Rules? What Rules?: jent103 Goes to Italy
 

I still can’t believe this trip is over, after a year+ of thinking, months of planning and a very stressful month leading up to it! I’m starting to write on the Monday after we returned on Friday in an attempt to remember things as much as possible, though I’ll post later as I get the pictures edited.

As usual, this is partially for my memories, partially to help others planning in the future, and partially to say thanks in my own way to all those who answered questions and helped us plan (annhig, ellenem, kybourbon, kyliebaby, and marigross’s trip report come to mind, but I KNOW there were more!). Y’all are semi-famous in my world.

This first post will have the basics - hotels, tours, etc. - for those just needing information. I’ll get into the “story” and more details after for anybody who’s interested! We left Nashville for Rome on May 7 and returned from Milan on May 20, so we had about 11.5 days of actual sightseeing time. We booked our flights back in October for $922. General itinerary:
May 8-13 - Rome
May 13-16 - Venice
May 16-19 - Lake Como (based in Bellagio)
May 19 - Milan

US: jent103 & M, ages 30 and 29 respectively, known each other since college. jent103 (me) is a type A introverted planner who takes lots of pictures and was in charge of all the details and logistics (though M eventually took over Map Duty). M is an extroverted low-maintenance travel companion who enjoys flirting with Swiss Guards and pronouncing Italian words with an Arkansas accent. We do well together. Our previous Italy experience is neither extensive nor recent.

KNOWLEDGE OF ITALIAN: Pretty much zilch, though I have a rarely used Spanish minor and could get the gist of a lot of written text. I had very good intentions of learning a little Italian before we left. This did not happen. Nearly everyone we needed to communicate with spoke great English, so it wasn’t a big deal really, but we did feel bad about it. I’d like to learn a little before a return trip.

BUDGET: We’re cost-conscious (spending less means I can travel more!), but we do both have grownup jobs now after a few years in grad school, so we ate real food and didn’t stay in hostels on this trip. We ended up averaging €112/night for lodging. Most of our full restaurant meals cost somewhere between €30-40 for the two of us, though it varied a lot. We rented an apartment in Rome and ate in quite a bit there.

LODGING: In short, I’d stay at all these places again, but depending on your needs, some of them may not fit everyone.

<b>Rome</b>: Piazza del Fico apartment from Sleep In Italy (https://www.sleepinitaly.com/en/show...d_appartam=247 ). For &euro;120/night, we each had our own bedroom and shared a bath, kitchen and living room. Negatives: noise from bar across the street, one not-stellar bed (the other was fine), only warm water. Positives: location, location, location!, responsive owner/agency, TV, wifi, washer.

<b>Venice</b>: Ai Tagliapietra b&b (http://www.aitagliapietra.com/ ), about five minutes from Piazza San Marco once you know your way! No negatives at all. Great location, great owner, tv/wifi. Lorenzo also gets the award for Best Hair Dryer of the Trip (not that the competition was great, but still). Booked at &euro;90/night but got a small discount for paying in cash.

<b>Lake Como</b>: We had to change our plans relatively last minute (more on that later) and ended up staying in Bellagio at Hotel Centrale (http://www.hc-bellagio.com/ ), paying &euro;120/night. Negatives: noise (our room was right next to the steps down to the lobby; we may have gotten this room due to our late booking - it was never enough of an issue to request another room, but I had earplugs :) ); shaky wifi; old TV with 2-3 channels. Positives: Good location, friendly and welcoming staff, good room.

<b>Milan</b>: Hotel Berna (www.hotelberna.com ) at &euro;113. No complaints here (except the hair dryer, if we’re being picky). Positives: very close to Centrale station, security key, elevators, at least two very helpful front desk staff every time we were there, great wifi.

TOURS/ADVANCE BOOKING: I planned ahead quite a bit for Rome, but really nothing beyond “what’s there?” for anywhere else. What we did book ahead:
- Car service from Fiumicino: Rome Cabs (romecabs.com) based on recommendations here. No complaints.
- Scavi tour: I emailed the Scavi office in November, six months ahead, and was pleasantly surprised to be able to book that early.
- Colosseum “dungeon” tour: We booked via Tickitaly rather than Pierecci, before I knew about the Pierecci option. It cost us a few more euro, but in the end I was fine with that. Booking with Tickitaly was easy as pie; we knew what we were getting, and they were very responsive via email. Our &euro;27 (each) got us access to both the lower (“dungeon”) level and the very upper level of the Colosseum (most visitors only go to the middle level), with a very good guided tour, plus access to the Forum and Palatine Hill.
- Cooking class: We booked a cooking class with Chef Andrea Consoli at Le Fate restaurant in Trastevere (www.cookingclassesinrome.com ). The class is &euro;65/person, with an optional wine pairing with each course for &euro;20. This class was great and I highly recommend it.
- Galleria Borghese: I booked online (paying an extra euro apiece, but again, the convenience was totally worth it to me) for an 11am slot our last full day in Rome.

