5 weeks in Italy, continued…Orvieto, Naples, Amalfi Coast, and back to Rome
Mar 19th, 2020, 08:37 AM
#121
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Progol, thank you so much for continuing with your trip report and beautiful photos! This is exactly what I (and many others) need right now during this coronavirus pandemic and sad times. I am cancelling our April trip to France, and am heartbroken. This was not only a vacation but a visit to see our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren who live in southern France. We haven't seen them since October, and now I am not sure when we will see them again. They are planning on coming here in August, but who knows what the situation will be like then.
I know you had to cancel your China trip and your Spain/Portugal trip. How disappointing! Hopefully, you can take one or both of those trips later this year or in 2021!
Once again, thank you for your uplifting report and gorgeous photos!
I know you had to cancel your China trip and your Spain/Portugal trip. How disappointing! Hopefully, you can take one or both of those trips later this year or in 2021!
Once again, thank you for your uplifting report and gorgeous photos!
Mar 19th, 2020, 01:43 PM
#123
Original Poster
KarenWoo and annhig,
I'm so happy you're enjoying the ongoing trip report - though more "show" than "tell"!
KarenWoo, I'm so sorry that you're not getting to see your family - that's the hardest. It's disappointing not to travel, but not being able to see family is so much more. I'm certainly disappointed that we aren't traveling, but after canceling our trip to China trip (that was hard), there was a niggling doubt about our trip to Spain and Portugal all along, and the anxiety over the last few weeks was, for me, becoming intolerable. By the time I ended up canceling our second trip, I felt a huge relief.
More pix to come!
I'm so happy you're enjoying the ongoing trip report - though more "show" than "tell"!
KarenWoo, I'm so sorry that you're not getting to see your family - that's the hardest. It's disappointing not to travel, but not being able to see family is so much more. I'm certainly disappointed that we aren't traveling, but after canceling our trip to China trip (that was hard), there was a niggling doubt about our trip to Spain and Portugal all along, and the anxiety over the last few weeks was, for me, becoming intolerable. By the time I ended up canceling our second trip, I felt a huge relief.
More pix to come!
Mar 20th, 2020, 11:25 PM
#125
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Progol, thanks for sharing the beauty and joy!!! Great way for you and us readers of your story, to focus on something besides you-know-what.
KarenWoo, i can hardly imagine how heart wrenching it must be to delay your trip--not seeing the grandkids especially!!!
Apr 23rd, 2020, 08:27 AM
#126
Original Poster
Well, dear Fodor friends, I'll try to continue this trip report, which recedes into the long-ago history of Days When We Used To Travel. Having canceled 2 trips over the last couple of months (and anticipating that I may need to cancel our fall trip, too), thoughts about travel have been far from my mind. So much for my retirement plans to travel, at least for the moment. But as we reflect on our recent trip to Italy in September and October, M & I consider this one of our best trips ever. Even as we covered a large area, it never felt rushed, and we found that we've fallen in love with Italy.
So back to our trip... we are last seen in Paestum, where we saw the remarkable Greek temples in the ancient ruins. And the other high point of our visit to Paestum - a visit to Caseificio Barlotti, a water buffalo farm!
Barlotti Caseificio
We had a fantastic lunch, a sampler cheese plate with the freshest buffalo mozzarella (plain and smoked) and ricotta -- oh, that ricotta! Now that was simply the best ricotta I've ever had. I can still almost taste it. The ravioli was wonderful, too - though yesterday's ravioli at the restaurant near the entrance to the ruins was the best of the entire trip. The ice cream was amazingly rich as well. We passed on a tour of the farm, but were able to walk around, and looked at the pens containing the adult buffalo and a separate pen for the calves.
So back to our trip... we are last seen in Paestum, where we saw the remarkable Greek temples in the ancient ruins. And the other high point of our visit to Paestum - a visit to Caseificio Barlotti, a water buffalo farm!
Barlotti Caseificio
We had a fantastic lunch, a sampler cheese plate with the freshest buffalo mozzarella (plain and smoked) and ricotta -- oh, that ricotta! Now that was simply the best ricotta I've ever had. I can still almost taste it. The ravioli was wonderful, too - though yesterday's ravioli at the restaurant near the entrance to the ruins was the best of the entire trip. The ice cream was amazingly rich as well. We passed on a tour of the farm, but were able to walk around, and looked at the pens containing the adult buffalo and a separate pen for the calves.
Apr 23rd, 2020, 08:46 AM
#128
Original Poster
That evening, we took a stroll through past the ancient Paestum site, and the guard there let us in for a late visit, even though our ticket was no longer valid. Thee evening had its own special delights:
A stormy morning in Paestum
The next morning, we woke up to a thunderous rainstorm, with skies changing dramatically from minute to minute. As we were driving back to Salerno to drop the car and take the train on to Rome, it was a little bit nerve wracking for a while:
Fortunately, by the time we were done with breakfast and had packed up, the skies had cleared and the day looked promising for the short drive to Salerno.
