So I'm headed to Italy for a month with my girlfriend, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice on nifty places to go see. We will be backpacking, mostly, and staying in the hostels in the big cities, but if anyone has any amazing little villages, restaurant, or gems along the countryside that I shouldn't miss, please let me know!
Headed to Italy for a month, any CAG know where I should visit?
- Thread starter eeriedude
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I live in Rome, so if any specific question comes to your mind, feel free to ask. We have many interesting places to see here in Rome such as Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna, Via del Corso, Via del Tritone, the Terrazza del Pincio (which is a part of Villa Borghese, and is overlooking Piazza del Popolo), pretty close to each other (around Metro A stations Flaminio, Spagna, Barberini, Repubblica). A nice place to visit is around the Ottaviano and Lepanto Metro stations, with many shops and such (but don't forget a map because sometimes is not easy to find the way back to the Metro, even I get lost sometimes 
). Be careful around the Termini station's area, which could be dangerous during the night. Avoid areas such as Trullo, Corviale, Primavalle, Tor di Quinto (could be dangerous, and there's nothing interesting for tourists).
). Be careful around the Termini station's area, which could be dangerous during the night. Avoid areas such as Trullo, Corviale, Primavalle, Tor di Quinto (could be dangerous, and there's nothing interesting for tourists).
c0rnpwn
CAGiversary!
[quote name='chadlost']I live in Rome, so if any specific question comes to your mind, feel free to ask. We have many interesting places to see here in Rome such as Piazza del Popolo, Piazza di Spagna, Via del Corso, Via del Tritone, the Terrazza del Pincio (which is a part of Villa Borghese, and is overlooking Piazza del Popolo), pretty close to each other (around Metro A stations Flaminio, Spagna, Barberini, Repubblica). A nice place to visit is around the Ottaviano and Lepanto Metro stations, with many shops and such (but don't forget a map because sometimes is not easy to find the way back to the Metro, even I get lost sometimes ). Be careful around the Termini station's area, which could be dangerous during the night. Avoid areas such as Trullo, Corviale, Primavalle, Tor di Quinto (could be dangerous, and there's nothing interesting for tourists).[/QUOTE]
Go to Trastevere / Testaccio at Rome. My stomping grounds
Also Sicily's beautiful (but I'm biased, my family is from / lives there). I love Venice, too. Don't go to Milan, it's boring there.
). Be careful around the Termini station's area, which could be dangerous during the night. Avoid areas such as Trullo, Corviale, Primavalle, Tor di Quinto (could be dangerous, and there's nothing interesting for tourists).[/QUOTE]Go to Trastevere / Testaccio at Rome. My stomping grounds
Also Sicily's beautiful (but I'm biased, my family is from / lives there). I love Venice, too. Don't go to Milan, it's boring there.
fatherofcaitlyn
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Follow the path and repeat the actions of Hannibal Barcason.
[quote name='homeland']cant forget pompeii seeing the casts of the people is a unique experience.[/QUOTE]
Planning on visiting Pompeii, and I think its the single part of my trip I am most excited about.
Thanks much for the advice guys, and keep it coming!
Planning on visiting Pompeii, and I think its the single part of my trip I am most excited about.
Thanks much for the advice guys, and keep it coming!
if u can rent a car driving the almafi coast is a blast. The road consists of a 2 small lane road mt on one side a sharp cliff on the other.. it can be kind of stressfull at time but there are a bunch of small towns to like almafi and possitano that make it worth it.
BillyBob29
CAGiversary!
If you are a car guy you may want to check into a Lamborghini or Ferrari factory tour. I know Ferrari has a big museum as well.
c0rnpwn
CAGiversary!
[quote name='eeriedude']Planning on visiting Pompeii, and I think its the single part of my trip I am most excited about.
Thanks much for the advice guys, and keep it coming![/QUOTE]
If you want any advice as far as the best sights in Pompeii go, feel free to ask. I had to take a couple lectures there (2 days of note taking in the sweltering sun was ...interesting).
Or anything else classical related for that matter, if you seem to be interested in old things. For example, Ravenna is a highly underrated visit. The mosaics there are breathtaking.
Thanks much for the advice guys, and keep it coming![/QUOTE]
If you want any advice as far as the best sights in Pompeii go, feel free to ask. I had to take a couple lectures there (2 days of note taking in the sweltering sun was ...interesting).
