Trip report of Milan, Turin, Lucca, Parma, Cinque Terre+
Aug 11th, 2011, 07:45 PM
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Trip report of Milan, Turin, Lucca, Parma, Cinque Terre+
Trip Report of our unforgettable journey to Milan , Turin, Lucca, Parma, Modena,Cinque Terre , Santa Marguerita Ligure and Lake Como
On July 20 we embarked on our unforgettable trip through Milan, Parma, Modena, Lucca, Cinque terre, Santa Marguerita Ligure, Turin and Lake Como. We were part of a Globus tour, but did many things on our own to get the most out of our vacation.
Day 1 We arrived in Milan at 8AM on July 21 and got to our hotel by 10AM. We were lucky that Globus had sent a driver to pick us up even though we arrived the day before the tour began. We left our luggage at our Hotel the NH Touring and started our vacation. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the metro and 2 metro stops from the Pinocoteca Ambrosiana where we saw Leonardo Da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus. After the museum we walked around the area and had lunch at the Caffe Victor Hugo by the Duomo. I had crispelli and my first of many gelatos and my husband had meat tortellini. We then walked over to the Duomo and the Pinocoteca Brera which had some beautiful paintings including "The Kiss” by Hayes. Dinner was at an outdoor caffe in the Brera neighborhood. We walked around and officially checked into our hotel at 9PM. We asked for and got a queen bed. The NH touring is a very nice hotel.
Day 2- Fri. July 22 I had written on this forum that I was worried about the strike today because I had tickets to see the Last Supper. The strike was from 8:45AM to 3PM and again from 6PM until midnight. Our tickets were for 11:30 AM. We took a cab around 10AM to the Church which houses the Last Supper. It only took about 10 minutes by cab. We were early so we had time to walk around. We picked up our tickets about 11 and rented the audio guide which was well worth the few euro we paid. I think it was 4 Euro. At about 11:25 they let us enter 1 waiting room and then a second waiting room. There were only about 20 people. To see the Last Supper on that huge wall was unbelievable! We were so lucky to have tickets to see it. No one else on our tour had gotten tickets in advance so we were the only lucky ones to see it. You are allowed exactly 15 minutes and the audio guide fully explains both paintings that are there. It was the highlight of our visit. Afterwards we went into the church next door and also the Church of St. Catherine. We had lunch at Caffe Lita recommended by Rick Steves and went on to see the Castello Sforzesco. It is a nice castle and museum ,and the highlight of the museum is the unfinished Pieta by Michaelangelo. We went in for free since on Fridays they have free admission after 3Pm. We also went to the Archeological Museum which was also free. We took the metro back about 10 minutes before the strike was set to resume. Of course the trains were packed. We got back in time to meet our Globus group at 6:45 and have dinner with them at the hotel.
Day 3 Sat. July 23 - was the start of our tour with Globus. We had one of the best guides that we have ever had with Globus- Federica. We started with a ½ day tour of Milan. We went back to the Duomo and the Castle and during our free time we went up to the top of the Duomo and inside the beautiful La Scala Opera House. We then left Milan to go through the country side of Soragna where we saw the Verdi House and theater and had lunch. My husband and I both had the most delicious tortelli that we had ever eaten. Next stop was the parmesan cheese museum in Parma where we learned about parmesano reggiano cheese and had a cheese tasting with parmesan cheese and Lambrusco wine. In the evening there was an optional excursion to the ham factory with dinner but we decided to skip it because it was expensive and we wanted to have time to explore the city of Parma. Our hotel was the Hotel du Parc in Parma which was around the corner from a park. We decided to walk around Parma through the park and found a very nice restaurant in the park called Caffe G. Verdi. It was outside under a tent . The food was excellent and they had live Italian music. It was so romantic!
Day 4 Sun. July 24 -We had a ½ day tour of Parma with a wonderful local guide. It was a great tour and the guide was very knowledgeable. We then went to the second highlight of our tour in Modena. We stopped at the vineyards of Leonardi and saw first hand the making of the real balsamic vinegar. We got to taste 100 year old balsamic vinegar. It was delicious! A great lunch was included- cold-cuts, parmesano cheese with balsamic vinegar, little pizzas and the most amazing panettone with balsamic vinegar in it!
