Hey - I'm headed to Rome and The nearby eastern Italian Coast in three weeks (with my wife). I am looking for suggestions for things to see, places to stay, greta restaurants, etc. Not sure how long we'll stay, just playing it by ear for now.
I'd love to hear of some good experiences (and bad). Nedd also where NOT to go!
Thanks in advance!
all the obvious stuff...also, be sure not to miss St. John Lateran, if you're into the whole church thing...beautiful church, across the street are the Scala Santa - steps that once lead to Pontius Pilate's home in Jerusalem. History suggests that Jesus scaled these steps just before his judgement. St. Helena brought 'em back to Rome, along with other relics...you can only scale the steps on your knees, typically stopping at each for prayer...
Also, visit the Trastevere neighborhood, maybe catch a romantic dinner with the Mrs...this area is a good representation of Rome's urban fabric - it's also near the Vatican and the Gianicolo hill (great for a long walk...). At the top of the hill is the Tempietto...*sigh*...
sorry, I could go on and on, but need to work...more later...
Go the the Pantheon... daily. The light values thru the oculus change by the hour Then have a coffee at Tazza d'oro across the piazza. It's a stand up coffee bar, no outdoor seating.
Gilato at Giolitti's.
Do not wear shorts to St. Peter's. The guards will not let either men or women in with bare legs.
Walk around the old city and get lost. And you will get lost.
Campo del Fiori while the market is open.
the campidoglio obviously...one of my favorite areas in the city
piazza navona for the atmosphere.
for oddity's sake..there's a monastery where the basement is
all kinds of decorations/architectural features made out of the
bones of the dead monks...it's eery and a bit creepy..but one
of the more unique things you'll ever see..
the vatican museum
i concur with the pantheon idea...one of my favorite spaces to visit
there was a bar i used to go to most days...miscellanea..on a side
street near the pantheon..east of it down a side alley. the owner's
name was michelangelo..and he was always very nice to americans.
and the prosciutto sandwiches were incredible.
for gelato i went to la palma which is north of the pantheon a couple
streets.
If you're getting a car, do not bring it into the city. The last time my wife and i were in Italy, we picked up the car at the airport and drove to Umbria to stay with friends for the week, then to the Cinque Terre.
When we went back to Rome, we returned the car and took the train into the city.
I went several years ago so I can't suggest too many things off the top of my head but I remember L'orso '80 was a nice restaurant. Not a place to go for a great romantic meal, but for a fun way to try all different antipasti of Roma. Climbing the St.Peter's dome was a great experience. Very tiring and touristy, but still worth the effort. I'll post more ideas if I can remember more.
Please pack some gelato and fed ex them to me. Thanks.
yes nevermore, greta garbo. And I nedd also as in Nedd, the undiscovered scotland. I couldn't possibly have meant Great, or Need.
To everyone else, thanks alot so far for the info - much more than I had expected so soon - very helpful.
Irishtom - not sure yet which part of the coast, but I need to visit the sea. I assume we will get a car and drive, finding places along the way....maybe stop to catch a fish. Any suggestions? We will stay at various places/inns spontaneously outside of ROME - we do however need to book a room in Rome for the first two nights of our trip - have found a few that look interesting, again, open to suggestions/
The last time we went to Rome we found our hotel thru http://www.venere.com/ . We stayed at the Hotel Pantheon. Not inexpensive, but we could splurge a little because we were saving money by staying with friends in Umbria.
The best price we got for a car was from http://www.europebycar.com/ .
Get the insurance they offer. Don't even hesitate. I returned my rental with some dents I was not resonsible for and walked away. I found out later that neither my own car insurance or my credit card would have fully covered the damage.
I don't have much experience with the coast west of Rome. Mostly with Liguria and Sicily. There was a peninsula that looked interesting, but I cant't remember the name right now. Maybe later.
if you are in the neighborhood (camp dei fiori) and you should be, then i highly recommend trattoria moderna...best pasta i've ever had. i still occasionally dream about it.
the moretti project is really great - there are some interesting things happening in the rusticated stone base, walk around to the sides. you could get access all the way up to the top floor when I visited.
rule # 1 of rome - open door policy, if the door is open, proceed inside, if confronted be courteous...the things you'll see if you live by this rule. enjoy.
have a glass of wine at the vineria on the campo de fiori - walk outside and say hello to bruno in the middle of the campo.
hadrian's villa is worth the trip. villa d'este in tivoli as well.
ostia antica...for some reason the name keeps comin to
mind. some nice ruins and it's just outside rome
the modern area of rome..EU? they have the model of ancient
rome and some brutal modernist architecture..sort of a surreal
area..
the beach...there's a train that will take you from rome right
out to the beach which is nice...
sorry i can't be more specific..i was there in 96 and lived there
for 4 months..but my memory is hazy.
overall though i would say that i did everything via train and it
was not difficult and not very expensive...and precluded the
overall hassle of having to drive in italy...driving in rome is
like driving in boston or any of the worst metropolitan areas
in the u.s. except that there you also have a lot of motorini..
which zip in and out of traffic and make it a bit crazy. also
il centro is a maze of back alleys and one way streets with a lot
of signage that most americans won't completely understand.
also i'm not sure where you'd park for long stretches of time in
the center, but then again i never had a car.
the city of rome is VERY walkable...and so much more enjoyable
as a walking city. you'll find so much more walking and stumble
onto things that you won't find if you're in a car. but that's just
my opinion...if you're not there for very long i would skip the car,
but that's just me...i also did rent a car for a weekend with friends
and did drive into the country which was also enjoyable...and found
some hilltop towns and such that aren't accessible via train..but
i had already been in rome for four months.
italy is easily accessed via train...you can buy a ticket (or used to
be able to) that's an unlimited pass or the like where you can take
trains for a three day span...or something similar..and go anywhere
in italy and back..i believe it was 30 bucks or so..probably more now.
but you could take a train to florence in something like five hours?
or something like that ...
