The Turtle Partnership Blog

1. Colosseum - we opted not to be drawn in by the touts trying to catch tourists for a 'personal tour' and instead skipped the line by walking down the left hand side and spending 4.5 Euros on an audio tour which you wore round you neck and played.  It had to be returned within 2 hrs so we did the audio tour, returned the devices then spent another 3 hours just wandering around.  .
2. Open top bus tour - cheesy but amazingly good value and handy for orientating yourself.  We paid 23 Euros for 48 hours hopping on and off the buses all around Rome and twice caught the last bus of the day sitting upstairs in the open air as the sun set we got to look at the architecture of Rome for 90 minutes. Bliss.
3. St Peter's Basilica - a fast moving queue, free entry, an amazing and fascinating building and Michaelangelo's Pieta.
4. Pantheon an architectural marvel, beautifully preserved (and right opposite a McDonalds!)
5. La Minervetta B&B hotel in Sorrento overlooking Vesuvius with floor to ceiling windows in each room.  Just be careful when ordering an omelette for breakfast that you don't just specify 'no meat' or you'll end up with a Sauerkraut filling (it looks like harmless onion before you put it in your mouth.)
6. Hotel La Scalinatella, Capri .  They made an exception and let us sit and have the world's most welcome glass of Prosecco on their terrace even though we weren't guests they treated us beautifully. Thanks to them we got to see the Capri we hoped to find (the one belonging to Noel Coward not the one belonging to hoards of tourists looking for cheap D&G sandals)
7. Our apartment on Via Panisperna 3 mins walk from the Colosseum.  Rented through www.haldis.com who do corporate rentals, it was beautifully equipped, central and with high speed internet.  Plus they couldn't have been more helpful.  

1. The food.  I can't even tell you about the food.  Truly terrible food. Even at one meal a day we only managed 2 decent meals in 7 days.  One at the bar underneath our apartment and one at a cafe on via Serpenti .  I understand that going to touristy places means being inundated by tourist restaurants and I expect them to overcharge but why they also have to have lousy food is beyond me.  Two of the worst were actualy recommended in travel guides
2. The swarms of tourists.  I know we were two of them but honestly if all you want to do is experience a place and absorb the atmosphere you're completely out of luck.  Places like Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain are best avoided.  Sorrento and Capri were especially heinous with English tourists and pubs selling Stella - summed up by one waiter in Sorrento who, when taking our order said, "hey English! you want Wine ? Beer? yes? you English party party !".  Oh god.
3. Fiumicino airport - hasn't been cleaned at a guess since 1951
4. The Vatican Museums.  We wanted to see the Raphael rooms and obviously the Sistine chapel but were in no hurry - what I wasn't expecting was the equivalent of a busy Sunday afternoon in Ikea.  I'm quite claustrophobic and after the following the crowd into the entrance we were then all forced on a 90 minute route march, no stopping, no turning back until reaching the Sistine chapel by which time I was a gibbering wreck.  Tim felt it was overrated and he should have stuck with sculpture(!) but that may have been the stress of the afternoon (take plenty of water with you and prepare to be crushed) On the upside we were both amazed and intimidated by The Last Judgment fresco on the adjoining wall and glad we made it through.  
5. The drivers - especially the guy who took off the front of our car on the last day.  I'm very glad when Hertz offered us the 'super insurance' on top of the insurance we already had at 20 Euros per day we went ahead and took it.  It was the mention of the 1000 Euro excess for damage and 1500 Euro excess for theft under their standard cover that convinced us the super cover was a good idea.  As the guy at Hertz was keen to point out to us when we dropped off what was left of the brand new car we picked up - if we hadn't spent the extra 60 Euros we'd be 1000 Euros in the hole.

Gabriella Davis | London | TrackBacks (0) | Comments (1)

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