We hadn't been to Italy for 40 odd years, so that was the trip for our May vacation. Tickets were on Alitalia (don't ask), and everything else was arranged on our own.
Wednesday night and Thursday, we fly:
After months of hyper-planning, we landed in Rome, ran the gauntlet of cab touts, got a real Rome City cab, used five of the seven Italian words in my vocabulary, and got to our hotel, the Modigliani. Our standard double was simple, clean, quiet, airconditioned, and had a nice large bed and a modern bathroom. After our long day getting to JFK, 8-9 hours in Alitalia sardine class, and the grand prix style cab ride into the city, it was all we could do to check in and crash until local dinnertime. We awoke jetlagged and hungry.
The Modigliani recommended the local trattoria down the block, Osteria Barbarini, got us a reservation, and off we went to the first of several great meals. Pasta was spaghetti with mussels for Mrs. P and a narrow linguini-like pasta with tiny shrimp and pistachio for me, both fantastic. Then came meatballs with black truffle, and veal scallops with (illegible) wine sauce, plus roasted potatoes and grilled vegetables on the side. Dessert: Tiramisu. House white wine and free limoncellos probably contributed to the illegible notes. Deliciousness and reasonable prices contributed to a feeling of wellbeing. We walked back to the room and sacked out.
Friday: Rick Steves fails us:
Breakfast the next day was the Modigliani's great spread. Breads, toasted if you want, butter, cheeses, salami, tomatoes with mozzarella, cake or tart and danish type pastries, donuts, dry cereal, yogurts, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruits, fruit juices, many kinds of coffee, hot chocolate, milk, and probably more.
Then we went out with a plan a la Rick Steves. We would go to the Vatican after the morning rush to miss the line, so we did local things in the morning. We explored a street full of leather stores of doubtful origin, got a SIM chip for the phone, looked at the Spanish steps, found a supermarket, bought transit passes, and so on. Then we took the subway to the Vatican. It looks like an awful lot of people read Rick, because the line was half a mile long and 8 people wide. Ouch!
We didn't want to wait in line just to be in a museum as crowded as the line, so we walked around to St. Peters, only to find a similar line (but only 3 people wide). No go. We decided to walk a bit, got to the Tiber for a few pictures, and walked along the river bank. Somewhere along the way we grabbed a few basic panini (better than US standard, probably less than average for Rome, but hunger is a good condiment).
We came upon the Ara Pacis museum, a modern place on the banks of the Tiber. They were doing an exhibit of Russian Avant Garde art from the early 20th century, an interest of ours, so we went in. The museum offered several very useful amenities. There was a small auditorium with chairs, where they showed a movie about the art and society of that time, and there were clean free rest rooms, both available before payment. Now, as we found in Rome, both a cool comfortable place to rest one's feet and a clean free bathroom are both rare commodities, so this was quite welcome. Then we went in and, as expected, the art was worth seeing. And there were benches to sit on.
We left the museum and came upon a sign for one of Rome's famous gelato places. As we started to walk, we realized that it was too far, so we just headed in the general direction of our hotel. A few blocks further we came upon a sign that just said “Gelato 30 meters.” A short way down a trash strewn alley we came to a gelato place. They had maybe 75 flavors without florescent dyes, 10-12 were chocolate, and we got double cones. The chocolate with chili was supernaturally superb, and the other flavors were merely outstanding. It turned out that this was Il Gelato di Claudio Torce, another place on my list of gelato musts. We vowed to return.
We continued walking, stopped at a leather goods store that had decent goods (unlike the probably made in China “Italian” leather near the hotel), walked along to the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and our hotel near Piazza Barbarini, had the hotel concierge reserve us a Vatican tour for the next week as it was clear that do-it-yourself was a no go, and collapsed in the room.
We had walked across Rome.
(to be continued)
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy
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Very nice trip report and I know the Modigliani in Rome as I have walked by it many times and peered into its lobby, but, guv, we all know you stole the title of your trip report from my legendary trip report >The Pancaky Papers: Thingorjus in Praha<
Fess Up!
Thin
thanks for the report...looking forward to the rest!
apologies to rick s. but his guides have gotten too popular. this last trip-- we found everything he recommends to be either overrun with tourists or (restaurants) not as good as they (i assume) used to be. used to do everything in his books-- but it just doesn't work for us any more.
used to do everything in his books-- but it just doesn't work for us any more.>>
kwah - we dipped in and out of his Rome guide [the only one we've got] and for me, his directions on how to get to places, the right bus the catch, the door at the back of the Sistine chapel, were spot on. other stuff like timings didn't, [we too turned up at the Vatican when the crowds should have abated and found that everyone else had the same idea] so i jettisoned those and used our own instincts - which were to get there as early as possible.
that did work, so we stuck to it.
nice report, BTW. friends of ours recommended the Mogliani to us but at the time, we wanted an apartment as we were travelling with our kids.looks might it migt be a good place were we there just as a couple.
