Some lessons learned:
- NEVER EVER, EVER, EVER go to Roma in the summer months. Even at the end of October it was busy. Locals said come in November-March.
- travel light: even I waaaay overpacked. I had converted to travel smith type shirts, and underwear. Four pairs of jeans is two pairs too many. In future will take on black and one blue. Very easy to wash and hang dry the lightweight clothing. Jeans or chinos OK for everywhere.
- roller boards: will get Euro sized roller board for next trip ... Alitalia raped us on two bags that were a tiny bit too large and a bit too heavy. Could not repack into backpacks. Do yourself a favor and simply carry less "stuff."
- credit cards yielded better exchange rates than ATMs: Cambios (exchanges) were probably the worst exchange rate. Tried a couple of banks in Rome to exchange and they were utterly uninterested.
- taxis: taxi stands in Rome are everywhere ... catch a taxi from these and insist on using the meter. We grabbed taxis to make the most of our time ... walking is easy, though. Most taxi drivers were incredibly nice, but got a couple of late night ones that were whacky. Base price on the meter varies by time of day, and weekend, etc. Typically E3 to E6.5 ... compared to Paris, the taxis and drivers were great.
- food: was very good everywhere ... not like Paris or France (just an opinion), but good. Only issue I noted was the consistency - it was too consistent. Too same, especially in Sicily. Frankly, I could not tell much difference between expensive places and less expensive places.
- tours: wow - we enjoyed every one ...and, again, they saved time and were helpful in making sure you couldn't just drudge through
- car rental: don't rent in Rome unless you are headed out of town. Getting a car in Catania to tour in and around Marina di Ragusa is great, but if I were going to Taormina I would get the bus from Catania or wherever ... you simply don't need a car there. And, the streets are incredibly tight - whatever you are thinking, subtract a couple of feet in width. Go over your rental with a fine toothed comb ... take photos - lots of photos - move everything that moves - don't forget to examine the wheels (lots of curb rash opportunity). If you allow valet to park your car, take photos before and examine after. Budget Car did a bait and switch on us so we will be writing and complaining a lot - had reserved a small SUV (euro version of the Nissan Rogue), but it wasn't available and only other option for four people and luggage was a very nice Peugeot wagon. Great car and the max size I would recommend. Diesel, easy to drive, fast, etc.
- four lodgings: Marriott Hotel Grand Flora in Rome was OK, but a bit distant from typical attractions - did it on points and the room was pretty tiny (letters to follow), Bianco e Blu B&B in Marina di Ragusa was great, fun and very inexpensive (think $50 or so a night with breakfast included), Hotel Villa Schuler in Taormina was nice but dated - really great people but probably 2X what it should cost even in the off season, Hilton at FCO a bit more American with better amenities but a GREAT location to be early in the morning!
- clothing: frankly, anything goes in Rome. The bit about no shorts, from what we saw, was just nonsense - they know you are tourists, just try and be comfortable. Sicily a bit more subdued in small towns. On the beach, anything you want to wear.
- attractions: Rome - Colosseum, Forum and Palantine - wow. Borghese Gallery - great quiet time with knowledgable tour guide. Vatican - brace yourself ... a sad reminder of the immense damage that can be done by an organization - and, enough baby Jesuses to beg many questions. Pantheon - stupendous. Trevi meh. Spanish Steps meh. Piazza Navona great for food and people watching. Jewish Ghetto - fascincating and a sad reminder, again, of what the christian church did. Trastevere area - great food - incredible! meal at La Tavernaccia. Sicily - Naxos archeological dig - incredible. Agrigento's Valley (ridge) of the Temples amazing (the history is overwhelming). Walking tours of Monica, Ragusa and Isola di Ortigia were all wonderful - even in the light rain. Watch where you can park, though!
- Firenze (Florence): to me this was an over visited tourist location. David in the Galleria dell'Accademia is inspiring, but the rest of the town was simply overrun. We took quick Italo train there from Roma Termini in the morning using a day pass, taxied to the gallery where we had prebought tickets, stared at David for awhile, then grabbed lunch - the worst lunch - this is pretty common, according to the many folks we spoke with there. Likely it is a good overnight location and with time could locate some better restaurants. Did not do the Duomo or tour any more cathedrals. Trained back.
- trains: European trains are such as fine thing! Simply buy ticket on line, arrive at the station 5-10 min early, max. Check out the overhead schedule - make sure you know end destination of your train as it may be marked that way - walk out to the platform, walk on, and present your paper or electronic ticket when asked a few minutes into the ride. 250 km per hour (155 mph) within a few minutes!
- more on clothing: this time of year there is some rain - warmest was about 75F and coolest about 55-60F. We would usually start with short sleeve shirt, then add a thin sweater or shirt, then a waterproof (with hoody) lightweight jacket.
- language: anyone who took Spanish classes in schools should be about to make their way with a few hours of study. I purchased a lightweight great little book called Fast Talk Italian, downloaded the incredibly useful GoogleTranslate app. Italian to me was far easier to pick up than French.
- directions: downloaded the google maps app and already had Waze. Googlemaps offline is helpful, but way better interactively when walking. Waze worked incredibly well for car usage.
- telephone and data: After having read positive things about T Mobile working well in Europe, I terminated my Boom Mobile account a week prior to leaving and tried T Mobile at home, first. Worked as well as Verizon in the US! Had issues on landing with data - T Mobile worked on it for two days before giving up and sending me to Apple. Apple rep immediately knew what the problem was - a leftover profile from Boom Mobile - odd that T Mobile did not. It worked OK from then out, but not as fast as in the US. Wife had set up a one time plan with Verizon prior to leaving - we tried it only on the last day - it worked fine. We will probably shift to T Mobile for the future. Cheaper and works in more countries than Verizon.
OK - about exhausted reliving the experience. Post questions if you have any and I will continue to try and repay all the others that offered me advice!
