RubyTwins

The mom memorial Italy trip began with our economy class Delta tickets. For 6 of my 8 hours I channeled my inner contortionist: twisting, stretching, bending but it was useless. I did find myself wanting to start an economy class revolt and take back some of that business class space for our aching knees.

Remember my trip and itinerary is a bit more manic than I would have liked. My mother passed away in February and I decided to bring my 12 year old boys and husband on a trip to Italy over spring break in honor of her memory (she was Italian). But because of the crazy high school admissions policy in NYC high schools, I was only able to take my kids out of school one day. So let the mania begin.

First Stop Venice
I really appreciated the advice given here to take the water taxi from the airport to our hotel (Hotel Galleria on the Grand Canal and right near Ponte dell’Accademia). Kids and husband were awestruck as we approached the city, passed San Marco and maneuvered down short cuts through some of the back canals (my one son almost got a concussion as we slipped under a low bridge). Definitely for first time visitors to Venice, the water taxi in those elegant boats is the way to arrive. My kids will never forget it.

Our hotel overlooked the Grand Canal and as an 18th century converted mansion, it does not have all the conveniences some travelers might want. It was perfect for us. Weird fresco on the ceiling, comfortable beds, room for all of us and two windows that opened up right on the water. No video games... my kids watched the boats go by. Breakfast was served in the room

Day one was really just spent navigating the wall of day trippers and cruise boat folks down narrow streets as they shopped for trinkets. I soon became an expert at avoiding selfie sticks and providing photographic services to various groups wanting their photos taken in front of picturesque sites. Again appreciated the advice from here to seek out cichetti which we did followed by an obligatory gelato at
Suso Gelatoteca (which turned out to be the best Gelato we had in all of Italy).

Evening in Venice is a whole better world: the day trippers are back on the ships and the streets are quiet. That evening, we wanted to avoid some of the notorious tourist traps and yet, having 12 year olds, wondered how high end we could/would want to go? We were very happy with the little place we found especially as I enjoyed my apertif. Now I want to say I have nothing against tourists because I AM A TOURIST (if I wasn't, I would be home on my sofa). So i am not obsessed with finding a place where there are no other tourists. I just want good food and the type of place a local WILL go to. I live in NY, so there are places both tourists and New Yorkers like to eat and then there is Rays Pizza and Carmine's. So I feel we did manage to find that place in Venice. And I was so glad I had brushed up on my Italian before we came. Nothing like being able to ask "what's good tonight?" Sorry I did forget the name

Which brings me to one more sidebar: PEOPLE please.... do not assume everyone speaks English. Just a few phrases go a long way in not painting all Americans as obtuse egomaniacs. My shy 12 year olds managed to TRY to order in italian or to ask Parla Inglese? What is more awkward than being in 7th grade? Yet they tried. My husband forged ahead with horribly pronounced italian words, mangling every Vorrei and it was appreciated (if by nobody else, by me).

VENICE DAY 2:
We did the Secret Itinerary Tour at the Doges and this was something else recommended here on the boards. I was glad we did. Our tour guide was a bit bizarre and seemed to smile at the most inopportune times: Murder <smile> Blood <smile> Torture <smile> and she seemed to leave out ALOT of important details. Yet we walked away with the sense that Venice under the Doges was pretty autocratic and with all those secret boxes to snitch on your neighbors... not really safe. No wonder there are SO MANY prison rooms to look at. But for me, it was more informative than "the front of the house" in understanding this oligarchy. We give it a thumbs up (tour guide dependent).

From there Basilica San Marco and the long snaking line to get in. As amazing as the basilica is, I guess I find it hard to enjoy or take in a site peering over someone's shoulder or feeling shoved. My kids were stunned by the beauty but then just wanted to run from the crowds too.

After that we dropped off the kids to the hotel room for a nap and my husband and I went out to the Accademmia museum. We got there I think about 4:00 and it was empty. It was great. Highly recommend going end of day. Didn't know I loved Bellini.

And because Steve Rick's guide books were lying all over our hotel lobby, we did choose a little place around the corner from our hotel for dinner that he recommended--Da Mamo. Were there other Americans? Yes there were. Was the food good? Yes it was. I had very good gnocchi and a really nice artichoke. My expectations for food in Venice were low but they were also very nice and it was a quick meal which was good because we had to be at Chiesa San Vidal for a concert (concerts start at 9:00!). It was really great to hear Venetian composers perform in the city they worked in: Monteverdi and Vivaldi. My 12 year olds loved the singing.

