As I’ve mentioned, there are a ton of budget hotels and hostels around the Roma Termini train station - and on my most recent visit to Rome, I checked out many of them. I could only stay in one, however (well, I suppose I could have stayed in a different place each night, but what a huge pain in the arse that would have been - and I’m basically lazy), and that was M&J Place Hostel.
M&J Place is located a few steps from Termini on the northeast side of the station on Via Solferino. The hostel has been in existence (and in the exact same location) for nearly 15 years, and is enthusiastically run by Mario (yes, that’s the M of M&J). If he’s anywhere near the front desk when you check in and your native language isn’t Italian, he’ll probably be able to chit-chat with you a little in your native tongue. I never asked him how many languages he speaks, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t at least five or six…
At any rate, I stayed in a single private room at M&J Hostel for four nights, and every day as I came and went from the hostel and passed by the front desk, there were new people checking in or inquiring about rooms. It was easily the busiest hostel I visited during my stay in Rome, and Mario told me that many of the people who come to M&J do so without reservations. So while you can always take a chance on finding an available bed at M&J, if you know this is the place you want to stay you’d be better off reserving a bed in advance - especially during the high season.
>>Check out my other Rome hostels reviews, too!
No Comments
The concept of “Happy Hour” might not seem very Italian, and in fact it’s not - but it’s an idea that’s catching on in some of Italy’s bigger cities in the form of something the Italians call “Aperitivo,” and it’s an excellent way to absorb some of the local scene while eating on the cheap at the same time. Aperitivo in Italy seems to be most prevalent in cities like Milan and Turin, but I saw it advertised in Rome and Florence as well, so I think it’s spreading.
Aperitivo in Italy (also sometimes called Happy Hour, with the Hs being silent - like “Appy Our”) is where you buy your drinks and then you get to go through that place’s buffet line as many times as you want. Yes, the drinks are more expensive, but if you’re going out for cocktails anyway and you’re getting dinner thrown into the deal, you can definitely come out ahead. The food can vary from a few prettily-arranged baskets of pretzels, potato chips and bite-sized cuts of pizza or focaccia to a huge spread including pastas, finger sandwiches, vegetables, salads and even desserts later in the night. Literally, for the cost of one drink (wine, beer, or cocktail) it’s an all-you-can-eat extravaganza. This can be a great thing if you’re traveling on a budget. Plus, if the cafe/bar offers a good aperitivo, it’s likely that it’s a popular place for local residents as well - so you’ll get to soak up a bit of the local scene, maybe watch a sporting event on a big-screen, and just hang out for a couple hours over a nice drink and great selection of “free” food.
2 comments
I love Italian idiomatic expressions - those sayings you just can’t translate directly but which make the Italian language the colorful and charming language it is.
Today’s saying is a fine example of how central food is to life in Italy:
Diciamo pane al pane e vino al vino.
In Italy, it just wouldn’t do to say something like “Let’s call a spade a spade,” which is what this phrase means. Instead, this food-centric culture incorporates two very important food items into the phrase, which literally translates to, “Let’s say bread for bread and wine for wine.” I’m hungry now.
I’ll keep sharing Italian …
No Comments
Here’s another in the Italy Q&A series. Maddy asks:
Yikes … we are struggling with accommodations in Milan because it is design week there April 14-21. We have checked in to apartments for rent and they are 2600 euros for the week.
We will be going to the fair as well…do you have any ideas for us?
Thanks for the question, Maddy! Unfortunately for anyone traveling to Milan, accommodations can be tough to find - especially on a budget anywhere near the city center - because the city is much more about business travel than it is about budget travel. And then when you throw in any holiday or “festival” period (that means anything like Fashion Week or any kind of trade show, which happen pretty frequently in Milan) you’re dealing not just with fewer vacant rooms but also higher prices.
It really depends on what your budget is, but there are a couple hotels I’ve stayed at which aren’t right smack dab in the center but are near enough to a Metro stop that you’ll be able to get anywhere you want to go relatively easily:
Hotel Piemonte
Hotel Mec
No Comments
Here’s another of my Italy Q&A posts. Melanie asks:
My hubby and I would love to spend some time in Italy. Are we going to have to sell our first born in order to do it, or are there some inexpensive places to stay?
Italy is certainly an expensive place in which to travel, Melanie - especially right now, with the strength of the euro! But if you’ve got your heart set on it there are certainly things you can do to stretch your travel budget (and that don’t involve selling your offspring). Of course, if you were to swap your dreams of traveling in Italy for dreams of traveling in Chile, for instance, the whole proposition would cost you much, much less. If it’s got to be Italy, however (and I totally understand that!), then let’s look at some ways to keep from spending your entire life savings on your trip.