Oops, we stayed a the Albergo del Senato our last trip. And the Manfredi, near the Spanish Steps, the time before that. The Manfredi is a pensione and there is a Metro stop close by.
Restaurants we like: Buca di Ripetta on Via Ripetta near Piazza del Popolo. Otello's near the Spanish Steps (Via Sestina?). Mostly locals eat at Buca's . Otello's is a little touristy, but out of the way because it's in the courtyard of palazzo it's in.
larslarson is correct about driving in Centro, but I'll add that you need a permit to drive there. The Polizia will stop you and give you a ticket.
We stayed in Rome for a friend's wedding who is now living in Rome a couple of years ago. We stayed at the Hotel Del Borgognoni. www.hotelborgognoni.it
It was perfectly located between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. We pretty much walked everywhere, taxi from some of the far areas and took the train. Loved the location and got a pretty good deal on expedia.
See the Church of San Clemente, just east of the Coloseum: pay the 3 euroor so to go into the excavated ruins of three previous christian churches/mithraist temple beneath the present church, which is fascinating in its own right...it's all pretty amazing.
rome is on the west side...but anyway.
campo dei fiori, but at night, it's the place people start their nights. there is also plenty of drunken foreigners (mainly english, strangely enough), but it's a great place.
also the observatory on monte mario, one of the best view on the whole city.
enjoy!
West, right...knew that but can't explain why I wrote eastern.
It finally starting to sink-in that this is going to be an amazing first-time to Italy...
then i would definitely just try to tackle rome...unless you're
going to be there for more than two weeks...
fyi. a train takes you directly from leanardo da vinci to the
center in about a half hour... it's the easiest commute into
the city out of most i've been to...similar in ease to nyc...
except it's more of a commuter train than a subway.
word of warning in general about rome: gypsies.
rome has quite a few pickpockets..and not in the sneak up
on you and take something out of your pocket..but sort of
attacking kind of pickpockets. rome has a lot of gypsies
that travel around 'begging' then when they get close enough
they sort of attack in a group..usually children since italian law
does not put children away for stealing..and below the age
of eighteen they can't really be prosecuted..or at least they
weren't. a typical technique is two-fold...holding a newspaper
with a fake hand when their real hand is underneath it...or
a fake baby that a woman throws into your arms ..etc in my
months in rome i had one encounter and i crossed to the other
side of the street. they hang out around the train station and
the colliseum and on buses. but they're usually easy to pick out.
not a huge problem..but i didn't spend time there during the
summer.
a bar that i remember as well was called 'jonathan angel' not sure
that it still exists, but it's on the west side of piazza navona in
a back alley...just a really interesting atmosphere with 'fantastic'
paintings of the owner in various classic-like poses/environs...
but just a nice candlelit bar as i recall.
If the gypsy kids come at you with the old newpaper (or paper plate) trick, there are usually coins already on the plate. I watched my wife immediately slap down on the plate and coins scattered all over the Corso. At that point, they'll retrieve the coins and leave you alone.
She said she used to do that all the time when she lived in Rome as an art student.
the movie theater in trastevere near the square by the church (so vague,sorry)
it's a ragtop and they pull it open on summer nights, very surreal and nice.
kind of like paris, i found there are some lesser known tours of the underbelly of Rome that are better than the mainstrem stuff. these tours include the catacombs and some almost hyper-real ghost tours of rome [ie trevi fountain]. the rome tour at night is definitely a must, and some even mix it up with stops at discotheques and pubs. rome is not as walkable as other large european cities, [because of the limited subway infrastructure] but is very enjoybale to just get lost in. i found the best days in rome were intentionally putting the map away. but definitely set aside one day to do some or all of the following:
-vatican museum
-st.peter's: try hard to get the "exclusive tour" that gets you into the pope's gardens and the catacombs under the church to see the 'actual' spot where peter's remains are buried. they limit this tour to 10 per day, so negotiate hard.
-Piazza del Campidoglio
-Roman forum
-Colosseum
-Spanish Steps
-Piazza navona
...watch out for flying gypsy babies [don't catch them] and pickpockets on the trains
i almost forgot-
try to make the trek out to hadrian's villa
food: very difficult to discern the okay stuff from the great on the outside. i never was consistent on the food in rome. like most european cities, cost usually indicates quality, but almost always better than anything in the states.
As mentioned above in the summer the pickpockets are out very thick. Beware of when you are in the subway stations the children with long sleeves. When I was there last year there were many child pickpockets that had on hooded sweatshirts while it was 95 degrees outside. They also will sometimes have cloth wrapped around their wrists. Basically if u stare them down they will realize that you know what they are doing and will get off the train at the next stop.