Or anything else classical related for that matter, if you seem to be interested in old things. For example, Ravenna is a highly underrated visit. The mosaics there are breathtaking.
Classical is good. . .I chose Italy as my country of travel because of the rich history that the country has. Any art or cool buildings that you guys *glances at c0rnpwn and chadlost* can recommend, I would love.
Might also see the live chess game in Marostica. . .that sounds awesome. . .
When I went to Italy after college, I really enjoyed Pompeii and Venice - Granted, they aren't the closest together, but you really only need 1.5 -2 days to see everything in Venice. Also, I believe Venician glass is the most ornate/beautiful and the cheapest in Venice.
I went to Rome last year with my girlfriend and had a great time. Instead of giving you the lowdown on where to go since you can get that from any tourist book, here are a few tips:
1) Banks are a great way to exchange currency. I have an account with Chase so they gave me a good rate, much better than other places that offer currency exchange.
2) When you go out to eat and buy bottled water (a definite must), make sure you look at the cap and see that it hasn't been tampered with. I ate at a restaurant and noticed the water tasted like toilet water. Upon inspecting the bottle cap, it looks like they simply refilled empty bottles with tap water and put the cap back on to make it look like it was brand new. If it is a little loose or looks funny, ask the waiter for a new one. From then on, I simply ordered sodas and house wine whenever we ate.
3) There are many Chinese operated groceries in Rome. Their prices are a lot cheaper than the price of Italian owned grocery stores. Buy from them if you are craving a soda or a bottle of water. And no, it isn't counterfeit soda.
4) Watch out for scammers or con artists on the street. While we were walking, this guy came up and offered my girlfriend a rose. He basically lied to her and said it was free. As soon as she took it, he asked me for 3 euros. I obliged because I didn't want to get into an argument. These guys generally work in groups so don't threaten a guy if he pisses you off since there are others to watch his back. The best way is to simply smile and say, "No thank you."
5) I guess when my girlfriend was carrying the rose, other scammers thought we were an easy target for money. As we were taking in a sight, this "nice guy" strikes up a conversation and asks me to extend my pinkie for a blessing. Before I know it, he was tying a rope around it and was making a bracelet. Out of nowhere his friend comes to us (they work in groups), and does the same to my girlfriend. I pull out a euro to say thanks and the guy gets insulted and says, "Only 1 euro? Give me 5!" I basically told him if he doesn't want what I offered, he doesn't have to take it. He then cut off my bracelet and walked away cursing in Italian with his friend. I later read about this scenario on another forum and that person offered 5 and the guy wanted 20. I guess whatever you offer, they automatically counter with 4 times the amount.
6) If you are on a budget, pizza is generally a good deal. About 8 euros for an individual pie. Thankfully the pizza is AMAZING. If you can, try to hit up Pizzeria Baffetto. Unfortunately it is a tourist trap and no exaggeration, we waited 2 hours for our pizza as did other tables around us.
7) If you visit the Colosseum, the ticket also grants you access to the Palatine Hill (right next to it) for free. That means you if you buy a ticket at Palatine Hill, you have access to the Colosseum (since they are all the same ticket). Why is this so important? The lines are insane at the Colosseum. Buy your ticket at Palatine Hill, and then go to the Colosseum and bypass all the lines straight to the entrance. I picked up this tip at another forum and no joke, the lines at the Colosseum probably had 200 people. There were 5 people in front of us at the Palatine Hill.
1) Banks are a great way to exchange currency. I have an account with Chase so they gave me a good rate, much better than other places that offer currency exchange.
2) When you go out to eat and buy bottled water (a definite must), make sure you look at the cap and see that it hasn't been tampered with. I ate at a restaurant and noticed the water tasted like toilet water. Upon inspecting the bottle cap, it looks like they simply refilled empty bottles with tap water and put the cap back on to make it look like it was brand new. If it is a little loose or looks funny, ask the waiter for a new one. From then on, I simply ordered sodas and house wine whenever we ate.
3) There are many Chinese operated groceries in Rome. Their prices are a lot cheaper than the price of Italian owned grocery stores. Buy from them if you are craving a soda or a bottle of water. And no, it isn't counterfeit soda.
4) Watch out for scammers or con artists on the street. While we were walking, this guy came up and offered my girlfriend a rose. He basically lied to her and said it was free. As soon as she took it, he asked me for 3 euros. I obliged because I didn't want to get into an argument. These guys generally work in groups so don't threaten a guy if he pisses you off since there are others to watch his back. The best way is to simply smile and say, "No thank you."