What we did NOT book ahead: Vatican Museums, Roma Passes, any other guided tours. <u>For us</u>, these were good decisions.

LUGGAGE: If I hadn’t been a carry-on-only convert before, I SO am after this trip. We saw so many people with huge suitcases struggling on trains and bridges and steps, but we had no problems with luggage at all. We did one load of laundry near the end of our time in Rome (five days into our trip).

PHONE and IPOD/IPHONE APPS
Neither of us took a laptop, but M has an AT&T iPhone and I have an iPod Touch, which for the uninitiated is basically an iPhone without phone capabilities. This let us check email, Facebook, news, etc without lugging a computer around - I was so thankful to have it! M’s phone let us make a few phone calls to apartment/b&b owners; she had to activate the international plan for $5.99, then it was 99 cents/minute for calls and 50 cents per text.

I downloaded a few iPod apps before the trip; the most helpful one was <b>Rome2Go</b>. (There are Venice, London and Paris versions as well.) These apps have basic info on main attractions, plus searchable maps. If you’re connected to the internet, it will use your GPS capability to show you where you are as you move around. This app was much more helpful than our paper map because you can zoom in and out, as well as search for street names - obviously it doesn’t have every tiny arco and piazza, but it had more than enough to get us around. There are “information” links near churches, attractions, etc., so you can tap on a church icon and make sure it’s the one you want. The maps for Venice2Go didn’t have as much detail, so it wasn’t quite as helpful, though we did still use it. <b>CityMaps2Go</b> is by the same developer but has only maps (no attraction information) for quite a few cities. I downloaded the map for Milan, which had our hotel already stored as a point of interest, so we were able to figure out quickly which direction to head from Centrale. We didn’t really use it otherwise, but we were only in Milan for half a day. None of these require internet connection once they’re downloaded.

GUIDEBOOKS: Not many, really. I had Blue Guides for Rome and Northern Italy (I ripped the Northern Italy one apart to take only the sections we needed). Those were good for history and background. Everything else was researched online.

I think that’s it for logistics and basics. Next, on to the trip!

Keep it coming! My sis and I (who share many of the same travel characteristics as you and your travel partner) will be heading to Italy in November. Great practical advice so far.

Great start jent - can't wait to hear about the trip!

We just got back from Rome and Venice on Friday. We also did the Scavi Tour (the Swiss Guards were letting folks go into the office a full 1/2 hour ahead). The underneath/top tier of the Colosseum tour was so worth it. I think I enjoyed our day at the Borghese the most. The Borghese Gallery is simply amazing but we wandered the entire gardens, visited the Biopark and rented one of those 4 seat, electric, bicycles (over by the Biopark entrance). Definately worth doing!

The best part of Venice (my 6th trip) is to contact Row Venice and book a 2 hour trip to learn the art of Venetian Rowing. It was the most amazing thing I've ever done and we rowed pretty solid for 2 hours...us...not the teacher. Jayne does the stearing while you are in the canal but once you are out on the Venice Lagoon you are on your own. These 2 hours were the absolute highlight of our entire trip and one of the top 5 things I've ever done in my life). The secret apartments tour of the Doge's Palace is also worth booking.

Book ahead and pay the extra for your tickets. We skipped every line and we were first in the door at both the Sistine Chapel/Museum and at the Colosseum. Our picutres of the Colosseum without so much as one other person anywhere in the photos or that we could see really made it exceptional. Get to the Colosseum by 8:00 am.

I just wanted to say hello to you jent, and I am happy to see and to read your trip report. It sounds like you are over your jetlag. I look forward to your next installment and I want to say that you have given some good information for those that are planning a trip to Italy.

You had me at the descriptions of the two of you. This is going to be fun to read.

Please keep it coming!

Thanks, y'all! Loveitaly, the jet lag has morphed into just plain tired, but we're getting there!

M is definitely fun and very quotable, as you'll see! We've been friends for 11 years, though we haven't lived in the same town since 2002, and she's one of my favorite people. She is, thankfully, patient with my type A, uberpunctual tendencies, and appreciates their results, if not my desire to be at airports and train stations ridiculously early. :)

Here's a link to where the pictures from the whole trip are (or will be - I've only gone through two days' worth so far!). I'll post links to individual days as I post, but the entire "collection" will be here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthom...7626683520763/

Looking forward to more...

78 photos until gelato. I hope your priorities become more properly aligned. :-)

Nice pics!

Jean, I can only blame that on the jet lag. :) Thanks!

Making sure I can find the next chapters, the beginning has me looking forward to what's to come.

Same here ...

If your major wasn't photography, it should have been. Some excellent photos. What camera did you use to get such good low-light results? Seriously, jent103, get thee to a gallery-you have the eye.

More TR please.

I loved your photos. I always am interested in night pics, and I had to laugh at the funny old car and the tight parking situation. Can't wait to read the details of what sounds like a fun trip.