Also for a good laugh, if you keep an eye on the beggars you will notice that many of them give thierselves away as being fakes. I saw one man last year who was holding his child, who was actually about 11 years old i would say, his child had on a brand new pair of Puma's, which are the most popular and expensive shoe in Europe. The group that I was with got a nice laugh out of it.
If you plan to go to the Vatican Museum, be sure to check when it is open. Last year when we showed up it was closed, I believe there is 1 day a week that it is closed, and sometimes closes early. As stated before be sure to have shoulders and legs completely covered, the guards can be very difficult about this at the Vatican, and also if you plan to see many other churches they would also prefer for you to be covered. The Spanish Steps are great, and also a place around dusk that has a ton of people. Trevi Fountain is also great. I have more info, just need to find it all again. Will post better info soon.
AP - that's the one, if you're standing in the middle of the piazza facing Santa Maria in Trastevere ( and it is defn. worth the visit) the cinema is off to your right down the smallish street - I want to say it's the american cine, but I think that;s not correct.
up the hill from their is bernini's tempieto - very cool - my favorite visit was to borromini's Sant Ivo alla Sapienze (only open for mass on sunday)
I stayed in Rome for a summer during the previous world cup. What an exciting time to be in Italy!
I stayed near the Campo de Fiore where I just so happened to find the best cappacino and pizza in ALL of Rome (no joke). can't remember the pizza restaurant, but the cafe was called Cafe Enzo.
I must say that this square is one of the livliest places in the city and is off the beaten track for all the tourist. It doubles as a market by day, and a gathering place for drunk soccer fans and hash dealers by night. There is no other place like it!
Contemporary stuff: Richard Meier's Ara Pacis Museum just opened to the public about a month ago, only portions are completely finished, but its worth seeing what all the controversy is about. If you can, check out a concert at Renzo Piano's Auditorium; there is also a Zaha Hadid modern art museum under construction just down the street.
There is a great little park on top of the Aventine Hill with a view of St. Peters. Santa Sabina, one of the oldest churches in the city is right next door. There is also "the keyhole" down the street, a keyhole in a door that frames the dome of St. Peter's between rows of perfectly manicured shrubs and flowers. Not too many tourists make it up to the Aventine, so its much quieter than the rest of the city.
There are some great restaurants in the Jewish Ghetto, try a fried artichoke.
Galleria Borghese has some incredible Bernini's, one of the best museums in Rome. You need to make a reservation to get it.
i think the american cinema is in near via del corso...i remember
going to see pulp fiction there...they had an intermission and opened
up the roof so that everyone could take a smoke break and they
came around and sold popcorn/ candy etc.
totally broke up the rhythm of the film and the overall tension..
but made for a good story/ unexpected experience.
man I gotta learn to google first - your right lars:
If you do not want the language practice, you have several choices. The Pasquino, on Vicolo del Piede in the city's picturesque Trastevere section, shows only English-language (usually recent American) films at the low price of about $1.50. The Pasquino has another attraction. It is one of the few movie theaters in Rome with a still-functioning retractable roof (a common design in the days before air-conditioning) and it is open to the sky on warm summer evenings.
take at least one day to just walk around. start from somewhere in the centre and just...walk around. seriously. don't plan it too much. it's an amazing city, there is more layering of history that you will find in any other place in the world. sometimes it is difficult for a foreigner to grasp the magnitude of what you see in front of you (sometimes it is difficult for an italian too!). just walk, chill, get a coffee, sit outside, and try to experience the city as someone who lives there, rather than a turist.
if you wear khaki shorts and hawaian shirts, then you'll be pickpocketed for sure:)
lars, you will find that most cinemas in italy have an intermission in the middle of the film, it's quite normal!
how could I forget the Galleria Borghese! Bernini and Caravaggio - a few amazing examples of each - in a beautiful space. The Gardens are also quite nice...young and old Dionysus dueling...it's on the outskirts in an upscale neighborhood...
While in Rome, visit the typical sites, but if you try to visit Meier's church...beware, you're heading into a slum. Nevertheless, such a trip does give you a glimpse of modern Roman life..
Also, while you're on the coast, check out the Spiaggia Libera
Keo's park on the aventine is Parco Saveli, with the orange grove in it (do not try to eat them, they are very sour) and the keyhole view of Saint Peters in down the block in in the Knights of Malta courtyard/entry. The aventine hill is amazing , quiet and easy going, so please check it out, Santa Sabina is one of my favorite churchs in Rome.
Plus other standards:
_Santa Maria in Cosmedin, LeCorbusier's favorite church in Rome, read Towards a new architecture before you go and you'll see that he could not be farther from the truth.
Other excellent churches are:
_San Carlo alle quattro fontane in the Quirinale area
_San Ivo to the west of PIazza Navona in the map and Santa Maria della Pace to the east of Navona (check outBramantes courtyard and Raphael's sybils in the east aisle when you go in)
_San Luigi dei Francesci, Caravaggio's 3 painting of the life of Saint Mathew.( a must)
_San Clemente as someone else said is also a must go, you can get a great idea of the layering of history (time and physical) that occurs in the eternal city.
_San Stefano Rotondo around the Coliseum, its an interestin circular ancient church with a series of intensily gruesome frescoes that depict the way( the many ways, kind of like a dictionary) christians were executed in ancient times.