5) I guess when my girlfriend was carrying the rose, other scammers thought we were an easy target for money. As we were taking in a sight, this "nice guy" strikes up a conversation and asks me to extend my pinkie for a blessing. Before I know it, he was tying a rope around it and was making a bracelet. Out of nowhere his friend comes to us (they work in groups), and does the same to my girlfriend. I pull out a euro to say thanks and the guy gets insulted and says, "Only 1 euro? Give me 5!" I basically told him if he doesn't want what I offered, he doesn't have to take it. He then cut off my bracelet and walked away cursing in Italian with his friend. I later read about this scenario on another forum and that person offered 5 and the guy wanted 20. I guess whatever you offer, they automatically counter with 4 times the amount.
6) If you are on a budget, pizza is generally a good deal. About 8 euros for an individual pie. Thankfully the pizza is AMAZING. If you can, try to hit up Pizzeria Baffetto. Unfortunately it is a tourist trap and no exaggeration, we waited 2 hours for our pizza as did other tables around us.
7) If you visit the Colosseum, the ticket also grants you access to the Palatine Hill (right next to it) for free. That means you if you buy a ticket at Palatine Hill, you have access to the Colosseum (since they are all the same ticket). Why is this so important? The lines are insane at the Colosseum. Buy your ticket at Palatine Hill, and then go to the Colosseum and bypass all the lines straight to the entrance. I picked up this tip at another forum and no joke, the lines at the Colosseum probably had 200 people. There were 5 people in front of us at the Palatine Hill.
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c0rnpwn
CAGiversary!
[quote name='Kendro']I went to Rome last year with my girlfriend and had a great time. Instead of giving you the lowdown on where to go since you can get that from any tourist book, here are a few tips:
1) Banks are a great way to exchange currency. I have an account with Chase so they gave me a good rate, much better than other places that offer currency exchange.
2) When you go out to eat and buy bottled water (a definite must), make sure you look at the cap and see that it hasn't been tampered with. I ate at a restaurant and noticed the water tasted like toilet water. Upon inspecting the bottle cap, it looks like they simply refilled empty bottles with tap water and put the cap back on to make it look like it was brand new. If it is a little loose or looks funny, ask the waiter for a new one. From then on, I simply ordered sodas and house wine whenever we ate.
3) There are many Chinese operated groceries in Rome. Their prices are a lot cheaper than the price of Italian owned grocery stores. Buy from them if you are craving a soda or a bottle of water. And no, it isn't counterfeit soda.
4) Watch out for scammers or con artists on the street. While we were walking, this guy came up and offered my girlfriend a rose. He basically lied to her and said it was free. As soon as she took it, he asked me for 3 euros. I obliged because I didn't want to get into an argument. These guys generally work in groups so don't threaten a guy if he pisses you off since there are others to watch his back. The best way is to simply smile and say, "No thank you."
5) I guess when my girlfriend was carrying the rose, other scammers thought we were an easy target for money. As we were taking in a sight, this "nice guy" strikes up a conversation and asks me to extend my pinkie for a blessing. Before I know it, he was tying a rope around it and was making a bracelet. Out of nowhere his friend comes to us (they work in groups), and does the same to my girlfriend. I pull out a euro to say thanks and the guy gets insulted and says, "Only 1 euro? Give me 5!" I basically told him if he doesn't want what I offered, he doesn't have to take it. He then cut off my bracelet and walked away cursing in Italian with his friend. I later read about this scenario on another forum and that person offered 5 and the guy wanted 20. I guess whatever you offer, they automatically counter with 4 times the amount.
6) If you are on a budget, pizza is generally a good deal. About 8 euros for an individual pie. Thankfully the pizza is AMAZING. If you can, try to hit up Pizzeria Baffetto. Unfortunately it is a tourist trap and no exaggeration, we waited 2 hours for our pizza as did other tables around us.
7) If you visit the Colosseum, the ticket also grants you access to the Palatine Hill (right next to it) for free. That means you if you buy a ticket at Palatine Hill, you have access to the Colosseum (since they are all the same ticket). Why is this so important? The lines are insane at the Colosseum. Buy your ticket at Palatine Hill, and then go to the Colosseum and bypass all the lines straight to the entrance. I picked up this tip at another forum and no joke, the lines at the Colosseum probably had 200 people. There were 5 people in front of us at the Palatine Hill.[/QUOTE]
I just want to add my two cents on this before I write a post about things to see:
1) I'll take your word for it, I was there for an extended time so I really didn't bring USD to convert into euros. I just pulled money from BNP Paribas as that's the connecting bank with Bank of America.
