Current Events > gonna visit Rome

(+) Yeah! (+)

Never been overseas. How do I not get lost and stuff? I'm scared I won't be able to find my hotel.
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lilORANG posted...

How do I not get lost and stuff?

- get an international phone plan / SIM to use navigation on your phone
- get a dedicated GPS with maps of Europe
- use paper maps (i went in 2007 and this is what i did lol)
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Giant_Aspirin posted...

- use paper maps (i went in 2007 and this is what i did lol)

what is this pa-pur map you're talking about? Is it a food?
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Well there is the Vatican and there is that plaza with all the fountains and then there is the Pantheon (roman temple) and the colosseum. good luck
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Rome, if you want to
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to elaborate on my previous post

the hotel i was at in Rome was pretty close to the Colosseum, which served as our central landmark. it was pretty easy to find that from anyplace in the city and it was easy to find on our map. worst case, we could just ask someone for directions to the Colosseum and once we got in the general vicinity, we were fine.

the vast majority of people i interacted with there (again, over 10 years ago) spoke English, especially those in the service industry (waiters, cashiers, etc). the few folks who didn't speak English well could speak enough to complete a basic transaction.

be careful of anyone who tries to hand you something. don't take it. a common scam is for men to walk up to women who are clearly with a guy, hand them a rose/flower and then very aggressively demand payment from the male. i feel for a slight variation on this scam where a teenager tied a bracelet around my wrist and demanded 20 Euro for it (we gave him 5).

gelato is heaven

most places serve mineral / bottled water by default. make sure you ask for 'aqua natural' (tap water) or something, because most places will give you a bottle of water if you just ask for 'water'.

house wine was cheaper than soda in most restaurants

Ivynn posted...

Giant_Aspirin posted...

- use paper maps (i went in 2007 and this is what i did lol)

what is this pa-pur map you're talking about? Is it a food?

i work in authentication / authorization at my job and i needed to give a team a set of passwords. long story short, i couldn't email the passwords due to confidentiality so i started ... writing them down on like, actual paper. it started hurting my hand then i remembered about this magical device that takes words from a computer and 'writes' them to the paper.
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Stay at a hostel/guest-house, not a hotel.
Download offline google maps for Rome in-case your wifi/data is spotty.
Carry phone and wallet in front pockets, never rear.
Don't carry more cash on you than you need for the day.
Keep a back-up credit card at your place of residence with your stuff.
Buy a good 40L backpack and go carry-on only
Make sure you tell all your banks that you'll be overseas, where, and when.
Learn at least some basic Italian phrases beforehand. If nothing else, it'll make you feel more connected to the place, and even a small effort can go a long way with people.
Have some basic ideas of what you want to do each day but don't make a detailed itinerary beyond that. Leave space for winging it and spontaneity.
Drink some negronis and download Tinder or something.
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Dont get stole
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ASithLord7 posted...

download Tinder or something.

thanks but it's a honeymoon lol.
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lilORANG posted...

ASithLord7 posted...

download Tinder or something.

thanks but it's a honeymoon lol.

Lol ah
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