Rome’s Rip Off Passetto Restaurant?
Situated a mere stones-throw away from Rome’s famous Piazza Navona, a romantic meal for two Japanese tourists in the Passetto restaurant turned out to be such as costly experience that it probably left a bad taste in the two diners’ mouths.
Piazza Navona, Rome
The unlucky couple must have nearly fallen over when they were presented with a credit card bill which totalled a whopping 579 Euros! And that was not all, the crafty owner allegedly tacked on an extra 115 Euro tip! Talk about adding insult to injury. This brought the grand total to around 700 Euros. Quite a pricey bite to eat!
Obviously believing that they had been royally ripped off by the suspected sharp practices of this Roman restaurateur, and after having tried to dispute the bill, the Japanese couples’ next stop was the local constabulary. The Roman police must have agreed that the price was rather on the steep side, and promptly brought charges against the owner for this probable con trick.
Not only has the owner of this pricey and apparently popular eatery been charged with fraud, but his establishment is also being investigated for hygiene regulation infringement, according to reports on the L’Unità and other Italian news websites. At present the Passetto Restaurant in Rome’s Via Zanardelli is closed.
Want to know what the average Passetto restaurant price per head is?
Italy, Viareggio, Train Crash and Explosion
This rail disaster occurred last night in Viareggio, a coastal town in central Italy not too far from Genoa, and reports state that 20 people may have been killed as a result of the derailment of a goods train and subsequent explosion of a number of liquefied petroleum gas tanks the train was carrying.
Here are some YouTube images which show the scale of the damage. Another 14 or so people were seriously injured as a result of the explosion of the train which was passing through Viareggio’s station.
News reports on the incident are suggesting that human error was not to blame, but nothing is clear yet. Other reports are suggesting that the tragedy was caused by the poor state of maintenance of the trucks carrying the tanks.
Updates in main post.
Italy by Car, a New Travel Guide
This post is about a new travel guide about touring Italy by car. Many people who visit Italy will come by car, and to really discover all that Italy’s exceptionally beautiful and varied landscapes have to offer, a car is just about essential.
Beautiful Italy
The Touring Club of Italy, better known as the Touring Club Italiano here in Italy, is a Milan-based non-profit organisation which was founded way back in 1894 by a group of 55 Italian cycling enthusiasts. The TCI, as it is often known, publishes lots of interesting Italy travel guides, the most famous of which are the ‘Guide Rosse‘ or Red Guides, which are not related to Michelin’s similarly named series of Red Guides, by the way. TCI guides are also available in English.
Well, the other day I found myself with half an hour to kill, so I popped in to an Italian Touring Club travel store in central Milan. The shelves of this shop are jam packed with guides, videos, DVDs and a whole host of other travel related resources. You can even buy Italian Touring Club bicycles, which is in keeping with the origins of this organisation, which now boasts some 400,000 members, incidentally. Some of the Italian members of the TCI may well be cyclists, but the majority nowadays will not be, one suspects.
All this travel related goodness is not solely limited to Italy – Italians are quite adventurous world travellers in their own right – and guides to every corner of the world can be found. Buried in amongst all this travel literature you may also find guides in English, as indeed, did I.
However, the guide which caught my eye was a new one all about discovering Italy by car. I stumped up the 20 Euro asking price, and thought I’d write a little about it, and then tell you the rub.
Next Page »
Of Interest
Bella Baita B&B
Looking for a unique “off the beaten path”, homey accommodation offering a balance between complete independence and being a part of the family?
Click here to read the full post
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holiday Blues – Knowing What to Ask for in an Italian Pharmacy/Chemists
OK, so you are on holiday or business here, or maybe you have just been re-located to Italy and you, or someone in your family, are feeling lousy.
You want to get something to help you over the worst, but you do not speak Italian, and have no idea what the various medicines are called in Italy. If that is the case, then this may well be the right post for you.
Click here to read the full post
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bar Miserable becomes Bar Cheerful
Not too far from my house there is a bar, one of these early morning to early evening places where you can go for a coffee, lunch and an aperitif.
Click here to read the full post
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Gorgonzola of the Gods
Sometimes in your life you make a discovery. For me, this discovery was made yesterday at the Via Paolo Sarpi street fair here in Milan.
Click here to read the full post
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
