Rome / Italy

[kully]

Hallo,

The missus and me are off to Italy at the end of the month, I'm done waiting for a summer here.

We're travelling from Pisa to Bari (in the 'heel') in a hire car over 8 days.

I want to stop off in Rome for a couple of days, hire a Vespa and run over some tourists while seeing the sights. Anyone recommend a cheap place to stay (sans insect company) in Rome? Somewhere nice to see / eat?

And. Any nice things to see / do / photograph between Pisa/Lucca and Bari?

Any thoughts on Naples?

I'm really looking forward to this now, I've been to Milan and hated (nay detested) the place and its people, but loved Sardinia. Must be a North/South thing 🙂

cheers,
kully

 

[nico]

... And. Any nice things to see / do / photograph between Pisa/Lucca and Bari? ...
[/QUOTE]

tante, my friend, veramente tante ... 😉

 

[KoNickon]

This is Italy we're talking about, right? Just look out the window! 🙂

Seriously, just pick up one or two tour guides at a bookstore and you'll get way more ideas than you can handle.

One thing you should see (at least, I'd love to see it) is this Norman castle, Castel del Monte, near Bari in Apulia. And I'm sure there's loads to see in Naples -- don't forget Pompeii is nearby.

 

[kully]

Cheers KoNickon, I'd forgotten about Pompeii.

I've given up on guide books, unless I'm in a rush. I used to use the Lonely Planets but ended up seeing the same people all the time 🙂

 

[Didier]

You'll enjoy Rome, I'm shure. Super wide angle lens recommended for Vatican place and inside San Pietro dome and San Ambrogio e San Claudio church.

Younger people go out at Trastevere, lots of street cafés. Nice for available light shots in the evening. Many good (and mostly affordable) small restaurants in the ancient part of the town, between Ponte Garibaldi and Corso. A small menu and an understated exteriour/interiouris is a good indicator for good fresh cuisine. Be aware of the shiny restaurants with 30-pages menus - they're mostly tourist traps. If want to drink a good, but affordable red wine, ask for the "vino della casa" ("wine of the house") - can't go wrong in most places.

And visit Luigi Crescenci at via Salento 4-c! You'll come home with several new smooth leather cases and at least a black paint M3 and 90/2.2 Thambar 😀

Btw. I was there last time in may 2004. See my modest Rome gallery here.

 

[charjohncarter]

Be sure to go the Borges or Brogese Estate, great sculptures, and the same with the churches nearby.

 

[Rhoyle]

When I first went to Rome in '85, the dollar was at its strongest and the Lira was at its weakest. Had a spectacular hotel in a quiet neighborhood on the Aventino. $22/night. The same room today is $300/night, so the bargains have gone by the wayside. However, finding great subjects to shoot there is like shooting fish in a barrel. Have a fabulous trip!

BH

 

[emraphoto]

don't go anywhere near cafe's/trattoria's labeled "american" in any way shape or form. read the menu's before you commit to a restaurant in rome (epsecially anywhere form the main trainstation down to the colliseum. i ate a very enjoyable and affordable meal in one place... walked a few blocks before dessert. sat down in another cafe and had two pieces of tiramisu without reading the menu. twenty euro's?!?!?!? ouch! the vatican is of course a bit of a must... as is a short train ride out to ostia? the beaches there really are something else! and one must take a dip in the med!
have fun

 

[-vin-]

saturnia, pitigliano, san leo, san gimignano, urbino, val d'orcia...

and many more, it's impossible to say everything!

 

[Sparrow]

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Any thoughts on Naples?

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Pompeii, Herculaneum and the Amalfi coast, I can’t think of anything to recommend about Naples itself, but it is ten years since I was there

 

[lubitel]

definitely visit Lucca! its a wonderful and very picturesque city. Ask Nico I think he lives there.