2) This will be more true in crappy tourist restaurants, which in Rome is VERY frequent unless you go to where Italians go...and that's not really in "Rome." You should be fine if you order acqua frizzante ("con gas"), but the tip here is to always remain vigilant because...
4,5) There's a lot of people in Rome looking to rip tourists off. I don't want to use the
word, but you should be able to recognize them when you see them. I've never seen an ethnic Italian selling string bracelets, light up toys, single roses, etc. That being said, they're nearly ubiquitous and impossible to avoid, even INSIDE restaurants. Restaurant owners can't really kick them out unless they want trouble. You can always say "no," they understand that pretty well. I got in a verbal kerfuffle once with one guy who shined a laser pointer in my eye and then asked if I wanted to buy it. I was having a bad day and that broke the straw on the camel's back so I pretty much told him to vaffanculo and I guess he was having a bad day too :lol:
That being said, you can still get a rose for your girl if you wait until like midnight and there's nobody around. Then they're pretty chill. Still refuse to buy it and he may be nice and just give it to her, but not while there's a million people on the streets.
6) Pizza from Rome and south is delicious and should be tasted. I've had okay pizza in Florence and Venice, but it was average by American standards. However in Rome, don't order pizza at a restaurant (once when I was a little kid, a friend of the family, this Sicilian waiter, told me "never get pizza in an Italian restaurant. Get pizza at a pizzeria!"), you should get pizza in one of two places:
a pizza "bar" (you'll see the word bar a lot, it doesn't carry the same meaning to Italians as it does to Americans. Bars are usually for caffè, pizza, or pastries, though they do serve alcohol if you want. Your nightlife should be clubs if you're into that; Italian clubs are, imo, worlds better than American ones.)
OR pizza al taglio which means pizza by the slice. In Rome what they do is they take a big sheet of pizza and cut it per KG, then fold the squares up in a sandwich. It's delicious!
Naples has two different styles of pizza, what I like to call street pizza and restaurant pizza. Because Naples is the home to pizza my advice about Italian restaurants doesn't apply, you'll be hard pressed to find crappy pizza there. Street pizza is small, handheld things sold by street vendors. Pizza in a restaurant will be your traditional circular pie. Get a pizza margherita and make sure the words mozzarella di bufala are somewhere in the description. Buffalo mozzarella is to die for in Italy, and it doesn't ship very well to the States. Capri has the best insalata caprese.
The point, also, is that Italian food is VERY regional. Florence has great red meat, Sicily has great fish. Naples has amazing pizza, Rome has delicious veal (if you like veal, I'm not a big fan), carbonara, and cacio e pepe.
7) Completely correct. The Palatine Hill is also great because it's essentially an archaeological park. The house of Augustus, Domitian's Palace, Romulus's hut, the Domus Aurea.
1) Banks are a great way to exchange currency. I have an account with Chase so they gave me a good rate, much better than other places that offer currency exchange.
2) When you go out to eat and buy bottled water (a definite must), make sure you look at the cap and see that it hasn't been tampered with. I ate at a restaurant and noticed the water tasted like toilet water. Upon inspecting the bottle cap, it looks like they simply refilled empty bottles with tap water and put the cap back on to make it look like it was brand new. If it is a little loose or looks funny, ask the waiter for a new one. From then on, I simply ordered sodas and house wine whenever we ate.
3) There are many Chinese operated groceries in Rome. Their prices are a lot cheaper than the price of Italian owned grocery stores. Buy from them if you are craving a soda or a bottle of water. And no, it isn't counterfeit soda.
4) Watch out for scammers or con artists on the street. While we were walking, this guy came up and offered my girlfriend a rose. He basically lied to her and said it was free. As soon as she took it, he asked me for 3 euros. I obliged because I didn't want to get into an argument. These guys generally work in groups so don't threaten a guy if he pisses you off since there are others to watch his back. The best way is to simply smile and say, "No thank you."
