Lucci Hotel Rome Blog

I have been hearing that phrase quite a lot lately and I am really not surprised. The weather for the last few days has been absolutely fantastic but it has also been devilishly hot. The past few days have been around 31.5 degrees. Thats just a bit lower than the record for Rome a couple of years ago at 32 and a bit degrees.

If this is what its like now in spring i dont know how its going to be in summer. Anyway a few tips on how to survive the heat in Rome for the time you are here. The first and most important thing to remember is to drink plenty of water. Thats no problem in [tag]Rome[/tag] because there are loads of fountains in the streets and the piazzas.

The second things you should do is try to stay out of the sun when it is the strongest.

That would be between 12 and 3 in the afternoon more or less.

Thats really easy to do because there are loads of parks and green areas with trees and lots of shade. The most notable and most famous of these being the [tag]Villa Borghese[/tag] of course.

 

As the city is so hot during the day the nights are also very warm. This is perfect for a nice walk during the evening. Rome is extremely beautiful when it is lit up at night. The bars also stay open quite late so you can also get a cup of coffee or something cold and have a seat and relax. The places to go in the evening are definetly the ones with the most lights. [tag]Fontana di Trevi[/tag] is definetly a must. So are most of the big piazzas like Venezia and Navona. The [tag]Colosseo[/tag] is also fantastic at night as are the other parts of the [tag]forum area[/tag].

Another way to beat the heat would be to do a lot of indoor activities. This would be really easy to do as Rome is full of loads of historical [tag]monuments and museums[/tag]. The churches are also a good place to stop and have a look at the art work inside. If you have children with you, especially if they are young, you can take them to a museum, Explora, especially for kids located in Via Flaminia 60. They also have a cafe there so you can relax and have something to eat while they are off doing what kids do.

There is also a water park located near Rome called [tag]Aquapiper[/tag].

It is open from 9:00 till 19:00 from Monday to Saturday and from 9:00 till 19:30 on Sundays and holidays.

The best thing is that entrance is free for children under 10 years of age.

 

 

Sunday was a really great day. Well, it was, until one of my flatmates woke me up from my extremely deep and relaxing slumber. He reminded me that this was the last day to go to the [tag]museums for free[/tag]. Free is a magic word so I listened very carefully after that. Yes we were going to go to Villa Borghese today. Finally, I thought after having been here for 8 months I would finally see it. So we got the metro at Vittorio Emanuele. Then we got off at [tag]Barberini[/tag] and then got a bus from [tag]Via Veneto[/tag]. This however turned out to be a rather round about way of doing things. Bus 910 from Termini stops right outside the park, steps away from the museum.

 So we were about to see the museum with all the art inside until………………signs notifying us dashed my hopes. The museum was full. No more tickets were available. Oh well we decided to go to Villa Giulia instead. This museum which used to be the [tag]villa of pope Julius III[/tag] houses an immense collection of statues, vases and other various items made from terracotta and especially of [tag]Etruscan[/tag] origin. There are also many bronze articles on display and my favourite bit in this museum like all the others was looking at all the stuff made from gold.

 The villa also has gardens which are shaded and a few small fountains. The one at the entrance is home to a family of turtles. After the museum I had built up a bit of an appetite from all the walking around so I decided to go to Fassi. This is another fantastic gelateria and the ice cream is absolutely amazing. They also have other sweet stuff on sale besides the ice cream. Tiramisu and some other really yummy looking cakes are on sale too. The prices are pretty fair for what you are getting. My ice cream was a small and it only cost € 1.50 I got three flavours and I could have had a dollop of cream too but I decided that the ice cream was enough.

 We then set off to a pasticceria. This one is also located near [tag]Piazza Vittorio[/tag]. I highly recommend getting a Bavaresi and anything stuffed with cream and ricotta cheese. This great pasticeriais located on Via di Statuto. The prices are very good and the quality of the dolce is excellent.

 

 

 

Yes, I know I have mentioned it before but this time I actually did go buy some stuff. I was down to one last pair of jeans and the zip had just broke and I thought enough was enough. Another annoying thing was having to wash my clothes and then having nothing to wear while they were drying.

 

I had decided to limit myself to spending € 100. I was very surprised with what I bought for that amount. My first stop was Via Nazionale. There are a lot of very reasonably priced clothing stores. One of them was Brooks which has jeans, t-shirts, shirts, jeans, and jackets. The clothes were all reasonably priced the 2 shirts I bought were only 10 euros each. Ok, they weren’t  100 % cotton and I didn’t buy them from a boutique in Via del Corso but they fit really well. Now I needed to get jeans. Unfortunately the sale price ones were only available in absolutely enormous sizes. Not being the biggest guy in the world, I decided to try my luck at Upim.

 

 

 

The one I went to is located just on the opposite side of the street from Santa Maria Maggiore, the other is located in Termini station.Very close to our Yes Hotel Rome. There are a few other departments in the store besides clothes but anyway I was interested in getting some jeans. The jeans on average cost me € 19 and they were 100 % cotton. The quality is really good and these ones have buttons instead of zips so hopefully they will last a bit longer.