I hope I don't disappoint with the actual report! :) More to come a little later today, I promise.

TDudette and irishface, thank you so much for the kind words! No photography major; my dad's a longtime amateur photographer, and one of my brothers and I both picked up the habit. Cropping and a few tweaks on the computer cover a lot of sins too! TD, my main camera is a Canon Rebel XTi with a 17-85mm lens, bought used off my brother when he upgraded to a 50D. The Vatican shots, though, were done with a point & shoot Canon Powershot SD700 - I was afraid my bag with the padded camera insert wouldn't be let into the Scavi area, so I just stuck my P&S in my pocket that day. (Turns out the camera bag would have been totally fine. Oh well.)

Anxiously awaiting the rest of your report. We will be doing Chef Andrea Consoli's class as well in September (he has graciously "penciled" us in since he doesn't take reservations this early-I love him already!!). I'm off to your photos now ;)

Enjoying your report so far. Yes, it is nice to hear about the trip after answering all your planning questions. Waiting for more . . .

Okay, here we go!

<b>Day 1: Jet Lag, Prosciutto & Roma at Last - Sunday, May 8</b>

Our flights to Rome, via Atlanta on Delta, were the best kind - completely uneventful. (I watched <i>Rabbit Hole.</i> It was not as depressing as I thought it would be. M watched <i>Life As We Know It.</i> It ended exactly as I thought it would.) However, I only got two hours of sleep and was physically and mentally exhausted from a stressful month preceding our trip, so this day will be interesting.

After immigration we proceeded to the meeting area designated in the YouTube video sent by Rome Cabs (yes, I’m serious, and it was actually quite helpful). Our driver pointed us to the bancomat, waited patiently while we waited in line and M accidentally tried to take out 45,000 euros, and escorted us to the car. We rode quietly to the center of the city, as I thanked my stars for seat belts and realized for the first time that lane lines are more guidelines than actual rules. M called our apartment owner from the car; from my end the conversation sounded like “Hello, this is jent103, we have a reservation? Yes... okay... yes... okay.” Who knows. I *do* know that I am so glad we booked a car service - it would have taken us years to find the right place in our mental state (probably even on a good day!).

The driver couldn’t actually get his relatively large sedan down to Piazza del Fico, so we had to walk a little bit. He walked us to the door of the apartment building and we buzzed the intercom for #7. The owner let us in, but we weren’t sure which apartment was the correct one. I remembered that it was way up there, so we just walked to the top floor and knocked. Turns out this was the owner’s actual home - the rental apartment is one floor down, and apparently when we called an hour ago, he had asked M if we were downstairs already. Oops. Alessandro seems nice, if very reserved. He showed us around, we worked out deposit and payment, and he told us vaguely where a supermarket was. All we really retained was something about “fifty meters.” Have I mentioned that we didn’t get much sleep?

The apartment was great for us. The bathroom is just inside the front door - not huge (being Europe and all) but enough space. Each of the two bedrooms has a window and faces Bar del Fico across the tiny piazza. There’s a small dining area with a table, a small kitchen with a microwave, gas stove, oven and washer, and a living area with a loveseat and a couple of wooden chairs. Sitting around to socialize wouldn’t be super comfy for more than two people, but for us, no problem. The kitchen looks fairly recently renovated, and everything was clean.

Checking out the bedrooms, we looked out onto old Roman buildings and restaurant workers getting things ready for the lunch crowd while listening to jazz and Don Henley. Sunday in Rome - we’re here! We unpacked, took showers and decided we should probably go find that supermarket, then get some lunch - our plane “breakfast” (seriously unidentifiable - some sort of egg somehow stuffed into some sort of bread?) wasn’t going to hold us long. We walked down Via del Corallo and ended up on the main street, Corso Vittorio Emmanuele II. (Me: “This street looks like it has stuff.”) We decided to turn left. We had no idea where Alessandro’s fifty meters was supposed to come in. We walked a little ways and saw a sign for a Carrefour Express, with an arrow pointing down along some mystery street. All right then. We twisted and turned and eventually found it, actually much closer to the apartment than we realized.

The thought was to get breakfast items and some things to make a couple of light dinners. I had vague notions of prosciutto and baguettes and soft cheese for breakfast. But I didn’t really see any baguettes (more a French thing, as it happens), the bread area was somewhat limited, and the deli counter guy was a little intimidating. We wandered around kind of aimlessly for awhile, picking up fruit and that was about it. M got some Nutella (obviously) and found some sandwich bread.

Committed to this prosciutto idea but not thinking clearly, I thought “well, at home a quarter pound of deli meat would be two or three subs’ worth... a quarter pound is a half kilo... how do I say half?” Yes, some of you see impending doom already. My Talking Italian Phrasebook app (sponsored by Fiat - note that this was not on the recommended list) said a half was “un meta.” All right then. I bravely walk into the deli area and ask for “un meta kilo di prosciutto.” The man behind the deli counter is probably in his 60s, bald with a mustache and grumpy. He asks me how many grams. My jet-lagged, sleepless brain cannot compute that one kilo = 1,000 grams. I look perplexed. He looks irritated. He finally gets that I want 500 grams, and gives me a look like “Really? Are you sure?”

