Shopping in Rome... in pictures

There is another way you can shop that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg. In fact, it doesn't cost you anything: take photos of your favourite items and shop fronts.

This is what the Allen family did when visiting Rome last February. The blog’s author introduces the post saying:

here’s a look at shopping in the eternal city. after a couple of fruitless days, i accepted that the italians, for the most part, do not make clothes that fit my body and i would have to be content with acquiring things in another manner: by photographing them.

A great idea and some great photos too. Check them out on her blog post titled rome, 2010 shopping pictures.

A blog to bookmark: Ron in Rome

Ron is an American who has been living in Rome since 2007 and sharing his experiences and giving advice on his blog.

Search Google for information about Rome and much of the stuff you get is out of date, the same information repeated for the 1,000th time or regurgitated blog spam.

So it was refreshing to come come across Ron’s blog – Ron in Rome – which provides clear, useful and thoughtful information via an uncluttered design. It’s rare to see a blog with such good content not taken over by adverts.

An example of what to expect from Ron’s blog is the very useful post titled 20 tips on Visiting the Vatican Museums. This find was particularly relevant to us as we recently launched the Vatican area of the site. Ron’s post should be required reading to anyone wanting to visit the Musei Vaticani.

Apart from writing up about what to see in Rome Rob provides a guide service for small groups of people who want to explore Rome at their own pace including what he describes as ‘aimless wandering’ (which is often when one discovers the best things).

Ron’s blog is available at: www.roninrome.com

Looking for accommodation for the Champions League final in Rome?

Renting an apartment will give you value for money and flexibility, Man U to win the final.

When important sporting events are held in Rome things can get quite hectic, especially when football is concerned. The authorities put in place extra security measures and special plans are made for transportation.

Renting an apartment for the occasion would provide for a comfortable retreat from it all. If it’s a group of you travelling it will probably save you money too.

If you are in Rome but want to avoid the game like the plague, staying in an apartment will guarantee you don’t meet any soccer fans in a hotel.

Have a look on our site for apartments in the Spanish Steps area of Rome that is close to the Metro A line that takes you to the stadium. If you can’t find any on tihs site check out our sister site: City Apartments of Rome.

Whatever you reason to visit Rome don’t believe what scare-mongering journalists at The Times are saying. Rome is a safe city.

Barcellona – Manchester United 1 -2

Enough accommodation talk. Lets get serious.

Man U will beat Barca 2 -1. That’s what we think will be the final result will be. We’re sorry to disappoint our Spanish friends, but Manchester United will win it again. Ronaldo will score what will probably be his last goal for Man U.

What do you think will be the score on the 27 of May?

Visit ancient Rome 2.0 in 3D

Thanks to the Rome Reborn Project anyone can visit the Colosseum (virtually) and experience Rome as it was about 1,600 years ago under Emperor Constantine.

Rome Reborn is a project by the clever folk at the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia. The purpose is well explained on their website:

Rome Reborn is an international initiative whose goal is the creation of 3D digital models illustrating the urban development of ancient Rome from the first settlement in the late Bronze Age (ca. 1000 B.C.) to the depopulation of the city in the early Middle Ages (ca. A.D. 550)

Visit ancient Rome version 2.0 on Google Earth

The model has been built on a Google Earth layer above the modern day version. It consists of 6,000 individual building and landmarks, many of which in high detail. You can also click on each monument to learn more about its history.

All this is available free but you have to download and install Google Earth on your PC. Here’s the link:

http://earth.google.com/rome/

Fly through the Colosseum

The Colosseum is a particularly good landmark to explore given its architecture and purpose. If you can’t make the Divus Vespasianus. Il bimillenario dei Flavi takes place, in part, in the Colosseum then a 3D fly-through is your second best option.

The video…

P.S. Don’t forget to visit Rome for real too!

A night at a museum in Rome

On 16 May museums in Rome will remain open until 1am.

We must thank the French for this, though. Merci.

This event was originally conceived by the French Minister of Culture and Communications back in 2005, the idea being to extend opening hours and organise special events to promote history, culture and what not.

For this fourth edition cities in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Serbia, Denmark, Spain and Romania will do the same. But this is no Eurovision song contest. This is good!

Best of all, entrance to many museums is free.

Clever people plan ahead

Are you? For some museums, the good stuff, you will need to book ahead — so it’s best to plan. Have a look at http://en.museiincomuneroma.it, a website set up by Rome’s authorities about museums in Rome linking to… many other websites for each museum. Once you know what you want to book, go back to the Tickets and booking page.

Not to be confused with…

Shawn Levy’s rather poor 2006 feature film: Night at the Museum (2006). No crazy animals here. Just Italians.

Contact details

• Email: eventi@beniculturali.it
• Tel: +39 06 6723 2390 / 2851

Culture Week in Rome: save on tickets to museums, galleries and concerts

'Culture belongs to everyone: you too can participate'.

This is how the event is being promoted this year by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

To make culture more accessible state-run sights are admission-free and ticket prices for private establishments have been reduced. Opening times have been extended too and whenever possible things are open on Mondays too.

Bear in mind that UNESCO has estimated that 40% of the world’s cultural heritage that’s been preserved lies in Italy. That’s a lot to see and it’s impossible for the state to keep everything open to the public throughout the year. Initiatives like this give people the opportunity to see things that are normally not accessible and for the organisations involved in restorations to show new developments to the public.

Private institutions are also involved in this initiative to promote access to associations, institutes, libraries, concerts and places that are not normally visited by tourists and locals.

Grab that last minute deal and experience a dose of culture

If you’ve got time off this week and fancy a good dose of culturewhy not find a last-minute deal for a flight and perhaps stay in one of our apartments? Our sister site – City Apartments of Rome – offers a last minute deals page that you may want to have a look at too.

See Angels & Demons in Rome and get 5% off your stay

If you book one of our apartments and go see the movie we'll reimburse you 5% of the cost of your accommodation. That will cover your cinema ticket and popcorn costs too.

Angels & Demons promises to be a movie to remember, especially if you’re a fan of Rome as much as of Tom Hanks (and controversial murder-mystery movies featuring underground organisations and religious organisations).

The plot thickens… get 5% off if you go see the movie

Here’s the deal. If you go see the movie whilst staying in one of our apartments we’ll give you a 5% discount. That’s off the total booking price for the apartment, not the cinema ticket! All you have to do is keep the ticket stubs and send them to us.

If that’s not a good reason to book a holiday in Rome then we don’t know what is!

Conditions apply, of course:

• You need to be staying in one of our apartments
• Only 1 discount per booking. This means that if four of you go to see the movie you’re not going to get a 20% discount (nice try!)
• Offer starts on 13 May and ends 31 August ’09
• We can only reimburse your credit card or send you a payment via PayPal.

About Angels & Demons (and yes, you can see it in English too)

Read up about the movie and see a few promotional photos in our Events section.

There will be cinemas screening the movie in English. One of which is bound to be the Warner Village Cinema Moderno in Piazza Repubblica (map).

P.S. Here’s the trailer…