Rome Travel Forum

Hi guys n gals!
I'm off to Rome on Tuesday on my own and a bit worried as never been traveling on my own before. If anyone could help me with a few things I'm sure it would settle my mind.
1 - I know a few words/phrases in Italian but not enough to hold a conversation. What's the language barrier like?
2 - I'm staying in a hostel but without a bathroom, where's the best place to take a shower? :)
3 - Can you take photos in the Churches or the Vatican?
4 - Anything I should be worried about?

Although aprehensive I'm really looking forward to my trip. If anyone's out there the same time as me and fancies showing me a few sights let me know.
thanks
steve

The language barrier isn't a barrier as such. Take a small phrasebook, do your best, smile and gesture....and you'll find lots of people answer you in English anyway.

Surely the hostel you are staying at will have shared bathroom facilities with showers??

No flash photos in churches, and some don't allow any photography at all. You'll see signs at the door to guide you about this.

Nothing special to worry about as such, but stay as alert as you would in any big city, and use your common sense. Keep cash/cards etc distributed around your pockets (leave passport/spare cards/cash in the hostel safe, if it has one). Take photocopies of documents (or scan them and email the scans to yourself). Avoid badly-lit places at night, and stay alert for pickpockets etc in busy, crowded areas (especially touristy ones). Ignore gypsies/touts etc who approach you: don't make eye contact, just ignore them and keep walking.

Cross the roads like a Roman: walk straight across, no dithering, keep making eye contact with drivers as you do so. They may not entiely stop, but they will avoid you if they can work out where you are going. If in doubt, cross the road behind a nun or priest (or tour group): there are loads in Rome!

Rome is a wonderful city: enjoy!

Don't know about the shower - but after my husband became ill I travel alone as a woman and have never had any issues.

Main thing, and this one is important, is to keep the bulk of your money and passport and whatever ATM and credit cards you have in a money bag under the front of your slacks. Just have a few Euro out, preferably in pants that have some Velcro. Here is a sample of what I'm talking about:
http://www.magellans.com/store/Safety___Security___Security_Wallets___Money_BeltsSV606?Args=

Pick pockets are the worst problem in most of Europe, and particularly in Rome.

oh ... it's good you knwo a little Italian - I think the most important is just to at least ask if they speak English before starting to chat. Otherwise, no issues there either!

Nomad & I travel by ourselves, independently (no tour groups). Not together, though we have met.

So if we feel ok about Rome (we do, and I've been there 3 times now), then you should be reassured! :-))

Cool, thanks for that. Also when I arrive at the airport, isn't there some kind of travel pass I can get that last about 3 days? Someone mentioned it but I can't remember what it's called or where to get it.
Steve

Not at the airport: it's too much faff to get it there when you need to get transport into the city.

Go to the booths at the bus station outside Termini station. If you are landing at Ciampino (yes?) that's where the bus will stop.

Get the 3-day ticket there (it cost 11 euros in March). It will take you on all the buses, the Metro and trams (and on the commuter trains too, so you can visit Ostia Antica......a mini-Pompeii..if you want to). Just make sure to validate (date-stamp) it when you make youo first journey: buses and trams have yellow machines on board, Metro and trains have them on the platform. You only need to validate it once, but do keep it with you at all times: there are on-the-spot fines for travelling with no valid ticket (and I believe the inspectors do not wear uniform).

That's really helpfull, thanks very much. Yes I'm ariving at Ciampino.

Ohhh yes, good point leics! Be particularly careful to get it stamped!

I was in a rush once and forgot, last trip with my husband and his brother had come with us. My husband and I went thru, and they stopped his brother. I think the note about getting the ticket in the little machine is even in English in the back of the ticket, so no excuse. My husband looked a little ill, and the agent realized it and eventually let him (us by now) go, but it could have been ugly!

And expensive!

The people in the booths at Termini bus station are well-used to visitors, so you'll have no problem buying your ticket (their signs are in English too).

Am intrigued about the showers pat of yourquestion though....did you just mean the hostel hasn't got en suite bathrooms??

As J (leics) noted, what is generally outlawed in museums and churches (photographically speaking) are tripods and flashes: tripods because they interfere with visitor traffic and flashes because they can degrade some of the art. It is unknown how much of the real reason is to protect the sales of high quality photography books at the museum stores ;-).

This means that you need to bring a camera in which you control the flash, that is, you don't want one of those cheap cameras that turns the flash on automatically if it's too dark. This means, of course, that you may have trouble taking shots in low light without the movement of your hands marring the shot. In this case, it's better to take a semi-automatic camera in which you can set the shutter speed and the camera auto sets the aperture, rather than a fully automated camera which will slow the shutter speed down so much that you can't hold the camera still enough to avoid blur.

You will also become creative and learn to use walls and columns to brace yourself and your camera to avoid blur ;-)

Other than that, you are welcome to use cameras in most places...just remember to come out from behind the camera from time to time and really see what you're looking at!

Note, a number of churches still have lighting on demand...add a few coins to the box and the art is lit up fro a few minutes...it can make the difference between a photo and no photo in some churches (St. Peter in Chains was pitch black until you paid your money, as I recall ;-) )...