We then went on to Rapello to see the Ferrari factory which was interesting. We did not buy any souvenirs here because everything was quite expensive. A T-shirt was 35 euro or approximately 50 American dollars We had more free time in Parma so we walked to the city and saw the Church of Santa Maria Steccata. Most stores are closed on Sunday- but a few were open like Coin which I thought was expensive and Promod which had great prices! I bought a blouse and skirt there. We ate at the Caffe Garibaldi which had the most delicious lasagna I had ever eaten made with béchamel sauce instead of ricotta and mozzarella cheese. We walked back through the park to our hotel at 9:30Pm. We were so lucky that the weather was so mild the entire trip. We missed the 90-100+degree weather back in our hometown. It never was above the 80’s the entire time we were in Italy. The day would start in the high 60’s and gradually reach high seventies or low 80’s.
Day 5 Mon. July 25- We went to the very interesting city of Lucca. We arrived at 11:30 AM and stayed until 8:30 PM. Everyone else in our group had to leave by 2:30 because they all went on tour of how they make olive oil and dinner at an agriturismo. We decided that it was again too expensive and it would be more fun to stay in Lucca which we did. There are many things to see in Lucca and a lot of nice stores at reasonable prices. It was also very interesting to walk around the medieval walls of the city which the rest of our group did not get to do. We ate at the Caffe Silvia and took a cab back to our hotel - The Hotel Guernigi which had a nice view of the mountains and houses. This time we had a king bed and a big bathroom.
Day 6 Tues. July 26 Today we went to Cinque Terre and then to Santa Marguerita Ligure. We took a boat and saw 3 out of the 5 villages. It is so picturesque there. We even walked through the Via d Amour. We took a train to Rapello and a bus to Santa Marguerita Ligure. We stayed at the Best Western Regina Elena which was across the street from the beach and had a pool and Jacuzzi on the roof. Our room had a terrace and faced the back courtyard with palm trees . The rooms in the front faced the beach. We had an included dinner at the hotel which was good.
Day 7 Wed. July 27- The whole day was at leisure, but you could go on optional excursions. We decided to stay at the hotel in the morning and go on the beach and back up to the roof pool and Jacuzzi. It was relaxing and I got to practice my Italian with some of the local people. That was one thing that I liked about this tour- because so much of it was off the beaten path we met many friendly locals and they really appreciated that I was trying to speak Italian with them.
The afternoon it looked like rain so we took the optional tour to Genoa which was very interesting. We saw the port of Genoa and had a local guide through the city. One of the highlights was the church of St. Stephen which houses the ashes of St. John the Baptist. We got back to our hotel at 8:30 PM and we ate dinner at the Ristorante di Colombo by the Christopher Columbus statue across from the water. It had a beautiful view and each table had a famous painting on it. This was another very romantic restaurant. We walked around Santa Marguerita Ligure and got back to our hotel by midnight.
Day 8- Thurs. July 28- We left for Asti and toured some gorgeous vineyards and went on a wine tasting of Delicious Barberi wines. We had a chianti and 2 red wines and learned about wine making. We then went to Turin where we stayed at the Starhotels Majestic. Again there was an optional dinner which we skipped to walk through Turin from 4:45 until 10:30 Pm. On our own we visited the Royal Palace, The Church of St. Christopher which has a smaller version of La Scala Santa which I saw in Rome, and went into the twin churches in the square. We ate outside at the S Fashion Caffe which is diagonally across from the Biblioteca Nazionale. We walked around at night all the way down to the Po River. Turin is beautiful all lit up at night! We even saw a white party trolley car with tables and waiters and waitresses serving wine on board.
Day 9- Fri. July 29- Tour of Turin with a local guide including to the Church that houses the Holy Shroud- a very moving experience. Late morning we went to the Venaria Villa and had lunch on the square. It was very interesting and the villa has beautiful gardens. We stayed there 3 hours. We got back at 4:30 and strolled around Turin. We got the last 2 tickets to the Mole Antonellina which closes at 7:30. We went up to the top and got a 360 degree view of the city from the top. We ate dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday because we loved the food there. We walked around the area again and got back to the hotel at 10:30.
