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Tags: Rome Travel / Colosseum / Historical Travel / Rome / → All Tags
Gladiator Get-Down: A Night at the Colosseum
Europe's oldest tourist trap is offering a brand new spin: visitors to the Colosseum can now visit the ancient amphitheatre at night. Rome officials are hoping the prospect of nighttime visits will reel in an extra load of tourists to the city this summer and maybe thin out those dreaded daytime crowds a bit as well.
Usually, The Colosseum closes one hour before sunset, but starting this week visitors will get a few extra hours of pondering gladiator games—and the chance to view the night sky from inside the monument. Sounds like a great idea to us, especially if the haunting arena looks half as cool inside at night as it does lit up from the exterior.
Also new on the Eternal City itinerary this summer are two ancient attractions: the recently restored Temple of Romulus and the 2nd-century B.C. House of the Griffins, both now open to the public for the first time.
Related Stories:
· Nighttime Colosseum tours now offered in Rome [AP]
· When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do: Avoid Tourists [Jaunted]
· Rome travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: lightmatter]
Tags: Airport Transportation / FCO / Rome / Italy Travel / Airports / → All Tags
On the Road Again: How to Reach Rome-Fiumicino
Your flight has landed, you've claimed your luggage and now you're trying to get the hell out of the airport. To erase confusion and get your on your way, all week long at Jaunted we will be detailing the various ways to get to and from major airports, and what those modes cost, from cheapest to the big blowout entrance. Got any tips or an airport suggestion? Let us know.
· COTRAL/Schiaffini Buses: As the cheapest option, taking a bus obviously involves the most hassle. Purchase tickets for the bus in the sundries shop down by baggage claim, and don't forget to validate it in the the little box machines inside of the bus. Head to Terminal A's ground transportation area to find the bus stop, and make sure you board the right bus. The one to Rome's main Termini station is "Aeroporto-Termini-Tiburtina," or there are also "Aeroporto-Roma Cornelia" to connect with subway line A and "Aeroporto-Roma Magliana" to connect with line B.
Total cost: 1.60 to 3.60 per person, each way depending on your route.
Total time:35 to 45 minutes
Tags: Day Trippin' / Italy Travel / Rome / Ancient History Travel / → All Tags
Trippin' to Ostia Antica From Rome; It Sure Beats Pompeii
Are you sitting down? Yes? Okay good, because we are about to burst a travel bubble: Pompeii isn't all that great. If you're still planning on making an Italian pilgrimage this spring or summer and want to get the usual ration of ancient ruins, then please let us suggest taking a day trip to the less crowded but no less impressive Ostia Antica, the old port city for Rome.
Only some twenty miles outside of downtown Rome and accessible by extra-urban train lines (yay, no bus tours!), Ostia Antica is a playground of multi-story Roman ruins just waiting for you to run amok down its cobblestone streets and in its amphitheaters—after paying the 6.50 entrance fee, of course. Like Pompeii, the place is an active archaeological site packed with mosaics and frescos. Unlike Pompeii, Ostia wasn't destroyed by a flippin' volcano, meaning that most of the city is as intact as possible for a place that's been booming since the 3rd century BC.
Tags: Ancient History Travel / Rome / Travel Books / → All Tags
The Belly Button of the World and Other Neat Facts About Rome
There are plenty of cities that could credibly claim to be the center of the world, but only one has gone through the trouble of marking the exact spot. The timeless city of Rome is home to the Umbilicus Urbis Romae (the "navel of the city of Rome"), a spot in the Roman Forum from which all distances in Rome and the Roman Empire were measured. Constructed by the Emperor Augustus around 20 B.C., it was once marked by a grand marble tower, but all that's left of it is a sad little pile of bricks with a plaque. Still, it represents an excellent starting point or endpoint for any Roman adventure, and it's just one of several neat facts about Rome I picked up from a new book called the Mental Floss History of the World.
