Beware of Gypsies

I have expressed my distaste for gypsies already on this blog.  I spoke of them before in Milan.  In fact, Milan is where I witnessed a gypsy trying to give a tourist a crappy thread bracelet, and when she refused, he slapped her.  But I digress.

The gypsies in Rome are the worst.

 

The gypsies at the major tourist attractions are always trying to sell you, well, crap.  That guy was selling this thing that when you threw it, made a piercing, crying noise.  Why would I want that?!?!

The gypsies in Rome are especially thick near all of the free tourist attractions.  Like, the Spanish steps.

 

And the Trevi Fountain.  There, a gypsy was nice enough to take our picture.

 

When he was finished, he asked for money.  No prob, we gave him a euro.  He wanted more.  Alright, another euro.  He wanted even more!  Greedy gypsy, you took a Polaroid, you aren’t Ansel Adams!  Plus, I took a better self-portrait myself!

It takes years of practice to get this good at taking a picture of yourself!

 

But the gypsies at the train station are the worst.  They are all women holding children and it rips your heart out.  And they may rip your wallet out, so please be aware and just don’t talk to anyone out of the ordinary, especially at the Roma Termini station.  I actually ignored legitimate people out of fear, which is why Americans probably get a bad rap (sorry!).

If you are traveling for a long distance on a train, take shifts with your travel mate because even though you may have left the gypsies in Rome, it’s a common place for crooks to strike.  Both my cousin and aunt had their bags stolen while traveling in Italy (they were on different trips).

In terms of buses, there are also thieves on certain lines, like Line 64, which crosses the city and is the one we took the most. 

That's what a bus stop looks like in case you're wondering!

Here, you should watch for pickpockets, and I don’t blame them for seizing the opportunity, because the tourists here were totally unaware while taking pictures with their lovely cameras.  I hate when people do that.  You know you are taking a picture through a window, right?

Total Cost: €2 for a Polaroid from a gypsy that we didn't ask for (that's $2.50)

Best Deal: Not getting anything stolen

Milan Hotel Review - Hotel Vecchia Milano

If you’ve been reading along with me, you know my distaste for Milan.  The hotel there that we stayed in wasn’t that bad though.  It also wasn’t that good.

We got this recommendation out of the Rick Steves Italy book.  I am a research-a-holic, mainly because I just like reading about travel.  Anyway, the review was good for a decent price.  This is my only complaint:

 

 

Those are twin beds.  And I was on my honeymoon.  That was not the hotel’s fault, however, that’s a combination of me (wanting to use the Rick Steves book) and my husband (wanting to not book things in advance).  When we rolled into Hotel Vecchia Milano at about 4pm, this was the last room available.  We should be lucky we got a room at all.  Plus, I would have taken a room anywhere just to stop trucking my suitcase all over Milan.  I was able to push the beds together.

 

There are three beds total, which would actually
work out really well for single travelers.

However, the room came in handy when the ENTIRE city shut down at 9pm.  We came back to the room and drank and watched the Euro Cup.

The bathroom, in true Italian fashion, was as small as a thimble.

 

When I spoke of an extremely small shower in Lucca, this one took the cake.

But, on the bright side, the price for this hotel wasn't too bad.  I can't remember exactly, but it was less than €100.

Just checked Trip Advisor, and people on there agree with me... the hotel is nothing great.  This is one time Rick Steves led me astray.

Cost: About €100, which would be $125

Best Deal: Continental breakfast with homemade cappuccino

Milan = Yuckier

I would like to preface this by saying I thoroughly enjoyed everything about Italy.  Except Pisa.  And also except Milan.  The Duomo in Milan is spectacular, both inside...

 

And out.

 
The gypsies, however, think it's cute to attract thousands of pooping birds to the square.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag...

 This park is also awesome. 

 

It’s called Parco Sempione.  I especially liked it because of the giant hydrangeas.

I had hydrangeas at my wedding because they were
cheaper than gardenias

 I also enjoyed re-creating the scene from Borat when he’s sitting in a chair upon first arriving to America.

King of the castle, I have a chair, go do this, go do that

Inside the park, we went to a little cafe where I had a tasty salad of lettuce, tomatoes, pineapple, and baby shrimp with oil and balsamic vinegar.  I will try and re-create this salad soon.

But here is where Milan crossed the line... when the bars closed.  At 9pm.  On a Saturday.  During the Euro Cup.  Milan, we will NEVER be friends after you acted like this.

Adding salt to the wound, here is a picture from the next day, at about 1pm.