_Another great church in the area is Santi Quattro Coronati, there is a chapel that you need permission to get in (just ask one of the sisters in english, is called the chapel of Saint Sylvester, that has amazing mosaics of the supposed conversion of COnstantine under pope Sylvester)
.....an many more
_il tempietto by Bramante in San Pietro in Mortorio in the Janicolo hill.
_Santa Maria della Vittoria to see Bernini's Exctacy of Santa teresa.
_Michelangelo's twins in the Campidoglio and his Christ statue in Santa Maria sopra Minerva near the Pantheon, the only Michelangelo statue that you can touch today.
_go to Villa Borguese to see most of Bernini's sculpture works.
_the capucchin crypt in Santa Maria della Concezione in via Venetto, will show you that bones can substitute wallpaper very efficiently.
...say Ciao to Mikki's in Miscelanea's , a small restaurant by the Pantheon, if you are facing it will be to the east, its a nice place for a beer and fun times at night. Jonathan's angels will also be interesting as someone else said before. by Piazza dei Collegio Romano near the Pantheon there is a small standing pizza place, the owner is call Remo if he is still there, you have to try it.
also head to San Giovanni in Fiorentini and visit a great man who is burried in one of the left piers. Or should i say 2 men.
Have a great trip and ask for a Molinari Sambucca a la mosca.
Ciao, and buon biaggio, i will be heading there myself in middle august.
larslarson.
I actually went to FIU. florida international university in Miami but had a semi shared program with Penn State. We used their studios in the Palazzo Pamphili and had Romolo in serveral crits and as a landlord.That was back in 2002. i go to the graduate program at Cornell now
Mikki's was pretty fun, i have good memories there. Ill check out the Montecatini and Corso pizza place next fall.
...........and as another proof that we are nerds......(another cool place in roma)
when you go into Santa Maria del Popolo ( the first thing to do is avoid the Chigi Chapel by Raphael and Bernini, although it is pretty cool, that Dan Brown Angel and Demons book was pretty far fetched_ let that thing do not be the reason you got in that church), also avoid the 2 greatest Caravaggio's in the world (i can't believe im saying this)... you'll have time for them later on.
head to the right aisle and walk to the main altar making some sig sag moves around the choir untill you in the back wall of the church. What you will see is a simple shell life apse of white stucco: Bramante's first work in Rome of 1499, right after coming from Milan and before starting on the Julius projects. It is probably my favorite spot in all of the churches in Rome.
....if this is not proof that nerdship i dont know what it is, I have friends who have fallen sleep to this tale...at least i know you guys care...i think.....
Hit up the Forno (Bakery) at the far corner of Campo dei Fiori around lunch for some amazing pizza. You'll have to plow through crowds to get to it, but it's amazing pizza!
Also go to St. Ignazio near S. Maria sopra Minerva (near the Pantheon), to see the beautiful frescos as well as the dome.
At Sunset get to Piazza del Popolo and climb up the Pincolo for an amazing view.
Also, if there are any exhibits in the Medici Villa? up near the top of the Spanish Steps, make sure to hit those up to see the amazing gardens.
I also definitely recomment gelato at Giolitti (I've tried them all, and am convinced that Giolitti's is the best), and some of the smaller restaurants in Trastevere. Avoid the restaurants near the Pantheon and surrounding Piazza Navona, they're, for the most part, very touristy and not especially good.
figured there had to be some psu affiliation...miscellanea
has always been a favorite of ours..and i'm quite familiar with
the area you are describing since i went there too in 95. romolo
was my dean initially and his first year in rome was in my semester
in rome. overall a good guy i guess...full of tons of info..and i
think the move to italy helped him tremendously.
have fun on your return trip...and i wish i was familiar with the
spot you were desribing in the popolo church...saw the caravaggios.
caravaggio was my first aha moment in art...looking through books
whenever it was i was struck by his use of light and shadow.. and
his dramatic layouts..and ways of looking at things from different
angles (i.e. the crucifixion of st. peter) .and
how they differed from paintings of his era. still one of my
sentimental favorites
great wine bar to the west of piazza navona, down the street from santa maria della pace.
The wine list is the size of a phone book, no joke. The wines are shelved all around the customers and nets are above their heads to keep bottles from falling on them when they are being retrieved.
Great antipasta.........crustinni w/ smoked swordfish, goatcheese and warm vegetables, prosciuto and melon, etc!!!!!!!!!! cant go wrong.
just got back, and know I won't be having food like that for a long time.
This is amazing...a veritable guide to rome, from people wih good taste - can't beat it! All I need to do is print this handy little list before we leave and we are all-good. Thanks A lot.
ROMA
Hey - I'm headed to Rome and The nearby eastern Italian Coast in three weeks (with my wife). I am looking for suggestions for things to see, places to stay, greta restaurants, etc. Not sure how long we'll stay, just playing it by ear for now.
I'd love to hear of some good experiences (and bad). Nedd also where NOT to go!
Thanks in advance!
Ciao
Greta restaurants ?
(as in Greta Garbo ?)
all the obvious stuff...also, be sure not to miss St. John Lateran, if you're into the whole church thing...beautiful church, across the street are the Scala Santa - steps that once lead to Pontius Pilate's home in Jerusalem. History suggests that Jesus scaled these steps just before his judgement. St. Helena brought 'em back to Rome, along with other relics...you can only scale the steps on your knees, typically stopping at each for prayer...