A stormy morning in Paestum
The next morning, we woke up to a thunderous rainstorm, with skies changing dramatically from minute to minute. As we were driving back to Salerno to drop the car and take the train on to Rome, it was a little bit nerve wracking for a while:
Fortunately, by the time we were done with breakfast and had packed up, the skies had cleared and the day looked promising for the short drive to Salerno.
Apr 23rd, 2020, 08:58 AM
#129
Original Poster
Our drive to Salerno took less than 45 minutes, and we had time to sit and have a coffee in Salerno. I had considered a stay here for one night, but had decided that one night was not enough to get to know the city and I'd add it to our last stop of the trip - Rome, the Eternal City, and a place I will love eternally!
Along Corso Vittorio Emmanuele
Along Corso Vittorio Emmanuele
Apr 24th, 2020, 08:02 AM
#133
Original Poster
tomarkot, Thank you!
If you're looking forward to Rome, here's my TR from 2017. It was a great 8-day trip and we saw a lot of sites at the time. This visit, coming at the end our 5-week trip through Italy, was less about seeing many sights and just taking our time and soaking up the atmosphere.
We love Rome and after our visit in 2017, I was itching to return. We spent 6 nights there - enough time to relax and allow the trip to come to a gentle end.
Campo dei Fiori apartment
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2488952...5-cc101c6f4e5b
I had booked an apartment through AirBnB in the Campo Dei Fiori as we had really liked staying in the area a lot the last time we were there. I would've rented the SleepinItaly apartment that we had stayed in the last time, but by the time we had decided where to stay, the apartment wasn't available. I liked, but didn't love the one we were in this time around. But we love being in the center and the convenience of getting around. We had talked about staying in an apartment in Monti for months and yet when we finally made a decision on where to stay, we opted to be in the Centro Storico. There's often a dispute as to whether one should stay in a more central and generally more touristic area, vs staying in a more "real" area just outside of the tourist center, but we generally prefer convenience and tend toward a more central location when staying in cities. But that's just us. I had actually booked an apartment in Monti initially, so when we had a chance to walk by the location, I was more than happy that we ended up where we were. It wasn't a bad location but it would've required using transportation much more to get around, and we do like the convenience of walking.
Views from our window:
If you're looking forward to Rome, here's my TR from 2017. It was a great 8-day trip and we saw a lot of sites at the time. This visit, coming at the end our 5-week trip through Italy, was less about seeing many sights and just taking our time and soaking up the atmosphere.
We love Rome and after our visit in 2017, I was itching to return. We spent 6 nights there - enough time to relax and allow the trip to come to a gentle end.
Campo dei Fiori apartment
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2488952...5-cc101c6f4e5b
I had booked an apartment through AirBnB in the Campo Dei Fiori as we had really liked staying in the area a lot the last time we were there. I would've rented the SleepinItaly apartment that we had stayed in the last time, but by the time we had decided where to stay, the apartment wasn't available. I liked, but didn't love the one we were in this time around. But we love being in the center and the convenience of getting around. We had talked about staying in an apartment in Monti for months and yet when we finally made a decision on where to stay, we opted to be in the Centro Storico. There's often a dispute as to whether one should stay in a more central and generally more touristic area, vs staying in a more "real" area just outside of the tourist center, but we generally prefer convenience and tend toward a more central location when staying in cities. But that's just us. I had actually booked an apartment in Monti initially, so when we had a chance to walk by the location, I was more than happy that we ended up where we were. It wasn't a bad location but it would've required using transportation much more to get around, and we do like the convenience of walking.
Views from our window:
Apr 24th, 2020, 08:21 AM
#134
Original Poster
Ah, Rome, the eternal city, we are back and happy to be here. We were there during the second half of October 2019, and compared to our earlier visit in March 2017, the crowds were noticeably larger in most of the main sites. As we weren’t visiting too many major sights on this trip, this wasn’t a big problem, but it did make me realize that visiting during the off-season for sightseeing would be a lot easier.
The first evening stroll to the Piazza Navona – crowds or not, it’s glorious!
The first evening stroll to the Piazza Navona – crowds or not, it’s glorious!
Apr 25th, 2020, 08:10 AM
#137
coming back to Fodors after a couple of days away I had the lovely surprise of another instalment of your TR. Hurray!
