Rome and best lens

Yip, and there are no entrance fees at working churches in Italy, unlike the UK.

St Peter in Chains (not far from the Colosseum) houses Michaelangelo's sculpture of Moses. It's, well, very impressive and I think it's the only sculpture of a character from the Old Testament in any Roman church. The other church that fascinates me is the Basilica of San Clemente. The present church is about 1,000 years old, and a C4th basilica lies below it, converted from a Roman house dating from shortly after the fire of 64 CE. The basement of the house was used as a temple by followers of Mithras. 2,000 years of history, and you can still gain access to all the levels.
 
I don't really do the churches, but while I was doing my Segway tour last year, we were taken to the Santi Giovanni e Paolo church, quite close to the Colossuem, and the chap told us it is where most Romans come to get married, and it had quite a few chandeliers and was getting prepared for a wedding.

Right next to the church was a some ruins in the bottom of a building, but I think the guide may have had to open a gate to give us access to it though. :thinking:
 
This all sounds so exciting! I just stand in awe when I see the architecture of Churches.

The Segway tour sounds tempting, but I could imagine it is expensive...?
 
Seems to be about 75 euros each upwards, depending on what you want. There are lots of guided tours in Rome, and freelance guides working at most of the major attractions. They have to pass exams and obtain licences, and they're not pushy. The ones I've met were quite knowlegeable and they fast track their groups past the queues. Some of them also offer evening/night tours of Renaissance Rome, ending at a cafe or bar.
 
My Segway tour was €80, and seems the same price this year. :) I did the Imperial Tour with this company. I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it it to anyone. The guide was really knowledgeable and friendly, and you see a lot of the city very quickly and easily. And you get to go on a Segway, which was sooo easy to use. :D

And just looking at their site, I forgot they give you an iPod during the tour with an audio guide and video at every location. :D

If I do it again on the next trip, I may pop the compact on the handlebars with the knock off Gorillapod. ;) I nearly bought a Gorillpod before last years trip to do just that. :)
 
MartynK said:
Yip, and there are no entrance fees at working churches in Italy, unlike the UK.

St Peter in Chains (not far from the Colosseum) houses Michaelangelo's sculpture of Moses. It's, well, very impressive and I think it's the only sculpture of a character from the Old Testament in any Roman church. The other church that fascinates me is the Basilica of San Clemente. The present church is about 1,000 years old, and a C4th basilica lies below it, converted from a Roman house dating from shortly after the fire of 64 CE. The basement of the house was used as a temple by followers of Mithras. 2,000 years of history, and you can still gain access to all the levels.
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The Basilica of San Clemente was also the highlight of my trip to Rome. There is a strict dress code for women and no photography but it is worthwhile if you like to take a step back in time.
 
We went to Rome years ago and I used a shiny, new 300d and original 18-55 kit lens (give an idea of how long ago...) for a lot of my photo's, but had a 28-135 as well ! We went on excursions to Florence, Pompeii, Assisi and Orvieto. The bus journeys through the Italian countryside passed through some really picturesque scenery.

We were at a hotel just off the Plaza Venezia and as well as all the usual places like the Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Vatican (dress code caught us out the 1st time) we also walked to the zoo one day. It was a nice city to walk about in. One thing we didn't do was visit the catacombs, friends that have been have said that was worth doing.
 
I'd really like to take the Scavi Tour, to the necropolis under St Peter's Basilica. It's at the Roman level, and was filled in and incorporated into the supporting platform and foundations of the original basilica when it was built in the C4th. The Church believe that St Peter was crucified on the spine of the Circus of Nero, that ran diagonally below the site of the present basilica and St Peter's square; and that his tomb lies directly below the high altar.

The site was excavated over a long period, starting in the late 1930s, and the Vatican claim that the archeologists found human remains in a tomb, in exactly the right place. I don't know if this is true, but it's not wholly implausible.

You have to book this tour through the Vatican office, and none of the independent tour operators have access, as far as I know. It's not difficult to get tickets, but they expect you to book a couple of months ahead, although you can just go to the office and ask about cancellations when you're there. I'll do this one day. I'm interested in history, and the idea of walking on a Roman street deep below St Peter's, through a necropolis dating back to the C1st intrigues me.
 
stu.artd said:
We were at a hotel just off the Plaza Venezia and as well as all the usual places like the Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Vatican (dress code caught us out the 1st time) we also walked to the zoo one day. It was a nice city to walk about in. One thing we didn't do was visit the catacombs, friends that have been have said that was worth doing.
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The catacombs are worth visiting, but some people find them rather claustrophobic. It's a good idea to check the opening times in advance though, they're not standardised. The Spanish Steps are a bit underwhelming. They're really just a very large set of steps leading from the Piazza Di Spagna up to another pizza and a church at the top, but they're very close to the Trevi fountain so it's easy to combine the two visits. The best time to see them is in spring when they're covered in flowers.
 
