What a trip! It was a good time for sure. If you like history, Italy is an awesome place to visit! We did the typical tourist route: Rome, Florence & Venice. Three nights each in Rome and Florence and two nights in Venice plus one night back in Rome before flying home.
Here's a few observations/comments on our trip in no particular order:
- We got extremely lucky on the weather. It was 70-80 degrees every day but the last two when the bottom fell out (mid to upper 40's).
- Rome is an awesome city of you like history or historical sights.
- Three nights in any city in Italy will barely scratch the surface of what there is to see.
- The train system is very efficient. We had no troubles using it what so ever and prices were pretty reasonable.
- On that note, there is really no need to rent a car. We didn't. We walked everywhere in each city and took the trains from city to city.
- The dollar to euro exchange rate sucks so bad that it was a pretty expensive trip, even with free airfare for me and discounted airfare for my wife.
- Make sure when you sit down to eat somewhere you know how much the drinks cost before you order them. This is a big scam run in every Italian city. It's not uncommon for a can of Coke to go for 3 euro's ($4). The first time we got burned was at a trattoria at the Metro station across from the Colliseum in Rome. The food prices were reasonable (if there is such a thing in Italy) at only 7 - 9 euros. Without thinking I ordered a Coke and the wife ordered a water. My coke was 6.5 euros ($8+) and my wifes 1/2 liter of water was 3 euro ($4).
- If, for some reason, you need to find an American, Canadian or Brit, look for fat people. It's sad to say but from my experience the split of overweight people in Italy was something along this line: 90% American, 9% Canadian or Brit & 1% Italian or European.
- If you are looking for an Italian or other European, look for the thin, stylishly dressed chain smokers. :lol: Okay, the chain smoking comment may be a bit of a stretch but there does seem to be a high percentage of smokers over there.
- I can only assume Europeans stay thin from all the walking they do on a daily basis. I bet we walked more in our 10 days in Italy than we had in the previous 10 months in the states. Again, a bit of an overexageration but you get the point.
- A 9 hour flight seems even longer when you can't sleep on a plane.
- Adjusting to a 6 hour time difference isn't really that tough if you start the adjustment a few days before you leave.
- Scooter/motorcycle riders in Italy are maniacs! It's funny watching them weave in and out of the cars at red lights to get to the front of the line.
- It's also amusing to watch a guy in a full, designer business suit wearing a helmet and riding a scooter.
- I'd guess almost half the scooter/motorcycle riders in Italy are women. :icon_eek: It's actually kinda hot.
- Italian/European women definitely like to show off their bodies. There were skin tight designer jeans and bare bellies everywhere.
- Even most of the older women (40-50ish) had pretty hot bods.
- The lines for all the major attractions suck ass. It's not uncommon to wait 1-2 hours in line to get in at various places.
- The fact that you can't take pictures or video inside most of the major attractions in Florence and Venice is a bit of a scam (so they can sell their pictures and videos) and also a big disappointment.
- In most of the attractions in Rome, pictures and video were fine inside and out which was nice. This excluded the Sistine Chapel. They were camera Nazi's in there. We actually watched them grab someone and throw them out because they wouldn't stop taking pictures.
- I got 20 seconds of video in the Sistine Chapel ceiling before someone yelled at me to turn my camera off at which time I promptly shut it down.
- I also managed to snap a picture of the original statue of David without anybody noticing (another big no-no).
- Italians love tiny little cars & scooters, especially in Rome. It's no wonder with their parking situation and how narrow many of their roads are.
- Romans buy something like 50% of the Smart ForTwo's sold in the world. Presumably because they are easy to park.
- The smallest cars don't even bother parallel parking. They just pull in perpindicular to the curb since they aren't much longer than the scooters.
- Alfa Romeo 159's make mean looking police cars.
- The little buses they use to get into the tighter areas in the cities are an odd sight to see. They remind me of the little school bus from Dumb & Dumberer.
- We Americans don't know what a mini-van really looks like :lol:
- If I lived in Italy outside of one of the major cities there is no question I'd be driving an Alfa Romeo 159. One of the coolest looking cars around and you can get a 260 hp version.
