3 TIMES: YOU WERE WRONG.

There’s something closer, bigger and cheaper.

Following our previous post on places around Rome, not far from it and accessible to everyone, today we propose Ostia Antica.

@ Livioandronico2013

You certainly know Pompeii, the city destroyed by the Mt. Vesuvius eruption in 79 a.C.

There actually 2 kind of tourists coming to Italy: the ones who already visited Pompeii and the ones that haven’t yet.

Any well lectured blogger or travel agent will no doubt confirm to you that, leaving from Rome, it will take you almost a whole day travelling to Pompeii, visiting, and returning to Rome. Sad, but true: a whole day of your holiday only to visit 3 or 4 hours and walking around in a really crowded place.

Here’s our tip:

OSTIA ANTICA, so you can stay in Rome and go to Ostia Antica: closer, bigger, cheaper.

Ostia Antica is a large archaeological site, close to the modern town of Ostia, that is the location of the harbour city of ancient Rome, 15 miles (25 kilometres) southwest of Rome. "Ostia" (plur. of "ostium") is a derivation of "os", the Latin word for "mouth". At the mouth of the River Tiber, Ostia was Rome's seaport, but due to silting the site now lies 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the sea.[2] The site is noted for the excellent preservation of its ancient buildings, magnificent frescoes and impressive mosaics.

The most ancient buildings currently visible are from the 3rd century BC, notably the Castrum (military camp); of a slightly later date is the Capitolium (temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva).

Ostia itself was provided with all the services a town of the time could require; in particular, a famous lighthouse. The popularity of the Cult of Mithras is evident in the discovery of eighteen mithraea. Archaeologists have also discovered the public latrinae, organised for collective use as a series of seats that allow us to imagine today that their function was also a social one. Ostia had a large theatre, many public baths (such as the Thermae Gavii Maximi, or Baths at Ostia), numerous taverns and inns and a firefighting service. Ostia also contained the Ostia Synagogue, the earliest synagogue yet identified in Europe; it created a stir when it was unearthed in 1960-61.

So: why going to Ostia Antica?

1-            It’s closer to Rome: just 15 miles.

You’ll have a lot of spare time for more activities.

2-            It’s larger that Pompeii and just as well preserved.

Pompeii was buried in ashes and mud. Ostia was only abandoned.

3-            It’s cheaper.

No need to book a 3-hours-per-way expensive day-tour. Do you take kids with you?

We are RHI, and we care about your time in our country; let's make it worth and pleasurable.

1 FREE ITALIAN LESSON.

It's about time to give you the upgrade and 10 minutes of FUN!

You have been out and about in Italy; so it's time to give a small rewarding upgrade in recognition for all your efforts in communicating with locals and surviving even as you had no knowledge of the language.

A new emoji on the rise

We will leave this task to Mr. Aurucci, a seasoned, through and true Neapolitan gentleman, who will introduce you to our extensive world of sign language.

After some minutes in his video, you will be naturally able to use complete sentences and make yourself understood.

Whithout even speaking.

Daydreaming about your next trip to Italy? Start learning, and you will bring joy and enthusiasm with your new skills also to us Italians.

We are RHI, and we care about your time in our country; let's make it worth and pleasurable.

3 GOOD REASONS TO STAY OUT OF ROME (?!)
And you'll love it!

Continuing with our show of palces to stay avoiding crowded cities (you are here to relax, don't you?) we wil introduce today the magnificent Tarquinia.

A view of Tarquinia, idillic place outside Rome.

Tarquinia, once called Corneto, is a very old city in the area of Viterbo,  mainly known for the ancient Etruscan tombs located in the vast necropoleis (cemeteries) were it is buld upon. It is a place awarded by UNESCO with the World Heritage status. In 1922 it was renamed after the Tarquinii (in Roman) or Tarch(u)na (or as it was by the original inhabitants: the Etruscan).

The main necropoleis of Tarchuna, that you can partially visit, is Monterozzi; with approximately 6,000 tombs, 200 of which include amazing and very detailed frescoes, even if they are actually tumulus tombs with chambers carved in the rock below.

Tumulus tombs of Tarquinia

The paintings are of a quality unrivalled anywhere else in the Etruscan world and give us an amazing insight into the secretive world of the Etruscans which is scarcely documented.

There are depictions of banquets with dancers and musicians, sporting events, occasional erotic and mythical scenes. In the late period underworld demons escorting the dead on their journey to the beyond including scenes in the nether world were depicted, and also processions of magistrates and other symbols of the rank of the eminent members of the families buried there.

Frescoes in the Etruscan style

Famous tombs to visit are – among others – the one of the Bulls, the Tomb of the Augurs and the Tomb of the Leopards.