Thin: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
RS comments: I came to the same conclusions.
Got Modigliani from someone's trip report here. Beware: It is in Rick Steves.
And now (sound of trumpets):
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 2
Friday Night Food Follies:
The Hotel Modigliani has a funky website and an in-house newsletter with restaurant recommendations. After the resounding success of Osteria Barbarini, which was not on the website, I decided to try one of their other recommendations, as I had checked them out on line prior to traveling (hyper-planning, remember). The hotel desk suggested Il Giardino Di Albino, as it was Sardinian and might have a Friday fish special. They made our reservation and off we went.
The blackboard outside Il Giardino Di Albino listed specials and there it was: Capretto with Artichokes. Yes, better even than lamb, even better than suckling pig, it was baby goat! I was hooked. We were immediately seated in the front room at the window. The waiter was working at warp speed, for a reason that became evident later. We ordered. The details will be omitted except to say that my cold seafood salad appetizer was good and included the most perfectly cooked mussels in my experience. Unfortunately, one of my wife's courses was forgotten, then brought late while my goat cooled off, which was then microwaved back to heat. My wife's veal scallops with lemon was tasty but tough, my goat was good enough but there were far too many inedible tough pieces of artichoke leaves with the artichoke heart in the recipe. The side of chicory was oversalted. Service was rushed until suddenly a long line of perhaps 30 tour group members left en masse. After that, the waiter actually waited rather than rushing us. A nice bottle of house Sardinian white kept us smooth, but this was not a place I would go to again, and I did report this to the concierge at the Modigliani. He thought they must have had a bad night but would watch for further problem reports.
Saturday: Art, Music, and the Pronunciation of “J”
During my trip planning, I asked here about less famous but worthwhile sights in Rome. The Palazzo Doria Pamphilj was recommended and during my research I discovered that on some Saturdays they would have a special program with a docent leading a tour of the art interspersed with live period music. Now, the gallery has the art collection of a rich pope, the palazzo is said to be quite ornate, so it was a no-brainer to sign up on line. We figured on taking a bus or two to get there but the bus system was still unfathomable so we walked across more of Rome.
Everything we heard was true. There are hundreds of excellent art works, including Velazquez' portrait of Pope Innocent X, one of the world's greatest portraits. The music was provided by an opera singer from the Rome Opera, a virtuoso guitarist, and a flautist with period wooden flutes. I played flute in school and I can attest that this guy was very, very good. The docent was both interesting and engaging, the music was keyed to the art in each room, and the program ended with a short sitdown concert. Afterward we explored a special exhibit they had there about art restoration featuring restored pictures from their own collection. If you are interested in art and music, I strongly suggest doing the Doria Pamphilj program. (“J” isn't a usual Italian letter. They use it like we do “Y” and it is called “Long I.”)
Then we walked across more of Rome. In no particular order, among other wanderings we checked out the Pantheon, got more really really good gelato next door at the Cremerie Monteforte, walked around the Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori, had pizza outdoors as they broke down the outdoor market there (pizza salami and pizza with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, both pretty good), and figured out that some bus or another would get us back to the hotel, which eventually worked after walking and waiting and endless discussion on the meaning of bus stop signs and the meaning of life.
For dinner, we were not interested in traveling, but Osteria Barbarini was fully booked. No sweat. They would be happy to see us after 9:30. We were greeted as returning friends, there was only one empty table - ours, and we had another lovely meal: House made lasagna (superb), pasta carbonara (also superb), veal picata (very tender), Saltimboca (superb, natch), mixed salad, roast potatoes with rosemary, apple tart, cherry cheese tart, house red wine, free limoncellos, cheery visit with the owner, etc.
Boy, I like having a local restaurant.
(to be continued)
Loving this. Keep going. Italy was on the cards for this year, but plans changed and now I get to live vicariously. Thanks...
Enjoying your report!
Mrs. P informs me, without telling me anything new, that i cannot spell. It is Osteria Barberini, not Barbarini. Independent of spelling, it is a wonderful place to eat.
Verbosity and obligations not being compatible, the next installment will be delayed somewhat.
Chow!
I am loving your trip report. Thank you!
Good report. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks - I hope to visit the Doria Pamphilj in September. It sounds perfect.
Came home to find this, really enjoyable, looking forward to more papers.
Fun to follow you on this trip (report) - thanks so much for taking the time to post it. Good information and appetite whetters. Glad you are enjoying yourselves.
so pleased you made it to the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj. sadly we didn't come across one of these concerts but the gallery itself is very fine, and so few people when we went. [february].
how i agree with you about the neighbourhood restaurant - and the same goes for the bar and the cafe. it adds so much to the pleasure of being somewhere like Rome that you have your corner of it, where you are acknowledged and greeted like friends.
looking forward to more!