PART 2: To come

RubyTwins

CORRECTION: The Rick Stevn's restaurant in Venice that we thought was good near Accademmia was: Al Vecio Marangon.

Da Mamo was a pizza place we popped into for lunch. It was totally fine.

RubyTwins

VENICE RESTAURANT FINAL UPDATE: the place in Venice that we liked for dinner according to my husband: Osteria Ruga di Jaffa. Remember we traveled with 12 year olds in tow but my husband and I found food we enjoyed too. Great apertif and good wine.

Adelaidean

Sorry about your Mum. A memorial trip, what a great idea.

I love family holidays, but hadn't heard of restrictions for school absences here (Australia). I recently emailed our son's school (he's 16) that he'd be missing 7 school days for our Italy trip and he just needs to work around it, submitting work online. It does mean taking his school laptop though.

BTW our economy flights are ...
1st leg nearly 14 hours, 3 hour layover then
2nd leg 6.5 hours

jamikins

Great start Rubytwins!

In London, my friends have to pay a fee to take their children out of school - £30 a day per child! Taking children out of school is very frowned upon! When I was in school we took time off for holidays most years and I don't remember it being a big deal!

TDuTwo

Fun read,Rubytwin. More please soon.

denisea

Nice start and my condolecences on the loss on the loss your mother. Love the idea of a trip to honor her.

I wish schools would recognize the value of travel in children's education. Not sure that attending school a specific number of days every year guarantees the best education. I think travel opens up your mind and understanding of the world...encourage it for God's sake. (Ridiculous to have to pay to take kids out of school, jamikins)

RubyTwins

The Mom Memorial Trip PART II

Lesson learned: the cheap way will be the expensive way. I had prebooked our train tickets online from Venice to Orvieto for 9:20 a.m. The front desk said catch the 8:45 Vaporetto and we would have plenty of time. O.K. cheap-skate here decided to do that AND also have the free breakfast that came with our room.

Mistake.

Yes enjoyed breakfast. Yes got on the 8:45 Vaporetto and so did everyone else in the Dorsoduro: including delivery guys with piles of boxes, a Chinese tour, and a school group. As we stopped every 15 feet it became clear we were going to have to RUN to catch this train.

And then: Termini station. Boats waiting to dock. Long story short.... RAN to the train and watched it leave. All the trains were sold out and we had to book business class tickets if we wanted to make it to Orvieto for triple the cost of my prepaid ticket.

Moral of the Story I: everything takes longer in Italy than you expect.

Moral of the Story II: You are on vacation, it is o.k. to splurge sometimes and take a taxi.

Moral of the Story III: The free breakfasts really aren't that great anyway! Rock hard rolls can be bought anywhere.

________________

Orvieto
Again, thank you to this board for suggesting Orvieto as I tried to plan this trip still in a fog of grief for my mom. For kids (and me) arriving in Orvieto and taking the funicular up the volcanic tuff is another fun and dramatic way to arrive.

We rented an apartment in Orvieto at La Magnolia B&B. The owner Serena is VERY lovely and our apartment had a balcony, kitchen and was quite comfortable. Highly Recommend. Breakfast is supposedly included next door at her brother's cafe but this was a bit unreliable. Great breakfast day one, closed day two, and scraps of food day three. (Although we did pop in there for a glass of wine late in the afternoon and the hospitality could NOT have been warmer and it came with home made appetizers).

Had dinner at the recommended Il Cocco and well, it was fine but there is better food to be had in Orvieto.

The Duomo dominates the town with its Gothic facade and Signorelli's frescos in the Cappella di San Brizio. By staying in Orvieto it is possible to get up early and beat the tour buses or to see the Duomo in the golden afternoon light. Right there, that is worth a night in Orvieto. Much of the art and decorations which must have jam packed the Duomo like the Collyer brothers is housed in a museum. Honestly? For me, glad they took a lot of that stuff out of there so one could just enjoy the soaring architecture.