Also, visit the Trastevere neighborhood, maybe catch a romantic dinner with the Mrs...this area is a good representation of Rome's urban fabric - it's also near the Vatican and the Gianicolo hill (great for a long walk...). At the top of the hill is the Tempietto...*sigh*...
sorry, I could go on and on, but need to work...more later...
Go the the Pantheon... daily. The light values thru the oculus change by the hour Then have a coffee at Tazza d'oro across the piazza. It's a stand up coffee bar, no outdoor seating.
Gilato at Giolitti's.
Do not wear shorts to St. Peter's. The guards will not let either men or women in with bare legs.
Walk around the old city and get lost. And you will get lost.
Campo del Fiori while the market is open.
ah rome.
the campidoglio obviously...one of my favorite areas in the city
piazza navona for the atmosphere.
for oddity's sake..there's a monastery where the basement is
all kinds of decorations/architectural features made out of the
bones of the dead monks...it's eery and a bit creepy..but one
of the more unique things you'll ever see..
the vatican museum
i concur with the pantheon idea...one of my favorite spaces to visit
there was a bar i used to go to most days...miscellanea..on a side
street near the pantheon..east of it down a side alley. the owner's
name was michelangelo..and he was always very nice to americans.
and the prosciutto sandwiches were incredible.
for gelato i went to la palma which is north of the pantheon a couple
streets.
If you're getting a car, do not bring it into the city. The last time my wife and i were in Italy, we picked up the car at the airport and drove to Umbria to stay with friends for the week, then to the Cinque Terre.
When we went back to Rome, we returned the car and took the train into the city.
Where are you going on the coast?
I went several years ago so I can't suggest too many things off the top of my head but I remember L'orso '80 was a nice restaurant. Not a place to go for a great romantic meal, but for a fun way to try all different antipasti of Roma. Climbing the St.Peter's dome was a great experience. Very tiring and touristy, but still worth the effort. I'll post more ideas if I can remember more.
Please pack some gelato and fed ex them to me. Thanks.
yes nevermore, greta garbo. And I nedd also as in Nedd, the undiscovered scotland. I couldn't possibly have meant Great, or Need.
To everyone else, thanks alot so far for the info - much more than I had expected so soon - very helpful.
Irishtom - not sure yet which part of the coast, but I need to visit the sea. I assume we will get a car and drive, finding places along the way....maybe stop to catch a fish. Any suggestions? We will stay at various places/inns spontaneously outside of ROME - we do however need to book a room in Rome for the first two nights of our trip - have found a few that look interesting, again, open to suggestions/
The last time we went to Rome we found our hotel thru http://www.venere.com/ . We stayed at the Hotel Pantheon. Not inexpensive, but we could splurge a little because we were saving money by staying with friends in Umbria.
The best price we got for a car was from http://www.europebycar.com/ .
Get the insurance they offer. Don't even hesitate. I returned my rental with some dents I was not resonsible for and walked away. I found out later that neither my own car insurance or my credit card would have fully covered the damage.
I don't have much experience with the coast west of Rome. Mostly with Liguria and Sicily. There was a peninsula that looked interesting, but I cant't remember the name right now. Maybe later.
luigi moretti's casa Il girasole. i love moretti.
if you are in the neighborhood (camp dei fiori) and you should be, then i highly recommend trattoria moderna...best pasta i've ever had. i still occasionally dream about it.
the moretti project is really great - there are some interesting things happening in the rusticated stone base, walk around to the sides. you could get access all the way up to the top floor when I visited.
rule # 1 of rome - open door policy, if the door is open, proceed inside, if confronted be courteous...the things you'll see if you live by this rule. enjoy.
have a glass of wine at the vineria on the campo de fiori - walk outside and say hello to bruno in the middle of the campo.
couple more things:
hadrian's villa is worth the trip. villa d'este in tivoli as well.
ostia antica...for some reason the name keeps comin to
mind. some nice ruins and it's just outside rome
the modern area of rome..EU? they have the model of ancient
rome and some brutal modernist architecture..sort of a surreal
area..
the beach...there's a train that will take you from rome right
out to the beach which is nice...
sorry i can't be more specific..i was there in 96 and lived there
for 4 months..but my memory is hazy.
overall though i would say that i did everything via train and it
was not difficult and not very expensive...and precluded the
overall hassle of having to drive in italy...driving in rome is
like driving in boston or any of the worst metropolitan areas
in the u.s. except that there you also have a lot of motorini..
which zip in and out of traffic and make it a bit crazy. also
il centro is a maze of back alleys and one way streets with a lot
of signage that most americans won't completely understand.
also i'm not sure where you'd park for long stretches of time in
the center, but then again i never had a car.
the city of rome is VERY walkable...and so much more enjoyable
as a walking city. you'll find so much more walking and stumble
onto things that you won't find if you're in a car. but that's just
my opinion...if you're not there for very long i would skip the car,
but that's just me...i also did rent a car for a weekend with friends
and did drive into the country which was also enjoyable...and found
some hilltop towns and such that aren't accessible via train..but
i had already been in rome for four months.
italy is easily accessed via train...you can buy a ticket (or used to
be able to) that's an unlimited pass or the like where you can take
trains for a three day span...or something similar..and go anywhere
in italy and back..i believe it was 30 bucks or so..probably more now.
but you could take a train to florence in something like five hours?
or something like that ...