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 3
Longest hook so far:
Sunday: Two Hours of Culture, Some Good Food, and it looks like we more or less wasted the rest of our time, which is fine for a vacation, right?
The Borghese gallery is right there on the top of the list of things to see in Rome, and rightly so. Also, second only to the Vatican, it is highest on the list of pain in the neck ticket/entry procedures. Through the wonders of the Internet, we had reserved our time slot for the Borghese for Sunday. Everything else we encountered in Italy was, to say the least, flexible, pleasantly imprecise, and more or less laid back. Not the Borghese. They were, well, Germanic in their rules and rigidity. Reserve in advance, be 30 minutes early or lose the resi, check all your possessions except your wallet, no this, must that, ugh! We complied. That meant getting there early, but what was the frequency of the 116 bus on Sundays, and did it really go to the Gallery or did it leave you at the park entrance. Who knows? Who cares? Hey, this is Italy!
So we got out really early and went to the bus stop. Nothing. More Nothing. Oh, well, let's walk. A block along and the 116 passes us. We grumble a bit, then walk to the park. It's only 6-8 blocks, and the bus did not go to the museum. We walked through the park (pretty nice park, by the way), got to the museum, collected our tickets (first line), checked our possessions (second line), got a drink of water (third line), used the euphemism (four), and got in one more line (5) to actually enter. Well, it was worth it. The sculptures are amazing and the other art is too. The limited number of people allowed in at any time means you aren't fighting for a view. Rick Steves has a good explanation in the Rome guide, too.
We followed Rick's advice and began with the top floor, which meant that when the regular tourists went there toward the end of the 2 hours, we had the sculpture rooms downstairs to ourselves. Being alone with a masterpiece of living marble, being able to view it from every angle unobstructed and undistracted, well, that was just unique.
After collecting our stuff (was that line 6?), we planned to walk in the park, maybe go to the Etruscan Museum at the other end, etc., but it was raining. Light rain, but not park weather. So we walked to a department store. Maybe they would have a nice non-Chinese affordable leather wallet! No such luck. They were not into leather, but I did pick up some Italian tomato seed varieties for next year.
We were getting hungry. Rick Steves listed a few restaurants on a street nearby, and one was open. It was Annicinquanta Pizzeria. We had nice pizzas (white with mozzarella, sausage, and escarole, and a many vegetable pizza), observed boisterous local families, spent little. No one except us spoke any English. My Italian vocabulary was up to ten words at this point, so no problems.
We wasted the rest of the day.
For a late dinner, we used a third Modigliani recommendation: La Scala. Not the famous one that gets Trip Adviser reviews, the one on a stepped street a block off Via Veneto near the hotel. I had the seafood menu: Seafood pasta then grilled squid. Mrs. P had gnocchi with pesto and pasta with eggplant. It was profiteroles for dessert. Add a ½ of white wine and a good meal was had by all.
(to be continued)
Yum, loving your report...we are 77 days and counting down to Rome.
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 4
Monday: (Ancient) History Repeats Itself, First as Tragedy, Then as Trudgery
It's Colosseum Day! Also Forum and Palatine Hill Day. No way I'm getting up early on vacation, so we booked the 1:30 Tours of Italy tour, billed as 3½ hours, including yada yada yada. So, in the late morning we found a real leather store and got the wallets we were looking for, high quality, Italian, not overly expensive. (Funny name to the place: ICartaI - 1st and last letters are capital I's, not small l's – this typeface prints them the same.)
Can't do a 3.5 hour tour on an empty stomach, but then again, as you probably figured out already, I don't do anything on an empty stomach except order food. We therefore went to a little hippie-like place down the block and across from the Colosseum, Cafe Cafe, had a couple of meatball specials (not bad, came with good salad, too, then a nice dessert), and went to the meeting point. The guide eventually showed up and away we went. Skipped the line, did a very informative tour of the Colosseum, the regular level, the restricted underground level where you see the guts of the place, the backstage and dressing rooms as it were, and the plumbing (marble, of course). Then we climbed way up to the restricted upper level for more explanation and great views. Tiring but cool.
We then went to tour the Palatine Hill, 12 tourist ducklings trying to keep up with fearless leader. She did this long walk all the time and was in great shape, but our legs started going after stairs and stairs and hills and hills. Nice historic park, the Palatine. Aching feet then descended to the Forum, again well explained. Four plus hours of walking and we were as finished as the other ruins. Luckily, the Metro goes from the Colosseum to P. Barberini and there were seats.
Suppertime! La Scala! Pizza! One with artichoke, cherry tomatoes, and mozzarella, the other with olives, mushrooms, sausage, and mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella, mmmmmm. A fine end to a day of trudging. But, will the old tootsies tolerate the Vatican tomorrow?