- Fiat makes a few ugly ass vehicles. Case in point:
Well, that's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure I'll think of more to add later! All in all, it was an awesome trip!
Here's a few observations/comments on our trip in no particular order:
- We got extremely lucky on the weather. It was 70-80 degrees every day but the last two when the bottom fell out (mid to upper 40's).
- Rome is an awesome city of you like history or historical sights.
- Three nights in any city in Italy will barely scratch the surface of what there is to see.
- The train system is very efficient. We had no troubles using it what so ever and prices were pretty reasonable.
- On that note, there is really no need to rent a car. We didn't. We walked everywhere in each city and took the trains from city to city.
- The dollar to euro exchange rate sucks so bad that it was a pretty expensive trip, even with free airfare for me and discounted airfare for my wife.
- Make sure when you sit down to eat somewhere you know how much the drinks cost before you order them. This is a big scam run in every Italian city. It's not uncommon for a can of Coke to go for 3 euro's ($4). The first time we got burned was at a trattoria at the Metro station across from the Colliseum in Rome. The food prices were reasonable (if there is such a thing in Italy) at only 7 - 9 euros. Without thinking I ordered a Coke and the wife ordered a water. My coke was 6.5 euros ($8+) and my wifes 1/2 liter of water was 3 euro ($4).
- If, for some reason, you need to find an American, Canadian or Brit, look for fat people. It's sad to say but from my experience the split of overweight people in Italy was something along this line: 90% American, 9% Canadian or Brit & 1% Italian or European.
- If you are looking for an Italian or other European, look for the thin, stylishly dressed chain smokers. :lol: Okay, the chain smoking comment may be a bit of a stretch but there does seem to be a high percentage of smokers over there.
- I can only assume Europeans stay thin from all the walking they do on a daily basis. I bet we walked more in our 10 days in Italy than we had in the previous 10 months in the states. Again, a bit of an overexageration but you get the point.
- A 9 hour flight seems even longer when you can't sleep on a plane.
- Adjusting to a 6 hour time difference isn't really that tough if you start the adjustment a few days before you leave.
- Scooter/motorcycle riders in Italy are maniacs! It's funny watching them weave in and out of the cars at red lights to get to the front of the line.
- It's also amusing to watch a guy in a full, designer business suit wearing a helmet and riding a scooter.
- I'd guess almost half the scooter/motorcycle riders in Italy are women. :icon_eek: It's actually kinda hot.
- Italian/European women definitely like to show off their bodies. There were skin tight designer jeans and bare bellies everywhere.
- Even most of the older women (40-50ish) had pretty hot bods.
- The lines for all the major attractions suck ass. It's not uncommon to wait 1-2 hours in line to get in at various places.
- The fact that you can't take pictures or video inside most of the major attractions in Florence and Venice is a bit of a scam (so they can sell their pictures and videos) and also a big disappointment.
- In most of the attractions in Rome, pictures and video were fine inside and out which was nice. This excluded the Sistine Chapel. They were camera Nazi's in there. We actually watched them grab someone and throw them out because they wouldn't stop taking pictures.
- I got 20 seconds of video in the Sistine Chapel ceiling before someone yelled at me to turn my camera off at which time I promptly shut it down.
- I also managed to snap a picture of the original statue of David without anybody noticing (another big no-no).
- Italians love tiny little cars & scooters, especially in Rome. It's no wonder with their parking situation and how narrow many of their roads are.
- Romans buy something like 50% of the Smart ForTwo's sold in the world. Presumably because they are easy to park.
- The smallest cars don't even bother parallel parking. They just pull in perpindicular to the curb since they aren't much longer than the scooters.
- Alfa Romeo 159's make mean looking police cars.
- The little buses they use to get into the tighter areas in the cities are an odd sight to see. They remind me of the little school bus from Dumb & Dumberer.
- We Americans don't know what a mini-van really looks like :lol:
- If I lived in Italy outside of one of the major cities there is no question I'd be driving an Alfa Romeo 159. One of the coolest looking cars around and you can get a 260 hp version.
- Fiat makes a few ugly ass vehicles. Case in point:
Well, that's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure I'll think of more to add later! All in all, it was an awesome trip!
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