Day 10 Sat. July 30. We went to the Egyptian museum in the morning. We had a tour with an archeologist. It was amazing. It is a must see in Turin. It has the second largest collection of Egyptian artifacts after Egypt. We then walked a little around Turin again and went to Vercelli to see rice fields and have explained the production of rice. After the tour we had a delicious lunch of bruschetta and choice of wine and homemade risotto. It was delicious! We then headed back to Milan where we walked around for 1 last time and then went with our group to a farewell dinner at a restaurant near the Duomo. The food was excellent! We had a choice of 5 entrees and any dessert you wanted. It was sad to say goodbye to our small group of 28 including ourselves.
Day 11 Sun. July 31. We extended our vacation by 1 day and decided to go up to Lake Como. It was very easy. We walked over to Central Station and bought a round trip ticket to Varenna. We used the ticket machine which at first seemed complicated because it asked exactly what time train you wanted to go and come back. I guessed at the times and printed out the ticket. The ticket said it was valid until the end of September and there were no times printed on it. So you can use it for any time you want. We missed the 9:30 AM train by minutes so we waited for the 10:30 train. Central Station is very interesting to walk around. We validated our ticket and got on the 10:30 Train. They did check our ticket going to Varenna, but not coming back. We got to Varenna and walked around the cute town. We had dinner at a caffe on the water. We both had delicious crepes. We then took the mid lake ferry ( la navetta) around and stopped at Villa Carlota which is beautiful! You can spend 1-2 hours there. We then rushed down to get the boat. We were going to go to Bellagio, but the boats were running so late that day, that we knew we would miss the 5:30 train back to Milan and the next train was not until 7:30. We had to get up at 5AM the next morning for our flight so we just enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the lake. We got back near our hotel around 7PM and ate at a nice caffe nearby.
Day 12 Mon. Aug. 1 Arriverderci Italia. We got up at 5 grabbed some croissants and muffins and got a taxi for 8 euro to Central Station and took the Malpensa express bus for 7.5 euro each to the airport. It was very easy.
I hope this trip report was not too long. I would like to thank all of you who help me to get the most out of our trip. Even though you go with a tour, you should always research the places you are going to in advance and see if you can do things on your own. By skipping all of the optional dinners and getting there a day early and leaving a day late we saw and did more than the rest of our group.
On July 20 we embarked on our unforgettable trip through Milan, Parma, Modena, Lucca, Cinque terre, Santa Marguerita Ligure, Turin and Lake Como. We were part of a Globus tour, but did many things on our own to get the most out of our vacation.
Day 1 We arrived in Milan at 8AM on July 21 and got to our hotel by 10AM. We were lucky that Globus had sent a driver to pick us up even though we arrived the day before the tour began. We left our luggage at our Hotel the NH Touring and started our vacation. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the metro and 2 metro stops from the Pinocoteca Ambrosiana where we saw Leonardo Da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus. After the museum we walked around the area and had lunch at the Caffe Victor Hugo by the Duomo. I had crispelli and my first of many gelatos and my husband had meat tortellini. We then walked over to the Duomo and the Pinocoteca Brera which had some beautiful paintings including "The Kiss” by Hayes. Dinner was at an outdoor caffe in the Brera neighborhood. We walked around and officially checked into our hotel at 9PM. We asked for and got a queen bed. The NH touring is a very nice hotel.
Day 2- Fri. July 22 I had written on this forum that I was worried about the strike today because I had tickets to see the Last Supper. The strike was from 8:45AM to 3PM and again from 6PM until midnight. Our tickets were for 11:30 AM. We took a cab around 10AM to the Church which houses the Last Supper. It only took about 10 minutes by cab. We were early so we had time to walk around. We picked up our tickets about 11 and rented the audio guide which was well worth the few euro we paid. I think it was 4 Euro. At about 11:25 they let us enter 1 waiting room and then a second waiting room. There were only about 20 people. To see the Last Supper on that huge wall was unbelievable! We were so lucky to have tickets to see it. No one else on our tour had gotten tickets in advance so we were the only lucky ones to see it. You are allowed exactly 15 minutes and the audio guide fully explains both paintings that are there. It was the highlight of our visit. Afterwards we went into the church next door and also the Church of St. Catherine. We had lunch at Caffe Lita recommended by Rick Steves and went on to see the Castello Sforzesco. It is a nice castle and museum ,and the highlight of the museum is the unfinished Pieta by Michaelangelo. We went in for free since on Fridays they have free admission after 3Pm. We also went to the Archeological Museum which was also free. We took the metro back about 10 minutes before the strike was set to resume. Of course the trains were packed. We got back in time to meet our Globus group at 6:45 and have dinner with them at the hotel.