 

Why is everything shuttered up?  The workers can't be sleeping
off their hangovers since everything CLOSED THE NIGHT
BEFORE AT 9PM!

When we inquired to our hotel receptionist, he was like “Oh yeah, everything closes really early here except if you’re by the Duomo.”  Would have been good to know earlier.

Cost: Free, since not a damn bar was open. Duomo is also free, as is Parco Sempione.

Best deal: Leaving

Pisa = Yuck

Alright, I apologize right now to Giovanni di Simone, who shares my last name and also has a role in the construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (check this out for proof, I wouldn’t lie to you!).

You all did a terrible job.

So unstable even I can hold it up!

But I really don’t blame the architects, as much as I blame the person who decided to make this a tourist attraction (maybe I should blame myself for being a tourist).  This Leaning Tower is incredibly underwhelming.

I could push this thing over with just one flick!

In related news, the actual church on the grounds, and most importantly, the baptistery, is much more awe-inspiring.

The baptistery is on the left, the church is on the right.
Frank is in the middle.

On the bright side, it’s free to walk around the grounds, but it does cost money to go in the tower or church.  On a closing note, Frank especially did not think much of the Tower and tried to poke it over.

So we didn’t go inside the Tower or the church.  Maybe that's where the awesome-ness lies, but we'll never know because we were in a hurry to a) leave and b) go to a cool beach town that some other travelers told us about (too bad we ended up on a train to nowhere, serves us right for knowing the Leaning Tower so badly!)

I did get a wonderful piece of travel advice from a Rick Steves book though.  If you’re taking the train here, get off at Pisa S. Rossore versus Pisa Centrale, if you can.  Pisa S. Rossore is actually quite the walk, but Pisa Centrale is even worse.  And I was not paying for a taxi to drive me to a piece of architecture gone terribly awry.

Total Cost: Free

Best Deal: Not having to pay for a taxi because I got off at Pisa S. Rossore (all trains do not stop here)

Lucca Hotel Review - Alla Dimora Lucense

We were not sure we were even going to visit Lucca on our trip to Italy, let alone stay the night there.  When we rolled up to the walled city, we opened up our Rick Steves book and picked Alla Dimora Lucense to stay.

First, let it be known, this hotel is in the “back” of the walled city, so if you pull into town on a train and don’t want to get a cab, prepare to walk a lot over brick streets.  Even if you want a cab, you may not get one because there aren’t very many cars inside the walls of Lucca.

Outside of Alla Dimora Lucense, we are ready to "rock
on" now that we toted our bags miles across brick roads

Inside, the Alla Dimora Lucense is just lovely.  The rooms were named after parts of Lucca… we stayed in “Le Mura.”

In Italy during June, the weather is so perfect
you can keep the windows open.  Most often,
you don't have a choice as air conditioning is
not as common there.

I really like the windows open, except I don't so much love the garbage men love picking up trash at five in the morning during my vacation.  Also, we had an incident of horse slaughtering in Rome, which I'll talk about a few posts from now. 

A basic bed, but quite comfortable!

The bathroom had an extremely small shower, but that’s just how things go in Italy. This was strangely one of the larger showers we encountered in our Italian travels.

You may need to lose weight before showering!

Alla Dimora Lucense does have a garage for cars, but personally, I don't recommend bringing a car to Lucca, as you would probably just crash it in the tiny streets.

No room for cars inside the walls!

We paid €110 for our stay, including a discount for paying with cash and a filling breakfast.  Keep in mind, “filling breakfast” in Italy means some Nutella, cheese, and cappuccino.  The breakfast here was actually one of the best though.

Alla Dimora Lucense gets high marks from both my husband and me!

Total Cost: €110 for one night, about $135

Best Deal: A discount for paying with cash (which happens often in Italy, so carry Euros whenever you can!)

Lovely Lucca

About four hours north-ish of Rome, is the town of Pisa.  In one of my next posts, I’m going to try and convince you to skip this architectural mistake, but for now, let's focus on Lucca, about 20 minutes from the Leaning Tower where tourists flock.

Amazing, the architects in Lucca managed to
build a tower that DOESN'T lean!

Friends who had lived in Italy told us about Lucca and we couldn’t have been happier.  We arrived to find a walled city, where everything inside was storybook.  We checked into our hotel, Alla Dimora Lucensa (got a discount for paying in cash and showing the owner the Rick Steves book) and were off to explore the city.  Which we did for just €3! 

That was the cost for a bike rental for an hour.  On your bikes, you can cruise the two miles or so around Lucca while riding on a medieval wall.  When will you ever get that kind of opportunity again? 

