Italy details

With the flooding in Cinque Terre, I had to switch up my itinerary. I was going to go from Milan to Venice to spend 5 days in Rome (with a day trip to Amalfi and Pompeii included), then a day in Florence, then a half day in Pisa followed by a day and a half in Cinque Terre before heading to 2 days in Nice/Monte Carlo.

The new plan had me going from Milan to Venice to Naples (via Rome) for 2 days, including a ride down the Amalfi Coast and a tour of Pompeii and a climb up Mt Vesuvius; then 5 days in Rome; then a day in Florence; then a half day in Pisa and a half day on the train going to Nice, followed by 1 day in Nice/Monte Carlo. Basically, I swapped Cinque Terre for Naples and took one day out of Nice to give to Rome.

Day 54: Rome (Nov 9)

The two main things I wanted to do today that were left on my list were the Borghese Gallery and Trajan’s area (Column, Market, and Imperial Forums). Both are on the Roma Pass museum list but the Gallery still requires a mandatory reservation that you need to pick up 30 minutes ahead of time. I also wanted to see the Piazza del Popolo. Given that none of the three are really near each other, I thought we might start at Popolo and take Rick’s “Dolce Vita Stroll” down Via del Corso (with maybe a stop at the Ara Pacis museum along the way) but by the time we got to the Piazza (we slept in) it was nearly lunchtime already.

Day 53: Rome (Nov 8)

Today was a walking tour I put together mainly out of geographic closeness and bits & pieces of Rick’s various tours in the northern part of Rome. It was also day 2 of the Roma Pass and we hit 2 museums on the list.

Day 52: Rome (Nov 7)

This was designed to be day 1 of the Roma Pass, and the start of the museum-type attractions that were covered by the pass, concentrating on the Ancient Rome sites like the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the Circus Maximus, and the Church of St Peter In Chains, with Trajan’s Column if we had time.

Day 51: Rome (Nov 6)

Fortunately I had this day roughly planned out and didn’t have to stay up late the night before. The plan to start out was doing the Night Walk from last night, only in reverse, starting from the Spanish Steps, and taking time to go inside or see the sights. We slept in and got to the Spanish Steps (metro stop Spagna) around noon.

Day 50: Rome, Vatican City (Nov 5)

You should get a Roma Pass for each person. It’s 20 euros but pays for itself quickly. It’s valid for 3 days and covers public transportation and free or discounted admission to major sights. In those 3 days, the first two sights are free, so choose the priciest ones. It’s available at the Tourist Information (TI) booth in the Termini train station. Remember that the Vatican is closed on Sunday; the following are closed on Mondays: National Museum of Rome, Borghese Gallery, Capitoline Museums, Catacombs of Priscilla, Museum of the Imperial Forums (includes Trajan’s Market and Trajan’s Forum), Castel Sant’Angelo and Ara Pacis, so plan accordingly. The Ancient Rome sites are open seven days (Colosseum, Roman Forum). We were in Rome Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so we ended up using our Roma Pass and arranging the schedule so that the museums were on the last three days. The Vatican is not part of the Roma Pass.

Rome (Nov. 3-7)

This is the entry that I've been dreading most, both because it's the place I most want to go and the place that's going to be the hardest to preview because there's so much stuff I'm going to have a tough time cutting stuff out. And with my limited time I have to cut out Florence and everything south of Rome (Amalfi Coast, Capri, Mt. Vesuvius & Pompeii) for my next trip.

And so, Rome. Sic transit gloria mundi.