Oops, we stayed a the Albergo del Senato our last trip. And the Manfredi, near the Spanish Steps, the time before that. The Manfredi is a pensione and there is a Metro stop close by.
Restaurants we like: Buca di Ripetta on Via Ripetta near Piazza del Popolo. Otello's near the Spanish Steps (Via Sestina?). Mostly locals eat at Buca's . Otello's is a little touristy, but out of the way because it's in the courtyard of palazzo it's in.
larslarson is correct about driving in Centro, but I'll add that you need a permit to drive there. The Polizia will stop you and give you a ticket.
We stayed in Rome for a friend's wedding who is now living in Rome a couple of years ago. We stayed at the Hotel Del Borgognoni. www.hotelborgognoni.it
It was perfectly located between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. We pretty much walked everywhere, taxi from some of the far areas and took the train. Loved the location and got a pretty good deal on expedia.
no bare shoulders in St. Peter's either
See the Church of San Clemente, just east of the Coloseum: pay the 3 euroor so to go into the excavated ruins of three previous christian churches/mithraist temple beneath the present church, which is fascinating in its own right...it's all pretty amazing.
rome is on the west side...but anyway.
campo dei fiori, but at night, it's the place people start their nights. there is also plenty of drunken foreigners (mainly english, strangely enough), but it's a great place.
also the observatory on monte mario, one of the best view on the whole city.
enjoy!
West, right...knew that but can't explain why I wrote eastern.
It finally starting to sink-in that this is going to be an amazing first-time to Italy...
your first trip to italy?
then i would definitely just try to tackle rome...unless you're
going to be there for more than two weeks...
fyi. a train takes you directly from leanardo da vinci to the
center in about a half hour... it's the easiest commute into
the city out of most i've been to...similar in ease to nyc...
except it's more of a commuter train than a subway.
word of warning in general about rome: gypsies.
rome has quite a few pickpockets..and not in the sneak up
on you and take something out of your pocket..but sort of
attacking kind of pickpockets. rome has a lot of gypsies
that travel around 'begging' then when they get close enough
they sort of attack in a group..usually children since italian law
does not put children away for stealing..and below the age
of eighteen they can't really be prosecuted..or at least they
weren't. a typical technique is two-fold...holding a newspaper
with a fake hand when their real hand is underneath it...or
a fake baby that a woman throws into your arms ..etc in my
months in rome i had one encounter and i crossed to the other
side of the street. they hang out around the train station and
the colliseum and on buses. but they're usually easy to pick out.
not a huge problem..but i didn't spend time there during the
summer.
a bar that i remember as well was called 'jonathan angel' not sure
that it still exists, but it's on the west side of piazza navona in
a back alley...just a really interesting atmosphere with 'fantastic'
paintings of the owner in various classic-like poses/environs...
but just a nice candlelit bar as i recall.
If the gypsy kids come at you with the old newpaper (or paper plate) trick, there are usually coins already on the plate. I watched my wife immediately slap down on the plate and coins scattered all over the Corso. At that point, they'll retrieve the coins and leave you alone.
She said she used to do that all the time when she lived in Rome as an art student.
...legendary
the movie theater in trastevere near the square by the church (so vague,sorry)
it's a ragtop and they pull it open on summer nights, very surreal and nice.
nice. thanks for clearing that up.
home/palace
saint/lil' sis
erstwhile/everpresent
rayray's church - Santa Maria in Trastevere, not sure about the theater, but the church and accompanying piazza are exemplary.
kind of like paris, i found there are some lesser known tours of the underbelly of Rome that are better than the mainstrem stuff. these tours include the catacombs and some almost hyper-real ghost tours of rome [ie trevi fountain]. the rome tour at night is definitely a must, and some even mix it up with stops at discotheques and pubs. rome is not as walkable as other large european cities, [because of the limited subway infrastructure] but is very enjoybale to just get lost in. i found the best days in rome were intentionally putting the map away. but definitely set aside one day to do some or all of the following:
-vatican museum
-st.peter's: try hard to get the "exclusive tour" that gets you into the pope's gardens and the catacombs under the church to see the 'actual' spot where peter's remains are buried. they limit this tour to 10 per day, so negotiate hard.
-Piazza del Campidoglio
-Roman forum
-Colosseum
-Spanish Steps
-Piazza navona
...watch out for flying gypsy babies [don't catch them] and pickpockets on the trains
have fun
i almost forgot-
try to make the trek out to hadrian's villa
food: very difficult to discern the okay stuff from the great on the outside. i never was consistent on the food in rome. like most european cities, cost usually indicates quality, but almost always better than anything in the states.
As mentioned above in the summer the pickpockets are out very thick. Beware of when you are in the subway stations the children with long sleeves. When I was there last year there were many child pickpockets that had on hooded sweatshirts while it was 95 degrees outside. They also will sometimes have cloth wrapped around their wrists. Basically if u stare them down they will realize that you know what they are doing and will get off the train at the next stop.
Also for a good laugh, if you keep an eye on the beggars you will notice that many of them give thierselves away as being fakes. I saw one man last year who was holding his child, who was actually about 11 years old i would say, his child had on a brand new pair of Puma's, which are the most popular and expensive shoe in Europe. The group that I was with got a nice laugh out of it.
