UPDATED ONCE AGAIN!! 1-11-15: Trip review: Viva Italia, May 25- June 2nd, 2015

[NanceC]

NanceC- I felt perfectly safe. The car thing is because Rome is big. You wouldn't be able to get to most places easily in a quick manner.

The hotel is close to St. Peter's/Vatican, so there's lots to explore. But you'll need transportation for the crypts/catacombs.

Your biggest safety issue is pickpockets. If you are fine solo in big US cities, you should be fine in Italy.

Thanks very much for the reply! I'm starting to line up tours and want to make sure getting to the meeting places and returning to the hotel from the drop-off points won't present any problems. I really appreciate the info.

 

[Rapunzellover]

OKW Lover- the hotel is the Grand Melia Rome. On Gianicolo hill.

 

[OKW Lover]

OKW Lover- the hotel is the Grand Melia Rome. On Gianicolo hill.

Thanks for the update. Looks like you weren't far from the Trastevere section of Rome. We did a great culinary tour there before our ABD started.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Thanks very much for the reply! I'm starting to line up tours and want to make sure getting to the meeting places and returning
to the hotel from the drop-off points won't present any problems. I really appreciate the info.

Since you've never been to Europe, you should know most cities have taxi ranks. You can't hail on the street. Where are you going? We can help you figure out your best option?

 

[NanceC]

Since you've never been to Europe, you should know most cities have taxi ranks. You can't hail on the street. Where are you going? We can help you figure out your best option?

I had read that you couldn't hail a cab in Rome; thanks for confirming! I have a map from the Rick Steves book that shows taxi stands which, if accurate, should be helpful.

For Pompeii I'm undecided on a private or shared tour. I'm leaning toward private, which would pick me up and deliver me back to the hotel. If I go shared the pick up and drop off would be at Piazza della Repubblica. Private is obviously much more expensive, but with it being such a long day (12-13 hours) it might be worth it for the door-to-door service.

For catacombs the meeting place is Piazza Barberini. I should easily be able to take a taxi from the hotel there. Ending point is the Colosseum, which my map shows as having a taxi stand, so I should be good.

Trastevere was a bigger concern to me, especially since I would be out after dark and I don't see any taxi stands marked on the map in that area. However, the website says the tour ends close to public transportation and that the tour guide will call a taxi if you like. I also think I might switch from an evening to a daytime tour on that one, so that would solve the wandering-around-lost-after-dark issue as well.

I know I'm being overly cautious, but really I just like to be prepared. I also didn't mean to hijack your report thread! I am very grateful for all the info though.

 

[silmarg]

If you haven't done so... Get the Rick Steves app. It has audio walking tours of various places. I plan to use it for Pompeii and the Uffizi gallery.

 

[sayhello]

If you haven't done so... Get the Rick Steves app. It has audio walking tours of various places. I plan to use it for Pompeii and the Uffizi gallery.

I did this in Athens and London, and it was wonderful!

Sayhello

 

[Rapunzellover]

No hijacking at all, NanceC. Glad to help. The taxi ranks are heavily present, and you will see very clear signs saying taxi. Trastevere, as OKW Lover noted, is very close to the hotel. You might be able to walk. I went private for Pompeii, and it was great. Just my experience. I loved the private tours I did, and they were worth what I paid, imo.

 

[kmc33]

The train is the best way, kmc. Trenitalia's website can can help you book a trip. I suggest tickets in advance. Approximately 2hrs 40 mins from Venice to Milan. You will need to take a water taxi or the Vaparetto to the train station. Molino Stuckey can reserve you a taxi but it's expensive. 65 euros is what I paid each way to and from the station. I chose to avoid the Vaparetto cause I'm lazy and would rather pay to avoid the hassle.

Now, are you doing this post days? Cause if you aren't leaving from the Venice airport, then ABD could transfer you to the train station, instead of the airport, for your journey to Milan, as part of your tour.

Hope this helps.

Thank you Rapunzellover! This would be our post days - we would fly home from Milan, so I would arrange our transfer to the train station. It sounds like train is the way to go. Thanks for the information.

 

[NanceC]

If you haven't done so... Get the Rick Steves app. It has audio walking tours of various places. I plan to use it for Pompeii and the Uffizi gallery.

Done! Looks awesome - thanks for the great tip!

 

[Rapunzellover]

Thank you Rapunzellover! This would be our post days - we would fly home from Milan, so I would arrange our transfer to the train station. It
sounds like train is the way to go. Thanks for the information.

Then the train is definitely your best bet. It's well done, but as folks have noted elsewhere, you don't learn
your platform till about 20 mins or so before leaving. Be ready to hustle and watch your bags.

Also, they can be late, so allot enough time.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Just a thought: Pompeii is large. A guide is a very very good idea. Even with audio guides, people were asking my guide directions.

 

[Rapunzellover]

-Part 4 continued- After the colosseum, it was to the church San Clemente. Yes, again. I had just visited yesterday, but didn't mind visiting again, especially since our local guide, the WONDERFUL Christina, showed us areas and told us stories that we different than what I'd seen and heard the prior day.

Then it was off to the Roman Forum, which we did not stay long at, but was very open, so it wasn't like we needed to go into a bunch of buildings to see everything.