Faking confidence, I nod.

“Prosciutto di Parma? Prosciutto di <other places I don’t know>?”

“um... di Parma.”

He starts slicing. M has joined me in the deli room by now and is watching him slice: “Um, that looks like a lot.” Me: “Yeah... I know.” We finally tell him that’s enough.

“So, FOUR hundred grams.”

“Yes. I guess so. Grazie.”

“<cold look as he hands me a large package of prosciutto>”

I grab a couple of random bread things with rosemary. We pick up some farfalle, a roasted chicken, prepared pesto and a bag of salad, and head for the checkout. And yes, for all those wondering, it did indeed occur to me later that a quarter pound is <i>not</i> half a kilo, but in fact more like a tenth, and that would still be a pretty good amount of prosciutto. Expensive mistake? Yes. Oh well.

We made it back to the apartment, stowed our groceries and decided to go to the restaurant downstairs, Francesco’s, for lunch. Our waiter was friendly but the food was okay. I got roasted chicken with potatoes. The chicken was dry. I have no idea what M got or how much it was.

After lunch we decided to walk to Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, maybe the Trevi Fountain if we felt like it. The weather was warm and gorgeous. We set off. Piazza Navona, art stalls, fountains: Check. We wound our way to the Pantheon, where we found our first mob of people. I tried to listen to my Rick Steves podcast, but gave up quickly. Rick is a cheesy slowpoke. We probably spent 20-30 minutes inside, looking at the oculus and the tombs of kings and Raphael. Then we headed to the Trevi Fountain, passing the Column of Marcus Aurelius and Zara (both equally important) on the way.

We got to the Trevi Fountain and were immediately in the midst of a mob scene. So. Many. People. Clearly I wasn’t going to be getting fabulous artsy shots of the fountain. We probably stayed five minutes, then headed back to the Zara, on the way passing a group of girls sitting at a cafe wearing tank tops with “JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL JACKSON” ironed on the back in hot pink letters.

We shopped a bit then decided to head back to the apartment, somehow winding our way to Via dei Coronari. Walking down the street, M pointed out a gelato place and suggested we get some. Me: “Gelato del Teatro! That place is supposed to be good!” Thanks to marigross’s trip report and M’s sharp eye, we have now found our local gelateria. And oh my goodness, was it ever good. M got tartufo and hazelnut or something. I got cioccolato and white chocolate with basil. Delicious, just the right amount and &euro;2. The chocolate actually tasted like... chocolate.

Exhausted, we head back to the apartment for the evening. That’s right: We’re in Rome, and we’re in pjs by 5pm. We were so tired I didn’t even care. We barely ate dinner; M got 13 hours of sleep that night. I held out till 9 but honestly I don’t think I would have had any trouble sleeping till 8 the next day anyway.

Pictures just from today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthom...7626792263820/

LuvToRoam, I meant to tell you - if you love Chef Andrea now, you will adore him after the class! Coming up on Day 4. I really can't wait to go through the pictures from that day!

Looks like you had an awesome day in Rome!

Really enjoying this!

Thank you for posting, I shall look forward to tomorrow's installment...

Thanks for the information and beautiful photos.

In!

fifty meters

HAH! Hub and I had a trip where every thing was "not too far-just 100 meters". Usually it was a mile later.

My main camera is a point and shoot-with digital, it's often all one needs and more! Again, great shots.

Thanks, everyone! It's so fun reliving the trip while writing this.

julia_t, it's a big holiday weekend in the States and I have a family cookout tomorrow, so I hope you'll forgive me if I'm just a bit late! :)

<b>Day 2: Vatican Day, All Day - Monday, May 9</b>

The first official thing we have planned is the Scavi tour, booked months ago for this morning at 10:45. We planned to walk over from our apartment, and we (okay, *I*) wanted to make sure we had plenty of time, so we left around 9:15 or a little later. In theory it should only have taken us 30 minutes or so, but we crossed the bridge and followed the Lungotevere where we should have followed Borgo Santo Spirito. Oops. As a friend of mine would say... there’s a sermon in that! It really was an easy walk if you, you know, pay attention to the map. I still blame jet lag.

We wandered around Piazza San Pietro for a few minutes, marveling at the giant screens and chairs still set up from John Paul II’s beatification the week before. (Not being Catholic myself, I hadn’t fully realized how beloved JPII was. There were signs all around town celebrating the beatification.) We decided to at least find the Scavi office, so we walked around the colonnade and found a break to the left of the basilica, per the instructions in my email. There they were: Swiss Guards in colorful garb!