From there we took the underground tour. There is not a ton to look at because we only are looking at two of the over 1,500 caves located in Orvieto but it definitely piqued my interest again about the Etruscans and the walk down to the entrance to the caves has stunning views of the Umbrian countryside. A lot of stairs so if you have bad knees.... not sure you will like it.

LUNCH: popped into Dai Fratelli and picked up some truffle cheese, and the salumi sampler for four (cinghiale). RECOMMEND. Grabbed a loaf of bread and ate on our deck at the apartment. After lunch got gelato at Pasqualetti. Not the most imaginative flavors but delicious.

There are a lot of walking/hiking opportunities in Orvieto and again....what is it with Rick Steve's books lying around everywhere!? We planned on walking Anello Della Rupe and I picked up one of Rick's books conveniently located on the bookshelf and it read mostly flat. Well not quite true especially if you decide to pop down to the Etruscan Necropolis. Really beautiful views along the walk and I recommend even if you do only 1/3 of it (part of our walk was above an autostrada so the sound of speeding Fiats did sort of infringe on the quiet of the wind and birds).

OK so the Etruscan Necropolis really does not have much beyond empty overgrown tombs and yet I recommend it. To be able to walk quietly among the well-ordered tombs, pop in and out and be alone without a selfie stick in your face seems to be a rare treat in Italy.

Shopping. I am not a shopper so I don't have much to report on this front. I will say we regretted not buying ceramics (we bought one olive oil jar which we admire). And we really regret NOT buying bottles of wine. The wine is so delicious and is not imported into the US and we didn't find it in Rome. We did buy some nice olive wood salad tongs down a side street at a wood shop that are very nice. I also bought a scarf because I was freezing. It is a lovely scarf and I planned on buying one for my sister too until the owner said, "yes, this is hand woven in Orvieto, you can read it on the label." I was cold and bought it anyway even though I knew I had just been handed a big plate of BS. Since I speak Italian, I read the label when I got back to the apartment which read made in Thailand (in fact, in English). I did NOT go back and get my sister that scarf.

Dinner: Off season in Orvieto and yes, we should have made a reservation. Make sure to do so. If you don't speak Italian, Serena can do that for you. Sadly, walked around at 7:45 and every restaurant we had wanted to try was full for the night. We were getting hangry and it was not a pretty sight: four irritable hungry Americans prowling the streets of Orvieto and bickering. Finally my son suggested a little tiny hole in the wall down a side street that had pizza. What could we do? Kids gotta eat. My husband felt bitter as he had dreams of pappardelle con la lepre. We were the only tourists in this little joint without a lot of atmosphere and whoa! One of the best pasta dishes we had in Italy (pappardelle cinghiale with home made pappardelle). And of course the Orvieto wine is superlative. I don't have the name of this place. It had pizza too though. Great food. Great Price. Lovely people. No English but no problem.

Remember we are traveling with 12 year olds so we had to limit our museum visits to keep peace in the family. Our 12 year olds seemed to enjoy churches, poking around side streets, the caves, the hike, the Etruscan tombs. Regret: Not seeing the Orvieto National Archaeological Museum. But one of my kids got a stomach virus and that sort of threw a wrench in the plans.

PART 3 TO COME: Driving in Umbria and back to Orvieto

Dayle

Rubytwins,

So enjoying your trip report! Your observations will be so helpful to first timers.

Orvieto remains one of my all time favorites in Italy. Im probably one of those who recommended it for you, but dont remember since I always recommend it. We spent 3 days there and also enjoyed a little time at the tombs. Kind of a shame more people dont visit there.

Looking forward to the rest!

2010

I am also enjoying reading about your trip, RubyTwins. I agree that a splurge like hiring a water taxi is well-worth the comfort, ease & convenience on a trip.

Once, I bought a table cloth at a local market. Back at the hotel, I looked at the tag and it said Product of China (in Italian). My mistake for not checking. I must admit that it lost some of its charm knowing where it was made! Now, I am careful to read the tags - lesson learned! I understand why you didn't go back to purchase a scarf for your sister in Orvieto.

You visited 3 of my favourite Italian cities. Looking forward to more!

RubyTwins

PART 3: Driving in Umbria and back to Orvieto

Thank you everyone. You have encouraged me to keep writing my trip report.