(Tune in next time!)
More! More!
ttt
Love your report so far. We used a lot of RS advice on our trip last fall, including his advice to get timed entry tickets to avoid the line at the Vatican, even though it was early November and the lines were short. We also used his advice to slip out the right-hand exit from the Sistine, which leads you directly back to St. Peter's with no line. Useful stuff.
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 5
Now with Music! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f72CTDe4-0
Tuesday: We Do the Big V at Last! And other stuff.
So, we bit the bullet, and did a scheduled, expensive, guided, skip the line, See the Vatican tour. Instead of hurry up and wait, it was wait and hurry up. Grab a gulped breakfast and wait for the pickup (late), ride to the Vatican via 5 other hotels (wait), find the tour meeting point (wait), pay (wait), get our radio headsets from the tour leader (wait), skip the line (don't wait), enter the entrance hall, use the “last restroom before the exit,” regather under the red plaid tour guide flag, enter and wait. Then we follow the nice tour leader through the mile or two of galleries, see art and sculpture and frescoes, the Raphael Rooms, and a pope's bedroom, and realize that the Vatican may have a few millennia of artefacts but really could use some useful identifying labels. Yes, with a guide you can't linger or digress or do it your way, but without one you won't have any idea what you are looking at.
Then, it's the Sistine Chapel in all of its restored cartoonish beauty. Guide whispers into his mike, we look at the shadow of Michelangelo's ruined masterpiece, and then move on. I agree that the cleaning removed not only the grime and candlewax, but also the sculptural shading overglaze that Michelangelo used in his artistic genius breakthrough. What is left is still nice, just too gaudy for my taste.
Then it was off to St Peter's, see the huge dome, the six-foot-high letters, the sculptures, and leave to be greeted by a massive cloudburst. Gather at a souvenir store, wait, get the ride back to the hotel.
For the afternoon, we went to the Palazzo Massimo Museum, which has an amazing collection of ancient art. Frescoes rescued from the ruins of Lidia's Villa fill an an entire room reconstructed as if it were still on site. They are as impressive as the Monet Waterlilly room in Paris. The museum has many frescoes, sculptures, floor and wall mosaics, all the art removed from places that are no more. Really worth it and almost empty.
Walked to the Church of Santa Maria della Vittoria to see the Bernini sculpture of St. Teresa in Ecstasy, also worth it.
Dinner, our third at Osteria Barberini, and again loved the food. Mrs. P had a big salad and a platter of scallops and calimari in the lightest tempura-like battering ever. I had pasta with white truffles and a dish of oxtail stew (a bit too much dissection for me, but great flavor), sides, wine, etc. Service charge was subtracted from the bill “for regulars.” We didn't tell them that Wednesday was our last full day in Rome, so we were only to be regulars for a day. Sigh.
(To be Continued)
Love the report -- thanks!
What a refreshing report.
Disagree entirely about the Sistine Chapel though -- the only people who could prefer the uncleaned version have to be academics whose thesis (?) were undone when the original was revealed. Compare to contemporary works. (This happened with Joyce scholars, too, when the early editions of Ulysses were corrected.)
Very much enjoying your report!
"too gaudy for my taste" he didn't do it for you
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 6
Wednesday: Dig it! Also gelato.
Thanks to a heads up from another Fodorite, I heard about the 5 Euro Context Tours in the Public Interest, and we had booked the one scheduled for today. We gathered for our docent, took a train to the countryside, and explored Lidia's Villa, an archeological dig not usually open to the public. Actually, the place has been under excavation for more than a century, although neglected for most of the time. The prize of the place, a room totally covered in frescoes of a garden (trees, plants, flowers, birds, etc.) was eventually moved to the Palazzo Massimo, which we saw earlier. The frescoes, that is, the room was still there. We saw the excavated villa, mosaic floors, swimming pool (complete with working restorers), and so on. The layout of the place was like a small rural village designed for the very rich, complete with baths and the rest of the Roman trappings. It must have been amazing in its time. Also, there is a small museum with artefacts, including ancient Roman flower pots, keys, and dog-headed rainspouts. Pleasant and interesting place even as it is being excavated, explored, and restored.
On our return to Rome, we decided to finish up with a gelato crawl. We started at the Campo dei Fiori, first exploring the market and getting pannini at the Forno de Campo dei Fiori. Really tasty, great flatbread, cheap. Then we went to GROM, a gelateria on the Campo's corner, which, besides having top notch gelato has a bathroom. Next we navigated ourselves to il Gelato del Teatro (don't trust my spelling), a tiny place on a tiny dead end off another street off … Oh, heck, get a map. Anyway, the flavors here were knockouts. My pistacchio de Bronte caused an involuntary “Wow!” Mrs. P had lemon basil and a fruit flavor, both extraordinary. I had chocolate fondant, great. Then I got the lemon rosemary honey flavor. Then raspberry sage. No matter how strange the names of the flavors seemed, the balance and flavor combinations were perfect. We stayed there at the tiny outdoor tables and gave up on the idea of revisiting the gelateria form Friday and the other one on the five best list.