Go in the low season. The most touristy cities in Italy don’t really have an “off” season to speak of - they’re essentially year-round tourist attractions. But there is certainly a “low” season when everything will be a little cheaper. February is, from what I hear, the least busy month for the people who run hotels/hostels, so that’s when the prices will be most soft. March is probably also a good month to look at for lower prices, although this year Easter came early so the prices at the end of March went up in a way they normally don’t until April. In the low season, not only is your accommodation going to cost less, but you are more apt to find cheap airline tickets to Italy as well. Bookmark a few websites that offer updated prices on Italy airfare and check them a few times a week so you can get an idea of whether the prices are trending up or down.
No Comments
You’ve only got one week left to enter the Italy Photo Contest, so send in your entries by Monday, March 31!
For this Italy photo of the week, we’re in Milan:
More specifically, we’re in Milan’s mammoth soccer stadium, San Siro for the second of two A.C. Milan games I saw during my stay in the city. Milan didn’t win either game, which was disappointing, but at least my favorite player actually played in the second game. (As a bonus, he’s actually in this photo!) This picture was taken late in the 2nd half, when the …
No Comments
Just a quick note to mention that if you’re in Italy right now, there may be an excuse not to splurge on the “upgrade” to buffalo mozzarella on that pizza you’re ordering:
Over the past week, Italian authorities have searched dozens of buffalo dairies and seized milk samples for tests after higher-than-permitted levels of dioxin were discovered in products from 29 mozzarella makers, news reports said.
You can read the rest of the story here.
No Comments
Here’s another in my Italy Q&A series. Leon asks:
I’d like to spend a month or two in Florence. Can you suggest a flat rental or pensione? Inexpensive please.
Leon, I’d like to spend a month or two in Florence, too - so you’ve got a great idea there!
Rents in the historic center of Florence are expensive, but if you want to be in the middle of it all (and you do) then you’re going to want to concentrate on the historic center. There are actually several Florence hostels within a short walk of both the train station and the city’s major sights, all of which have kitchen facilities - so if you’re really on a budget you could always take a bed in a dorm room and have the ability to cook for yourself every so often.
If you’re requiring a bit more privacy, there are dozens of pensione- or locanda-type accommodation options in the historic center, too. Many of them have no more advertising than their name on a doorbell outside the building, but here are a few of the places I visited on my most recent trip through Florence which might be worth looking into (I’ll have reviews of them eventually, I just haven’t written them yet!):
No Comments
Milan isn’t known for its quiet and picturesque neighborhoods - you know, the kind that seem ideal for just ambling along aimlessly, preferably with a gelato in hand, strolling from from shop window to shop window and sighing constantly. This high-powered city (not to mention the people who live there) always seems to be on the go, and many times I’ve found myself moving at strolling speed I feel like I end up getting in the way of the people behind me. Having said that, there are a couple of areas of Milan that are perfect for aimless wandering, though you aren’t likely to have them to yourself. This is, after all, a busy city - and the busy people will probably be bustling right by you.
BRERA
The Brera district is perhaps my favorite area of Milan for strolling, and it’s conveniently just north of the area around the Duomo (where most tourists congregate anyway). The pretty streets are often narrow and lined with nice apartment buildings that have boutiques and shops on the ground floor. This is a relatively expensive area of the city to live in, so be sure you spend some time looking up at the buildings - the people who live in them have often taken great care to decorate their balconies with overflowing flower pots, and you can even sometimes get a peek into the apartments if the shutters are open and the light is right.
No Comments
The small city of Bergamo is an easy day-trip from Milan, especially because the part of Bergamo that you’ll want to visit is even smaller. The city is divided into two parts - the old high city, or “alta città,” and the newer low city, or “bassa città.” The newer parts of the city aren’t horrible by any stretch, but the historic and more pretty areas are in the alta città. Thankfully, the city makes it very easy to head straight up to the alta città from the second you leave the Bergamo train station.
From Milan to Bergamo is roughly one hour one way, and trains leave relatively frequently. There is a break in the morning schedule, however, so that if I hadn’t left Milan when I did just before 9am the next trains would have been at 09:48 and then not until 11:22. It’s a slower regional train that runs between the two cities, so no reservations are required. If you’ve got a Eurail or Italy Rail Pass, all you need to do is hop on board. Also, most of the trains for Bergamo seem to leave not from the main station in Milan, Milano Centrale, but from one of two smaller stations in the city - Milano Lambrate or Milano Greco Pirelli. No matter where you’re staying in Milan, you can get to either station easily by bus or tram.
No Comments