Next morning we headed down the funicular to the Hertz car rental (FYI you can buy your bus/funicular tickets at the coffee shop near where the bus stops outside the Duomo). We had already booked our car rental from the US because we heard it is a better deal. Took A LONG time to fill out the multiple forms by staff who apparently would rather be having a root canal than renting cars. Keep that in mind as you schedule your day. But in the end, we did get our low-end model Fiat, (standard of course). My husband is an experienced stick shift driver but it has been about 10 years.

Quote from the boys after the trip: “It was kinda scary when we rolled backwards down the hill into oncoming traffic.”
Quote from me during the trip: “WHAT THE ^%$ are you DOING?”

The drive to Civita Bagnoregio was beautiful: Winding roads, fields of red poppies, wild flowers and farmland. The drive to Civita Bagnoregio was stressful: Italians tailgating so closely we could see their every wrinkle and pore from our rearview mirror, Fiats passing us on hairpin turns. For some reason the road that leads directly to the parking area at the foot bridge to Bagnoregio had a barricade across it. Being goody two-shoe, law-abiding Americans, It never occurred to us to just drive right through it. Meanwhile, Italians not only drove right by it, they eventually drove right over it to park conveniently at the bridge entrance saving that additional quarter mile walk. But sometimes the long way provides a new experience. By parking so far from the bridge and wandering, we did stumble upon Caffè Belvedere which is considered the best place for photos. Those of you with the ubiquitous Steve Rick’s guide books probably already know that though, while we were often left to wander like Frodo and to erroneously believe we had discovered a hidden gem.

At this point, since our B&B apartment was missing one of the essential "Bs", we were starving and grabbed some salumi sandwiches at the start of our walk over the bridge to Bagnoregio. What a great walk. It was early enough, despite our purgatory at Hertz, that we strolled into town alone. For kids, this was a great opportunity to just lose us because there are no cars of course and nowhere to go except back out the front gate or straight off a cliff. It was a highlight for them. Great photo opps here.

Lesson learned 1: have a better idea of what/where you want to go with your car rental. We did NOT plan the afternoon well and thought we would go to Todi. Honestly, Todi was a bit dreary for some reason. Perhaps it didn’t help that we had one of our worst meals in Italy there. We did look at the Roman Cisterns with our cheap hard hats on. We then lost the car.

Note to self: We should have planned a walk/hike in the country instead.

Lesson learned 2: a detailed map of Umbria is a good investment (available from the train station news kiosk) but Google Maps provided better driving instruction for us.

As I mentioned, we are not shoppers but once the car was located with the help of several locals, my husband decided he wanted to pop over to Deruta with dreams of replacing our pasta bowl. The clock was ticking as we had to have the car back by 7:00 sharp or pay another day. Deruta: think strip mall of pottery stores. First place we went into had amazing pottery but for the Warren Buffets of the world. Next place had a ridiculous amount of pottery and was overwhelming. I left with a hand painted mug which I am using now for my tea. I have since found a website for Deruta where we can easily buy our pasta bowl online without the hassle of that extra drive. For those wanting pottery though, there is every kind of hand painted pottery store here. I actually thought the prices were better in Orvieto though. Live and learn.

Last night in Orvieto.
“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”

Got in too late to make dinner reservations (again) and plus it was Wednesday and several of the restaurants we wanted to go to were closed. Started our passeggiata hungry again. Ended up at Le Grotte del Funaro which was kind of empty and worrisome. But 12 year old boys loved eating in a cave and the food was actually pretty good. More great wine and toasts to my mother as we shared some funny stories about her (she was quite the character). The servers loved the boys and their shy attempts to speak Italian. “Vorrei? Proprio Vorrei? Bravo!” Overall a good ending to Orvieto.

PART 4 TO COME: Ciao Roma!

Adelaidean

Enjoying this Ruby, wonderful family memories for you all.

john183

Really nice report! Sounds like your family has a lot of fun together. Looking forward to your adventures in Roma. Any chance you will post some pictures?

barbrn

This is a great report. I have enjoyed every part of it, you are a good writer. I will be in Venice and Rome in September and I will be writing down some of your tips. (especially about the gelato in Venice). Thank you.

Leely2

I remember your original thread. So glad you did this trip to honor your mother's memory. It's a treat to read it today on Mother's Day.

I love Orvieto, what a stunning town.