Day 3 Sat. July 23 - was the start of our tour with Globus. We had one of the best guides that we have ever had with Globus- Federica. We started with a ½ day tour of Milan. We went back to the Duomo and the Castle and during our free time we went up to the top of the Duomo and inside the beautiful La Scala Opera House. We then left Milan to go through the country side of Soragna where we saw the Verdi House and theater and had lunch. My husband and I both had the most delicious tortelli that we had ever eaten. Next stop was the parmesan cheese museum in Parma where we learned about parmesano reggiano cheese and had a cheese tasting with parmesan cheese and Lambrusco wine. In the evening there was an optional excursion to the ham factory with dinner but we decided to skip it because it was expensive and we wanted to have time to explore the city of Parma. Our hotel was the Hotel du Parc in Parma which was around the corner from a park. We decided to walk around Parma through the park and found a very nice restaurant in the park called Caffe G. Verdi. It was outside under a tent . The food was excellent and they had live Italian music. It was so romantic!
Day 4 Sun. July 24 -We had a ½ day tour of Parma with a wonderful local guide. It was a great tour and the guide was very knowledgeable. We then went to the second highlight of our tour in Modena. We stopped at the vineyards of Leonardi and saw first hand the making of the real balsamic vinegar. We got to taste 100 year old balsamic vinegar. It was delicious! A great lunch was included- cold-cuts, parmesano cheese with balsamic vinegar, little pizzas and the most amazing panettone with balsamic vinegar in it!
We then went on to Rapello to see the Ferrari factory which was interesting. We did not buy any souvenirs here because everything was quite expensive. A T-shirt was 35 euro or approximately 50 American dollars We had more free time in Parma so we walked to the city and saw the Church of Santa Maria Steccata. Most stores are closed on Sunday- but a few were open like Coin which I thought was expensive and Promod which had great prices! I bought a blouse and skirt there. We ate at the Caffe Garibaldi which had the most delicious lasagna I had ever eaten made with béchamel sauce instead of ricotta and mozzarella cheese. We walked back through the park to our hotel at 9:30Pm. We were so lucky that the weather was so mild the entire trip. We missed the 90-100+degree weather back in our hometown. It never was above the 80’s the entire time we were in Italy. The day would start in the high 60’s and gradually reach high seventies or low 80’s.
Day 5 Mon. July 25- We went to the very interesting city of Lucca. We arrived at 11:30 AM and stayed until 8:30 PM. Everyone else in our group had to leave by 2:30 because they all went on tour of how they make olive oil and dinner at an agriturismo. We decided that it was again too expensive and it would be more fun to stay in Lucca which we did. There are many things to see in Lucca and a lot of nice stores at reasonable prices. It was also very interesting to walk around the medieval walls of the city which the rest of our group did not get to do. We ate at the Caffe Silvia and took a cab back to our hotel - The Hotel Guernigi which had a nice view of the mountains and houses. This time we had a king bed and a big bathroom.
Day 6 Tues. July 26 Today we went to Cinque Terre and then to Santa Marguerita Ligure. We took a boat and saw 3 out of the 5 villages. It is so picturesque there. We even walked through the Via d Amour. We took a train to Rapello and a bus to Santa Marguerita Ligure. We stayed at the Best Western Regina Elena which was across the street from the beach and had a pool and Jacuzzi on the roof. Our room had a terrace and faced the back courtyard with palm trees . The rooms in the front faced the beach. We had an included dinner at the hotel which was good.
Day 7 Wed. July 27- The whole day was at leisure, but you could go on optional excursions. We decided to stay at the hotel in the morning and go on the beach and back up to the roof pool and Jacuzzi. It was relaxing and I got to practice my Italian with some of the local people. That was one thing that I liked about this tour- because so much of it was off the beaten path we met many friendly locals and they really appreciated that I was trying to speak Italian with them.