We walked up to one of the guards and asked “Scavi?” (We hadn’t yet figured out that yes, pretty much everyone involved in customer service can indeed understand full sentences in English.) The guard, probably 20 and dashing in his traditional attire, looked at his watch and said “Yes, fifteen minutes,” pointing to where we were standing. M decides to be friendly and says “We’re early? But I’m NEVER early!” The poor guard, whose command of English was excellent but not quite up to witty banter with a friendly Arkansan, thought we were still confused. “Fifteen minutes, yes,” and points at his watch. M keeps trying but after a minute we head back to take some pictures of the outside of the basilica.

Me: “Were you trying to flirt with that Swiss Guard?”
M: “Yes I was. He was cute.”

After killing a little time, the cute guard lets us through and points us, in a very general direction, toward the Ufficio Scavi.

Now, after warnings here and in emails about “large bags” not being allowed in the excavations area, and being my cautious self, I have chosen to not take a bag at all today. Instead I wore jeans and took my wallet, printouts of the emails, passport (for the photo ID we were told very explicitly to bring), and point-and-shoot camera instead of my SLR. My pockets were quite full. Did anyone ask for that photo ID? Heck no. Would my bag have been totally fine in the Scavi area, judging by other women’s? Heck yes. Oh well. My shoulders probably thanked me.

Our Scavi guide was a blond Italian who has a graduate degree in Christian archeology. I thought her English was great, though we overheard a few in our group complaining that they couldn’t understand. She did speak quickly but was obviously knowledgeable and interested in the subject matter. She explained how the necropolis had looked before Constantine ordered the basilica built, how he had pledged not to disturb it but instead had had it covered with packed dirt, and how they started excavating. I thought it was fascinating. Definitely, definitely worth the &euro;12 and advance planning. (We had a couple on our tour who we saw fanning themselves and complaining about the humidity in the excavations. M and I looked at each other like, “Seriously? Clearly you have not been in Tennessee in the summer. This ain’t nothin’.”)

The tour ends at a restricted entrance to the crypt under St. Peter’s. The guide told us to follow the one-way traffic flow of the crowd, but at the end, we could go back into the basilica without going through the security lines. We were a little confused about how exactly to do this - obviously there isn’t signage for this slightly illicit means of entrance - but we figured it out eventually. Basically, you go around to the front, but you’re always behind the security barrier, so you can just go in. The basilica... well, it’s massive. When I was there in 1999, we only got to spend a few minutes before getting kicked out for a funeral mass, but I remember our tour guide telling us that the letters along the tops of the walls are six feet tall! We wandered around in awe, along with the rest of the crowds.

Once we left, The Plan was to head to the Vatican Museums. Great, except we weren’t sure how to get there. My map didn’t really indicate where the entrance was. We asked a security guard: “Museo?” “One kilometer! <vague hand gesture>” Um, okay. We headed in the general direction of his wrist flick and eventually, after some wandering, found The Line.

I had thought quite a bit about whether we wanted to reserve tickets in advance for the museums. In the end I decided that we didn’t want to be stressed about making a specific time, since I wasn’t sure how long we would spend in St. Peter’s. I still think that’s the right decision in our case. We ended up in line about 40 minutes, listening to tour company reps try to hawk us guided skip-the-line tours. (I’m still confused about what line you’d be skipping, though, since it turned out that this was the security line - we actually walked right by the ticket booth when we got to the museum, thinking that there had to be a line for that too, but no! So people who reserved tickets - do you get to go to the front of the security lines?) During the wait, the boyfriend of the American couple ahead of us blocked for us when a group of Italian teenagers tried to cut us in line, saying they were with a group. I’m still not totally sure what happened, except that this group of ten-ish young adults were suddenly there where previously there had just been... <i>wall</i> next to me. There were some harsh words between the couple and the teenagers. They ended up snaking their way ahead to the security line, but the couple held the off a long time. Who knows what the real deal was, but they sure seemed to be trying to cut ahead of everyone else.

Anyway, The Plan involved us heading straight to the museum cafeteria for lunch before heading back through the museums. We got there, had mediocre slices of pizza, and headed back toward the entrance... except the way we came, through the bookshop, is blocked off with a “DO NOT ENTER” gate. Hmm. We walk through the bookshop to the exit, but that just takes us to the end of the museums. Well, there’s a security guard at that gate. Maybe he knows.

Me: “Scusi - back to the entrance?”
Guard: <waves hand at the DO NOT ENTER gate>
Me: “Oh, we saw that sign...”
Guard: <shrug>

We open the gate and waltz right through. So, after 24 hours, we are learning that rule following is not necessarily expected here...

(today to be continued, but photos from the whole day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthom...7626808138126/ )

Looking back at my pictures, I think I felt like the museums were more crowded than they actually were, but I still wouldn’t want to see a crowded morning if this was “not bad.” We pretty much followed the crowd the whole way through, though I realized later that we’d accidentally skipped the Egyptian room. Oh well. Neither of us are exactly Egyptian history buffs. I’m sure we’ll survive. I’d been to the museums once before, but the Sistine Chapel still wowed me. The perspective and sheer amount of work... amazing.