Evening was pannini and packing. We ordered a cab for the morning.
Thursday: We travel to Sorrento, and depend on the kindness of strangers.
(To be Continued)
Gelato heaven!
Wonderful report. You have almost convinced me to join local guided tours. You have definitely enticed my taste buds. I really like Roman pizza, and it is hard to find in the US.
I can't wait for the Sorrento/Amalfi Coast part of your report!
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 6
Thursday: We travel to Sorrento, and depend on the kindness of strangers.
Cab to Termini and the fast train to Naples. Termini was nowhere as fearsome as the guidebook warnings would have you believe. We had Mini fares (now Super Economy) booked on line. We found that our assigned seats had been commandeered by a group of a half dozen active senior Italian grandmas, but they made room for us and plied us with delicious caramel candies, so we were quite comfortable, although I doubt we were actually in our assigned seats. Never mind. No one came to check tickets.
An hour or so later, we left our cushy seats at Naples, went to the shop with the “i” and picked up our Napoli ArteCard 3-day Tutta la Regione passes (cash only). This was the only multipurpose tourist card that we found to be useful in all of our travels. The tourist site entries very nearly covered the cost of the card and the three days of transit coverage were essentially free.
Then it was off to the Circumvesuviana. Luck! There was one on a track that had had a sign “Sorrento” among other places, so we hopped on and away we went. “Which will be the stop for Sorrento,” Mrs. P asked. “Sorrento is the last stop,” says I. “Are you sure?” “Yes, Sorrento is the last stop.”
Not exactly.
A man in a business suit seated nearby tried to tell us something, but his English was only slightly better than my Italian, now up to fourteen words. He was trying to say something about Pompeii and changing trains. Luckily, we were able to communicate in French. The Circumvesuviana has many branches and we were on one that does NOT go to Sorrento. The gentleman was going to Pompeii, on the line that did go to Sorrento, and he instructed us that we must change trains with him, getting to the right line. We did, he got off at Pompeii, and we made it to Sorrento. A seven minute walk and we were at our hotel, the Savoia.
The Savoia Hotel is just a short walk from the center of Sorrento, and in a very quiet location. It is family run, the room was large and modern, as was the bathroom. The rooms have great AC with a thermostat you can set, a nice TV, a safe, a minibar, and our room had a balcony with a table and two chairs for admiring the views. Breakfast was even more opulent than that of the Modigliani. Recommended highly.
After checking in, we asked about an online offer for a free meal (beverages not included) at ReFoods, a recommended restaurant run by the same family, offered for hotel stays of over 3 nights. We found we could get it because we booked direct (no commission?) and if we paid the hotel bill in cash. Agreed! Reservations for dinner were made and we went out for lunch.
We found a cafe a bit away from the main square, had pizzas (do I have to say they were really good?), and explored. Sorrento has been a resort for a few hundred years, it seems. There are stores and alleyway “streets” and purveyors of anything a vacationer might want, or be enticed to buy, and limoncello, and gelato and, of course, shoes and eyeglasses. (For reasons I cannot explain beyond cultural ideosyncracy, both Rome and Sorrento had shoe stores and eyeglass stores on almost every block.) Sorrento also has a few nice parks, and views. Choosing it as a base for touring was a good idea. On the way back to the hotel we stopped to check out the local pastry shop (quite good), the local mini-supermarket (useful), and I picked up two more packets of Italian tomato seeds at the local hardware store. These would come in handy later in our travels.
That evening we went to ReFoods. The restaurant is very modern (Post Modern?) in decor, and very friendly. We were welcomed with flutes of prosecco. The food itself was topnotch. I had the “Trilogy” appetizer: 3 different seafoods (cod, octopus, squid), each with a different method of preparation, each a different temperature, and each with a different herb, all in all a world class creation. Mrs. P had a soup which also was superior. The mains of grilled cod and veal chop were also quite good, and the dessert of cassata cake was a sweet treat. The wine list had many that I did not recognize (and we have quite a cellar at home), all at reasonable prices, so we let them pick and were quite pleased.
It was pretty relaxing for what was only planned as a travel day.
(To be etc.)
Ok, Part 7
Mr. P, thank you. Just delightful.
so was this your FREE meal? sounds terrific. ditto the hotel. any chance of a link?
ah the shoe shop event horizon
Free, but not last. Bevs and service not free, of course.