 

 Now my final mission was to get some shoes. So I remembered that on the same street outside Upim there were the usual vendors selling shoes. Ok now € 10 for a pair of shoes is not going to buy you the best Versace or Armani has to offer but its great if you have not gotten your luggage from the airport yet or you have only bought your best high heels and forgotten about the cobble stones and all the walking you will be doing. Two pairs of shoes = € 20.

So in my opinion it was a day well spent and the money went a long way too.

There’s more than one Rome. We have the ancient [tag]Rome[/tag], maybe the most famous of them, and probably the reason why you’re [tag]travelling[/tag] here. But the city has also a living face that’s almost as fascinating as its [tag]monuments[/tag].
[tag]Italy[/tag], like most of the European countries is a magnet for immigration from all the continents. As everyone knows, this phenomenon that mixes together people of different origins and creeds  often gives place to disputes that show the most intolerant side of a human group. But sometimes everything goes well and the story has a happy ending, as in [tag]Piazza Vittorio[/tag], here in Rome.

Piazza Vittorio it’s one of many roman squares. What makes it different is that in the recent years many immigrant families have chosen to live there. In the streets surrounding the square you can hear Italian mixed with Chinese, Spanish and Urdu. And if you are curious enough to take a look at the grocery stores you’ll find many exotic products to stimulate your imagination.
Maybe Piazza Vittorio would be just another multiethnical place in a multiethnical city if it wasn’t for the “Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio”, a musical group formed at initiative of the Italian musician Mario Tronco, who strived to create a musical ensemble to express the potential of this roman neighbourhood.

The task wasn’t easy, at least at the beginning. Not everyone was ready to accept that kind of project, including the players (to this day Tronco regrets he hasn’t been able to get a Chinese musician to play with them). But the results have been impressive.

One year ago film maker Agostino Ferrente made a documentary  that showed to the mainstream audiences the small miracle of Piazza Vittorio, making them popular in Italy, and maybe worldwide: two weeks ago Ferrente’s documentary was presented in the Tribeca Film Festival, in New York, with an acceptance that might set the base for an international success- an even happier ending.

Visiting Piazza Vittorio is easy if you’re staying in [tag]My Hotel[/tag]: Just take the red subway line and get off at Vittorio Emmanuele Station.

If you want to know if the orchestra will play in the square while you are in Rome, visit their site and meet the musicians too!

I decided to go buy some dvds abd the perfect place for me to go get them was Via del Corso. I first went to Ricordi Media in Termini station which is located very near Nice Hotel Rome. They had what I was looking for but I decided to try in Via del Corso too.

 

So I hopped on the metro and took the A line to Piazza del Popolo. There just happened to be a display by the police as it was their 155th year anniversary. What caught my eye immediately was the police cars on display and one in particular. However I wasn’t the only person to notice it. It was a favourite with everybody. I mean its not everyday you get to see a Lamborghini. This one was a patrol car and they use it for the highway. They were complaining that their Volvos were too old and too many cars were getting away from them. This car looked really good, apart from the paint job, which was in the plain police blue and white.

 

 

This got me thinking about sports cars and I remember seeing the Ferrari store which is in the same part of the city. The store is located in Via Tomacelli 147/152 and is open from 10:00 to 19:30 Monday to Saturday and from 11:00 till 19:30 on Sunday. The price range at this store is incredible. Items start off from around 4.50 euro up to 40.000 euro if you want a Ferrari engine of course.

The quality of everything as can be expected is exceptional, it should be for the amount you have tp pay for it. They have everything here from clothes to leisure items like Prancing Horse paper weights and sunglasses. All of which are beautifully designed and look really good. After I have saved up a bit more I think I will take a trip to the store and buy one or two very small and very cheap things, for now I will have to settle for my dvds.

So off to the store. I think that Ricordi Media is the cheapest when it comes to buying cd’s and pc games. They have everything under one roof. Even if you want to take your music experience a little further you can buy guitars drumbs or keyboards from here. They also have sheet music and guitar tabs available for both bass and rhythem guitars.

 

 

I was quite impressed with the many different types of genres and artists of music available at Ricordi. If you are a metal head, like to chill out and listen to good old Bob Marley or if you are a dedicated techno raving dance machine they have it all. You can also get your I Pods, Playsations and X-Boxes too. Its all really very convenient. So you don’t have to go back and forth all the time. You can get all your shopping done in one place and then spend the rest of the time looking around and sight-seeing.

Last night I went for a nice walk to the city centre with a friend of mine. My usual trip to the cinema in [tag]Via del Corso[/tag] was cancelled as my room mate told me there was nothing good on till next week. Anyway it was no problem for me because I was going out later.