5) I guess when my girlfriend was carrying the rose, other scammers thought we were an easy target for money. As we were taking in a sight, this "nice guy" strikes up a conversation and asks me to extend my pinkie for a blessing. Before I know it, he was tying a rope around it and was making a bracelet. Out of nowhere his friend comes to us (they work in groups), and does the same to my girlfriend. I pull out a euro to say thanks and the guy gets insulted and says, "Only 1 euro? Give me 5!" I basically told him if he doesn't want what I offered, he doesn't have to take it. He then cut off my bracelet and walked away cursing in Italian with his friend. I later read about this scenario on another forum and that person offered 5 and the guy wanted 20. I guess whatever you offer, they automatically counter with 4 times the amount.
6) If you are on a budget, pizza is generally a good deal. About 8 euros for an individual pie. Thankfully the pizza is AMAZING. If you can, try to hit up Pizzeria Baffetto. Unfortunately it is a tourist trap and no exaggeration, we waited 2 hours for our pizza as did other tables around us.
7) If you visit the Colosseum, the ticket also grants you access to the Palatine Hill (right next to it) for free. That means you if you buy a ticket at Palatine Hill, you have access to the Colosseum (since they are all the same ticket). Why is this so important? The lines are insane at the Colosseum. Buy your ticket at Palatine Hill, and then go to the Colosseum and bypass all the lines straight to the entrance. I picked up this tip at another forum and no joke, the lines at the Colosseum probably had 200 people. There were 5 people in front of us at the Palatine Hill.[/QUOTE]
I just want to add my two cents on this before I write a post about things to see:
1) I'll take your word for it, I was there for an extended time so I really didn't bring USD to convert into euros. I just pulled money from BNP Paribas as that's the connecting bank with Bank of America.
2) This will be more true in crappy tourist restaurants, which in Rome is VERY frequent unless you go to where Italians go...and that's not really in "Rome." You should be fine if you order acqua frizzante ("con gas"), but the tip here is to always remain vigilant because...
4,5) There's a lot of people in Rome looking to rip tourists off. I don't want to use the
gypsy
That being said, you can still get a rose for your girl if you wait until like midnight and there's nobody around. Then they're pretty chill. Still refuse to buy it and he may be nice and just give it to her, but not while there's a million people on the streets.
6) Pizza from Rome and south is delicious and should be tasted. I've had okay pizza in Florence and Venice, but it was average by American standards. However in Rome, don't order pizza at a restaurant (once when I was a little kid, a friend of the family, this Sicilian waiter, told me "never get pizza in an Italian restaurant. Get pizza at a pizzeria!"), you should get pizza in one of two places:
a pizza "bar" (you'll see the word bar a lot, it doesn't carry the same meaning to Italians as it does to Americans. Bars are usually for caffè, pizza, or pastries, though they do serve alcohol if you want. Your nightlife should be clubs if you're into that; Italian clubs are, imo, worlds better than American ones.)
OR pizza al taglio which means pizza by the slice. In Rome what they do is they take a big sheet of pizza and cut it per KG, then fold the squares up in a sandwich. It's delicious!
Naples has two different styles of pizza, what I like to call street pizza and restaurant pizza. Because Naples is the home to pizza my advice about Italian restaurants doesn't apply, you'll be hard pressed to find crappy pizza there. Street pizza is small, handheld things sold by street vendors. Pizza in a restaurant will be your traditional circular pie. Get a pizza margherita and make sure the words mozzarella di bufala are somewhere in the description. Buffalo mozzarella is to die for in Italy, and it doesn't ship very well to the States. Capri has the best insalata caprese.
The point, also, is that Italian food is VERY regional. Florence has great red meat, Sicily has great fish. Naples has amazing pizza, Rome has delicious veal (if you like veal, I'm not a big fan), carbonara, and cacio e pepe.
7) Completely correct. The Palatine Hill is also great because it's essentially an archaeological park. The house of Augustus, Domitian's Palace, Romulus's hut, the Domus Aurea.
venice is a great city. be sure to get off of the main channel's and go deep into the city. for me it was great just walking around a city that didn't have any motorized vehicles.
possitano is beautiful too. if you get a chance take the ferry in, its a great sight as you come around the coast and see this city built on the side of a mountain and flowing straight into the sea. lots of really nice people there too. there was a small hotel (sorry i can't remember the name of it) that sat in front of the main church that bailed my wife and i out when we got there and found out our hotel reservations were in another place on the east coast.
and of course florence is great for art if your into that kind of thing.
i could go on and on because we had an absolute blast while we were there! enjoy your trip!!!
possitano is beautiful too. if you get a chance take the ferry in, its a great sight as you come around the coast and see this city built on the side of a mountain and flowing straight into the sea. lots of really nice people there too. there was a small hotel (sorry i can't remember the name of it) that sat in front of the main church that bailed my wife and i out when we got there and found out our hotel reservations were in another place on the east coast.
and of course florence is great for art if your into that kind of thing.
i could go on and on because we had an absolute blast while we were there! enjoy your trip!!!
olde_english
CAGiversary!