Links:
http://www.savoia-hotel.com/en/
http://www.hotelmodigliani.com/
http://www.refoods.it/index_en.html?sezione=
http://www.osteriabarberini.com/en.html
http://www.campaniartecard.it/itinerary.cfm?id=13
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 8
Friday: Pompeii and Herculaneum, A Day in the Ruins
As you probably have figured out by now, we are fascinated by ancient places, especially in seeing how things were in the long ago. We got on the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii for a morning exploration, reboarded the train to get to Herculaneum, and returned by train, all covered by the ArteCard.
Pompeii is, of course, one of the world's great archeological sites. A large portion of this city has been unearthed and restored to the point where you see how people lived 2,000 years ago. The homes and roads and public spaces are all there. We used Rick Steves for a guidebook, as we had enough of the guided tour life. The basilica, the baths, the forum, temples, shops, bakeries (with ovens and grain grinding apparatus), food shops, the whorehouse, yup, we saw it all. Good walking shoes are essential, as the ancient roads and walkways are quite uneven. We missed the hot weather but still appreciated carrying water with us.
Rather than eat in the adequate cafeteria within Pompeii, we got pannini at one of the stands outside the gates. It struck me that we were acting just like the ancient Pompeians, buying our choice of a meal from a streetside stand.
Herculaneum was a different type of experience. It was buried much deeper by Vesuvius, and was built farther from the train station, one of the few engineering errors of the ancient Romans. After the half-hour walk to the site (your speed will be faster if you don't spend half a day walking in Pompeii), we descended the ramp down into the ruins.
Actually, due to the volcanic ash burial, wood and structures survived in Herculaneum, and many buildings seemed almost intact except for roofing. Lots of reconstruction has been done. Restorers were active at several points while we were there, and some unrestored/unexcavated places showed what they were working from. All the while, the modern city of Herculaneum loomed 100 feet above us. We saw whole rooms still with their whole wall frescoes, a two story house with a second floor balconey that could have been designed now, all the usual trappings of a Roman settlement, closely resembling those of Pompeii but in better condition, and so on. The combination of seeing both Pompeii and Herculaneum gave us a real appreciation of life in those times, minus the art.
Rather than boring on with food reports, I will skip to:
Saturday: We Go to Naples for Archeology and Pizza.
A long hour on the Circumvesuviana took us to Naples, and the subway got us to a 5 minute walk to the Archeological Museum. The subway was fine, no problem if you have been using the New York City subway. The Museum has the collection of the art, frescoes, statues, and mosaics removed/saved/preserved from the ruins we saw yesterday. There were stylized forms, accurate portraits, fantasies, tromp l'oeil frescoes to make rooms seem to have windows, and more. The much touted secret room was unlocked and open to all for our erotic pleasure. The museum was certainly worth seeing as a completion to the explorations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Naples is said to be a gritty city, and it does look more New York than Rome, but no problem.
OK, back to food. I had the fixed idea that I would have a Neapolitan pizza in Naples. Long hailed as the original inspiration to the New York style pizza, said to be even better than the Roman style pizza by pizza connoisseurs, I had to do it. Only a few blocks away from the museum, Rick Steves listed a street with 3 or 4 highly regarded pizza places, so off we went. Although Rick was a great guide for Pompeii and Herculaneum and the Archeological Museum, his map to find pizza was a failure. Streets were left out, name changes to the streets were not listed, and we wandered not just aimlessly but poorly aimed for far to long until we hit the right street.
Since all the places were said to be very good and very typical, we took the waiting line of least resistance (the shortest one) and got pizzas and beer at Sorbillo. The woodburning oven turned out the pizzas quickly, and the description from Chowhound was right. Where Roman pizzas have crisp crusts, Neapolitan pizzas do in fact have soggy centers. But they taste great. I had the classic with buffalo mozzarella and fresh tomato, Mrs. P had an eggplant pizza, and both were cheap and good.
Next report: Food in Sorrento (yes, more food) and a striking visit to Capri
Thank you for a wonderful report! I will be going to Italy in September and am not only enjoying your story but also getting lots of good tips from you.
Looking forward to more.
Great report...paying close attention for our September Roma trip!
I'm happy that you were able to find vegetables on the menu as I was in Italy in may and none were to be found . Everything was pasta and more pasta.
I have enjoyed your report and waiting patiently for Capri. We are traveling in late august and I still haven't decided on all the towns/hotels. We have 4 nights in positano and haven't decided if we want five nights in sorrento ot two nights in capri and three in sorrento. I am anxious for your report. What would you suggest? I have booked hotel Eden roc. Does anyone have good or bad reviews on this hotel?
