Notes from Rome

[cantstopingcruising]

44 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I haven't stayed at Hotel Artemide but I have friends who have stayed there twice and love it. I think you will too.

 

Hmm, the tour you mention sounds similar to the one I did:  Tour of the Capuchin crypt and then a brief concert by some very good opera singers who presented a variety of sacred a capella music?  However, I opted to arrange my own dinner at the restaurant mentioned. (It was not part of the tour...)

 

I am on BTB sailings of Constellation starting Oct 12 -- not my usual small ship, but looking forward to trying something new.  I've sailed with Celebrity several times, but not in the Med.

 

It wasn't the same concert/art  tour. It was at the Barbarini the day we were there. It was at other venues on other days. It was an art tour of the palace accompanied, in one or more rooms, by baroque music played on baroque instruments. No food involved. We went nearby to the Colline emiliane for lunch and had the pumpkin ravioli.  It was the best thing I ever tasted in Rome! I have asked for it in some of our Italian restaurants, but have yet to find it here.

 

Thanks for the thumbs up on the Artemide. After reading your glowing report of the Albergo del Senato, I started to rethink. But if we take any day trips by train, the Artemide will be more convenient. I just hope the rooms aren't too small.

 

Have a happy and a healthy New Year. May 2020 be a year of wonderful travel!!

Edited December 31, 2019 by cantstopingcruising

[VitaminSea53]

Cruisemom42,

We will be in Rome this coming May and wanted your input on departing FCO. I have heard stories of lengthy delays at the airport. Is that still true?  Some of our group is heading straight back to the US, some are transiting through Germany. How many hours should we arrive prior to departure?

thanks. 

[bennybear]

Not cruise mom,  but we were there in October and their scanners were down so took an extra 45 minutes at immigration and business class didn’t help.    Long story short, to be on the safe side I would allow three hours.    

[Giantfan13]

Just heard this on the radio this AM, but I'm not sure if it has been mentioned here.

Anyway, I heard people are no longer allowed to sit on the Spanish Steps???? Has anyone heard anything about this?

 

Cheers

Len

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Cruisemom42,

We will be in Rome this coming May and wanted your input on departing FCO. I have heard stories of lengthy delays at the airport. Is that still true?  Some of our group is heading straight back to the US, some are transiting through Germany. How many hours should we arrive prior to departure?

thanks. 

 

I always allow 3 hours at FCO -- almost always I am headed directly back to the US. Sometimes I have needed nearly all that time (I don't like to arrive at the gate after boarding has already started). Other times, such as my most recent trip that I've posted about here, I got through the whole process very quickly and had quite a bit of down time at the gate. I attribute this to being way off season (and the flight was Thanksgiving day which, while not celebrated by Italians, may have meant that not a lot of Americans were onboard heading home on that day...)

 

I think you could safely allow a bit less (2.5 hours) for non US-bound flights. 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Giantfan13 said:

Just heard this on the radio this AM, but I'm not sure if it has been mentioned here.

Anyway, I heard people are no longer allowed to sit on the Spanish Steps???? Has anyone heard anything about this?

 

Cheers

Len

 

Len, it's definitely true. The ban went into effect very quickly just at the end of the 2019 tourist season. A friend that I take Italian lessons with couldn't believe it either, but she was in Rome in September and sent me a photo of the steps, devoid of sitters. You can see a couple of police keeping an eye on things and apparently they are warning offenders:

 

 

Most Romans seem to be in favor of it; I think many of them are fed up with the damage caused by careless (and just plain stupid) tourists who just in the past year have been caught numerous times defacing the Colosseum, breaking off part of the "Elefantino" statue near the Pantheon, and jumping into various fountains to cool off.

 

 

[Giantfan13]

I can understand the way they are thinking, but really. Next they may stop people from throwing coins into Trevi Fountain.

Last time we were in Rome, we sat on the Steps until sunset, watched the sun set down the avenue right across the street. Just a marvelous experience. At that time, they weren't allowing anyone to eat or drink on the Steps, which I can understand. 

 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Giantfan13 said:

I can understand the way they are thinking, but really. Next they may stop people from throwing coins into Trevi Fountain.

Last time we were in Rome, we sat on the Steps until sunset, watched the sun set down the avenue right across the street. Just a marvelous experience. At that time, they weren't allowing anyone to eat or drink on the Steps, which I can understand. 

 

 

Yes, I too think it's a little odd. Even Audrey Hepburn sat on the Spanish Steps in Roman Holiday!