I chose to get around on two wheels, but you can see other
people walking behind me

Adding some more peep to your step?  We bought a bottle of wine for our biking journey, to drink at the little parks along the way. 

If you are wondering, yes, we do carry a wine opener with us
everywhere we go!

Actually, we bought several bottles of wine.  And for one of those, we paid only €1.90.  That’s $2.34.  Here’s the proof, from the window of the store.

This ain't no Barefoot!  Lucca is technically in Tuscany and
therefore has amazing wine!

I wanted to buy about 10 bottles, but Frank thought we might be able to find better deals (unfortunately, we did not.  That’s why I’m the “Economical Explorer.” He’s just with me to look pretty). 

We actually both look pretty damn good here :)

That's taken from the top of Torre Guinigi (Guinigi Tower), one of the few towers left inside the city walls.  I highly recommend paying to take the journey up the stairs as it gives the most incredible views of the city.  It cost about €4 each.

One more note, the food in Lucca was out of this world.  I would say it was some of the best we had in Italy, although I would not necessarily say it was the cheapest.  However, I thought you got what you paid for, plus some.

Seafood salad - about €11. So much seafood I could not finish it on my own!

So, Lucca was indeed a good deal!  Here’s the breakdown of what we spent there during 24 hours for two people.

Hotel: €110

Bicycle Rental: €6/hour for two (we actually did this twice, so it was €12)
Tower: €8
Wine: €1.90
Dinner: €45
Lunch: €10 (x2) = €20

Total Cost: €196.90, about $242

Best deal: Wine for €1.90, about $2.34

Why You Shouldn't Ever Stay at a Hotel

So, I ate for cheap, drank for next to nothing, and entertained myself for free in the Cinque Terre.  But where did I stay?

See that window that's wide open?  It’s ours.

Right above a delicious deli!

We rented an apartment for a week in Riomaggiore.  Here’s me enjoying our view:

It's hard to enjoy beautiful scenery without a glass of wine in your hand.

Inside, the studio was clean, nice, and way bigger than any hotel room.

Several amenities, the most important being the bidet... those Italians know how to use the loo in style!

And less than a 1/6 of a mile away, we found this:

If you think this picture is awesome, I guarantee the view was
100 times better in person!

I found the studio on Home Away.  Click here to find the exact property.

We paid €430 (about $527) for one week.  Comparatively, I paid $589 for a clean, but not impressive hotel in Rome for just FOUR nights.  And it's not just an awesome savings for the actual apartment.  Living like a local means cooking like a local.

While dining at home, Frank tried to light a gas stove that does not require lighting, so we are lucky these pictures do not feature any explosions.

Even though staying in a hotel has perks (i.e. continental breakfast), getting a vacation rental allows you to cook some of your own meals. I love tasting the cuisine of the region, but if you want to be economical, you've got to spend carefully. Cooking in our apartment just a few times allowed us to have some really nice dinners out.  And even though we cooked at home, we weren't exactly making mac and cheese.

Our appetizer course: proscuitto, anchovies, and caprese tomatoes.
All of this cost about €5.

This is the third time I’ve successfully used a home rental service.  The first was in Paris, also using Home Away. 

The bed and couch were one in the same

A little more compact, but with a view just as great!

And most importantly, also an awesome location, in the 4^th Arrondisement, around the corner from Place des Vosges and not very far from Notre Dame.



Victor Hugo lived in Place Des Vosges.  You know, the guy who
wrote Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Find the ad by clicking here.

As in Italy, we were not disappointed, and the price was only $775 for a week.

While www.homeaway.com/ seems pretty successful for European destinations, I have also used http://www.vrbo.com/ (Vacation Rentals By Owner) for travel within the states.  Six of my friends and I rented a place on Sanibel Island in Southwest Florida.

The view from our two bedroom apartment... can't you tell I
took this through the screen?

The location was great, the cost was great, the owner was not that great about communicating, but hey, I’ll take what I can get.

Total Cost: A beautiful place in Italy €430/week, about $75 per night

Best Deal: Buying pasta, pesto, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, anchovies and wine at the local deli for about €20 for TWO dinners

Corniglia (or why you need to buy a train ticket even though no one is checking)

I skipped this town in my posts "Five Ways to Save in Cinque Terre" because we didn't stay there very long.  It’s the third town, whether you’re coming from the north or the south.  It’s also the only town where you have to walk up crazy steps just to get to it.  We were more interested in walking down the steps to leave.

Totally caught off guard by this mountain of steps!

