Beware the Gladiators!

I heard a story last night that I thought it would be good to pass along. At the Coliseum in Rome, there are men who dress up as Roman Gladiators, and invite you to have your picture taken with them 'for a tip'.

Their idea of a tip, you find out AFTER the photos are taken, runs in the Euro 10-20 range, and if you were naive enough to give your camera to one of them to take the pictures, you won't get it back until you pay up!

My thoughts: If you absolutely HAVE to have a photo of these 'gentlemen', use your zoom lens and try to sneak one while they are busy scamming someone else! Better yet, go explore the Coliseum and ignore them entirely.

Besides, Swiss Guards at the Vatican have more colorful uniforms, are usually younger and more, hmm, photogenic, and don't charge you anything.

The bottom line: you'll be traveling with a group of people- there really is no need to give your camera to a complete stranger.

Saturday's Gathering

Most of you have already let me know if you can come to this Saturday evening's gathering... thanks!
If you have questions that you think I might need to do a little research to answer, please comment here, or send me (Cathy) an email.
Grazie,
Cathy

Buying Euros

Please check your email for a message about group purchasing of Euros (in order to split the service charge).

What to pack??

We'll have a better idea of forecasted temperatures as we get closer to November, but if you've been outside the last few mornings in the Triangle area (temps in the mid 60's), that should be about right in Rome, and maybe 5 degrees cooler in Assisi. So- as you can, you may wish to spend some time outdoors when the temperatures cooperate, and see what you feel comfortable wearing.

Our hotel in Rome

And here is where we will be staying in Rome....Hotel Cicerone ... 

I hope those men at the front doors really do wear those top hats!

Castel San Angelo... an easy stroll from our hotel

And one more welcome!

With our final pilgrim, Elizabeth Pederson, our group embarking on an international trip becomes international, itself! Welcome to Elizabeth (mother of St. Andrew's parishioner Sandra Fergusson), a member of St. Bonaventure parish in Toronto, Ontario!

What do you think about meeting after the 5:30pm Mass on Saturday October 1, for a little antipasto, a chance to meet each other (whoever is near enough to come, of course!), and a chance for you to share tips, ask questions, maybe learn a few words of Italian?  Let's say from about 6:30-7:30?

From today's lunch...

Happy to share this good fortune with you all!

Guide books

Being part of a tour group in one sense reduces the need for guide books. After all, for the majority of the time the day's activities are already planned out, and even the transportation is arranged for you!

Still, it can be nice to have a guide book to give you a chance to read up on an area, or reflect back on what you've seen. For instance, if time is limited in a huge basilica, you could go in there already knowing that you want to search out their baptistry, or a particular mosaic, etc., rather than realizing later that evening just what you'd missed.

But books get heavy and bulky. So carefully choose the one whose style fits your own.
Unless you already own a kindle, nook, ipad or other e-reader. You can go to the various e-book download sites (e.g., iBooks or the amazon kindle website) and search for Italy travel books. Often you can download a sample of the book before purchasing, giving you the opportunity to decide if you like the way information is presented by Fodor or Frommer, Rough Guide or Lonely Planet, Mobile Reference, Rick Steves or any other publisher. Downloading an e-book adds no added weight or bulk, if you were planning to bring your e-reader along, anyway!

Again, you do NOT NEED a guide book, this is just a suggestion if you've been thinking about getting one!