Other nifty tidbits include some trivia on Roman manners. Did you know that it was considered polite in ancient Rome to vomit between meals so you could eat more? Well it was, and the mess never got too out of hand, thanks to an army of slaves charged with cleaning up the spittle. Talk about lousy jobs. Rome was also the first civilization to use central heating systems, and even had hot and cold running water (in upper class homes, naturally) so residents could switch between hot, cold, and tepid baths. Why not just find a temperature you like and stick with it?
Humanity has evolved in the ensuing generations, and some of these ideas have been embraced (plumbing), while others, like the between-meal vomiting, have been rendered obsolete (save for the occasional fashion model). Still, it's interesting to take a look at a society that's at once ancient and far removed, and at the same time mirrors our own to a frightening degree of accuracy.
[Photo: personal.ceu.hu]
Related Stories:
· 5 Things You Didn't Know About Rome [askmen.com]
· The Mental Floss History Of the World [mentalfloss.com]
· Ancient History Travel [Jaunted]
Tags: Games / Rome / Italy Travel / → All Tags
When in Rome: Treasure-Free Treasure Hunts for Tourists
If you're a jaded tourist who's seen everything in Rome already, then there's an odd game to play that's meant to get you interested again. Put together by a group called Whai Whai, you can get a bunch of clues and a book to direct you on a kind of treasure hunt.
The Ruyi is the name of this unusual activity and it's designed to get you wandering the back streets and seeing the "real Rome" while also learning a bit of history. You buy everything online and need to use a cell phone to get further clues once you've got your first few answers.
The UK Times tried it out recently but their description didn't really convince us it's that much fun. But perhaps for competitive types, it's the right way to see Rome. Other cities are coming soon, but we're not hopping on one of these tours until they promise a great prize at the end of the hunt!
Related Stories:
· Whai Whai [Official Site]
· A Mystery Tour of Rome [UK Times]
· Rome Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Giara]
Tags: Italy Travel / Rome / Tourist Attractions / → All Tags
When In Rome, Pay up at the Forum
The heart of commerce in ancient Rome is going back to its roots. The Roman Forum site, which has been free to enter for years, started selling tickets to visitors as of this Monday.
Some say tourists won't mind too much, because it is now covered by a joint ticket with the Colosseum and the Palatine Hill. Maybe so, but not all travelers plan to race around every single famous sight in Rome, and on top of that, many are saddened that locals won't be able to wander through spontaneously without having to pay €9.
The official reason for the introduction of a charge for the Forum is that money is needed for restoration work and to increase security. Reasons that are hard to argue with, but we don't like seeing anything get taken off the "free activities" list.
Related Stories:
· Rome: The Forum's No Longer Free [Budget Travel]
· Where to Swim Nude in Rome [Jaunted]
· Red Pompeii Pictures Turn Up In Rome [Jaunted]
[Photo: vgm8383]
Tags: Missed Connections / Rome / → All Tags
Missed Connections: In Rome, It's Amore
Dreaming of a vacation romance like Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday"? You're not alone! The lonely in this Italian city leave their declarations of love--and symbolic locks binding them to their lovers--on lampposts like this one. You could advertise there, or you could take the bull by the horns and head to one of these single-friendly outposts:
Supperclub (link NSFW) -- Your date will be impressed when you sneak him or her into this exclusive, signless club (which used to be a Roman mansion). Via de'Nari 14
Bar del Fico -- Don't let him or her pass you by; when you sit on the terrace at this low-key bar, you can watch the world pass and catch a gentle breeze. (It has heaters, too, for those chilly spring and fall nights.) Piazza del Fico
The Old Bell -- Enjoy southern Italian cuisine on "soul night" or "rock night" at this low-key pub. Via del Boccaccio 24
Related Stories:
· Missed Connections coverage [Jaunted]
· Rome Hotels [HotelChatter]
[Photo: Massimo6342]
Tags: Fontanella de Barcaccia / Rome / Nudity / → All Tags
Where To Swim Nude In Rome, Part II
Forget everything you've heard about European attitudes towards nudity: It isn't always okay -- especially when you're in the Pope's back yard. Remember the Trevi Fountain skinny dip? It is back, this time at Fontanella de Barcaccia. This past Sunday, a 22-year-old American was arrested in Rome for stripping down and bathing in a public fountain near the famed Spanish Steps. Apparently, he spotted the Fontanella de Barcaccia and -- other tourists be damned -- decided to take a quick dip in the 17th-century landmark.
