In Rome Tours Blog III
IN ROME TOURS REVISED BLOG III
Safety at Roma Termini
It's deteriorated, not unlike how the WordPress dashboard has gone to the dogs, what with wholly unnecessary and unwieldy "widgets" compromising control panel navigation.Roma Termini is the central station in Rome. A magnet for lowlife, ergo drug dealers, drug users, prostitutes, Viator employees, and a small army of exclusively male immigrants who arrive here from north Africa. It's hell in waiting for tourists who arrive at night, especially late on a Friday or Saturday.
Consider the tide of immigrants flooding the greatest European capital. Thousands of males who have apparently seen "some kind of combat" in the third world, thousands more escaped criminals therefrom. It's easy to see how dangerous Termini station can be. Add prejudice dished out 24/7 by the locals, add the aforementioned drugs and prostitution problem, add Viator, and then add the tourists filing through from Fiumicino airport. What you get is dangerous situations at every turn.
Not that the Italians who work around Termini station are any better, far from it! While immigrants and their associates may have an eye for the main chance, taxi drivers at Termini station will rob you blind all in a day's work.
The advice you need is as follows:
When you arrive at Termini, DO NOT GET INTO A TAXI. Ignore the legions of smiling drivers swarmimg around newly arrived tourists. They will not hesitate to double or even quadruple your fare if you engage them in conversation. It doesn't matter how many suitcases you have, you must drag them down the slope to Piazza della Repubblica and hail a taxi there. Drivers park up at the rank on the other side of the fountain and are somewhat honest folk. If anyone approaches you on the street offering a driver service or accommodation, ignore them.
For the record, taxi fares in Rome start at 2,80 in the day and 5,80 after 22:30. Always watch the meter and never pay a penny more. Never tip, always watch the change they give you. Count your change very carefully before leaving the vehicle. Don't give your driver the impression that his small talk in English is worth paying extra for.
Always pay attention and stay close to other Italian passengers or tourists. As a general rule, the safer side of the station is Via Marsala, so if in doubt when leaving Termini, bear right. The left hand side, namely Via Giolitti and Via Gioberti, is strictly off limits unless you want to be harassed, followed, or worse. If the latter occurs, don't expect Italian police to come running to your aid and your assailant/s to be apprehended. It won't happen.
Most bag thefts and robberies occur at ticket machines, when tired tourists drop their luggage and either leave it unattended for a minute or two or forget about it completely. Romanian beggars with or without six children "own" many ticket machines. They occupy the space where one must feed coins until they are kicked out at last orders by couldn't care less security. Of course they are back at work the following morning at 06:00, ready to relieve you of your money. "Secure your bags and your wallet before approaching ticket machines" is perhaps THE golden rule for tourists inside Termini station.
Good luck!
Cycling in Rome #1
An acquaintance of mine recently said of cycling in Rome, "you're either brave or stupid". Perhaps. For exercise, to experience the freedom one can feel on two wheels, cycling is surely one of the most rewarding outdoor activities, especially those fortunate enough to live in a city as beautiful as Rome.To be able to move freely between the ruins while watching heavy-legged tourists trying to decipher whatever it is their guide book is telling them, begs the question: why is there still no exclusively bike tours company in Rome? Something to work on. Perhaps.
In our case, it's just a small tour we offer to clients who are cycling enthusiasts back home, but in future we may extend the service to cover parks and bike trails in and around Rome (with connecting rail links), and offer different types of bikes too, like hardtails and FS MTBs.
It's always interesting to cycle from the Vatican to the Roman Forum and Colosseum within the space of 15-20 minutes to see exactly how many tourists are milling around, on a tour, waiting for a tour, or stuck in line somewhere. Similarly, the amount of gatherers working these locations is astonishing. They must surely number well over a few thousand at any given time in Rome on any day in high season, selling all manner of Vatican tours and small group tours of Rome on the black side of the Rome tours market. By the way, street gatherers don't move for cyclists in case they'll lose commissions. Fact, fans!
Rome brought to a standstill, again!
