First couple weeks in Italy comments

Flew Ita-airways from LAX to FCO.

Never looked at or weighed our bags.

Arrived at FCO, they never looked at our bags at customs/passport control.
They never checked to see if we were going to leave Italy.
Took the $55 Taxi to Apt near Vatican, waited till a large van moved up to the front spot. (the taxi police didn't like that)
Buses are Amazing in Rome. Tap to pay with your credit cards ~$1.64 for 100 minutes. Tap on each bus you get on.
There are zillions of busses and they go Everywhere.

The Metro is a pain to use, and the one time we used it, they needed a shoehorn to get folks on, it was so full.
Real Gelatto is not in a case where you can see it, that is Tourist Gelatto. Real Gelatto is hidden under a cover. And does it taste
different than the stacked up stuff. We took a gelatto making class, they told us what to look for.

The Greek temples an hour train ride south of Naples in Paestum are AMAZING!

The Necropolis Tour below St Peters is soo cool. No pictures allowed, extremely hard to get permission to enter. Start long in advance. (6 months)

The Colosseum Underground guided tour is to die for. Very hard to buy tickets in English. But only $32 each direct.
The Freccarossa Trains in First Class are truly wonderful. Close to 200mph over 300kph. Wow. Have ridden two now, Roma to Napoli, Napoli to Firenze.

Be extremely careful crossing the street in Napoli. Really!! Buses are nonexistent there.
Firenze Buses are great. Tap to pay also, but cheaper ~$1.20 for 90 minutes. And they do check to see if you paid. We got checked twice now in Florence.

Check out the Piazza Michelangelo on a hill above the city. Bus goes right there, also a beautiful walk up or better yet, down.

The Elevator at the Wedding Cake in Roma has about 200 stairs before you get to the elevator. Its worth it, but my god, all those stairs.

Go to the Trevi late in the evening. Otherwise its a zoo.

Buy Pantheon Tix online. you can then go right in.

Pompeii is Amazing. Most of the building are still there. Nothing like the debris of the Forum in Roma.
Sbrio is a gelatto chain that has real gelatto. There are others, just look for lids on the gelatto containers in the case.

Uffizi is big, there are a couple rooms on the second floor that have long lines to get into them. Accidemia was grand and a lot smaller.

Most churches in Florence are free to go in. There are three that are not, St Croce, SMN and not sure what the third one is. Duomo is free.