But you would prefer some activity, maybe, while your kids are visiting somewhere else?

Some more fresh air, some quietness and relax?

Well, Tarquinia can easily be your perfect spot! There is a beautiful Golf Club with a very friendly fly! What about it?

Non-surprisingly it's called Tarquinia Country Club and it is a very interesting and relaxing Executive golf course, with no great difficulties; sounds just like what you needed to take a break while keeping your score.

So now you know:

1 - Tarquinia is not far from Rome.

It's just one hour drive!

2 - Tarquinia is a must to visit.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site

3 - You can practice a lot of open air activities.

And golfing too!

More to come in our next blog; we like to know you travel prepared and have it planned ahed to maximize your fun, enjoy your holiday, and make all your family happy.

We are RHI, and we care about your time in our country; let's make it worth and pleasurable.

1 PLACE YOU MUST VISIT OUTSIDE ROME
There are actualy more...!

We continue with a selection of places that are worth visiting for their culture and history; where family can be entertained, need for knowledge satisfied and, most important, children can get some fresh air and run around.

TIVOLI.
Located east of Rome, at less than 1 hour drive from the city center of Rome, it is a small town on thop of a hill.
The main attractions are (if you do not have the whole day to visit) Villa Adriana (Hadrian's Villa) and Villa D'Este. There is also Villa Gregoriana, a park developing into a gorge with a beautiful natural waterfall. A really tempting walk, as it is all downhill, but when you are looking back to return, it is a steep way up; you must consider it.
You can find some nice organized tours here, for Tivoli. You can arrange them on your own, or leave it to us. We suggest you have a look, however.

VILLA ADRIANA

The villa was constructed at Tibur (modern-day Tivoli) as a retreat from Rome for Roman Emperor Hadrian during the second and third decades of the 2nd century AD. Hadrian is said to have disliked the palace on the Palatine Hill in Rome, leading to the construction of the retreat. It was traditional that the Roman emperor had constructed a villa as a place to relax from everyday life. Previous emperors and Romans with wealth, such as Trajan, had also constructed villas. Many villas were also self-sustaining with small farms and did not need to import food.

The complex contains over 30 buildings, covering at least a square kilometre (250 acres, an area larger than the city of Pompeii), of which much is still unexcavated.

The complex of the villa contains many structures from different cultures. For example, the villa has a small Nile river running through it that relates back to the Egyptian Nile river. Also, the villa had Poikilos, which are Greek figures that were seen in ancient Greece. Within all the structures in the villa, there is also a grotto called Hades. All these structures relate back to where Emperor Hadrian visited during his reign.

VILLA D'ESTE

The Villa d'Este is a 16th-century villa in Tivoli, near Rome, famous for its terraced hillside Italian Renaissance garden and especially for its profusion of fountains. It is now an Italian state museum, and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.

The fame and glory of the Villa d'Este was above all established by its extraordinary system of fountains; fifty-one fountains and nymphaeums, 398 spouts, 364 water jets, 64 waterfalls, and 220 basins, fed by 875 meters of canals, channels and cascades, and all working entirely by the force of gravity, without pumps.

The result is one of the finest gardens of the Renaissance, rivaled only by the Villa Lante, the Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Villas Aldobrandini and Torlonia in Frascati. The garden and water features were admired and imitated over the centuries in gardens from Portugal to Saint Petersburg.

More to come in our next blog; we like to know you travel prepared and have it planned ahed to maximize your fun, enjoy your holiday, and make all your family happy.

We are RHI, and we care about your time in our country; let's make it worth and pleasurable.

1 OPPORTUNITY LEFT!

Make your speech on nowadays opportunity worth. 

As we hear many people talking about China and the Opportunity the virus represents, trying to be constructive and motivating, we went to document ourselves.

The following article is mostly from Wikipedia.

The term wēijī (in traditional Chinese it's 危機) is frequently invoked in motivational speeches together with the untrue statement that the characters of which it is composed represent both the concept of "crisis" and that of "opportunity".

In reality, the claim is borrowed from the erroneous belief in the United States that the two characters mean one "danger" and the other "opportunity". Many linguists consider this idea a colorful pseudo-etymology, since "jī" alone does not necessarily mean "opportunity".

Victor H. Mair of the University of Pennsylvania called the popular interpretation of weijī in the English-speaking world a "widespread misconception". In fact, wēi (危) roughly means "danger, dangerous; endanger, represent a danger; perilous; precipitous, precarious; tall; fear, fearful" (as in wēixiăn 危险, "dangerous"), but the word polysema jī (机) does not necessarily mean "opportunity".