Here, I'd like to say a word about vandalized property and disrespect for historical artifacts. MANY of the buildings in Rome, Italy in general, but especially Rome, are filled with graffiti!

This graffiti is in the Colosseum, many churches and buildings, as well as walls and sidewalks. Of course, this is a problem with many major cities, but there are few major cities with sights as old as Rome's! The Colosseum is one of the ancient wonders of the world and it's heartbreaking to see names carved in the stone, etc.

I mention this, solely because Christina actually had to tell a tourist-- not our group, of course- to get off an ancient piece of marble, which he was standing on to get a picture!

Such uncouth, disrespectful behavior irritates me to no end. I was very happy to see Christina step up.

Pardon the mini-rant, but I had to express my thoughts here. Those of you going on this trip-- please don't be so ill-bred. But of course, I know that's unlikely with ABDers!

Anyways, that's it for now-- more part 4 (the end) later.

 

[k5jm]

Christina is great about "taking the bull by the horns!" She is also very protective of her tour groups.

 

[Rapunzellover]

--Part 4 continued--

After the forum, it was time to head to lunch, where I got my first taste of Italian pizza! Yum. There was (what seemed like) a very very very long walk to the restaurant. It wasn't super hot, but the sun was baking everyone. We were all exhausted by the time we reached the food, and it was a badly needed stop.

Funny story here, the bathrooms were difficult to tell apart as to which was men and which was women. So I ended up embarrassingly using the wrong one and surprised Troy! Oops!! Fortunately, no harm done and we had a laugh. I had seen guys in the girls bathroom, which had led to the mistake, so I guess it's a common problem.

The pizzas were veggie, margharita, four cheese and pepperoni. I believe there was some gelato too for desert.

Post lunch, we headed to Castel St. Angelo. The view from the top is absolutely amazing! The climb up is optional, but I highly recommend you not skip it if doing this tour. Otherwise, the Castle is really only marginally worth seeing. But that may be my reaction only because we went very quickly through the place, and probably didn't see everything, as the view was the main objective.

It was then a short walk to St. Peter's Basilica. We waited briefly in the security line while Troy took pics and he and Marco also passed out Vatican post cards for us to mail from the Vatican post office, since technically the Vatican is its own country. I really liked this, but don't expect to arrive for at least a week/10 days. Mine didn't arrive till after I got back.

St. Peter's was crowded, and again, like with the colosseum, I felt like the Papal blessing caused a schedule change which made the tour suffer. The usual St. Peter's visit is first thing in the morning, a rope drop. I can't help but think that would have resulted in less crowds. In fact, I know it would have, since the crowds were lower the previous day in the morning when I went to climb the dome. I also felt like the visit may have been cut short, as we received almost no time on our own. It was very fast, imo. But, we did see the most important things, such as the Pieta, which is gorgeous.

Upon leaving the Basilica, we did have a chance to go to a gift shop nearby. This was especially nice since they offered to keep our purchases and get them blessed the next day by the Pope. The blessed items were then delivered to our rooms at the hotel. No extra charge. Very nice. I got a lovely statue and medallion to wear. The statue/medal were of my patron saint (received at confirmation), St. Elizabeth, the patron saint of generosity/bakers. I'm Catholic and this was wonderful, especially since I tried getting to the Papal mass the prior Sunday, but tickets were sold out.

When shopping was finished, it was back to the hotel, where I had dinner and turned in early. It was a long, but good first day for the ABD.​

 

[Rapunzellover]

-Part 5-- Day 3 of ABD--

Today started with a lovely walking tour. We drove to the Spanish Steps and started from there. We walked down and posed in front of the steps, then continued our journey. The Spanish Step are a very lovely place but lovelier was the Trevi Fountain! That was our next big stop. They're almost finished with renovation, so the scaffolding was pretty minimal, though they still had the temporary set up for tossing coins. Disappointing, but gives me a reason to come back.

The walking tour included stops at the church of St. Ignatius Loyola (founder of the Jesuits) and THE PANTHEON! The Pantheon is an amazing building, and I wanted to spend a lot more time in it. It's easily one of the most extraordinary buildings in Rome.

The tour concluded with a stop for Gelato! Grom's had such an amazing array of delicious gelato that I swear I gained five pounds just entering the place. Then it was on your own time till the Vatican tour that evening.

Part 5 continued later

 

[carpenta]

I hope you threw a coin in the Trevi fountain to ensure a return to Rome. We really enjoyed the Pantheon too. Imagine the construction of a "concrete" dome so early in modern world history. Amazing. Thanks again Rapunzellover.

 

[Cousin Orville]

At least they're almost finished with the Trevi Fountain. From seeing other trip reports it's been under refurb for close to a year and a half. Sorry you didn't get to see it finished. I've not seen the church of St. Ignatius Loyola. Was that worth a visit?

 

[OKW Lover]

Glad to hear that the work on the Trevi Fountain is moving along. When we were there in September last year it was nearly all covered in scaffolding.

 

[Rapunzellover]

The church of St. Ignatius was a lovely place that I'd go back to. It was a short visit.

I tossed a coin at Trevi, but I don't think it landed right. Boo!