Is The Metro The Best Transportation In Italy While Traveling?
All Roads Led to Rome...and Rome's Metros Led to Great Tourist Spots!! Here are some reasons why I personally believe the metros are the best transportation in Italy while traveling---or for any other time!
The Very Beginning.
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Just to make sure we are on the same page, I just want to take a quick moment to hit on this subject (like in case this is the first time you are on the internet and my blog is the first post you saw...in that case, welcome!)
The "Metro" (here is the Wikipedia link) is the same concept as the subway system in New York, USA. The metro is an underground train which literally runs underneath the city, stopping at planned locations. This system is a major and massive form of public transportation running from early in the morning to very late at night (but not 24/7).
The metro had 2 tunnels and train which ran literally everywhere in the city, but a few years ago they (Italy) added a third tunnel and train. These 3 trains/metros are responsible for a very great number of people traveling in and around Rome, Italy.
There, we did it.
1. Easy, Peazy, Italian Squeezy!
Imagine a world where you can exit your apartment door, walk across the street, walk down into a place where waiting for you is a big train. This willing train takes you where ever you wish to go in the city of Rome, comfortably and air-conditioned. When you decide you are at the stop of your choice, simply get up, leave and emerge to the surface to find yourself at your destination. It's like a dream!
But wait! That's no dream! That is the metro in Rome: the public has the best transportation in Italy while traveling to work, play, or just milling around the city!
Italy has designed and built the metro for the sole purpose of shuttling large amounts of people from one location to another. Because Rome has 4 Million people who live in the city limits AND they have 4 Million MORE people who visit every single year--that means the Roman transportation system had to figure out a way to keep 8 Million people moving.
Thankfully, the public transportation system of the metro has made life so much easier on the normal ordinary person who needs to get from Point A to Point B in the city of Rome. The metro eliminates the headache of parking, traffic jams, etc.
"That's fine brother, but what's it going to cost me?" --Glad you asked! Read on.
2. The Cost of Metro Transportation.
As I write this blog post...I am in America...and currently in New York at the moment. The price of a car in America is pretty high right now. Yes, you can buy a car for $2,000 (which is still a lot of moo lah) but you will probably wind up pushing that car instead of driving it sometime during the next 6 months. So you will spend a large amount of your hard earned money on a nice car or you might could even buy a Ferrari with no engine for about $50K---point is traveling is expensive no matter where you go. However...
You can purchase a day, week, month or even a yearly pass for the metro with unlimited rides during that specific time frame! If you are traveling in Italy and you are staying for approx 10 days or so (remember, no body goes to Italy just for a weekend) make sure you purchase the metro ticket for your entire stay.
So the bottom line with the money issue of what make the metro the best transportation in Italy while traveling or anything else is the simple fact that it is the cheapest ticket for the best vehicle....period.
3. The Culture of the Italian Metro.
I am never not amazed when I travel on the metro in Rome. You see....in America, public transportation in most cities is really for the lower class. (it's different in places like NYC) However in Rome...you will have a man in a 3-piece suit who is an investment banker on his way to cut a $10 Million dollar deal sitting next to a kid going to play soccer. Next to the kid is a music teacher--the metro is for everybody and it's not a "only people who can't afford a car ride that thing" idea. It's really neat to see how it all fits together in the metro.
A Gypsy. Yes they are real. Whatever you are thinking in your mind....that's it. I had never actually seen a gypsy: wearing a bandanna, large hoop earrings, vest and white long sleeve shirt, playing a violin--actually happened on the metro! These people are in every country and take pride in their past of being the traveling nomads of Europe...they ride the metro just like everybody else.
Last culture moment of the metro.
The biggest impression I got from the metro was after stopping, and walking up the stairs to the surface at the Coliseum metro stop. Once you get outside to the street BAM...there is the super massive coliseum!! No little "there it is way off in the distance" you are left speechless standing just outside the metro...that is the greatest thing about the metro in Rome...it can literally drop you off exactly where you wish.
To wrap it up....Italians are all about engineering and there is no greater modern engineer feat in Rome than the metro. I has always loved taking the metro when I could and I know if you have never been to Rome...you must give it a try. When in Rome...do as the Romans do...and they take the metro!
Here is a Really Great Tour Guide Book from Rick Steves for more information about stops along the metro while in Rome...keep it so you never lose any info!:
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