Bill

Leics is right you shouldn't be worried about the language barrier. Here's some phrases you need to know. 1.Che hora sogno-What time is it? The h is silent in sogno and ch is always pronounced as a k. 2.quanto costa-How much? 3.Dove siamo-Where are we? 4.A che hora si apre-What time do you open? 5.Dove si trove-Where does one find? 6.Buongiorno-Good day. 7.Buona notte-Good night. 8.Grazie-Thank you 9.Prego-Your welcome.
I'm sure the hostel you're staying at has at least a shared bathroom. They allow cameras at the Vatican in St. Peter's Basilica not sure about the Sistine Chapel though.
Be careful of people that come up to you and tell you that they are police when in fact they are not. If they come up to you and ask for your passport, don't give it to them. Police in Italy are always in uniform and these people are not. Police only come up to you when you have done something wrong. These people come up to you out of the blue when you have done nothing wrong. Happy travels.

Thanks very much, you're all really helpful. With regards to the hostel situation, when i booked the accomodation it just stated 8-10 dorm "without Bathroom" so I just assumed it didn't have one at all but come to think of it it's more than likeley there's a shared bathroom.

There will be something, I'm sure.

Hi nomad, Leics

FYI - we survived in Rome with a few phrases of Italian but we had some humorous moments !

re: getting your travel pass stamped - do you know if you have to get it stamped at time of 1st use or do you need to get it stamped each time you use it ? It has been a long time since we visited Rome - thanks in advance.

Hiya!

Just stamp it the first time, whether it's a several-day pass or a single ticket (they last 75 minutes, I think, so you could go on two buses etc in that time).

Stamping it more than once will make the time/date-stamp illegible.....o dear. :-(

Buananotte! If you buy a 7-day (or 3-day) ticket, you have to validate it only once, but every time you go on the Metro, you have to enter it to the validation machine anyway. Don't worry, it won't stamp it again! Have a great time in this great city!

"1.Che hora sogno-What time is it? The h is silent in sogno and ch is always pronounced as a k."

Oops! "che ora sogno" means "what time do I sleep?" I am sure that Antonio meant "che ore sono" (literally, 'what are the hours?')

Note that it's true that the initial 'h' is no longer pronounced, but it has been deleted from all common Italian words except for forms of 'avere' (Latin: habere), such as 'ho' ('I have', pronounced 'o'). It still appears in Spanish; however.

To me, trying to learn a few phrases in a few days can be somewhat counterproductive (don't yell at me, I highly support learning multiple languages), because if you ask a question in Italian, you are likely to get the answer in Italian, which won't do you any good.

While you should learn common phrases of courtesy (please, thank you, good day, etc.), other phrases might be better off pointed to in a book, both because of your pronunciation and to show that you don't speak enough Italian to converse.

Note, however, that Italians are the most forgiving people in Europe when it comes to massacring their language - they are generally delighted that you speak any Italian at all, and will sit down to try to teach you the rest (bring a bottle ;-) )...

I do highly recommend reading your phrase book to get familiar with words that you are likley to read (on signs) in Italy that don't have obvious English equivalents, such as binario (track at the train station), cittą (as in 'centro cittą', which is 'city center'), ingresso or entrata (entrance), uscita (exit), and so on...practicing your numbers would be nice, too...and be thankful that with the euro, you're no longer talking about such huge numbers (50,000 lire for a meal) ;-)

Bill

thanks for the correction mcalpin. I noticed my mistake too after I had posted it.

That is one problem with VT - that you can't edit your postings...but maybe VT's servers don't have enough CPU cycles for all of us to be editing our postings all the time...;-)

Bill

The subway system is great in Rome and will take you to the major sights. Ask for a subway map when you buy the pass, or pick one up in a booth inside the station. There are A and B lines (Red/Blue). This also helps you to get your bearings. Rome is a walking city, although they are long walks but interesting.

I bought a sightseeing map of the city the first time I was there at the airport (FCO) and have used it several times since. Circle where you're staying so when you are out signtseeing and lose your bearings you can pull it out and ask someone (I always found a policeman) by pointing to where you want to go. They will point out a direction, some may speak English to you.

Make sure you have your money, passport, personal items in a money pouch inside your clothing and being in a hostel I'd suggest keeping it on you at all times. Don't carry your wallet in your pant pocket. You can carry some money in your pocket but keep your hand near if it gets crowded at a site, subway or bus. Be especially careful on the bus b/c they are more crowded. I tended to find the subway station rather than take a bus due to an unpleasant experience I had.

If you feel uncomfortable in a situation or think someone is close that is questionable step out of their way or turn in the other direction. On the subway try to sit down to your destination (best advice I ever received) and watch the riders (even the subway tv tells you to keep alert and watch out for pickpockets). It isn't that they are everywhere you just hear a lot of stories. Be street smart and pretend you know where you are going. Enjoy Rome, it is really a beautiful city.

Thanks for your help and advice everyone! Really appreciated! Well I'm off tommorow morning 6.30am flight!!! I'll post some photos when I get back.
thanks again!
Steve

I'll look forward to reading your pages! :-)

Just a last minute suggestion to skip buying a tourist map. You can get a free one from the TI (Tourist Information) in Termini Station. You'll probably go from the airport to Termini anyway before continuing on to your destination. It was a really excellent map with the major points of interest marked on the map with pictures. I had left my directions to the hotel at home (oops!) but had the address listed in my guide book. The person at the TI cirled the place I was staying on the map and gave me directions on how to get there. Definitely take advantage of the free information.