I spent a bunch of time in Italy and whatever has been said about Rome is bang on. Pompeii is amazing, but don't forget Herculaneum also. The Amalfi Coast is awesome because it is both beautiful and dead scary too - I don't drive because I have seen such carnage (and death, natch) on the roads around there. Sorrento is a lovely place to chill but no amount of tasty pizza would ever tempt me back to Naples - that place is a straight-up shithole and should be razed from the earth.
[quote name='olde_english']... no amount of tasty pizza would ever tempt me back to Naples - that place is a straight-up shithole and should be razed from the earth.[/QUOTE]
oh yeah, i forgot to mention, if you do go to naples, beware the cab rides. we rode from the train terminal to the ferry terminal and it was 100 times scarier than any roller coaster ride i've ever been on. true white knuckle experience.
oh yeah, i forgot to mention, if you do go to naples, beware the cab rides. we rode from the train terminal to the ferry terminal and it was 100 times scarier than any roller coaster ride i've ever been on. true white knuckle experience.
One place to make sure to visit: Cinque Terre. From Florence, you can take a train and hike between these five small towns along the Mediterranean. It was really awesome.
One place to avoid: Pisa. Literally, you take a train into town, take a bus across town, look at the tower, turn back around and leave. There's nothing else notable, it's pretty much a waste of time.
One place to avoid: Pisa. Literally, you take a train into town, take a bus across town, look at the tower, turn back around and leave. There's nothing else notable, it's pretty much a waste of time.
[quote name='Kendro']7) If you visit the Colosseum, the ticket also grants you access to the Palatine Hill (right next to it) for free. That means you if you buy a ticket at Palatine Hill, you have access to the Colosseum (since they are all the same ticket). Why is this so important? The lines are insane at the Colosseum. Buy your ticket at Palatine Hill, and then go to the Colosseum and bypass all the lines straight to the entrance. I picked up this tip at another forum and no joke, the lines at the Colosseum probably had 200 people. There were 5 people in front of us at the Palatine Hill.[/QUOTE]
I had not heard that about the Colosseum/Palatine Hill. Excellent tip. Thanks!
[quote name='Kendro']1) Banks are a great way to exchange currency. I have an account with Chase so they gave me a good rate, much better than other places that offer currency exchange.[/QUOTE]
We are planning to put many major expenses (bed/breakfast, hostel, big meal) on a credit card with a decent international rate, and then use cash for the rest of our expenses. If we were to withdraw money from a checking account here in the States (which has PLUS access for ATMs), would going into a bank would be cheaper than the fees on an ATM?
I had not heard that about the Colosseum/Palatine Hill. Excellent tip. Thanks!
[quote name='Kendro']1) Banks are a great way to exchange currency. I have an account with Chase so they gave me a good rate, much better than other places that offer currency exchange.[/QUOTE]
We are planning to put many major expenses (bed/breakfast, hostel, big meal) on a credit card with a decent international rate, and then use cash for the rest of our expenses. If we were to withdraw money from a checking account here in the States (which has PLUS access for ATMs), would going into a bank would be cheaper than the fees on an ATM?
c0rnpwn
CAGiversary!
Here's my suggestions:
Rome. Classics galore!
Naples... they say it might be a shithole but I like its charm. Like I mentioned before, the pizza is to die for. The only thing I can say about Naples other than the pizza is they have a good Archaeological museum, one of the best in Italy.
Sicily... oh how I could wax poetic about Sicily's splendor and beauty. That said, here's some places to check out
Avoid Milan...not much to do there. I also don't know much about Florence or Tuscany. I might come back and edit this too but this should be a good start!
Rome. Classics galore!