After we left the chapel, we sat in the courtyard for awhile and eventually formulated A Plan involving gelato, rest at the apartment, and dinner out that night. We meandered our way back to Gelato del Teatro - still delicious. We needed a few more things from the store and, happily, found another Carrefour Express on Via dei Coronari (no grumpy deli man!).

We rested at the apartment for awhile - I, at least, needed that. Rome was stressing me out. Between the crowds, constantly getting turned around, the cigarette smoke and the mopeds, I was feeling really out of my element. Everything felt very chaotic and survival-of-the-fittest. Coming from a culture where people routinely say hello to strangers in the hallways and make small talk with store clerks, the (relative) unfriendliness of this big city was not something I’d thought to prepare for (though I should have). I was starting to think “well, at least we get to do some really cool stuff, and on Friday we’ll be gone anyway.” In short, M seemed fine, but I was tired and stressed and maybe a tad grumpy.

We decided on Baffetto 2 for dinner from my List O’ Restaurants, walked to the Campo dei Fiori area and found it with not too much trouble. Getting in, however, was more an issue: We couldn't figure out which door to use (the one the signs seemed to be pointing to looked like an emergency exit!). Finally we walked up to the first door, caught someone’s eye, and were seated in the back by a rather unfriendly host. Our first waiter had about the same personality. Things were not looking up for my frame of mind. But fortunately, this is where the differences between M and me come in handy. My strategy, when faced with unfriendly people, is to be polite but irritated on the inside. Hers is to smile at them so much that they are forced to like her. Shockingly, her strategy is generally more effective. The other waiter who took care of us was much friendlier - whether it was his natural personality or her efforts, who knows, but yay for that.

I got a suppli, just to try one. It was okay - I’d be curious to try other versions. We both ordered pizzas: M’s with zucchini flowers, mine a potato & rosemary one. Neither one of us were wowed by the restaurant, though M’s opinion was “it was fine” whereas mine was “hmmph.” Now in a better frame of mind, I still say that it’s fine, but there are better choices out there.

Feeling somewhat refreshed, we decided to walk to the Colosseum area. This had the double appeal of letting us find where we needed to go for our tour the next morning, and letting me take some night shots of that area. Well, of course we got lost (at this point we were still using the map from my Blue Guide, not the Rome2Go app). We got to the Vittorio Emmanuele monument just fine, but that was where things started to fall apart a bit. We followed roads that seemed to lead where we wanted, but no dice. I know now that we kept going straight when we should have turned on the east side of the monument - it really isn’t difficult, but we managed to do it. Getting lost yet again was not helping my frame of mind! It felt like we couldn’t go anywhere without meandering down six wrong streets first.

We did eventually make it down to the Colosseum. Seeing it and the Arch of Constantine lit up was very cool, and my mood started to turn just a little. We headed back to the apartment around 10 or so (thankfully we didn’t get lost this time). A little more email and off to my much needed bed, hoping sleep would do me some good!

Side note here: We walked. Everywhere. I am not exaggerating. We took the car from FCO and a cab to Termini when we left, and in between we walked. Since there’s no metro station near Piazza Navona, that wouldn’t have really helped us much. We could have figured out the bus system, but we’re good walkers and figured it would cause stress without saving us much time. So, we walked. Not a big deal, really, though we’re in good health (and had good shoes!), so others’ mileage may vary.

Hi, jent103. I'm enjoying your report. Our itinerary was the opposite, I think. We also walked everywhere and also found the crowds unbearable at times in Rome. I'm still working on my report, so I'm "still" in Venice.

Great story! You are pretty hard on yourself for your mood, but seem to handle it in a mature way. I sympathize with the uneasy feeling of being in a crowded place where no one seems to follow an organized line order. I can stand waiting in line (just) if I can see that I will get my fair turn.

I remember standing in a vaporetto line in Venice when a man pushed in front of me. I was not pleased but figured, What the heck!? The next thing I know, he was motioning to Granny, wife and kids and I was back about 10 people. After a day of this sort of thing, I decided I would hold my ground the next time. Well wouldn't you know? I felt a shove, I planted my feet firmly and there was a uniformed fellow yelling at me to move as he practically pushed me to the ground and went running through.

Great story! You are pretty hard on yourself for your mood, but seem to handle it in a mature way. I sympathize with the uneasy feeling of being in a crowded place where no one seems to follow an organized line order. I can stand waiting in line (just) if I can see that I will get my fair turn.

I remember standing in a vaporetto line in Venice when a man pushed in front of me. I was not pleased but figured, What the heck!? The next thing I know, he was motioning to Granny, wife and kids and I was back about 10 people. After a day of this sort of thing, I decided I would hold my ground the next time. Well wouldn't you know? I felt a shove, I planted my feet firmly and there was a uniformed fellow yelling at me to move as he practically pushed me to the ground and went running through.