Maybe the man had read the children's classic From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, in which two preteen runaways hide in New York's Metropolitan Museum and bathe in its fountains to find coins for the Automat. Or maybe he just downed a Red Bull spiked with Ecstasy. Either way, Jaunted can not endorse this hotel-shower-free method of traveling. Better to go dirty than face a public obscenity trial in Italy.
Related Stories:
· Where To Swim Nude in Rome [Jaunted]
· Hotels in Rome [HotelChatter]
[Photo: Ex-novo]
Tags: Tourist Attractions / Rome / Summer / Trevi Fountain / → All Tags
Where to Swim Nude in Rome
Summer's coming, and it's getting hot in Rome. So hot, in fact, that even one of the city's most famous tourist attractions, the Trevi Fountain, is no longer safe. Yesterday a local office worker gave tourists and their cameras something different to enjoy:
The 38-year-old identified only as Roberta stunned onlookers by stripping out of her clothes and swimming several lengths of the fountain before stretching out on the marble plinth at the base of a statue of Neptune.
While she could've been hit with a fine of nearly $150, or hit with one of the many coins constantly thrown into the fountain, police simply gave her a warning and let the embarrassment of explaining the lunchtime frolic to her boss, plus having photos plastered across the media, be punishment enough.
[Photo: cfwee]
Related Stories:
· See Loins in the Fountain [Reuters]
· Skinny Dipping in the Trevi Fountain [Metro UK]
Tags: Celeb Travel / Rome / Advertising / Nicole Kidman / → All Tags
Nicole Kidman's Roman Holiday
Newly married Nicole Kidman pissed off the locals this week in Rome-and paid for it- while filming in the city's Testaccio district. Apparently Kidman, who jetted into town from London, was filming a tv commerical for Sky Italia, and producers assumed they could just set up shop without warning.
Residents awoke to find their narrow streets clogged with cameras and annoying PA's wearing headsets telling them to stay inside for fear of ruining the shot. They called in a local spokesperson who denied Kidman's group access to a certain picturesque street, forcing the production team to pay about $30,000 to locals before they even turned cameras on.
Watch out Nicole, Italians make better friends than enemies!
Related stories:
· Kidman's Rome Row [SFDish!]
Tags: Design / Rome / → All Tags
Basta Meier!
Whoa, the Wall Street Journal is totally harshing Richard Meier's buzz, man. Er, rather, they're covering the to-do surrounding Meier's renovation of the Ara Pacis, an ignored museum constructed during Mussolini's reign to house an altar built by Caesar in 13 B.C.
Needless to say, the selection of an American architect for the project rankled, and the Romans' opinion of the new design to house the altar did not improve much after that. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called it a "monstrosity", and the WSJ's reporter isn't much kinder:
A fan of Rome's aged marble and dusty yellow and rose façades, I admit my first reaction was one of horror. The enormous white, boxy glass structure rises up along the Tiber like a shopping mall in Miami...the huge glass fronting the river with its rows of sunshades looks too big and institutional for the heart of Rome--reminding me of the Munich airport.She's kinder to the interior, where the sunshades can't be seen and the open, well-lit design is quite pleasant, even if the altar itself isn't all that interesting. In short, people will probably get used to it.
Wait a minute...we like the Munich airport!
[Image via arkfinder/Flickr]
Related Stories:
· Meier Makeover [WSJ]
Tags: Flickr / Rome / → All Tags
Roman Holiday
Ah, Rome. The Eternal city, and number six on Lonely Planet's list of best cities ever. It's had a good run the past few thousand years, but what about Flickr? Huh? Well, for Flickr-y photo goodness, check out Gianni D.'s photostream of Rome on Flickr. It's a little abstract at times, but most places in Rome are so recognizable, that it's probably a good thing to have a challenge in identifying them.
We're just glad there are no pictures of Vespas. We've had quite enough of those little deathtrap scooters, thank you kindly.
[Image via Gianni D./Flickr]