MartynK said:
The Spanish Steps are a bit underwhelming.
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I have to agree. Go all the way to Rome to sit on the steps! :thinking: No thanks, maybe for a few minutes after walking around the city, but people spend all day just sitting there. :thinking: :bonk:

There'd be some nice pic ops if it were clear, but it's always been covered in people when I've been there.
 
Because I'm bored and have nothing better to do, I've just been looking at some Rome webcams and noticed that the Spanish Steps were looking quite empty, with crowds of people across the road in the shadows. I thought they may have been filming something, but it was the same in front of the Pantheon. :thinking: So went and looked at the weather, and it's 37C/98F. :eek: It's been very hot when I've been there, but I never noticed people actively seeking the shadow areas in such large numbers. Scorchio. :eek: :LOL:
 
August is a major holiday period for Romans, and a lot of them try to get out of the city to escape the heat. It's swarming with tourists though, and this isn't the best time to visit. I'd pick spring or autumn if I could, when it's cooler and not quite so busy, but I enjoy Rome and I'd go at any time if there was an opportunity!
 
Hi,

Rome was absolutely amazing! Thank you all for the advice!

I could waffle on and on so much here, but for those of you who have visited, Rome was not created in one day, and my description of my holiday would certainly take me more than one day.

I went to all the major tourist attractions, and with much sore feet after, it was well worth it!

I have attached a few pics, see what you think. It is the first time I am posting pics here, and any comments will be welcome.

Thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/100459015@N06/
 
Glad you enjoyed it. Did you remember to throw a coin into the Trevi fountain to make sure you go back?:)
 
Yes, coin was thrown in. It was so busy there! By 11am, it was packed. Lots of police around, so it was reassuring.

I saw no unsavory characters e.g. pick pockets. I wish I was there longer, I already miss it.
 
ap0thecary said:
Yes, coin was thrown in. It was so busy there! By 11am, it was packed. Lots of police around, so it was reassuring.

I saw no unsavory characters e.g. pick pockets. I wish I was there longer, I already miss it.
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That's normal. Pickpockets dress/act to blend in because they operate by stealth. They want to lift your wallet or phone without you realising that it's gone until later, hoping you might just assume that you'd lost it. Locals usually know the hot spots, and probably have a better chance of spotting them, but not always. That's the same just about everywhere.
 
ap0thecary said:
Hi,

Rome was absolutely amazing!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/100459015@N06/
Click to expand...

Glad you had a good time. :) And thanks for coming back and telling us. ;)

From your pics it looks like you got about a bit.

Did you take/use a tripod?

Did you get told off in the Sistine Chapel? ;) :LOL:


Only a couple of weeks till I go again. :D Hope I get the same weather as you seem to have got.
 
redhed17 said:
Glad you had a good time. :) And thanks for coming back and telling us. ;)

From your pics it looks like you got about a bit.

Did you take/use a tripod?

Did you get told off in the Sistine Chapel? ;) :LOL:


Only a couple of weeks till I go again. :D Hope I get the same weather as you seem to have got.
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I was there from Saturday to Thursday so had plenty of time to soak in the surroundings.

I am just a beginner, so I feel my pics are ok...but I having seen yours...and others, I want to learn how to get the deep colour you guys achieve.

I did not use a tripod, since it did not fit into my small suitcase which Ryanair stipulates. Some street vendors were selling tripods etc but they were the cheap plastic ones. I would rather just save and get one decent one for once I learn more about photography.

I did not get told off in the Sistine Chapel since I just had my camera at waist level and took a few cheeky snaps. I didn't see it as a problem since I did not use any flash. Some people were blatantly taking pics with flash and did get a telling off!

The weather for me was 36 degree!

Venice and Florence are my next stops in Italy when I go next!
 
ap0thecary said:
I am just a beginner, so I feel my pics are ok...but I having seen yours...and others, I want to learn how to get the deep colour you guys achieve.
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I don't know about anybody else, but I use a Polariser on my camera most of the time which can help to get saturated colours. :) Post processing helps a lot too. ;)

Just in the middle of trying to plan my visit at the moment. :)
 
Depends on the camera - RAW is essentially an undeveloped negative for a better phrase so it has everything that the cameras sensor captured.

Whereas a JPG is a developed photo based on a program in your camera written by some computer bod to produce the photos - as you can guess he can only apply generic data to the program, whereas with RAW you essentially do it in post processing
 
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