Very happy you found my report useful! I was completely overwhelmed with Rome the first time I was there. It was pre-fodors and I was very unprepared. I only shceduled the 5 day stay the second time around because it was DDs first trip and surprised myself for absolutely loving Rome.

Our first time in Rome was at the end of a three week road trip, we'd already seen Tuscany, Verona, Venice, Florence, Orvieto, and the Amalfi coast. I think we were ready for it as our last stop. This fall, it will be where we spend our first week.

marigross, your report was so helpful! It actually helped when we were waffling between Lake Como and Cinque Terre as well, though I would love to visit CT someday.

irishface, that would drive me crazy! And that "taking a stand" story would totally happen to me too.

Rome actually did grow on me, but those first few days were a little rough. Being tired and stressed from work the month before was probably a big part of it, honestly, and I hate the feeling of not knowing where I'm going. I couldn't help comparing it to London in my mind (I've spent a few months there total, and it's the only big international city I've spent a lot of time in). They're both big, but have such opposite personalities to me. Rome is controlled chaos, every man for himself, it seems. London is orderly and so dang British, and I think that's one reason I can love it even though I'm not generally a big city girl.

Though I will share a quote from M: "I don't know. I haven't seen a guy peeing on the wall here like I have in London..."

Thanks for that Rome2Go app suggestion. I like that you can put your own pins on the map - like I've now done for the hotel where we're staying, and a couple restaurant tips from friends we've eaten out with in other locations :-)

I love the chaos that is Rome. But then I like Palermo which is far from orderly. I had an Italian tutor once who told me, "In Rome, it's good to be tough. You need to be strong [made a fist] there." Once you get used to it, it's great. I think a loose itinerary and an anything-goes attitude helps. It seems like you and M had a great time.

Enjoying your report and photos, Jen!

uhoh, you're so welcome! Once it occurred to me to actually use it, that app was super helpful.

Leely2, I think your tutor was right on! Once I got used to it - well, oddly enough, it might be the place we went to that I'd return to first.

<b>Day 3: Colosseo, Foro, and Bewaretouristtrapgelato</b>

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, and it’s time to see some ruins!

Tickitaly had given us strict instructions to be at the Colosseum at 9:10 for our 9:40 tour, and most of our group followed orders. We found the group counter, exchanged our email for a ticket, and headed to the meeting point. We spent the next 30 minutes reading up on the Colosseum and Forum from my Blue Guide and chatting with the other members of our group, probably 15-20 total. At 9:40 our tour guide (for the sake of this report we shall call her Marketa; this may or may not have been her actual name) met us, passed out our little walkie-talkies and we were off.

The tour started at a restricted gate that took us down to the dungeon level. Marketa told us about the gladiators, the women, everything that took place down there. She pointed out where the water came out for the naumachia and pointed out some of the architectural details. After awhile downstairs, we headed to the main level, but only stayed there briefly. Our final stop was the very top level of the Colosseum, directly across and up from where we had started. This area is also restricted and it was great to be able to go up there. The views of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum were fantastic. Personally, I thought the tour was great and would absolutely recommend it. There were a couple who said they couldn’t understand the guide, but as with our Scavi guide, I had no problem at all. I’m not sure if some of the others were expecting an American or Englishman to be giving the tour? We had a couple of guys in the group who insisted on making questionable jokes (“Have the Italians gotten any nicer since they were killing people? Don’t worry, I used to be married to one, I can say that”), but otherwise our group was wonderful. The tour lasted just a little over an hour and a half and I enjoyed every minute.

After the tour, we headed for the Forum. You guessed it - we got lost. We followed the sign we saw up a paved road uphill, only to realize that that just got us to Santa Francesca Romana. I’m pretty sure this was the point where I should have officially turned over Map Duty, but I still held on for a few more days. (I really do normally have excellent map-reading skills. Something about Rome just stole my Map Mojo!) Eventually we did get there. There was a special exhibit set up in the Forum about Nero, “Nerone,” that was really interesting - they had exhibits set up in a few different buildings which are usually closed to the public. We meandered around, looking at the arches, the Temple of Vesta and the House of the Vestal Virgins, then headed up Palatine Hill for awhile.

I will say that the Forum is probably the one place I wish I had listened to Rick Steves’s podcast or had been willing to pay a private guide. (I did start the podcast, actually, but Rick didn’t seem to start at the main entrance and I couldn’t figure out what his plan was, so I gave up.) If there’s a return trip, that’s something I’ll investigate more, along with going up Capitoline Hill and visiting that museum. The information in my Blue Guide was helpful.

