| Page Views: 213 Last Visit to Rome: November, 2007 | Roma, la capitale della Repubblica Italiana by annase - last update: Nov 28, 2007 |
| A fading detail of a building on Palatine Hill |
I loved Rome. It was my first time in this gorgeous city at the end of October - beginning of November. Before going, I was really looking forward to all the fab historical buildings, cafes, restaurants and the whole atmosphere.
Before hand, some people told me that pizza in Rome was a real disappointment and that some of the city's statues were.. erm.. rather interesting.. I thought "Well, we shall see about that once we get there". Luckily, the city turned out to be lovely. I really liked the atmosphere, the gorgeous Italian food, the ancient Roman heritage. The Colosseum was definitely my favourite out of all the historical buildings.
A few things bothered me slightly during my visit though. The traffic in Rome is slightly chaotic to start with although you get used to it after a while. Crossing the roads at the pedestrian crossings is not always necessarily safe, since cars drive very fast and might just not stop to let you go first. The other thing was the masses of local and international tourist everywhere on national holidays. It was All Saints Day, when I was there, and the queues everywhere were just massive. If you want to avoid queuing up too much, get a Roma Pass (€20 for 3 days including the city transport because you will still have to queue, but the queues are much shorter) or make sure you start your sightseeing for the day very early (before 9am even) |
|  | I was positively surprised how many people spoke very good English. I did learn a few phases before going such as "Il conto, per favor" (Can I have the bill, please?) which was very useful. I like the language and it's quite easy to read it, if you have studied Spanish since it's similar.
All in all, I was very pleased about my visit to Rome and had a really lovely time. Rome can be slightly expensive, but my sister had bought a Lonely Planet guide book, which listed lots of places to eat, and we chose almost all of our eateries for lunch and dinner according to what was recommended on the guide book. They were all budget restaurants really. The most expensive meal for 2 that we had was only €35 and included a shared starter, two main courses, two desserts, half a litre of house wine and a litre bottle of still water. |
| | On our last day, we ignored the guide book and walked into a cafe on Piazza Navona. We had a table in the sun near one of the fountains and the weather was gorgeous. My sister wanted to have breakfast so we decided to go for their breakfast buffet, which seemed reasonable €7,50 a head. I think we probably thought that hot drinks would be included and of course they weren't. When we got the bill, we ended up paying 14.50 each for the breakfast buffet and a latte. The latte was €7!!! That is the most expensive coffee I have ever had in my life, since I only paid €5 in Bruges, Belgium ;-) Ha ha! That's what you get when you don't check the prices before ordering. Never mind. It was worth it. We only spent about €10 per head on our lunches and dinners normally and it was our last day, the setting was very nice and all. No regrets.. Anyway, I thought you might find this piece of info useful =) |
> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]
| Pros: | "The remnants of the Ancient Rome are breathtakingly beautiful, the athmosphere, the city and food are gorgeous." | | Cons: | "Rome can be expensive, it's very crowded and the traffic feels chaotic" |
annase's Rome Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 2 - Photos: 7 | | | | Restaurants | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | Tourist Traps
Tips: 1 | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs
Tips: 1 | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips |
 Comments for annase about Rome | | | | |
breughel Mon Mar 10, 2008 17:07 UTC
Only one "things to do" tip but an excellent one. |
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