The afternoon it looked like rain so we took the optional tour to Genoa which was very interesting. We saw the port of Genoa and had a local guide through the city. One of the highlights was the church of St. Stephen which houses the ashes of St. John the Baptist. We got back to our hotel at 8:30 PM and we ate dinner at the Ristorante di Colombo by the Christopher Columbus statue across from the water. It had a beautiful view and each table had a famous painting on it. This was another very romantic restaurant. We walked around Santa Marguerita Ligure and got back to our hotel by midnight.
Day 8- Thurs. July 28- We left for Asti and toured some gorgeous vineyards and went on a wine tasting of Delicious Barberi wines. We had a chianti and 2 red wines and learned about wine making. We then went to Turin where we stayed at the Starhotels Majestic. Again there was an optional dinner which we skipped to walk through Turin from 4:45 until 10:30 Pm. On our own we visited the Royal Palace, The Church of St. Christopher which has a smaller version of La Scala Santa which I saw in Rome, and went into the twin churches in the square. We ate outside at the S Fashion Caffe which is diagonally across from the Biblioteca Nazionale. We walked around at night all the way down to the Po River. Turin is beautiful all lit up at night! We even saw a white party trolley car with tables and waiters and waitresses serving wine on board.
Day 9- Fri. July 29- Tour of Turin with a local guide including to the Church that houses the Holy Shroud- a very moving experience. Late morning we went to the Venaria Villa and had lunch on the square. It was very interesting and the villa has beautiful gardens. We stayed there 3 hours. We got back at 4:30 and strolled around Turin. We got the last 2 tickets to the Mole Antonellina which closes at 7:30. We went up to the top and got a 360 degree view of the city from the top. We ate dinner at the same restaurant as yesterday because we loved the food there. We walked around the area again and got back to the hotel at 10:30.
Day 10 Sat. July 30. We went to the Egyptian museum in the morning. We had a tour with an archeologist. It was amazing. It is a must see in Turin. It has the second largest collection of Egyptian artifacts after Egypt. We then walked a little around Turin again and went to Vercelli to see rice fields and have explained the production of rice. After the tour we had a delicious lunch of bruschetta and choice of wine and homemade risotto. It was delicious! We then headed back to Milan where we walked around for 1 last time and then went with our group to a farewell dinner at a restaurant near the Duomo. The food was excellent! We had a choice of 5 entrees and any dessert you wanted. It was sad to say goodbye to our small group of 28 including ourselves.
Day 11 Sun. July 31. We extended our vacation by 1 day and decided to go up to Lake Como. It was very easy. We walked over to Central Station and bought a round trip ticket to Varenna. We used the ticket machine which at first seemed complicated because it asked exactly what time train you wanted to go and come back. I guessed at the times and printed out the ticket. The ticket said it was valid until the end of September and there were no times printed on it. So you can use it for any time you want. We missed the 9:30 AM train by minutes so we waited for the 10:30 train. Central Station is very interesting to walk around. We validated our ticket and got on the 10:30 Train. They did check our ticket going to Varenna, but not coming back. We got to Varenna and walked around the cute town. We had dinner at a caffe on the water. We both had delicious crepes. We then took the mid lake ferry ( la navetta) around and stopped at Villa Carlota which is beautiful! You can spend 1-2 hours there. We then rushed down to get the boat. We were going to go to Bellagio, but the boats were running so late that day, that we knew we would miss the 5:30 train back to Milan and the next train was not until 7:30. We had to get up at 5AM the next morning for our flight so we just enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the lake. We got back near our hotel around 7PM and ate at a nice caffe nearby.
Day 12 Mon. Aug. 1 Arriverderci Italia. We got up at 5 grabbed some croissants and muffins and got a taxi for 8 euro to Central Station and took the Malpensa express bus for 7.5 euro each to the airport. It was very easy.
I hope this trip report was not too long. I would like to thank all of you who help me to get the most out of our trip. Even though you go with a tour, you should always research the places you are going to in advance and see if you can do things on your own. By skipping all of the optional dinners and getting there a day early and leaving a day late we saw and did more than the rest of our group.
