Italy Travel Notes

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by Christina Vlahova

If you have a connecting flight and have some hours to spend at the Rome airport or say you have arrived way ahead of time, depending on where you are headed to and which area of the airport you arrive and here come some tips of how you can spend your time enjoying the best of Italian style and shopping at the Fiumicino airport.

Just to give you an idea the Rome Fiumicino airport is divided in three areas: A, B and C. Where A is for the national flights inside Italy, B is for the EU flights and then C for all international flights outside the EU. Actually if you are checking in at Rome you have only two access points and that of area A for the national flights and area B for all international ones, i.e: you check in at B even if you are flying outside the EU and once you are past the security control you go right for the EU flights and left where you also go through passport control for the flights outside the EU.

Today`s shopping tips are going to be for the A area and whether you have just arrived form another Italian city and you have a connecting fight, or if you are going on another flight inside Italy this is the area you are checking at. And even if you have to head for B or C, but if you have time and do linger a while in area A (nobody is going to stop you) and have a look at the following spots:

1.ZARA Home
Located on the first floor of area A this is the only ZARA shop I know, which does not sell clothes, but home accessories. And it is worth a visit, because it does carry the peculiar ZARA sense of style and offers household decoration items from around the world. In there you have a sense that you have entered into an expensive Asian ethnic store with items hand-picked by an European designer with a great sense of style.

2.C`ART
Across the ZARA Home shop you find a shop dedicated solely to stationary and small gifts and that being of very high quality, style and full of bright colours. If you are looking for a diary for your Italy travel notes or for a gift to remember and this might be your spot. The aroma of well worked leather and paper is enchanting.

3.BVLGARI (Bulgari)
On your way down from the first floor towards your A gates the first shop which you see at the corner is that of BVLGARI. And you can hardly miss it , because of its beige marble walls and beige velvet wrapt square shopping windows. If you decide to go inside is totally up to you and your purchasing intentions, but even if you linger outside and stop at each of the windows presenting the BVLGARI`s latest definition of accessories` style and it is definitely worth you time, be it only of the inspiration you would get.

4.Venchi (chocolates from 1878)
And now we are in for some delicacies. The Venchi stand and always on your way to the A gates, does look a bit like a Godiva stand. With chocolates and candies displayed as jewels, picked individually and placed into jewellery like boxes when you purchase them for someone special. While if you decide to treat yourself to some calming chocolate taste, you don`t really need that box and you can pick one of each so that you can try as many as you like. Last time I checked on one side of the cashiers at Venchi`s instead of chocolates they have started offering Italian ice-cream. Another culinary contribution Italy is known for and well worth trying and even if it is in a waffle cone and you consume it fast before it melts, while running not to miss your connecting flight.

5.Frescobaldi - wine bar
As you might have guessed already by its name this tiny bar is another luxury spot at the Rome airport. Here you can really treat yourself like a true connoisseur to a glass of wine accompanied by cheese or salami or olives of your choice. And since this exquisite place is so tiny you do enjoy you glass or two of wine standing up at the bar and the Italian way.

As for the true business traveller or for those of you who do carry your laptop even when you go on holidays (be it only to download the photos from your digital camera to free more space for all the beautiful spots you are visiting in Italy), here is one more spot you might consider:

6.The Telecom Italia corner
Located right across the BVLGARI store you can hardly miss its red walls, the white leather seats and the big liquid screens. And if you have some hours to spend, you have already checked the above spots plus the numerous other stores in area A and you are looking for a place to open your laptop, without exhausting its battery and this might be your place. Initially I myself shied away form approaching it , thinking that you should be a Telecom Italia client in order to stay there and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it is open for anyone who decides to spend sometime there. Actually I am wrapping this article right here at the very spot. And I was relived to find out that it has plugs attached to every plexiglas desk, so I can save some of my battery when I go to the C area in a while.

But before I do that and let me just close my laptop and go to one of the numerous ca / bars at the Rome airport and savour my favourite cup of real Italian cappuccino.

More about Rome:
Discover even more about what Rome has to offer and find out what your fellow travellers think of the city here: http://www.italytravelnotes.com/category/lazio/rome/

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