- Colosseum
- See the Arch of Constantine. It's right outside -- it's got some beautiful porphyry marble still on it. The arch is made up of several different monuments by Trajan, Hadrian, and someone else that I don't quite recall
- From there, if you take the Via di San Giovanni in Laterano, you'll end up in front of the original home of the Pope, once a palace of Constantine. It's very beautiful in there, with some outstanding frescos. You'll also end up passing the Ludus Magnus (yeah that place where all the gladiators stayed)
- At the Piazza Venezia (which is breathtaking in its own right) is a stairway designed by Michelangelo leading up the Capitoline Hill. The museum here is great and filled with a lot, but even so it's a lot. You can also walk through the hill to get a vantage point over the Forum. If you end up in the museum go to the bottom floor to the Tabularium for a view over the Forum, it's the best view you can get -- the Roman senators designed it for dignitaries.
- See the Forum, but they charge for it now which is hogwash
- The Doria Pamphilj Gallery houses some excellent portraits, and some early Caravaggio works. It's along the Via Del Corso
- Check out the Ara Pacis museum. They more or less reconstructed it, one of the Senate's (many) great gifts to Augustus. It's beautiful and still very not well understood.
- If you want to see more Romans and fewer tourists, go to Trastevere. It's across the Tiber River and you'll find great restaurants and the like.
- It doesn't matter your religious preferences, you need to see the Vatican. The amount of plunder in there is ridonkulous. See if there's the archaeological tour -- you get to see St. Peter's bones!
- EATS
- Rome is known for Veal... try the Saltimbocca
- Rome is also known for Pasta alla Carbonara, it's like the Italian version of bacon 'n eggs
- Rome is also known for Pasta Cacio e Pepe. It's a simple dish of olive oil and pepper, but it's outstanding
Naples... they say it might be a shithole but I like its charm. Like I mentioned before, the pizza is to die for. The only thing I can say about Naples other than the pizza is they have a good Archaeological museum, one of the best in Italy.
Sicily... oh how I could wax poetic about Sicily's splendor and beauty. That said, here's some places to check out
- Cefalù - there's a great Cathedral there that has a lot of Arabic influences. Small town feel, too
- Segesta - one of the largest intact Greek temple in the world
- Agrigento - even larger temples but mostly in ruins
- Syracuse - the old city is wonderful
Avoid Milan...not much to do there. I also don't know much about Florence or Tuscany. I might come back and edit this too but this should be a good start!
crunchb3rry
CAGiversary!
[quote name='Kendro']
5) I guess when my girlfriend was carrying the rose, other scammers thought we were an easy target for money. As we were taking in a sight, this "nice guy" strikes up a conversation and asks me to extend my pinkie for a blessing. Before I know it, he was tying a rope around it and was making a bracelet. Out of nowhere his friend comes to us (they work in groups), and does the same to my girlfriend. I pull out a euro to say thanks and the guy gets insulted and says, "Only 1 euro? Give me 5!" I basically told him if he doesn't want what I offered, he doesn't have to take it. He then cut off my bracelet and walked away cursing in Italian with his friend. I later read about this scenario on another forum and that person offered 5 and the guy wanted 20. I guess whatever you offer, they automatically counter with 4 times the amount.[/QUOTE]
Lol, reminds me of those little kids in Hostel. Bring lots of bubble gum.
5) I guess when my girlfriend was carrying the rose, other scammers thought we were an easy target for money. As we were taking in a sight, this "nice guy" strikes up a conversation and asks me to extend my pinkie for a blessing. Before I know it, he was tying a rope around it and was making a bracelet. Out of nowhere his friend comes to us (they work in groups), and does the same to my girlfriend. I pull out a euro to say thanks and the guy gets insulted and says, "Only 1 euro? Give me 5!" I basically told him if he doesn't want what I offered, he doesn't have to take it. He then cut off my bracelet and walked away cursing in Italian with his friend. I later read about this scenario on another forum and that person offered 5 and the guy wanted 20. I guess whatever you offer, they automatically counter with 4 times the amount.[/QUOTE]
Lol, reminds me of those little kids in Hostel. Bring lots of bubble gum.
[quote name='eeriedude']We are planning to put many major expenses (bed/breakfast, hostel, big meal) on a credit card with a decent international rate, and then use cash for the rest of our expenses. If we were to withdraw money from a checking account here in the States (which has PLUS access for ATMs), would going into a bank would be cheaper than the fees on an ATM?[/QUOTE]
Not sure. I have Chase so if I withdraw from a checking account or withdraw from a Chase ATM, it makes no difference, there are no fees.
Not sure. I have Chase so if I withdraw from a checking account or withdraw from a Chase ATM, it makes no difference, there are no fees.
bread's done