 

I suppose the Caribinieri have a hard time enforcing the no eating/drinking rule because it's relatively easy to be sneaky. Perhaps this is an end-run around that. But the comments (from Romans) in Italian newspapers in the weeks after it was implemented were probably more than 90% in favor.

 

[VitaminSea53]

22 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I always allow 3 hours at FCO -- almost always I am headed directly back to the US. Sometimes I have needed nearly all that time (I don't like to arrive at the gate after boarding has already started). Other times, such as my most recent trip that I've posted about here, I got through the whole process very quickly and had quite a bit of down time at the gate. I attribute this to being way off season (and the flight was Thanksgiving day which, while not celebrated by Italians, may have meant that not a lot of Americans were onboard heading home on that day...)

 

I think you could safely allow a bit less (2.5 hours) for non US-bound flights. 

 

 

When you are departing FCO (for final destination in the US) but are transiting in Munich, is that Schengen or considered a US flight? Sorry to be so confused. 

[cruisemom42]

10 minutes ago, VitaminSea53 said:

When you are departing FCO (for final destination in the US) but are transiting in Munich, is that Schengen or considered a US flight? Sorry to be so confused. 

 

The extra security doesn't have anything to do with Schengen vs. non-Schengen, as far as I've always understood it. It has to do with extra US (and Israeli) security requirements due to terrorism. The impacted flights are those that will be flying directly to those two countries. 

 

 

[Host Bonjour]

 

On 12/1/2019 at 4:03 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

I am sorry about the weather!  Your description made me think immediately of the first Med cruise my wife and I took, nearly a decade ago.  It was in January!  We had a port call to Civitavecchia, and a handful of us from our Roll Call had arranged a private tour to Rome with Romeinlimo.  It was of course a whirlwind day (I'd been to Rome before and we've been back for longer since), and it was also cold and pouring rain.  Yet we had an absolutely wonderful time.   This photo from that day is one of my favorites; for me, it captures everything about the day and always makes me smile.   

 

 

(photo by turtles06) 

I don't know how I previously overlooked this image but then I do a lot of reading in these topics or maybe I thought I did comment...but forgive me for not already saying that I love it, it's captivating. I'm sorry the weather wasn't great when you hoped it would be, that can be disappointing but I've also always found it lead to some of my favorite photographs. 

 

In this one, the stone is multi-dimensional, as is the grass and the colors of the umbrellas pop. The drama of the location and of the occasion of your visit is represented in this photograph and you can feel it right away in a manner that is no way near as palpable than when viewing a similar image that was taken in bright sunlight when the stones seem lighter and it's harder to make out the people, or a lot of other details. It's also a really well made shot! Thanks so much for sharing it here. 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Host Bonjour

[Turtles06]

8 hours ago, Host Bonjour said:

It's also a really well made shot! Thanks so much for sharing it here. 

Thank you so much for your very kind words! 

[marazul]

On 11/26/2019 at 3:56 PM, cruisemom42 said:

Oh, okay. Katie's already on it anyway:  https://katieparla.com/colline-emiliane-regional-cuisine-rome-trevi/

 

Yes, I had my artichokes. Then had them again in another place, just to see if there really is a difference. (There is, the first night's offering was better, definitely.)

 

I think you were asking exactly WHERE the location is -- the entrance is about halfway down the Termini building along the Via Giolitti side.

 

Cruisemom,

you are killing me! I have an unexpected trip to Rome in April in the middle of the carciofi season.  Can you give me another hint?  Or I can give you my email.  Your secret will be safe!  

 

I did street view for Via Giolitti and can't figure out where.  And not in the menu for Colline.

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, marazul said:

Cruisemom,

you are killing me! I have an unexpected trip to Rome in April in the middle of the carciofi season.  Can you give me another hint?  Or I can give you my email.  Your secret will be safe!  

 

I did street view for Via Giolitti and can't figure out where.  And not in the menu for Colline.

 

The Via Giolitti thing was not the artichokes, it was a secondary conversation about where the entrance to the Mercato at Termini is located (entrance). And you're right, it wasn't Colline.

 

If you have an email you're willing to post, I'll email you. (My email has my CC screen name in it.) . But don't go spreading the word... 

[marazul]

3 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

The Via Giolitti thing was not the artichokes, it was a secondary conversation about where the entrance to the Mercato at Termini is located (entrance). And you're right, it wasn't Colline.

 

If you have an email you're willing to post, I'll email you. (My email has my CC screen name in it.) . But don't go spreading the word... 

marazul167 at gmail dot com

Thanks you. My lips are sealed!