Aug 12th, 2011, 02:55 AM
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You saw an astonishing amount of Italy in such a short trip, and I'm glad to hear you weren't disappointed, exhausted and got so much of it.
I have always wanted to go to Vercelli and eat risotto there. I was also recently in Turin but didn't have time to make it to the royal gardens Venaria, which I would like to do sometime.
Your tour appears to have taken you to some really well selected and not-typical highlights -- like an outdoor dinner on the via Brera, the making of balsamic vinegar in Modena, and it is great you got off on your own to see Michaelangelo's unfinished Pieta in Milan.
I hope you won't mind if I tack on a few spelling corrections, in case other people would like to go where you did, but are traveling independently.
The two towns you visited on the Italian Riviera are Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo (they are the towns next door to me, so they are easy for me to remember!).
The Ferrari factory is in Maranello, and the ashes of St John the Baptist are kept in the treasury of the cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa.
The summer weather has remained beautiful, and you were very lucky to be able to enjoy Parma, Turin and Milan with pleasant clear days in July. Sometimes those places can be very hot and muggy.
I hope you get a chance to come back and enjoy more of Italy.
I have always wanted to go to Vercelli and eat risotto there. I was also recently in Turin but didn't have time to make it to the royal gardens Venaria, which I would like to do sometime.
Your tour appears to have taken you to some really well selected and not-typical highlights -- like an outdoor dinner on the via Brera, the making of balsamic vinegar in Modena, and it is great you got off on your own to see Michaelangelo's unfinished Pieta in Milan.
I hope you won't mind if I tack on a few spelling corrections, in case other people would like to go where you did, but are traveling independently.
The two towns you visited on the Italian Riviera are Santa Margherita Ligure and Rapallo (they are the towns next door to me, so they are easy for me to remember!).
The Ferrari factory is in Maranello, and the ashes of St John the Baptist are kept in the treasury of the cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa.
The summer weather has remained beautiful, and you were very lucky to be able to enjoy Parma, Turin and Milan with pleasant clear days in July. Sometimes those places can be very hot and muggy.
I hope you get a chance to come back and enjoy more of Italy.
Aug 12th, 2011, 03:00 AM
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I also wanted to ask you a question:
Was there scaffolding covering the Torre Ghirlandina in Modena?
They have been restoring it for some time and the scaffolding was supposed to come down this summer, so I am curious.
Was there scaffolding covering the Torre Ghirlandina in Modena?
They have been restoring it for some time and the scaffolding was supposed to come down this summer, so I am curious.
Aug 12th, 2011, 04:13 AM
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Snoopy1128, thank you for your excellent report – you really made a great deal out of your short time in Italy.
Actually I had considered Globus’s “Northern Italy’s Highlights & Cinque Terre” for this summer because I have been to the major Italian cities and Sicily before but not those places on your tour. What floored me was the air fare from Boston to Milan - $1200- $1800! I ended up going to London and taking a tour of Devon and Cornwall which worked out very well.
Looking at the map, it appears that the distances between your stops were not that long, correct? Obviously, you did a great deal of planning to cover so much territory. Great that you saw “The Last Supper” before your tour. I am glad that you included the Lakes at the end – so beautiful. I was interested in how you got back out to Malpensa on public transportation because taking a cab would be very expensive given how far away it is from the city. At least that is how I perceived its location when I was there some time ago.
Again, your detailed planning paid off. By the way, no trip report is too long if it provides useful information, clearly described, as yours does. And you were doubly blessed to have moderate temps in Italy in July! Thank you for sharing…
Actually I had considered Globus’s “Northern Italy’s Highlights & Cinque Terre” for this summer because I have been to the major Italian cities and Sicily before but not those places on your tour. What floored me was the air fare from Boston to Milan - $1200- $1800! I ended up going to London and taking a tour of Devon and Cornwall which worked out very well.
Looking at the map, it appears that the distances between your stops were not that long, correct? Obviously, you did a great deal of planning to cover so much territory. Great that you saw “The Last Supper” before your tour. I am glad that you included the Lakes at the end – so beautiful. I was interested in how you got back out to Malpensa on public transportation because taking a cab would be very expensive given how far away it is from the city. At least that is how I perceived its location when I was there some time ago.