 

So we were on our way at about 12:30 at night with a bottle of Peroni and a couple of plastic cups. Very classy and stylish indeed. We decided we should have a seat next to the fountain outside [tag]Santa Maria Maggiore[/tag] and have our beer there. Unfortunately the seats were all wet so we changed our plan. Next stop, [tag]Trevi Fountain[/tag].

 

The evening was perfect and it was nice and warm. We had a nice stroll down [tag]Via Quatro Fontane[/tag] and then into Via del Tritone and finally we arrived at the fountain. Although we did make a side trip to San Crispino, in my opinion one of the best gelataria in [tag]Rome[/tag]. I still think that the best time to go see this marvellous fountain is at night. The lighting is absolutely exquisite and the way it shimmers of the waterfalls and off the water in the basin is really beautiful. The sound is also very relaxing and calming. The piazza was virtually deserted except for a few couples soaking up the romantic atmosphere and one very spaced out dude dancing while listening to his mp3 player.

 

It was also very very quiet and the only sound that could be heard was the few people chatting and the water. Where there are usually loads of annoying vendors asking to take your picture or trying to sell roses there were only two. The police were also there but I think they were more worried about the money in the fountain or making sure nobody decided to take a late night dip and go diving for money. Also, on the right hand side of the fountain there is a little fontanella where you can go and have drink too. There is nothing wrong with the water in Rome and wherever you see a fontanella you can drink from it.

The Trevi Fountain is not that far away from Yes Hotel Rome. It is a pleasant walk and its about 20 minutes away. The best time to go there is definitely during dusk or at night and there are lots of restaurants in the piazza overlooking the fountain.

 I have to go to the market soon, to buy some stuff, particularly lemons which I use to make my limoncello. I usually go to Esquilino market (named after the hill it stands on) because it is just a 5 minute walk from my house and its really cheap too.

The market is also very near Termini station which is also conveniently located near our Nice Hotel Rome. The market has a variety of goods on offer but particularly fresh produce is in abundance. All sorts of fruit and vegetables are on offer. Both the regular and seasonal stuff. The quality is quite good and there is plenty of it. There is also lots of variety too. There are also lots of fresh spices and herbs which you can buy whole.

There are also several stalls in the outer court which sell fresh meat and other different internal organs like liver, kidneys, heart and tripe, hmmmmmmm yummy. In fact its so fresh you see the butchers hacking off or cutting up your specified choice right infront of your eyes. How is that for guranteed freshness. Jokes aside, this is one of the cheapest places you will buy meat and I have checked it all out pretty closely and I have not seen anything wrong with the quality at all.

Now if you walk nearer to the inner courtyard, yes you smelled right, fish fish fish. There is lots of it too. This is also really fresh too infact its so fresh I saw one flapping around on the floor like mad. I love sea food and they have it all here. From fresh tuna to prawns and lobster. They have all sorts of other weird and wonderfull stuff too.

Another part of the market has stalls which sell dried fruit like apricot, raisins,apple and banana. You can also buy mixed chocolates by the kilo. There are even places to buy everyday personal items like toileteries and then others that sell kitchen ware like pots pans knives and the usual stuff. This market has been really useful to me in the past couple of months. Yet in another part you can but freshly baked bread and really nice pastries, sweet and savoury.

You don’t have to worry about taking any bags with you as all the stalls have plastic bags available. The market is open from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon and is closed on Sundays.

 

This stop is on the B line and is the last stop before Laurentina. There are some great museums in this area and they are not far from the metro stop. You can easily walk there and the large white obelisk in the traffic circle is right opposite to the museum complex which is on the right hand side.

An especially interesting museum, museo della Civilta’ Romana, or the museum of Roman Civilisation has a copy of Trajan’s Column which is laid out in sections that can be viewed really close up. The other great exhibition is the model of the ancient city of Rome. The detail is absolutely amazing and it gives you a very good idea of how the city looked. I had a lot of fun figuring out where all the places would be today and where my favourite gelateria and bar was.

The musueum price is 6.50 euro. It contains mostly replicas and casts of sculptures and other artifacts found in Rome and other parts of Italy. I went to the museum on Sunday so it was only open from 9 till 1 in the afternoon. On weekdays its open till 6:45. The best part is definetly the scale model of Rome. I spent at least half an hour in that room looking at it. It was absolutely fascinating.

I would only recommend going to the museum to see the column and the model. There is nothing else to see that is of any real significance except for the other scale models of buildings and temples found in Rome and other places like Pompei.

The area that the museums are located in looks nothing like that of the city centre or the other parts near the centre. This was designed as a modern metropolis envisioned by Mussolini but which somehow doesn’t quite look completed. While I was walking through the area I felt like I was somewhere in East Berlin or Russia. All the streets are wide tarred and straight. The buildings have been built in a very planned and specific way with columns and arches everywhere. Everything seems so ordered and tidy that you would not think you are in Rome unless you looked at the street names. This place is so un-Italian. It has none of the chaos, small crooked streets and careless town planning that the city centre has and where our Nice Hotel Rome is located.