Looking forward to your Roman adventures.

uhoh_busted

There are legions of Fodorites who noticed beautiful pottery in Orvieto, figured they might get something later in their trip, and regretted it. We went back about 8 years later. You may find the same happens to you Those boys will go off to college eventually....

millie2112

more please. i have enjoyed you report

RubyTwins

Part 4: Ciao Roma! Part I

Rome and on to our apartment: the Francesca Navona near Piazza Navona on Via Del Orso (through Home and Boat agency and I think VRBO too). Great apartment and great location.

After our train ride and settling in we headed to Roscioli to pick up breakfast pastries and lunch (pizza and gnocchi) and then just started to walk with no real plan for the afternoon besides gelato at Gelateria Del Teatro (fantastic which means a line) and picking up some groceries for the house. Even the supermarket deli was pretty good. Sometimes it is nice to just wander aimlessly—which if you followed our trip report seems to be an unintended theme. We took a break from eating out and had a simple dinner at the apartment before heading out for our evening passeggiata.

I have been to Rome before but this time I was struck by how many people still smoke (compared to the drop off in the US) and wondered where are the gyms? The pilates studios? The hot yoga? Those Lululemon workout pants? I did a little research to compare life spans considering: Italians pass on winding roads and hairpin curves, smoke like chimneys, drink wine every night, espressos every day and nobody seems to be jogging or working out? World Health Organization ranks Italy 5 for longest life expectancy compared to US rank of 37. FYI I am drinking a glass of wine now.

Next morning Colosseum. We walked from our place near Piazza Navona (about 25 minutes). We took the advice from our guide book (Lonely Planet) to buy our combo entrance ticket at the shorter line at the Palatine hill entrance. At the last minute, I signed us up for a tour. It can be a stretch of the imagination to bring piles of rubble to life and we were fortunate that our tour guide was actually very good. She gave the kind of details a 12 year old likes (during the opening ceremonies of the Amphitheatrum Flavium, perfume was needed to cover the stench of blood; 75,000 spectators could safely exit the Colosseum in 15 minutes; so many animals were killed in the games that some species actually went extinct).

Lesson learned: Really glad we got to the Colosseum in the morning because compared to two hours later, it was relatively empty.

I had bought tickets online for the Vatican Museum for 2:30 (I read that the afternoon was less crowded and online tickets would save some time in the lines). But before that, back to Roscioli to pick up some take-out lunch and back to the apartment for a short afternoon rest. Lasagne, pasta arrabiata, fennel salad, bread and more breakfast for the next day. That place is that good! For apartment renters remember to pick up food there.


The Vatican was crazier than I remembered. Is this a museum or is this inventory--The Costco warehouse of antiquities? Yes I get it: it is the greatest collection in the world, now can I look at it? We were being carried along by a current of people rushing towards the Sistine Chapel armed with the all-important selfie stick. There was rarely a bench in sight to sit on to pause and catch your breath. 12 year olds have limited museum energy and an occasional break would have been great. It made me think about people with difficulty walking. It would be tough. It was all about crowd control. The crowds continually pushed forward like lemmings towards the ultimate culture cliff: the Sistine Chapel. Idea: Let people go DIRECTLY to the Sistine chapel who want to and to leave. Let those who may be interested in Etruscan art have that time and space to look. It felt like a cultural check box. Reward with some gelato at Gelataria Old Bridge after near the Vatican. Totally fine. The line was LONG for decent gelato. Then over to San Peter’s for more crowds and crowd control.

Lesson learned: the audio guide was not that great and it kept jamming and I found myself noodling with the apparatus and not looking at the artwork. PLAN what you want to see BEFORE going.

Quote from 12 year old on the Vatican: “a little too busy to enjoy much but you can go for bragging rights.”


That evening we ate near our apartment at Osteria del Memmo. If you are staying near Piazza Navona… get on to the side streets for food. Luckily we got there early enough because they were totally booked 20 minutes later. We had a grouchy but funny waiter who enjoyed teasing the kids and brought out a bunch of extras like rice balls. Another good dinner and we toasted mom this time with our Frascati.

Coming up: Rome Part 2

RubyTwins

Thanks everyone. I will get to work on the last part of my trip.

Leely2

Great, looking forward to it. I have been to Rome many times, but am visiting with family members who have never been this summer. It will be my first trip to the Vatican Museums in years. Hope it's not too much of a crush.