Originally Posted by
explorer84
Perche thanks again for the sage advice.
I thought Pompeii was a long shot especially with so much in Rome. Gives me an excuse to come back. We are booking a half day tour in the Vatican to the the Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and some other stuff.
Piazza Navona is actually on the list too! Is it more just a place to walk around and take a look? Or is there something specific to see there?
I like the idea about the Colosseum at night - just viewing it from afar. I researched night tours and it actually was quite confusing. I think we will do a day tour, visit the Forum on our first night and take in the sights. I see that I can buy tickets in advance online for the Colosseum (for the day), but does that get me through the line faster? I saw a scary youtube video with 90 minute queues for entrance i the Colosseum. I much prefer paying a guide and skipping all that.
Also, thanks a lot for the restaurant tips. I ask because so many restaurants in Paris never told us about the table water, just gave us bottles - just to charge us. I hope to drink more wine than water though. So I was watching some other shows (like Bourdain's layover episode) and it appears the Romans don't do breakfast like us Americans. Seems all they get is varied coffee drinks and maybe some bread. Guess, I won't get my Italian McGriddle.
Piazza Navona is just a place to walk around in and look. It has some of the most beautiful and famous fountains in Rome. 90 minutes isn't even a long line for the Colosseum during high season. You do cut down on time buying the ticket in advance, because that line is to buy the ticket. There are official Colosseum guides, but they are not considered very good. A good guide really puts things in context, and makes things come alive. Plus, they cut the line, and have access to restricted areas. Walks of Italy costs more, but has good program, and it also includes a tour of the Forum. Without a guide, the Forum is not understandable at all.
https://www.walksofitaly.com/rome-to...FRBEfgodYwoAew
Tap water in Rome has so much calcium in it that Romans are afraid you'd get a kidney stone if you drink it. That's why it's looked at as strange if you ask for tap water.
In Italy, breakfast is not eaten. The only place you will find breakfast is in some hotels. People just have coffee and a sweet, usually a croissant. That's it. Perhaps the reason is because most people don't have dinner until 9PM, so they're not that hungry in the morning. In fact, if a restaurant is open before 7:30-8:00PM you should be suspicious about having stumbled into a tourist trap.
You'll probably also want to do some research on gelato and make sure you know where you want to go. Almost all of the gelato in Rome is not real gelato. As with people who eat frozen pizza in Rome without knowing it and claim it's the best pizza they ever had, most people who rave about the gelato actually had something fake. Just like finding a decent restaurant in Rome is very hard, finding authentic gelato in places like Rome, Florence, Venice is also very hard. It's pretty easy to tell the difference between real and fake gelato, and since eating gelato goes with the territory when visiting Rome, it's a good idea to learn how to do it.