10 December, 2006 | Leave a Comment
I’m reading my Rick Steves guidebook on Italy. Here’s his intro to Rome:
“Rome is magnificent and brutal at the same time. Your ears will ring. If you’re careless, you’ll be run down or pickpocketed. You’ll be frustrated by the kind of chaos that only an Italian can understand. You may even come to believe Mussolini was a necessary evil.”
And here’s part of his warning about avoiding theft:
“With sweet-talking con artists meeting you at the station, well-dressed pickpockets on buses, and thieving gangs of children at the ancient sites, Rome is a gauntlet of rip-offs.”
But don’t be fooled — Steves believes that Rome is one of Europe’s greatest cities (even though he writes that it can be visited in one day if necessary).
I’m quite intrigued by his description of The House of the Vestal Virgins, which I will definitely be visiting. Apparently, at any given time there lived in this house six Vestal Virgins, who served from the age of 10 until 40. From the guidebook: “If the Romans found any virgin who wasn’t, she was strapped to a funeral car, paraded through the streets of the Forum, taken to a crypt, given a loaf of bread and a lamp…and buried alive. Many women suffered the latter fate.”
And then there’s this rather disappointing excerpt from the chapter on Florence: “Dante’s house — actually a copy built near his house — recently reopened to the public. But during the restoration period, an inferno burnt most of the exhibit items in storage, so there isn’t much for Dante fans to see…”
Anglofille said @ 12:28 pm | travel |
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Bah humbug. Rick Steves is writing for old, fat, trepidatious Americans who think *not* taking a package tour is living on the edge ::roll eyes::
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Not a fan of Rick Steves?
He’s gotten very mainstream. He used to be primarily for backpackers. I remember about ten years ago when I traveled around Europe, his books were like a well-kept secret. You could meet other people at hostels who also used his books — like some sort of secret society. But now he’s too popular.
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Actually I do listen to his podcasts, believe it or not. So I actually kinda like him. But I think his books are written for a very different demographic nowadays…
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jacq Says:
December 18th, 2006 at 2:30 pmi think you have to be ready pull what you need from his books.
they are without doubt a treasure trove of information already researched and handed to you. its great to find out all these things on your own but sometimes its needed to just be able to get off and running. I particularly used his book on the first trip to rome (which was just 4 days) and was able to do and see so much more than i would have without it. of course i like to discover my own places to eat , shop etc but knowing appx how much a taxi is from termini to a certain area when you have to much to carry is worth it. especially when the taxi driver tries to charge more.