Again, your detailed planning paid off. By the way, no trip report is too long if it provides useful information, clearly described, as yours does. And you were doubly blessed to have moderate temps in Italy in July! Thank you for sharing…
Aug 12th, 2011, 05:15 AM
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Zeppole and Lateday traveler- Glad you liked my report. Zeppolle- thanks for the corrections. Your country is truly beautiful! As far as scaffolding on the Torre Ghirlandina in Modena- I don't remember seeing anything with scaffolding in Modena. We went straight to the Leonardi vineyards.
To latedaytraveler: We lucked out on the airfare from NY. We paid a total of about $1448 for both of us together roundtrip or in other words $724.50 per person. ! In October there was an online sale by a company called Pavlus which we had used before from a website called www.cheapertravel.com. (Every year they have some kind of sale in either October or November)Their deal was if 1 person in the group pays full airfare which was $1448, the second person gets their airfare for $1. It only lasted 3 days. My husband is the one who found this sale and it was for Globus tours going to either Spain or Italy. Every year is different. They sent us a catalog with the sale printed on it.We flew on Delta.
Your second question was how we got back to the airport. You are right, a cab directly to the airport is about $150. Central station is walking distance from the NH Touring hotel, but with luggage and because we had to get up at 5AM we took a cab there. With tip we paid about 10 euro. You go to the right side of Central Station and there are buses there. We took the bus called Malpensa express. You place your luggage under the bus and take your carry ons on the nice air conditioned bus. It only cost 7.50 euro each person. Total cost 25 euro which is about $35 for 2 people. We had contacted Globus asking why we were only getting a one way transfer to the hotel when we arrived and they said that is what we were entitled to because we had stayed an extra day. When we returned, Pavlus contacted us and said they had spoken with Globus and they made an error and were mailing us a check for what we paid to get back to the airport. This is the 4th time I have dealt with Pavlus and I would do so again. Their customer representatives are excellent! If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
To latedaytraveler: We lucked out on the airfare from NY. We paid a total of about $1448 for both of us together roundtrip or in other words $724.50 per person. ! In October there was an online sale by a company called Pavlus which we had used before from a website called www.cheapertravel.com. (Every year they have some kind of sale in either October or November)Their deal was if 1 person in the group pays full airfare which was $1448, the second person gets their airfare for $1. It only lasted 3 days. My husband is the one who found this sale and it was for Globus tours going to either Spain or Italy. Every year is different. They sent us a catalog with the sale printed on it.We flew on Delta.
Your second question was how we got back to the airport. You are right, a cab directly to the airport is about $150. Central station is walking distance from the NH Touring hotel, but with luggage and because we had to get up at 5AM we took a cab there. With tip we paid about 10 euro. You go to the right side of Central Station and there are buses there. We took the bus called Malpensa express. You place your luggage under the bus and take your carry ons on the nice air conditioned bus. It only cost 7.50 euro each person. Total cost 25 euro which is about $35 for 2 people. We had contacted Globus asking why we were only getting a one way transfer to the hotel when we arrived and they said that is what we were entitled to because we had stayed an extra day. When we returned, Pavlus contacted us and said they had spoken with Globus and they made an error and were mailing us a check for what we paid to get back to the airport. This is the 4th time I have dealt with Pavlus and I would do so again. Their customer representatives are excellent! If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
Aug 12th, 2011, 09:11 AM
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Hi Snoopy -- thanks for your report and all of the details. Sounds like you had a great trip! I'll be in Turin for a few days in early October. I was already very excited for it, and your report has made me even more so. Sfashion Cafe was already on my "list", so I was glad to read you enjoyed it. We also plan to visit the Brera neighborhood and the Pinacoteca Brera when we're in Milan. Do you recall the name of the cafe you visited? Thanks for sharing!
Aug 12th, 2011, 10:05 AM
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Thanks, Snoopy, for that elaboration, and thanks again for the entire report.
jmct,
I just got back from zipping in and out of Turin, on my way to and from the val d'Aosta, and I'll try to get up something of a trip report before you leave. It is a great place and I am glad you are excited to be going. October is a wonderful time to visit both Turin and Milan. If you don't know the website "Spotted by Locals", it has a fun Milan section.
jmct,
I just got back from zipping in and out of Turin, on my way to and from the val d'Aosta, and I'll try to get up something of a trip report before you leave. It is a great place and I am glad you are excited to be going. October is a wonderful time to visit both Turin and Milan. If you don't know the website "Spotted by Locals", it has a fun Milan section.
