RHK's heading to Europe
Apr 10th, 2013, 07:55 PM
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RHK's heading to Europe
On Friday we head to Florida for our trans-atlantic cruise from Ft Lauderdale to Rome on Celebrity Silhouette, sailing on Sunday.
Mostly we contribute on the asia board but from time to time on Europe and others. We are a pair of 69 year old seasoned travellers. Read some of our previous trip reports by clicking on my name.
The cruise is 15 nights and our stateroom is on deck 10 mid-ship very close to the library.
We will make stops in the Bahamas, San Juan, St Maarten and Maderia before arriving on April 29 at Civitavecchia, north of Rome.
I have leased a car for 23 days thru Auto France in NJ. Leasing is fantastic because you receive a brand new car with full insurance (insurance costs are stiff in Italy and required).
It is not cheap, at $1700. but it works for us. When we get to france another couple are joining us so we need decent room. The vehicle is a Peugeot Partner Tepee, a boxy looking car, with a diesel engine.
I have hired Bob's limo service to drive us, privately, from the port to the airport where we will pick up the car--130E. Again, this works best for us, but seems expensive. Shared rides are available but they are not that much cheaper.
My sister lives near Todi in Umbria, so we will head there for a few days. She is a fantastic cook so we will be spoiled with good local foods. After our visit there, we head to an inn/B&B near to Poppi in Tuscany--La Torricella. We have not stayed there before but we have eaten in their excellent restaurant.
This Saturday we are meeting up with a classmate for lunch and two Miami Fodorites for dinner. I will write more from there perhaps.
Mostly we contribute on the asia board but from time to time on Europe and others. We are a pair of 69 year old seasoned travellers. Read some of our previous trip reports by clicking on my name.
The cruise is 15 nights and our stateroom is on deck 10 mid-ship very close to the library.
We will make stops in the Bahamas, San Juan, St Maarten and Maderia before arriving on April 29 at Civitavecchia, north of Rome.
I have leased a car for 23 days thru Auto France in NJ. Leasing is fantastic because you receive a brand new car with full insurance (insurance costs are stiff in Italy and required).
It is not cheap, at $1700. but it works for us. When we get to france another couple are joining us so we need decent room. The vehicle is a Peugeot Partner Tepee, a boxy looking car, with a diesel engine.
I have hired Bob's limo service to drive us, privately, from the port to the airport where we will pick up the car--130E. Again, this works best for us, but seems expensive. Shared rides are available but they are not that much cheaper.
My sister lives near Todi in Umbria, so we will head there for a few days. She is a fantastic cook so we will be spoiled with good local foods. After our visit there, we head to an inn/B&B near to Poppi in Tuscany--La Torricella. We have not stayed there before but we have eaten in their excellent restaurant.
This Saturday we are meeting up with a classmate for lunch and two Miami Fodorites for dinner. I will write more from there perhaps.
Apr 11th, 2013, 07:50 PM
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Hello - DH and I are the Miami Fodorites! Looking forward to Saturday! Hope you have a good and uneventful trip down to FLL! Also, we have our tickets booked for this year's Boston GTG. I look forward to reading about this trip! Sounds fabulous!
Apr 11th, 2013, 08:00 PM
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After our stay at Poppi, we drive north to Lake Maggiore for 5 nights at Baveno. we last planned to begin our stay there on 9/11/01-- didn't work out for we were unable to fly until 4 days later. so we are really looking forward to our visit and to exploring the lake and maybe even a small foray into switzwerland. from there we head SW to the Asti area where we will stay in another B&B in this wine production area. the owners have sent us a huge list of restaurants in the area and the offer of a wine tour. our stay there is 3 nights.
Finally we will head into France staying our first night at Antibes at yet another B&B. we are anxious to return to Biot a lovely small town in the hills above Antibes. the next day K's 50+ year pen-pal will arrive at Nice Airport from just outside London. we will pick them up at the nice airport and head to another english friend's in-town house in rural Collobriers in the hills west of St Tropez where we will spend 8 nights. the area is most famous for chestnut production and for small wineries. we have stayed there a few times before and just love this quaint little town.
finally we return to the nice area and stay a night in a small hotel in Vence before we fly home the next day to boston via london. we fly into gatwick and out of heathrow with over 7 hours between flights allowing us enough time to pop over to Oxted for a late lunch with our english friends who own the collobriere house. i've rented a car to travel between airports-- cheaper than the 2 of us taking the BA bus, if you can believe it-- mid-size car too.
we had hoped to have a meal with smeagol but she will be away, sadly. so it all is working out well. and as it turns out liz and phil are also busy, tied up with knitting for the new baby.
so it seems all is 99% ready to leave home tomorrow afternoon. it's been a really hectic time for us as K's mother has had to move into a nursing home permanently at age 90, and we have been busy dealing with that and with closing up her apartment. we will have 1 week after we return to deal with the disposal of any remaining items. i thought we had a lot of tupperware.....
Finally we will head into France staying our first night at Antibes at yet another B&B. we are anxious to return to Biot a lovely small town in the hills above Antibes. the next day K's 50+ year pen-pal will arrive at Nice Airport from just outside London. we will pick them up at the nice airport and head to another english friend's in-town house in rural Collobriers in the hills west of St Tropez where we will spend 8 nights. the area is most famous for chestnut production and for small wineries. we have stayed there a few times before and just love this quaint little town.
finally we return to the nice area and stay a night in a small hotel in Vence before we fly home the next day to boston via london. we fly into gatwick and out of heathrow with over 7 hours between flights allowing us enough time to pop over to Oxted for a late lunch with our english friends who own the collobriere house. i've rented a car to travel between airports-- cheaper than the 2 of us taking the BA bus, if you can believe it-- mid-size car too.
we had hoped to have a meal with smeagol but she will be away, sadly. so it all is working out well. and as it turns out liz and phil are also busy, tied up with knitting for the new baby.
so it seems all is 99% ready to leave home tomorrow afternoon. it's been a really hectic time for us as K's mother has had to move into a nursing home permanently at age 90, and we have been busy dealing with that and with closing up her apartment. we will have 1 week after we return to deal with the disposal of any remaining items. i thought we had a lot of tupperware.....
Apr 11th, 2013, 08:10 PM
#19
From my visit to Lake Maggiore:
"I took the local train to Domodossolo, where I caught the Circumvalli to Locarno for an afternoon in Switzerland. Since the three-legged trip (I returned to Stresa by boat), was arranged and well-advertized by the local travel agents, the Locarno-bound train was packed, but the Alpine views were worth the heat and crowds."
I enjoyed Locarno, too. Do visit the castle.
So sorry to hear about K's mother.
"I took the local train to Domodossolo, where I caught the Circumvalli to Locarno for an afternoon in Switzerland. Since the three-legged trip (I returned to Stresa by boat), was arranged and well-advertized by the local travel agents, the Locarno-bound train was packed, but the Alpine views were worth the heat and crowds."
I enjoyed Locarno, too. Do visit the castle.
So sorry to hear about K's mother.