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 9
More Food, and a Striking Visit to Capri
Every time we walked between the hotel and the center of Sorrento, we passed a fruit and vegetable stand. The most striking offerings were lemons the size of your head. There were lemons everywhere in Sorrento, on trees, as plate garnish, as limoncello, as candy, as soap, as sorbet, in gelato, as marmalade, and probably in ten other things. But there is no way to use a fresh lemon when you are touring. There was one fruit I did not recognize: Nespole. Orange, plum sized, cheap. We had seen them green on a shrub at Lidia's Villa outside Rome, where no one had an English name for them, so I bought a few ripe ones in Sorrento. They were delicious. I used them for snacks. At home I googled nespole. They are loquats.
Two more meals in Sorrento to report on. We tried Trattoria da Gigino out of Rick Steves on a little alley, half outside, half inside. We had nice salads, tagliatelle Bolognese, and a mixed seafood frito misto. The food was good, but the ambiance was degraded by a raucous band of traveling musicians who positioned themselves 2 feet from my left eardrum for an excruciating half hour.
Our last dinner in Sorrento was at Re Foods (again), and we were again greeted with proseccos. I had carpaccio of beef, which tasted of concentrated meat instead of the usual salty mess of dried leather I associate with this food. Mrs. P tried another soup, chick pea with many other things, very, very good. Pastas were small ravioli and another pasta with zuccini and shrimp. Mains were fish Sorrento style and mussels with black pepper. Nice wine. Strawberry cake for dessert. Highly successful.
OK, it's time to talk about Capri. Sunday was sunny and calm, the two requirements for getting into and seeing the Blue Grotto. We took the ferry, but on arrival on Capri discovered there were no more boats to the Grotto that morning. (I did mention we don't get out early on vacation, didn't I?) So we took the funicular up to Capri town, leaving the kitchy souvenir-laden marina area below us.
The views from the top are striking. Wild cliffs, blue water, some of the village spread out below. We wandered the narrow lanes of Capri, didn't buy the luxury goods on sale in the pricey shops that were everywhere, including, of course, the required purveyors of eyeglasses and shoes. Had lunch in a cafe on the piazzeta (salads), and bantered with the multilingual greeter/hawker who propositioned every passerby to come to this cafe to eat.
Then it was coming on to the time posted for afternoon boat excursions around Capri and to the Blue Grotto, so we funiculared down to the Marina. Strangely, the ticket window was unmanned. We went to another boat company. Same thing. What was going on? A boatman explained in broken English: Today was a “manifestation” (demonstration), not really an official strike, because the boat companies had raised their prices but not increased the boatmen's pay. Fair enough if you are making a living from tourists, but a bit disappointing to the tourists themselves.
We had already absorbed the Italian spirit (if life hands you lemons, make limoncello) so we decided to take the early ferry back to Sorrento and find something else to do. Not exactly. The strikers also blockaded the ferries! It being Italy, the strike would be over in time to let everyone on daytrips to take the last ferry off island at a quarter to seven. So we went to plan C, and took a bus to Anacapri, the other town on the island. We window shopped, saw the church with the amazing majolica floor showing all the animals (including unicorns), and had a nice walk. We bused back to Capri, had gelato, bought chocolate and pistachio cream to take home, and relaxed on benches with an incredible view.
When we went back to the port, the entire daytrip population was gathered near Slip 23 waiting for the scheduled ferry, which arrived at Slip 2, starting a stampede. Nevertheless, there were enough seats for everyone. We got back to Sorrento uneventfully, hit the ATM for cash to pay the hotel, packed, had our second (and regretfully last) meal at Re Foods, and sacked out, with early alarms set.
Next report: The “Joys” of modern air travel.
Still enjoying your report. Thanks.
I'm happy that you were able to find vegetables on the menu as I was in Italy in may and none were to be found . Everything was pasta and more pasta.>>
syliva - it is a mystery to me that it is so hard to find vegetables on the plate in italian restaurants. i have come to the conclusion that the italians don't often go out to eat vegetables as that is what they eat at home - hence the great piles of them in markets.
they do exist - you have to look for the "contorni" section of the menu - but if they do eat them in restaurants, italians tend to eat them as a separate course. I have most often found them as parts of antipasti, and also at those sorts of places that are often called "rosticceria" - cafes selling roast meats and veg, usually at lunchtime.
<<There was one fruit I did not recognize: Nespole. Orange, plum sized, cheap. We had seen them green on a shrub at Lidia's Villa outside Rome, where no one had an English name for them, so I bought a few ripe ones in Sorrento. They were delicious. I used them for snacks. At home I googled nespole. They are loquats.>>
AJ - i came across these for the first time last year on my May trip to Italy, and the best translation i could find was medlars, which was clearly rubbish. [wrong fruit altogether, and wrong season!] My co-italian students had the same problem. Loquat is a lot more like it, so thank you!
"I'm happy that you were able to find vegetables on the menu as I was in Italy in may and none were to be found . Everything was pasta and more pasta."