The composition jīhuì (机会) means "opportunity", but jī is only a part of it; jī has many meanings, including "machine, mechanic; airplane; suitable occasion; crucial point; pivot; incipient moment; opportune, opportunity; occasion; key connection; secret; deception". Mair suggests that jī in wēijī is closer to "crucial point" than to "opportunity".

Benjamin Zimmer retraced the history of weiji in English back to an anonymous editorial in a missionary newspaper in China. 

The use of the term probably gained its importance when John F. Kennedy gave a speech in Indianapolis on April 12, 1959: "Written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity."

Kennedy used this trope regularly in his speeches and later Richard M. Nixon and others made it their own. The use has been adopted by financial advisors and motivational speakers and has gained great popularity in universities and the popular press. For example, in 2007, Condoleezza Rice repeated the misunderstanding during the peace negotiations for the Middle East, and Al Gore did so in his testimony before the Energy and Commerce Commission of the United States House of Representatives, and in his thank you speech for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some linguists have attributed the success of this bad interpretation to having it at hand as a rhetorical tool and as an "optimistic call to arms".

We are RHI, and we care about your time in our country; let's make it worth and pleasurable.

NEED SOME FRESH AIR?
We have plenty of it, in Italy!

When it comes to thinking about your holiday in Italy you visualize, most probably, crowded places such as Piazza San Marco in Venice, or Galleria Degli Uffizi in Florence, or the strades of Colosseum. All those places where you have to make your way to see something and hope some group of other people will move away so you can finally post something worth on you socials, or just get a good look at it.

By Manuel Silvestri/Reuters

Some degree of frustration sinks in while you wait for the moment to capture something with your camera but you are tossed around, instead, by the crowd, moving stampede-like to somewhere else.
A hint of madness grips on you, as you try to find sense in the advertised "stroll among the narrow streets of" somewhere and "immerse yourself into the beauty of" somewhere else.
And you start wandering if you are going to spend the next days in your hotel room to gain some space and air.
You need fresh air.

Appia Antica natural park. The Hollywood walk of Rome. Home for international actors and producers.

So, starting from today, we will show you some venues around Rome, where to walk at ease, take a deep breath, enjoy the unfolding landscapes and soak into culture, tradition and, products.

We are pleased to introduce you: the CASTELLI ROMANI.

17 coats of arms for 17 villages!

Castelli Romani (Lit. roman castles) is the name associated with a large area south of Rome, where many small villages are nested on green hills, mostly famous for the production of excellent wines, going under the names of the same villages: Frascati, Marino, etc.
These towns were originally built around someone's castle; be it a fortification or a luxurios villa.
We invite you to have a look at their official website to discover and organize your excursion.
In a little bit more that a half day you can have some scenic views of Roma unfolding at your feet below, from the hills and the amazing parks located there.
All in total comfort, without crowds and allowing you to feel the relax you came here for.

We are RHI, and we care about your time in our country; let's make it worth and pleasurable.

ITALIANS DO IT BETTER. Also known as size matters...
Numbers are big, and we are now finally coping with it a little better.

It is official: yesterday our Prime Minister, Mr. Conte, has established with a decree that Italy is CLOSED. The numbers are on the raise and awareness is settling into citizens, finally, after some hartbreaking demonstrations of incivility and panic. 

The size and the numbers of the actual situation is recalling China statistics, with a huge number of people infected and mortality rate looking bad.

The political turmoil generated by the recent decisions have split Italians into many different groups, but finally the scope of the moment is dawning on everybody and some civic sense is being showed.

It is a fact many decisions have been taken by the Government, and many restrictions were imposed about the Coronavirus spreading before today. And it is a fact (as you saw in the news) that they went largely unattended by the majority of the population.

Am I saying we Italians are undisciplined and careless?

Not really!

It is just we are more theatrical into everything, and our beliefs are in the family rather than in society. It's a mindset that is part of us since our first settlements in the south and stays deeply rooted.

Government acts and decisions are always inspected through this filter and are accepted at a very slow pace after some grade of (personal) scrutiny and (personal) evaluation.

So, yesterday evening,  our Prime Minister had a speech that seemed a reprimend of a office-boss to undisciplined employees, rather than an emergency declaration.

It sounded like: "guys, we tried, but you don't listen; so, now,  we are going to do this".
And the decree came out this morning; in few words: lockdown as much as you can bear.

And it seems, by now, to have sorted some effect. People keep their distance, streets are not busy, public transportation is empty, supermarkets are not running out of stocks and medical assistance is guaranteed to citizens and foreigners alike (and still free of charge, my God, I love this country!).

We will keep you updated, as we always did, as we care about your correct information and your feeling of security, just like when you travel with us.

We are RHI, and we care about your time in our country; let's make it worth and pleasurable.