After a long morning of walking, we were ravenous. I had a recommendation from Fodorite kyliebaby for a restaurant called Naumachia, near the Colosseum. (Note: the restaurant shows up with a totally different name on Google Maps, but it was the right address.) Miraculously, we found it with only one false start, and finally I was getting the Italian food I’d been excited about! M and I decided to split an antipasti of buffalo ricotta and honey. Oh. My. Word. I had never heard of this and would never have thought to put them together, but it was really one of the best things I’d ever eaten. We each got our own pasta dish; M got something with a spicy sauce that was not arrabiata, and I got cacio e pepe. YUM. I daydream about cacio e pepe now. Really. As I write I’m about to go meet friends for fish and chips, but all I really want is pasta, cooked al dente, with Parmesan cheese and olive oil and black pepper.

With two liters of water, our lunch cost about &euro;32. We lingered, relishing the chance to rest our feet, and talked about where to go next. But first, there was a pharmacy next door, and M wanted bobby pins, so we thought we’d go check it out.

I do not believe I have yet mentioned that M is a pharmacist. She works in an academic hospital, in a very different job than the corner Walgreens, but feels a kinship with all in her profession. She was very excited about visiting an Italian pharmacy, even after we discovered that pharmacies really do just sell health-related items (i.e., no luck on the bobby pins).

We walked into the farmacia. The nice pharmacist looks up, says buon giorno. M says “Hi! I’m a pharmacist too! I just wanted to see an Italian pharmacy and see what you can get over the counter here!” Yes, M is a pharmacy nerd. The pharmacist, of course, is somewhere between bemused and befuddled. “Haha... okay, look around! <sweeping gesture>”

We look around for a couple of minutes. M decides she wants to get her picture made with the Italian pharmacist. Completely perplexed at these crazy Americans, he hesitantly comes out from behind the counter. All the while saying “Very strange... very strange,” they pose in the Awkward Handshake manner and I snap a photo with M’s camera. I really regret that I didn’t get one with mine too, because that photo is PRICELESS and knowing M, it will not see the light of day for awhile. Bless that man for being a good sport. He made our days.

How do you follow that up? San Pietro in Vincoli was our best attempt. Once again, it looked straightforward on the map, but maps are deceptive little things. I posted a picture of the arco you go through on my Flickr account in the hopes of helping others in the future. :) I was actually surprised at how relatively plain it was, compared to other ornate churches I’d seen.

Finished there, we headed to Santa Maria Maggiore. We got to the spot marked on the map and noticed that the church seemed awfully quiet - in fact, there was a barrier at the bottom of the steps keeping anyone from going up. Was it closed today? Very strange. M decided that we should maybe walk around to the other side... you know, just in case. Well, of course she was right once again. We Protestant girls didn’t realize that the curved part of traditional Catholic churches is usually the <i>back</i>. We made it in, looked around for awhile, and decided it was Gelato Hour.

I suggested we go to one of the places around the piazza in front of the church. Oh, mistake. We went to a place to the right as you exit the church, thinking we’d get a cup to go for a few euro. We started talking to the guy behind the counter, who asked if we were getting it to sit or to take away. We waffled and he said “Yes, you sit! You eat ice cream, you relax.” Okay, sounds good to us. We tell him our flavors, he attempts to teach M how to say “fragola” (M has difficulty rolling her Rs to his satisfaction), and we picked a table outside. Our gelato arrives, complete with drizzles of strawberry sauce and fancy cookies and whipped cream. We sit, we relax, we chat, we decide the fragola is yummy but the others are clearly inferior to Gelato del Teatro. We go back inside to pay the unfriendly clerk, who informs us that our gelato is six euro apiece. Six euro! Three times the cost of our beloved local gelateria. I knew it would cost more to sit and eat, but was not anticipating paying $8.50 for ice cream. So, let this be a lesson: Beware the tourist trap gelato!

We headed back to the apartment for a bit, planning to cook a light dinner in and then maybe head to Piazza Navona so I could get some nighttime photos. Our efforts were thwarted, however, when we realized that there was no lighter or matches available for our gas stove (never fear, though - there were two corkscrews). We looked everywhere but found no method of lighting the pilot light. Either previous tenants took it for their own purposes, or everyone else has always had one on them anyway (M: “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but pretty much everyone smokes here.”). Hmm. This is an issue.

Well, it’s getting dark anyway, so we head to Piazza Navona to get photos and figure we’ll stop at the Carrefour on our way. Except the Carrefour has no lighters. The tabacchis are closed. The pharmacies don’t have them either. What to do? About to give up and make a makeshift dinner out of what we can, we walk by a souvenir shop and M veers in. She heads to the cash register and hits pay dirt: M is now the proud owner of a Formula One souvenir lighter. (She graciously donated this to the apartment’s utensil drawer after realizing that she probably couldn’t get it through airport security.) We finally made our dinner, watched some Twilight dubbed in Italian (let’s be clear: this was M’s choice entirely), and crashed for the night.

Photos from today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthom...th/5766777981/

Still laughing at your wonderful story. Also enjoying your photos. For your night shots do you use a tripod or brace your camera on a railing or some other convenient object?

You are on your way to sighing whenever you think of delicious, beautiful, quirky Italia!