Don’t get me wrong, this town is lovely, just as lovely as the rest, but minus the water.  The town is on a giant hill, although there is a beach below.  It’s called Guvano Beach and it used to be a nude beach.  I was disappointed to find not much swimming, and no nudes.  Luckily, my sister-in-law had been there a few years earlier and she caught some twigs and berries on camera.

Courtesy of my sister-in-law. Thankfully the action
is in the distance becuase this site is not X-rated.

However, I did learn a very important lesson on the way to Corniglia.  We took the train.  This was about the fifth train ride we had taken in the Cinque Terre and NO one had checked our tickets.  So, even though we had bought the tickets, we didn’t validate them.  We were trying to be economical by breaking the law…

Of course, we were the very first people the conductor checked when we sat down.  Luckily, we only got a ticket and a fine of €10 for both of us (I read some tourists are fined upwards of €50 each).

Looking on the bright side, we are now international
law-breakers!

So, word to the wise:

1.      Buy your ticket either from the live person or the green kiosks (the one in Riomaggiore was broken when we were there)

2.      Don’t lie about your final destination

3.      STAMP YOUR TICKET AT THE YELLOW OR GREEN BOXES AT THE TRAIN STATION.  There are usually several boxes around, and they are usually either right by the ticket booth or on the platform.

Total Cost: €10 for two people

Best Deal: Actually buying a train ticket, which would have been only €2 ($2.47ish)

Monterosso al Mare - 5 Ways to Save in Cinque Terre Finale

You’ve drank and been fully entertained in the Cinque Terre, but what do you do when it comes to food?  That leads me to the fifth reason this region is so economical.

5. Dining in the Cinque Terre is one of the least expensive places I have ever experienced, especially in Monterosso al Mare.  Sure, you have this lovely scenery...
 

It's still early, but in a few hours, this beach is
bustling with people everywhere!

But imagine dining with that view without breaking the bank.   We spent just €18 for two sandwiches and a half liter of wine.  The rate of euro to dollar when we were there was €1 = $1.25.  That means our meal would have been about $22.  If you had two sandwiches and just two glasses of wine where I live in South Florida, this would be your bill.

Sandwich = $6

Sandwich = $6

Wine = $6

Wine = $6

Taxes = $1.44

Gratuity = $3.60

Which would be about $29, for not even as much wine. 

Here was our bill in Monterosso:
 

 

They have neither taxes nor gratuity in Italy.  They do have service charges sometimes, called “coperto” on your bill.  Waiters usually only charge it when you have bread with your meal, so if you don't want bread, make sure you notify the waiters.  On this bill, there is no coperto.

While I'm on the dining note, eating at a restaurant in Italy is not like eating in America.  You WILL be charged for water.  If you don't want it, don't let the waiter bring it.  You're almost better off buying wine.

Total Cost: €18 for two people to eat a tasty meal with drinks (that’s $22)

Best Deal: The anchovy plate we got for free in Riomaggiore because they only had a few left and didn’t charge us (people in the Cinque Terre are just that nice)

Vernazza - 5 Ways to Save in Cinque Terre, Part III

I’m going to skip the middle town in Cinque Terre and jump to Vernazza to explain the next best economical, heck, even free, thing to do in the region. 

4. This probably goes without saying, but with diving comes swimming.  We did a lot of this in Cinque Terre, especially in Vernazza.  Beaches are not what you think of in America, especially where I live, in South Florida.  Here you can see a beach in Vernazza.

High above Vernazza, on the trail from Monterosso al Mare

It does have sand!  That’s a step above most of the other beaches in the area, which are made of rocks.  What is so awesome about this beach is that you don’t even need a beach towel.  We didn’t carry one with us the whole time in Cinque Terre. Actually, we didn’t carry one because I was too cheap to buy one, but I digress, because all you really need to do is sun yourself on the rocks. 

Sadly, the following picture of Vernazza does not really show the town in its glory.  In October 2011, heavy rains and flooding left the town buried in mud.  When we were there in June, major efforts were going on to rebuild, including draining water and reconstructing buildings.  Since I'm not so handy with a saw, I bought two coffee mugs to help the economy.


This beach area was a lot more bustling in the postcards,
but people are working hard to make it prosperous again

Still, the swimming here is glorious.  And though the water may be cold, the sun is scalding hot.  While you’re saving money on your beach days and no towels, don’t scrimp on the sunscreen, I could feel the rays burning into my flesh.

Total Cost: Free

Best Deal: Actually, here’s the not best deal: the beach in Monterosso al Mare, which you have to pay for in most parts.