Italy part 2. Rome

I have so much great things to tell you guys about Italy. I could tell you about the wonderful flavours of gelato, but I am sure you have heard about it, or even experienced it yourself. I could tell you more about the wonderful espresso, and I will soon, after all, you know I love my coffee 😉 But before all of that, as I mentioned in the first part of these posts HERE, I will tell you some useful details that I think might be useful, if you are planning to visit Rome.

Love it or hate it, Ryanair is becoming the airline most of us use around Europe. Ryanair fly to Ciampino airport, just south of Rome. It takes about 30mins on a bus to get from the airport to the Rome’s main train station Termini. This is also an area where there is more hotels than anywhere else in Rome, and in my experience it is a great location to stay, as exploring the wonderful city from here is easy. You have two metro lines, which are busy. The A line will get you to Vatican, the Spanish steps, Trevi fountain (which was under renovation while we were there.) In front of Spanish steps you have all the designer shops, if you want to spend a small fortune on some designer goods. I like to walk around and “window shop,” as I find it fascinating to see how they present the goods, in these top-notch shops (there is lessons to be learned even here for the music marketer.) The B line will get you to the Colosseum and Forum. The tickets are €1.50 and valid for 100 mins, just keep in mind that the ticket machines don’t take larger notes, so it is good to have some change with you. You can also buy the tickets at the magazine shop at the Termini station, if you are short of change.

I read a lot about pick pockets before coming to Rome. What I would call basic common sense goes a long way here. If you have a bag, make sure no one can get their hands in to it easily, and don’t keep anything valuable in easily accessible pockets. I had no problems what so ever. I also heard about other scams around the train terminal. Lets just say Rome has a massive amount of tourists, and if someone is too eager to help you with your bags, I would be sceptical. Again, I had no problems.

But as I already mentioned in the first part of this post, if you have a good pair of legs, walking definitely is the best way to see Rome.

Just a quick note about getting in and out of Ciampino airport. There are several bus companies, but I would recommend Terravision. They have desk at the airport, and it seems they have the most frequent service. There is a substantial saving to be had by purchasing a return ticket. But when you are returning from the Termini to the airport, you need to go to their desk at the train station to get your boarding pass for the bus, without this your ticket will not get you far. It is all much more simple than it sounds, but I think it is good information to know.

As I write this post, I am on the flight back home. I will definitely share with you some more info about the trip and the beautiful island of Ischia in another post. But for now, I am already looking forward to my return to Italy, hopefully not in so distant future.

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get EIGHT of his songs for free go HERE