Don't know where you chose to eat, syviathomas, but we certainly never found it a problem to find vegetables on the menu in Italy, and certainly not limited to "pasta and more pasta". Perhaps you never made it to the Secondi (main courses - meats, fish) or Contorni (side dishes) portions of the menu. These are traditionally ala carte, so if you want veggies or potatoes with your steak, you have to order it separately.
Mr. Peabody - excellent trip report! Thanks for taking the time to post this.
Vegetables are no problem. Most of the places had several salads in the antepastos, and there were always vegs listed on the contorni. And, you can always ask (got us delicious cooked carrots once and nice green beans another time). Then there were pannini which were frequently half vegetable also. Part of the joy of travel is not having every plate of food as a meat, a starch, and a vegetable all at once on one plate every meal. Italy is not the US. That's a good reason to go there!
The Peabody Papers: A Mostly True Tale of AJ and Mrs. P's Visit to Italy, Part 10
(Sorry for the delay. End of month obligations and a few power failures.)
Monday: The “Joys” of modern air travel, Imodium, and how to smuggle.
Up early, pack the last stuff, gobble up breakfast, deliver cash to the hotel, and meet the limo at the door. The Savoia arranged the driver, who showed up early, loaded up, and off we went to the Naples airport. Unlike the kamikaze kabbie in Rome, this driver was careful, knew how to avoid traffic tie-ups, and was a fluent commentator on all things Sorrento. We learned about lemons, volcanoes, weather, and so on. The Naples airport was small and informal. No one cared about the buzzing from the metal detectors. We checked our bags, found our gate, and took off. The one hour flight to Rome was uneventful.
Rome Airport was one huge shopping mall. Actually, all the Italian transportation hubs we used on the trip were shopping malls. The central railroad terminal in Naples even had a shop for refrigerators and washing machines. Anyway, we had two hours to get to our flight to JFK. We needed it. We followed signs. And walked. And walked. And went up and down to different floors. And took an automated tram to another terminal. And walked. We spent maybe 10 minutes looking for stuff to use up our last euros, but all the prices were captive audience adjusted, generally 50%-100% higher than off airport prices. We did stop at a food mall for lunch (salad, porchetta sandwich, nice).
I was tempted by the shop selling buffalo mozzarella conveniently packed in styrofoam boxes, but 15 euro for 500 grams seemed a bit high, and I had no idea of how to carry fresh cheese packed in water through US customs. Then we passed a shop with the same cheese for 10 euro. Then another, right next to our departure gate for 8 euro. But I didn't buy. However, the last shop had water buffalo butter in handy 125 gram packets for 1 euro each and I had 4 euro in coins, so I bought 4 and buried them in the bag with the camera and chargers and such. The 2 hour connection was just enough time.
We looked forward to at least a bit of comfort on our flight, as we had an aisle/window 2 seat row preassigned. Not exactly. Alitalia had reassigned us to the two middle seats in a 4 seat row. Worse, the aisle seats bookending us were occupied by a married couple. In revenge, my system, somehow discomforted by a digestive problem, kept the female bookend from relaxing for half the flight until my Imodium kicked in.
At this point, I will briefly rant about the food on Alitalia. I was going to say it was an insult to Italy. It was so bad that half the passengers were discarding it without unsealing the packages. Salads were dated as made 3 days earlier and were served on their sell by dates. Other items had a 6 month shelf life, also near sell by. The pasta made one long for leftover Chef Boyardee. I finally decided that the food was a crime against humanity. And my system. Conclusion: Bring your own food or bring Imodium.
We eventually landed in NYC. I had to smuggle my butter through customs inspection. I have an honest face, but I am totally unable to lie with it straight. Nevertheless, I would have to deal with the dreaded question about bringing in food, animal products, plants and seeds. Seeds! Yes, I said. I have tomato seeds. In sealed packets. That's OK, right? Not exactly. We trundled over to agricultural inspection. I had to open the suitcases and locate the tomato seeds. Well, I located 2 packets. They did not have export/import certificates. Confiscated. Have a nice day.
And so, the 2 cheap packets of tomato seeds, 1 euro total value, were consigned to the incinerate pile, joining the sausages, fruits, and soft cheeses. Meanwhile, we blithely escaped with our butter and the 2 expensive tomato seed packets undetected. We could have carried in anything else if we wanted to. All hail the sacrificial San Marzano tomato seeds!
I then called our pre-arranged car service. We would soon be home. Not exactly. Sorry, they said. No driver available. Trying to get a car service without a rip off on Memorial Day: Priceless. Plus tip.
But we did get home, and found it intact.
I'm posting the travel tips from this trip as a separate thread.
Last part:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/more-peabody-papers-travel-tips-from-my-visit-to-italy.cfm#last-comment
great reporting, i enjoyed it...