In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
As a resident of Cagliari I am appalled why the authorities allow female gypsies (Beggars) to stand at the traffic lights all day holding there new born babies in a vain attempt to twang the heart strings and glean a few extra coins from passing cars.
Apart from the obvious issue of having a baby spending most of the day next to a main road with all the car fumes but also the danger as they walk in and out of the cars and stand on the side (No pavements) as cars rush by doing 120+ kph.
If this happened in the UK I'm sure they would have there children instantly taken off of them and put into care.
Vary Sad... :(
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Rome cleaned up its act for the Millenium/Jubilee and is much better beggar -wise than it used to be (gangs of kids surrounding you and the youngest extracting your wallet under the distraction of a large piece of cardboard). Unfortunately some have returned at traffic lights but even if arrested, have to be released by law as they are under-age. Shame on the parents who, although living in caravans (has anyone noticed the shanti town near Ciampino) drive Mercedes and are quite happy to leave children as young as ten bothering motorists on busy highways eg near Ikea in Rome in real danger of their lives, despite the tolerance of the Romans.Most are clandestini (illegal immigrants) so presumably can't be put into care - they'd have to be deported
by the way,we were in Pompeii at xmas and the hawkers were very discreet and could easily be ignored - maybe the policy of fining tourists loads of money for buying obviously counterfeit goods has made its mark
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
I must admit this doesn't seem to have changed much over many years (there are occasional 'clean ups') - the origin of the individuals involved has changed but the methods haven't. Best defence is don't look like a tourist - apart from the trafiic light beggars/window cleaners/vendors (don't make eye contact and don't be morally blackmailed into paying for a windscreen 'clean' you refused..) most Romans aren't bothered by them.
Can't comment on Pompeii as I haven't been there for years (but it wouldn't surprise me as, in general, english style 'orderliness' diminishes the further south you go). Just accept it - you won't change it and it's all part of the place being Italian.....
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Preparing for my first visit to Rome, I've come across what Sano mentioned above on various travel websites. My mother visited Rome in the 80s a couple of times & she remembers them well. You have to be abrupt, hang on to your valuables and tell them to go away. Will see how we fare... ;)
I remember a particular incident when I lived in Heidelberg in southern Germany - another touristy mecca where there are similar problems in the summer with foreign beggars.
Once I nearly slapped a girl (it takes alot to make me that angry) as she insisted on walking up to the tables of an outdoors cafe I was working at over the summer, standing next to guests with her cardboard note and pestering them till they gave her some change. I had to drag her off the premises several times over and again, while she threatened me with legal action!!! She knew that it was a public area, not private, and she could do as she pleased! She came back on site again & again until she realised from the applause of the guests every time I chased her off that there was no money to be made... lesson learned!
Shame that this 'business' can reduce someone's otherwise pleasant experience of a foreign city. I've decided not to let it spoil my visit and prepared a few Italian expressions to chase them away... :D
By the way, how far is it to Pompeii from Rome?
Stephanie
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Iona]Preparing for my first visit to Rome, I've come across what Sano mentioned above on various travel websites. My mother visited Rome in the 80s a couple of times & she remembers them well. You have to be abrupt, hang on to your valuables and tell them to go away. Will see how we fare... ;)
I remember a particular incident when I lived in Heidelberg in southern Germany - another touristy mecca where there are similar problems in the summer with foreign beggars.
Once I nearly slapped a girl (it takes alot to make me that angry) as she insisted on walking up to the tables of an outdoors cafe I was working at over the summer, standing next to guests with her cardboard note and pestering them till they gave her some change. I had to drag her off the premises several times over and again, while she threatened me with legal action!!! She knew that it was a public area, not private, and she could do as she pleased! She came back on site again & again until she realised from the applause of the guests every time I chased her off that there was no money to be made... lesson learned!
Shame that this 'business' can reduce someone's otherwise pleasant experience of a foreign city. I've decided not to let it spoil my visit and prepared a few Italian expressions to chase them away... :D
By the way, how far is it to Pompeii from Rome?
Stephanie[/QUOTE]
Two hours from Rome to Naples and then about 40 minutes on a different line (the Circumvesuviana) from Naples to Pompei Scavi.
We had the usual kids playing the accordion on the trains as well - they did not budge until we told them to p*@!! off. At least they understood English...
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Sano]Two hours from Rome to Naples and then about 40 minutes on a different line (the Circumvesuviana) from Naples to Pompei Scavi.
We had the usual kids playing the accordion on the trains as well - they did not budge until we told them to p*@!! off. At least they understood English...[/QUOTE]
LOL!! I guess that 'phrase' is known all over the world... :D
Thanks for the info. Done some digging myself but I guess we'll be too busy taking in Rome's many sights to ever get to see any outside places...
[QUOTE=Sano]Having recently returned from a long overdue visit to Italy I can say that overall this was an extremely pleasant visit to both Rome and Naples.
There was one thing that really bothered me though, and that was the proliferation of street traders around the Colosseum and the Forum - we visited this part of Rome nearly every day that we were there and each time had to run the gauntlet of hawkers trying to shove their wares in our faces - and I mean shove, no polite calling from the roadside this.
Why do the authorities allow this? Surely they must realise that it detracts significantly from the overall experience of tourist to have people harassing them every step of the way?
The curio stalls are fine - no hassle there, it is the people selling crap (and it is crap) from blankets and ground sheets that are the problem.
Similarly, on a visit to Pompeii (which is something of an annual pilgrimage at this stage) I could not help but notice that they now allow people to set up stalls INSIDE buildings - we counted three stalls in the sections of Pompeii that we visited, selling everything from essential oils to incence to paintings. To me again this detracted somewhat from the experience that is Pompeii and I was mystified as to why the authorities allow this type of thing to happen.
Can anyone shed any light on these recent developments?[/QUOTE]
Can't shed any light on the reason Sano apart from the pure monetary/profit side of things.
I do find it pretty sad however as last time I visited Pompeii it was 'hawker' free on the actual site itself. In fact it was delicious just wandering around with no distractions imagining lifestyles at that time. What a great shame that things have changed :( And I probably do mean shame/vergogna on the authorities that have allowed this to happen.