If you plan to go to the Vatican Museum, be sure to check when it is open. Last year when we showed up it was closed, I believe there is 1 day a week that it is closed, and sometimes closes early. As stated before be sure to have shoulders and legs completely covered, the guards can be very difficult about this at the Vatican, and also if you plan to see many other churches they would also prefer for you to be covered. The Spanish Steps are great, and also a place around dusk that has a ton of people. Trevi Fountain is also great. I have more info, just need to find it all again. Will post better info soon.
AP - that's the one, if you're standing in the middle of the piazza facing Santa Maria in Trastevere ( and it is defn. worth the visit) the cinema is off to your right down the smallish street - I want to say it's the american cine, but I think that;s not correct.
up the hill from their is bernini's tempieto - very cool - my favorite visit was to borromini's Sant Ivo alla Sapienze (only open for mass on sunday)
I stayed in Rome for a summer during the previous world cup. What an exciting time to be in Italy!
I stayed near the Campo de Fiore where I just so happened to find the best cappacino and pizza in ALL of Rome (no joke). can't remember the pizza restaurant, but the cafe was called Cafe Enzo.
I must say that this square is one of the livliest places in the city and is off the beaten track for all the tourist. It doubles as a market by day, and a gathering place for drunk soccer fans and hash dealers by night. There is no other place like it!
Contemporary stuff: Richard Meier's Ara Pacis Museum just opened to the public about a month ago, only portions are completely finished, but its worth seeing what all the controversy is about. If you can, check out a concert at Renzo Piano's Auditorium; there is also a Zaha Hadid modern art museum under construction just down the street.
There is a great little park on top of the Aventine Hill with a view of St. Peters. Santa Sabina, one of the oldest churches in the city is right next door. There is also "the keyhole" down the street, a keyhole in a door that frames the dome of St. Peter's between rows of perfectly manicured shrubs and flowers. Not too many tourists make it up to the Aventine, so its much quieter than the rest of the city.
There are some great restaurants in the Jewish Ghetto, try a fried artichoke.
Galleria Borghese has some incredible Bernini's, one of the best museums in Rome. You need to make a reservation to get it.
i think the american cinema is in near via del corso...i remember
going to see pulp fiction there...they had an intermission and opened
up the roof so that everyone could take a smoke break and they
came around and sold popcorn/ candy etc.
totally broke up the rhythm of the film and the overall tension..
but made for a good story/ unexpected experience.
man I gotta learn to google first - your right lars:
If you do not want the language practice, you have several choices. The Pasquino, on Vicolo del Piede in the city's picturesque Trastevere section, shows only English-language (usually recent American) films at the low price of about $1.50. The Pasquino has another attraction. It is one of the few movie theaters in Rome with a still-functioning retractable roof (a common design in the days before air-conditioning) and it is open to the sky on warm summer evenings.
anyway, a word of advice.
take at least one day to just walk around. start from somewhere in the centre and just...walk around. seriously. don't plan it too much. it's an amazing city, there is more layering of history that you will find in any other place in the world. sometimes it is difficult for a foreigner to grasp the magnitude of what you see in front of you (sometimes it is difficult for an italian too!). just walk, chill, get a coffee, sit outside, and try to experience the city as someone who lives there, rather than a turist.
if you wear khaki shorts and hawaian shirts, then you'll be pickpocketed for sure:)
lars, you will find that most cinemas in italy have an intermission in the middle of the film, it's quite normal!
how could I forget the Galleria Borghese! Bernini and Caravaggio - a few amazing examples of each - in a beautiful space. The Gardens are also quite nice...young and old Dionysus dueling...it's on the outskirts in an upscale neighborhood...
Ostia Antica
Fosse Ardeatine
Parco della Musica
While in Rome, visit the typical sites, but if you try to visit Meier's church...beware, you're heading into a slum. Nevertheless, such a trip does give you a glimpse of modern Roman life..
Also, while you're on the coast, check out the Spiaggia Libera
Keo's park on the aventine is Parco Saveli, with the orange grove in it (do not try to eat them, they are very sour) and the keyhole view of Saint Peters in down the block in in the Knights of Malta courtyard/entry. The aventine hill is amazing , quiet and easy going, so please check it out, Santa Sabina is one of my favorite churchs in Rome.
Plus other standards:
_Santa Maria in Cosmedin, LeCorbusier's favorite church in Rome, read Towards a new architecture before you go and you'll see that he could not be farther from the truth.
Other excellent churches are:
_San Carlo alle quattro fontane in the Quirinale area
_San Ivo to the west of PIazza Navona in the map and Santa Maria della Pace to the east of Navona (check outBramantes courtyard and Raphael's sybils in the east aisle when you go in)
_San Luigi dei Francesci, Caravaggio's 3 painting of the life of Saint Mathew.( a must)
_San Clemente as someone else said is also a must go, you can get a great idea of the layering of history (time and physical) that occurs in the eternal city.
_San Stefano Rotondo around the Coliseum, its an interestin circular ancient church with a series of intensily gruesome frescoes that depict the way( the many ways, kind of like a dictionary) christians were executed in ancient times.
_Another great church in the area is Santi Quattro Coronati, there is a chapel that you need permission to get in (just ask one of the sisters in english, is called the chapel of Saint Sylvester, that has amazing mosaics of the supposed conversion of COnstantine under pope Sylvester)
.....an many more
_il tempietto by Bramante in San Pietro in Mortorio in the Janicolo hill.