I just love your photos but the one of Paestum is especially lovely. How kind of the custodian to let you in after it closed - it's that sort of thing that can make an experience really special, isn't it? Interesting that you started off with the idea of staying in Monti and then opted for the Campo dei Fiori - the first time we went we started off with a booking in the very centre but because that was cancelled by the company at last minute we ended up in Monti. In fact it worked very well for us because after a day's sightseeing it was very nice to retire to a slightly less frantic area of the city and the fact that we could see the Colosseum from the roof of our apartment didn't hurt either. Plus our then 14 year old DS was able to go out in the morning to get the breakfast from a local bakery without our worrying over much about his safety. But having stayed in the very centre the next time I can agree that that has its attractions too not least being able to wander around the Piazza Navona at night!
I just love your photos but the one of Paestum is especially lovely. How kind of the custodian to let you in after it closed - it's that sort of thing that can make an experience really special, isn't it? Interesting that you started off with the idea of staying in Monti and then opted for the Campo dei Fiori - the first time we went we started off with a booking in the very centre but because that was cancelled by the company at last minute we ended up in Monti. In fact it worked very well for us because after a day's sightseeing it was very nice to retire to a slightly less frantic area of the city and the fact that we could see the Colosseum from the roof of our apartment didn't hurt either. Plus our then 14 year old DS was able to go out in the morning to get the breakfast from a local bakery without our worrying over much about his safety. But having stayed in the very centre the next time I can agree that that has its attractions too not least being able to wander around the Piazza Navona at night!
Apr 27th, 2020, 06:33 AM
#138
Thank you for the lovely pictures, especially Atrani where we had lunch. There is another way to go to Amalfi from Atrani without sharing the road with the cars. I travel with young children: we went up into Atrani in the direction of Amalfi. There is a walkway, pedestrian only until Amalfi.
Apr 27th, 2020, 06:00 PM
#139
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Thank you so much for posting this trip report. It helps to remember favorite spots and discover new ideas for when travel resumes its normal pattern. We spent a month last year on a similar path, but opted to stay in Salerno for four nights rather than rely on inconsistent ferry schedules in early Spring. It was an easy, and lovely, town to acclimatize ourselves to a bigger city before visiting Rome, which we will always love. Am looking forward to reading about your relaxing time in the eternal city. Thanks again, Progol!
-Annie
-Annie
Apr 30th, 2020, 02:43 AM
#140
Original Poster
annhig, ToujoursVoyager, anniemaki, thank you all for your comments and in following this thread! I admit that it's been harder to write as the pandemic goes on and my heart has been heavy with sadness. I'm hopeful that we'll be traveling again, but the impact has been hard on so many - and especially my beloved Italy.
Vent over and back to the report!
annhig, it's so interesting about Monti. I was actually beginning to look forward to visiting because after our previous trip in 2017, M. had suggested staying there the next time we went. So I searched for a long time and found an apartment that looked nice and reserved it. As we got closer to our trip, my husband told me that he'd prefer to stay near where we had been the last time! What?! Okay, so with a lot less time before the trip and more rentals no longer available, I ended up with a place that was good enough. It worked out well for us, though, and I was happy. If we were in Rome for an extended period of time, I would probably stay a bit further out, but for 6 days, it was great to be more centrally located and be able to walk to almost everything.
ToujoursVoyager, we SO loved Atrani! And I do remember that we walked the pedestrian-only road to Atrani, though for the life of me, I can't quite visualize it as I didn't take any photos during that walk! But Atrani was definitely one of the (many) highlights of our trip. Such a charming town that doesn't feel touristy.
anniemaki, It's so interesting to hear about Salerno as a lovely town to base. I realized when we were there that one night would not do it justice, especially at the end of the trip when our energy was dwindling. It worked to add it to our stay in Rome, which for us, was the perfect place to end our 5 week trip.
More to come shortly!
Vent over and back to the report!
annhig, it's so interesting about Monti. I was actually beginning to look forward to visiting because after our previous trip in 2017, M. had suggested staying there the next time we went. So I searched for a long time and found an apartment that looked nice and reserved it. As we got closer to our trip, my husband told me that he'd prefer to stay near where we had been the last time! What?! Okay, so with a lot less time before the trip and more rentals no longer available, I ended up with a place that was good enough. It worked out well for us, though, and I was happy. If we were in Rome for an extended period of time, I would probably stay a bit further out, but for 6 days, it was great to be more centrally located and be able to walk to almost everything.
ToujoursVoyager, we SO loved Atrani! And I do remember that we walked the pedestrian-only road to Atrani, though for the life of me, I can't quite visualize it as I didn't take any photos during that walk! But Atrani was definitely one of the (many) highlights of our trip. Such a charming town that doesn't feel touristy.
anniemaki, It's so interesting to hear about Salerno as a lovely town to base. I realized when we were there that one night would not do it justice, especially at the end of the trip when our energy was dwindling. It worked to add it to our stay in Rome, which for us, was the perfect place to end our 5 week trip.
More to come shortly!