Rome is brought to a standstill so often, it stands to reason that those of us who have to go out to work for a living - and use public transport to boot - wake up and expect the worst every day in the working week. Despite living in such an unpredictable country, we are still unpleasantly surprised upon being informed that Rome traffic is gridlocked from here to there in every direction because of striking public transport workers.Even Italians are not entirely sure why the chances of their day grinding to a halt from about 08:00 are at an all time high. Typically no less than eight unions collude, so public transport strikes in Rome hit where it hurts. Most, if not all suburban bus, metro and regional train services stop running with impunity. Notice is usually posted after the fact on the ATAC ROMA website, if at all.
So, how to avoid them if you're a tourist with a busy day of Rome tours ahead? Ask your accommodation provider about "sciopero", that's "strike" in Italian to you and me. If you've heard on the grapevine that public transport in Rome is about to be suspended, ask around or ask us. It's not unheard of, in fact it's become a daily occurrence for tourists to use our office as an information point in times of need. Of course we're happy to oblige, if we have time to help in between taking bookings for our tours of Rome and excursions from Rome - all exclusive activities by In Rome Tours.
Beat my Guest!
The beatification of John Paul II brought some 1.5 million Catholics into Rome on May 1st, the vast majority of whom had travelled from Poland to be as close as possible to his sainthood, work in progress since the date of his passing on April 2nd. They occupied the entire area of Piazza Risorgimento with a kaleidoscopic range of camper vans, caravans, and all manner of random four wheeled sleeping contraptions.5,000 armed police set up hundreds of road blocks around the Vatican, while the likes of Robert Mugabe flouted an EU travel ban to sneak into ceremonies alongside Lech Wałęsa, Silvio Berlusconi and Prince Felipe of Spain. A curious mix of attendees drawn from the world of politics and royalty.
During his papacy, the Catholic church was embroiled in one serious sex abuse scandal after another, and many hold the opinion that Catholicism fell into a 27 year period of withering decline under John Paul II.
However, this did not deter the assembled masses of fanatical Polish believers, who would not be moved from Roma 00136 and 00192 for well over a week. Indeed, they made their presence felt in the most unlikeliest of places, hogging every metre of available public space as if their lives depended upon it. It was akin to watching the last days on earth for many, and the spectacle was a memorable one.
John Paul II was instrumental in the fall of Communism in Poland as part of Wałęsa's Solidarność movement. Now we wait for a second miracle to be awarded his way before canonization (Sister Marie Simone-Pierre of France, who mysteriously recovered from Parkinson's disease, was somehow declared miracle #1).
How much is that Trevi in the fountain?
Water from Rome's Acqua Vergine aqueduct, the modern version of Aqua Virgo (19 BC), feeds the Trevi fountain (1762) we see today. Piazza di Trevi has become a workplace for immigrants in the shadow of Palazzo Poli, the spectacular backdrop of Rome's most famous fountain. To be disturbed, interrupted, or just plain harassed by Bangladeshi males when out with friends at or near the Trevi Fountain is par for the course these days. They do not possess one ounce of respect for others in their tireless quest to extract money from anyone at all, by attempting to sell what one can only describe as horrible crap, if you'll pardon the expression.We all remember polaroids. Cheap, cheerful, seedy. Instant photographs for the masses. Visit the Trevi fountain at any time of day or night and you'll find yourself in technicolor company. Pushy Bangladeshi males pester couples for business. The price for a polaroid pic? FIVE EUROS. Good work? Pay me, I say. However, a far more insidious trade goes on, something which we found most unpalatable yesterday evening.
Moving carefully between groups of friends, families, lovestruck couples and lovelorn lookers in a very mixed crowd, we noticed a pair of unkempt middle aged men loitering around the edge of the fountain, both of whom were staring into the pool. Without disrespecting Naples, they were not local to Rome. I didn't see it, but my companion did. The elder of the two produced some kind of penny picker which he had kept concealed on his person. He proceeded to pick up 2 euro coins from the bottom of the pool, and then they were gone. No one seemed to pay any attention. The only advice we can give is to throw your coin or coins into the water and throw well, to be sure that your token of love in Rome does not end up lining the pockets of a thief.
Tour company copywriters blogging about the history of Rome is not uncommon, so we'll be doing less of what they do by writing about the joys and ills of modern Rome instead.
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