a solo person. What I wasn't prepared for was being yelled at in Italian for even asking for a table. When I asked for clarification because I didn't know what was wrong and was dumbfounded for being yelled at, he ripped into me again. Luckily enough, there was a French tourist seated alone and he (along with the rest of the place) saw what was going on and he offered to let me sit with him. Apparently, he got the same treatment, but he said he was from a region in France where he's run into similar issues and knew how to beg his way into getting a table. At least I got to have some good company and we talked quite a bit throughout the meal.

I was given the tab immediately after I finished so I got the hint they wanted me to leave. The French guy was still eating his dessert. As I got up to pay, the Italian guy went up to the French guy and yelled at him some more for not being done. French guy knew how to handle himself well and didn't rush. In fact, he ate his dessert more slowly and just smiled at the Italian without saying a word.

PS French guy is a writer and was there in Rome to write his reviews and experiences of the city, restaurants, etc. So if anyone reads French magazines/newspapers and reads about this incident, you'll know I was part of this.