Italy - Precautions

Rome rocks! You definitely have to go and see the Vatican, Colluseum, Forum, Pantheon and the Spanish Steps as well as that big fountain. Get to the Vatican early on one day as it will take you most of the day to go through St Peters and the Vatican galleries. Ladies, ensure you wear a long skirt/sarong or trousers as you won't be allowed in if you are wearing shorts or a mini skirt. It is massive. Often there are people (English speaking students) who are willing to give you a guided tour with explanations through St Peters for free! The statues as well as the architechure of St Peters will blow your mind while you will crack up at the strategically placed fig leaves on the statues of the males throughout the Vatican gallery corridors. When you have finished exploring St Peters Square head down to the Pantheon. I got the best cheeseburger I had in Italy at the McDonalds opposite the Pantheon. The next day get to the Colluseum early to get in line. Later in the day the lines are very long! The Colluseum is awesome and again you may be able to get a guide here, for free! Then you can go onto the Forum across the road. It has been quarried away over the hundreds of years since it lost favour as being the seat of Roman govt, but it is still impressive as your guide will tell you. Romans are crazy drivers, so watch out. Keep a sharp eye out for pickpockets and be very careful with cameras, money, passports, etc as well as your bag. Try not to be anywhere by yourself late at night or early in the morning as that is the best time for thieves to target you and more than one tourist has had a fatal swim in the Tigeres as a result. Public transport is a bit hit and miss (like the rest of the drivers), but the underground train system is good. Tourist buses are not allowed to enter the centre of Rome, so if you go on Bus About or Contiki etc it is likely you will be staying on the edge of Rome. Otherwise you will be paying extra taxi fares to get to your inner city hotel and back again to catch the bus.

Watch out for pick pockets while going to subway stations. Always make sure you have a bag /purse that can zip up. They can even get into your front pockets without you knowing so if they get too close move away from them.As for lodging try to find a bed and breakfast to save money. They are much nicer than you expect.

During the summer take with you some hat to protect yourselves from the sun! It is the hottest place at Sicilly I've visited.

Bologna is a nice City...if it had had some more cleanliness and some more Services. Unfortunately it is not that safe city anymore and even if it has a good averall average Living Standard, this depends a lot on what you do, where you live and when you live the city and its Services. Hard to find services on a Sunday or close to a Public Holiday, pretty stressing and frustarting to get home in the late Evening/ Night. Great Sites there: San Luca and the Portici are worth a visit and so are the Shops in via Clavature and the stunning athmospeare of some of it's squares... and the "dirty" Via Zamboni if you really need that "ONE MORE Pint of beer"!

Beware of pickpockets trying to steal bags on the underground trains

The beach is often crowded, but the sea in summer is warm, and the water is clean. At sunset, be careful: there's a loto of very aggressive mosquitos!

Day trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Island of Ischia is easy access from the city too. Sorrento is near as well.Beware of pickpockets around the Stazione Centrale

En Roma hay que tener cuidado con los carteristas, son superhábiles!!

good place to be in contact with nature!good restaurant and really nice persons!

Cool place . . .