Aug 12th, 2011, 11:46 AM
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snoopy and zeppole -- I'm intrigued by the open-air Museum of Urban art in Turin, but I haven't been able to find too much info about it, other than their own website and a mention on the Turismo Torino site. By chance did either of you poke around that area at all?
I haven't come across Spotted by Locals but I'll be sure to check it out. I'll also look forward to reading your report, Zeppole. Thanks!
I haven't come across Spotted by Locals but I'll be sure to check it out. I'll also look forward to reading your report, Zeppole. Thanks!
Aug 12th, 2011, 01:44 PM
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jmct,
I wasn't there, but it appears to be a fairly compact area to walk, well-served by public transportation from other parts of the city.
http://www.comune.torino.it/musei/en...teurbana.shtml
http://www.comune.torino.it/musei/en...si/verde.shtml
I wasn't there, but it appears to be a fairly compact area to walk, well-served by public transportation from other parts of the city.
http://www.comune.torino.it/musei/en...teurbana.shtml
http://www.comune.torino.it/musei/en...si/verde.shtml
Aug 12th, 2011, 03:06 PM
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Thank You Snoopy, I am glad to see Milan get some "press" on this Forum. I am following in your footsteps (somewhat) in early September. Starting in Milan, I am looking forward to visitng the Castelo, Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Sant Eustorgio, San Lorenzo Maggiore, Sant'Ambrogio and especially the Pinacotec Ambrosiana. I am also excited about navigating Milan using the metro, bus and tram system. We have rented an appartment in Rapallo for a week to explore and experiance the food and feel of Liguria. I am looking forward to SML, Camogli, Chiavari with time for CT if we decide.
THaks again
Rolo
THaks again
Rolo
Aug 13th, 2011, 07:00 AM
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To jmct714,
We liked the SFashion Caffe so much we ate there twice. Get there early. The first time we were there by 7:40PM and 10 minutes later it was packed and you had to wait on line to get in. The second time we got there at 7:50 PM on a Friday and in order to eat outside you had to share a long table (which was fine by us) Sorry I don't recall the name of the caffe in the Brera neighborhood, but I have to say that every caffe or ristorante I went to was excellent. I also did not go to the open-air museum of Urban Art in Turin.
There is so much to see in Turin. It is a magical city at night. I think that sometimes this city is overlooked. I had the Rick Steves' guide with us, but he does not include Turin in his book Italy 2011.
Make sure you go up the Mole Antonelliana. We got the last tickets at 6:50 PM and what was good about that was that it was not crowded and we were up there with only 4 other people so we could walk around and take tons of pictures.Also not to be missed is the Church that houses the Holy Shroud and the Egyptian Museum.
Latedaytraveler,
Pavlus does not only discount tours to Italy ,but all over Europe.
Rolo,
Have a great trip! The metro is easy to use in Milan. I hope you are able to get tickets to see the Last Supper!
We liked the SFashion Caffe so much we ate there twice. Get there early. The first time we were there by 7:40PM and 10 minutes later it was packed and you had to wait on line to get in. The second time we got there at 7:50 PM on a Friday and in order to eat outside you had to share a long table (which was fine by us) Sorry I don't recall the name of the caffe in the Brera neighborhood, but I have to say that every caffe or ristorante I went to was excellent. I also did not go to the open-air museum of Urban Art in Turin.
There is so much to see in Turin. It is a magical city at night. I think that sometimes this city is overlooked. I had the Rick Steves' guide with us, but he does not include Turin in his book Italy 2011.
Make sure you go up the Mole Antonelliana. We got the last tickets at 6:50 PM and what was good about that was that it was not crowded and we were up there with only 4 other people so we could walk around and take tons of pictures.Also not to be missed is the Church that houses the Holy Shroud and the Egyptian Museum.
Latedaytraveler,
Pavlus does not only discount tours to Italy ,but all over Europe.
Rolo,
Have a great trip! The metro is easy to use in Milan. I hope you are able to get tickets to see the Last Supper!
