Don't Drag Your Bag Through Rome

Don't drag that suitcase with you in Rome when you can store it for a day, a week or longer.

Photo from the Bags Free web site

Thanks to a post on the Beehive Blog I found  http://www.cross-pollinate.com/blog/2192/where-to-leave-bags-for-the-day-in-rome/  thank you Steve

                         Bags Free 

 near the Termini train station in Rome

On month long trips I often travel from Northern Italy south to Puglia.   Dragging a large suitcase on and off trains in Italy can be difficult:   the platform is often two steps below the train entrance and large bags will not fit above your seat.

Several Italian train stations still offer baggage storage.    The location in Rome and Florence are convenient to leave a bag and return later during your trip.   In Florence I use Mail Box Etc for weekly storage and for forwarding luggage to my next planned stop.  http://hometoitaly.blogspot.com/2013/04/mailbox-etc-in-florence-italy.html

Now there is another option for storage in Rome.    If you have stood for an hour waiting to leave luggage or pick up a bag at the Termini luggage storage (located in the lower level) you know you have to plan perhaps an extra hour to catch you train.

Bags Free has a location only a few streets from the station.   Their web site (http://www.bags-free.com) has a video showing you how to find the location.     

The staff quickly helps you bring your bag into the store

I left a bag in Rome while I traveled for a week in southern Italy.  My bag was quickly checked in.
There was no line, no waiting.  A plastic lock was attached to the zipper to insure that the bag would not be opened.   Upon my return the pick up process took only minutes.

Additional service:
Bags Free offers a transport service too.  I did not take advantage of this but shall consider using it next time.    Their web site states:

1.  Bags-Free will collect your luggage at the hotel, BnB or private home where you are staying
2.  They will bring the baggage to the storage area
3.  At a scheduled time specified by you, they will deliver the bag to 1. airport, train station, bus station etc

Check the web site for rates or email email them for an estimate of fees.    My 10 day storage was LESS than the train station and far easier to drop off and pick up.

There are plans to expand to other cities.     If you are visiting Brindisi and Lecce and visit the Bags Free let me know!

NOTE:  I personally used this company to ship a bag from Rome to Florence MBect who ships my bag and shopping home to the USA every year.

Please remember:  no one works on the weekend in Italy.  I took my bag to this office on Saturday and was told it would not go out until Monday.  Therefore I did not receive the bag until Tuesday.

Keep this in mind so you have your bag when you need it.

______________________________________________________________________________________

A recent article in Smarter Travel by Ed Perkins described where to store your luggage with LAX storage during an airport layover.   http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/the-best-way-to-store-your-luggage-on-layover.html?id=21112894.

I hope more locations are added for short and long term travelers to leave luggage.


Thanks to Steve at Cross Pollination
"Just read this for a location in Venice:

You're now ready to roam the winding streets and canals of Venice, hands free."

Venice Luggage Deposit
Castello 5496, Calle de la Malvasia
Email: info@veniceluggagedeposit.com
(+39) 041 476 4907; Cell (+39) 320 294 05 00
Hours: 9:30am to 5:30pm (holidays included)

Luggage Storage: 3 Places to Leave Your Bags in Barcelona by Steve

The Little Black Book: Zia Milina

"My recipe was written in a small black notebook: the recipes’ book of my aunt Melina" 

Olga Stinga shares her memories of her aunt and the wonderful treats she baked.

I hope to feature Olga's shared recipes each month.

Please comment if you know these Italian treats and would like to learn more recipes from

Zia Melina

Pizza di crema

In the past cakes were few and not so many the opportunities to eat them.

For Valentine's Day, when we celebrate St. Anthony in Sorrento, the feast of the patron saint of the city, zia Melina  prepared the pizza cream.

The “Pizza di crema” is the cake that the majority of ladies and housewives were used to prapare on the Sant’Antonino day (14^th February )

Ingredients:

-For the Pastry: 400g flour OO - 200 g sugar - 200g suet or butter- 2 eggs plus one yolk

a pinch of salt - a pinch of cream of tartar.

-For the white cream: 1/2 liter of milk - four yolks - 80g of flour - 160g of sugar -1 grated lemon (sorrento) and a tablespoon of limoncello.

-For the chocolate cream: 1/2 liter of milk -two yolks - 125g of sugar - 50g of cocoa - 2 heaping tablespoons of flour -

a snifter Witch and rum - vanilla - a tablespoon of butter.

-          Sour cherries (here we grow them at home. I  always  add  homemade sour cherries)       

     four  or five biscuits. 

Preparation: mix the flour with the butter, make a fountain in the center and put the eggs and all other ingredients, mix and let it rest in the fridge

Prepare the two creams and cool them.

Spread a layer of pastry, place it in the pan, crumble cookies.  The cookies prevent the pastry from becoming  moist.

Pour a layer of white cream cherries and then the chocolate cream.

Cover with another layer of pastry - Bake at 170/180 degrees for about 40 minutes.

"My recipe was written in a small black notebook: the recipes’ book of my aunt Melina" 

Rome: Vatican Turns On The Lights

See Rome with a Roman.


The Last Judgement in The Sistine chapel, Rome
Photo thanks to Bing post*

 
On my recent trip Home to Italy,  Laura Massoni Travel. arranged a great day with an amazing Rome expert Giovanni.
I do not take tours (one exception was a day in Russia) but this event to see the Sistine Chapel with Giovanni was more like:  spending the day with a scholar, a local and a very interesting new friend.



The new lights illuminate all the panels
Photo thanks to Bing

Marking it's 500th year, the Sistine Chapel is on any list of must sees in Rome.  During every visit I am amazed by the sheer scale of the chapel, the countless individual figures each with a different expression and the colors.     

Each ceiling panel is an astounding work of art.
Photo thanks to Bing*

It was a thrill to see the chapel this time with a knowledgeable licensed tour guide with a masters in Architecture, trained in sculpture and plastic arts and a for art history teacher.  Giovanni is part of the Laura Missoni Travel group.
 

Our guide, Giovanni

New LED lighting was being added during my October visit and scaffolding was everywhere.  Now completed,  I asked Giovanni, who has visited as many as 150 times during the past 12 years, what comes to his mind when he now enters the 'illuminated' room:  'good job Michelangelo'.  

He tells me that first time visitors often react with:  "it's overwhelming, grand, larger or smaller than they expected.  I would say all visitors feel admiration and real curiosity."

Photos don't do this massive work of
art justice and you are not permitted to take photos within the chapel.    The photos here are from Bing* and show the incredible improvement after the installation of the new lighting.   * http://bit.ly/1y3F0ab

A BBC report explained that in this room that is also famous for the election of each new pope, that there are now 7,000 Led lights.    With 20,000 visitors a day the yearly toll on the room might require some future limitation of the number of guests.   I observed guards preventing visitors from staying too long.  There are seats around the perimeter of the room but I still leave with the bent back strain from trying to see everything in a very short period of time.  

The crowds can be massive
Photo credit Bing*

 

There is now an opportunity via special reservations to visit the chapel at the end of the day when it is less crowded.  

Alice Capitolo

Thank you Laura Massoni Travel arranging this tour.
Alice Capitolo is a member of the Laura Massoni Travel team and never tired of answering endless questions about Italian life.  Grazie

For your unique travel experience in Italy contact  www.lauramassonitravel.com for one of their many adventures in Italy.