_Santa Maria della Vittoria to see Bernini's Exctacy of Santa teresa.
_Michelangelo's twins in the Campidoglio and his Christ statue in Santa Maria sopra Minerva near the Pantheon, the only Michelangelo statue that you can touch today.
_go to Villa Borguese to see most of Bernini's sculpture works.
_the capucchin crypt in Santa Maria della Concezione in via Venetto, will show you that bones can substitute wallpaper very efficiently.
...say Ciao to Mikki's in Miscelanea's , a small restaurant by the Pantheon, if you are facing it will be to the east, its a nice place for a beer and fun times at night. Jonathan's angels will also be interesting as someone else said before. by Piazza dei Collegio Romano near the Pantheon there is a small standing pizza place, the owner is call Remo if he is still there, you have to try it.
also head to San Giovanni in Fiorentini and visit a great man who is burried in one of the left piers. Or should i say 2 men.
Have a great trip and ask for a Molinari Sambucca a la mosca.
Ciao, and buon biaggio, i will be heading there myself in middle august.
........and moretti rocks
javier...
sounds like you went to psu..
-mikki's pasta and sandwiches were incredible...
i had so many free meals there...saved me tons of money
my semester there.
-the pizza place i always went to was on
the corner of via montecatini and via del corso.
larslarson.
I actually went to FIU. florida international university in Miami but had a semi shared program with Penn State. We used their studios in the Palazzo Pamphili and had Romolo in serveral crits and as a landlord.That was back in 2002. i go to the graduate program at Cornell now
Mikki's was pretty fun, i have good memories there. Ill check out the Montecatini and Corso pizza place next fall.
...........and as another proof that we are nerds......(another cool place in roma)
when you go into Santa Maria del Popolo ( the first thing to do is avoid the Chigi Chapel by Raphael and Bernini, although it is pretty cool, that Dan Brown Angel and Demons book was pretty far fetched_ let that thing do not be the reason you got in that church), also avoid the 2 greatest Caravaggio's in the world (i can't believe im saying this)... you'll have time for them later on.
head to the right aisle and walk to the main altar making some sig sag moves around the choir untill you in the back wall of the church. What you will see is a simple shell life apse of white stucco: Bramante's first work in Rome of 1499, right after coming from Milan and before starting on the Julius projects. It is probably my favorite spot in all of the churches in Rome.
....if this is not proof that nerdship i dont know what it is, I have friends who have fallen sleep to this tale...at least i know you guys care...i think.....
Hit up the Forno (Bakery) at the far corner of Campo dei Fiori around lunch for some amazing pizza. You'll have to plow through crowds to get to it, but it's amazing pizza!
Also go to St. Ignazio near S. Maria sopra Minerva (near the Pantheon), to see the beautiful frescos as well as the dome.
At Sunset get to Piazza del Popolo and climb up the Pincolo for an amazing view.
Also, if there are any exhibits in the Medici Villa? up near the top of the Spanish Steps, make sure to hit those up to see the amazing gardens.
I also definitely recomment gelato at Giolitti (I've tried them all, and am convinced that Giolitti's is the best), and some of the smaller restaurants in Trastevere. Avoid the restaurants near the Pantheon and surrounding Piazza Navona, they're, for the most part, very touristy and not especially good.
Have a great trip!
javier
figured there had to be some psu affiliation...miscellanea
has always been a favorite of ours..and i'm quite familiar with
the area you are describing since i went there too in 95. romolo
was my dean initially and his first year in rome was in my semester
in rome. overall a good guy i guess...full of tons of info..and i
think the move to italy helped him tremendously.
have fun on your return trip...and i wish i was familiar with the
spot you were desribing in the popolo church...saw the caravaggios.
caravaggio was my first aha moment in art...looking through books
whenever it was i was struck by his use of light and shadow.. and
his dramatic layouts..and ways of looking at things from different
angles (i.e. the crucifixion of st. peter) .and
how they differed from paintings of his era. still one of my
sentimental favorites
va bene is right about the Campo forno...nice
Also, if you're an archie hit "Modern Rome" Meier-Hadid-Piano
Start at Meier's Ara Pacis Building and head north into "Real Rome"
Enoteca Cul de Sac
great wine bar to the west of piazza navona, down the street from santa maria della pace.
The wine list is the size of a phone book, no joke. The wines are shelved all around the customers and nets are above their heads to keep bottles from falling on them when they are being retrieved.
Great antipasta.........crustinni w/ smoked swordfish, goatcheese and warm vegetables, prosciuto and melon, etc!!!!!!!!!! cant go wrong.
just got back, and know I won't be having food like that for a long time.
This is amazing...a veritable guide to rome, from people wih good taste - can't beat it! All I need to do is print this handy little list before we leave and we are all-good. Thanks A lot.
he'll not lead you wrong for all things edible:
http://www.babbonyc.com/italytravel-rome.html
carciofi giudaea - fried artichokes
are the best late night munchy i've yet found
after exhausting yourself finding the Pantheon, be sure to first visit Ronnies for a quick bite. Convieniently located DIRECTLY across the piazza!
damn... pic too big
it's supposed to show a mcDonalds... horrid
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