Matt's Homepage

Rome is a lovely town for visiting – but it’s always interesting to see how over-tourism has changed things over the years. I remember going to Rome and having pretty much free reign to walk around the whole Colosseum. It looks like now you need to reserve your slot far in advanced through a new CoopCulture website that lets you buy tickets in advance. In fact, it’s the ONLY way to get tickets for the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Colosseum, and several other key cultural sites. There is no longer on-site ticket sales.

It also appears that the much vaunted Scavi tours under St Peter’s also have online information now as well, but it appears they still prefer a phone call or fax.

Want to own your own island? Here’s an opportunity: Ducks Island is a 1.5 acre plot a 10 minute boat ride off the Maine coast for a very reasonable $339,000. The house can sleep up to 4 and is far enough away from cities to give beautifully starry night views with the water’s edge only 20 feet from your front door.

The owner stipulates that interested parties must spend a night on the island before he’ll consider an offer. There’s also the fact it can get pretty dicey in New England winter storms from October to May when it’s ‘Not fit for man nor beast’ with storms, ice, and potential flooding. A friend only managed to stay there 3 days before coming back in the winter. There is also no running water, showers, nor heat. Bathroom facilities are an outhouse. Still, it’s a rare find because the structure could never be built with today’s new zoning laws.