An Italian Honeymoon: Things we did besides …
 

We just got back from our 10 night honeymoon to Italy. Words cannot begin to describe how wonderful the trip was. My new bride was beautiful, the weather was perfect, the scenery was breathtaking, and the food was delicious.

Both my wife (I love saying that) and I have been to Italy before (about 10 – 12 years ago) but my trip was when I was in the army stationed in Germany and her trip was with her mom so it goes without saying that we experienced the legend of Italian romance for the first time.

I will post all the details, funny stories, stressful parts, and useful tips over the next couple of days but here is a quick summary:

We traveled from San Francisco to Positano where we spent 7 days laying at the beach, eating mozzarella, drinking wine, and walking up and down lots of steps. We visited Ravello and Capri for day trips. We then headed up to Rome where we spent 3 nights in the Eternal City. We took the Scavi Tour as well as an after hour private Vatican Museum tour. Without spoiling all the good bits I will say that this private tour was the highlight of our trip.

This forum was very useful in my planning on this trip and I hope that this trip report will help someone else. I’ll start it off by giving a few quick observations based on some of the funny questions and posts that I have seen on this website.

- Stop worrying about what you are wearing! You will not fit in. They know you are a tourist. Wear what is comfortable and relax.

- If your wife wants to pack her entire closest of clothes DO NOT tell her that the folks on Fodors say it is a bad idea. As long as she has a husband who carries the entire load then she does not care.

- 98% of the restaurants are better than anything you are eating at home so relax about trying plan every single meal.

- The people on this forum that say taking the Amalfi Coast SITA bus is easy must travel at 5 am.


Lots more to come…

Congratulations to you and your wife ! So glad to hear you had a wonderful time and looking forward to hearing all about it. Well, not all.

Will be interested to hear about the Vatican private tour as when I read about it before I thought it was a ridiculous amount of money and couldn't possibly be worth it, so glad it was the highlight of your trip !

Did you get to Spiaggia Laurito outside Positano, at all ?

Welcome home saps ~ This is going to be a good trip report, I can feel it.

Congrats to you and your lovely wife.

You were so smart to schedule some relaxation time at the beginning. So many couples plan these action packed honeymoons, without realizing how dead tired - physically and emotionally - they will be after their wedding.

Nice beginning to your trip report and that is a very original heading.

So what else did you do?

Welcome home SAPS, and congratulations! Can't wait to hear your Amalfi SITA bus experiences! I was there this time last year and found the buses horrible, that is when they showed up!

Please continue....

Congratulations to you and your wife saps. May you and your lovely wife have a long and loving life together filled with many blessings.

I too think you were smart to give yourselves some relaxing time at the beginning of your honeymoon. A wedding, reception and a long flight from SFO can do in the best of travellers. I am also looking foward to the next installment of your honeymoon trip! Best regards to both of you.

Just in case anybody cares…

Our wedding took place on September 2nd at the Rios-Lovell Estate Winery (www.rios-lovellwinery.com) in the Livermore Valley of California. My morning started off with 9 holes of golf with the boys followed by perhaps the most embarrassing 20 minutes of my life…a manicure. As three female customers looked at me giggling I just shut my eyes and repeated I love KC, I love KC, I love KC. They should include a statement like this in the vows…”Do you promise to love, honor and not make your husband ever get a manicure again.”

The ceremony was wonderful. We had about 145 folks attend which was just right for our venue. My 6 nieces were all part of the bridal procession and the youngest, 3 yrs old, got so freaked out by the photographer that she did not walk down the aisle. It was the cutest thing ever.

For our reception we named the guests tables after places or things we would visit or see while we were on our Italian honeymoon. Each table name had a very “over the top” accompanying description. We had a lot of fun creating these and it made our trip just that much more special.

On to the honeymoon…

Quote: "If your wife wants to pack her entire closest of clothes DO NOT tell her that the folks on Fodors say it is a bad idea."

I wonder why did she need clothes at all.

I thought you were on your honeymoon!

Love you sense of humor saps. And I bet you will have to get another manicure on your 1st wedding anniversary, the 5th, the 10th etc. ;;)
Seriously though, your wedding sounds like it was delightful and full of love, the way weddings should be.

CONGRATULATIONS, saps!!! :D

Any man who is willing to carry his bride's/wife's entire closet is A-O-K in my book, LOL.

I'm looking forward to your report. And I loved your thread title! ;)

saps -

Do you have a brother? cousin? youngish uncle?

Congratulations on your marriage. :)

Congratulations! September 2 is my anniversary too, and we went to Italy last year (first time for both of us)for our tenth and LOVED every minute of it. Looking forward to your report!

Day 1 & 2 - Monday, Sept 4th

I’m sure there are worse sounds than an alarm clock going off at 3:45 am but at that moment I could not think of any. The only saving grace was that it was time to get up to start our trip. The night before involved hurried packing, champagne drinking, lots of laundry and a couple of arguments about how many bottles of shampoo are really needed for a 2 week trip.

I hired a town car driver to drive us to the airport and we headed out the door at 4:45 am for SFO. We flew from SFO to Chicago to Rome on American Airlines. At check-in we got moved into an exit row for the SFO-ORD flight and that was great. The ORD-FCO portion was another story. The AA 767 was cramped. Is it possible to make coach seats any closer together? I was so close to the guy in front of me that I was actually reading his book with him. It did not help that we sat on the plane for 2 hours while they fixed a communication problem. Luckily for us the first cocktail was on the house…that was sure nice of them.

We finally arrived in Rome on Tuesday morning. As I planned this trip I decided that I was going to splurge on several things and our Rome to Positano transportation was one of those items. I hired a private driver to pick us up at FCO and drive us to our hotel to Positano. We used Benvenuto Limousine Service (www.benvenutolimos.com) based on the Amalfi Coast and were very satisfied with our service. This is a family owned business and Umberto (the father) picked us up right outside Customs and we were quickly on our way to Positano in his Mercedes.

Okay…I will talk more about the roads and driving conditions along the Sorrento Peninsula and Amalfi Coast later but let me just say…WOW…and this is coming from somebody who ten years ago was driving a limousine in San Francisco. As an engineer I’ve always been taught that two objects cannot occupy the same space however obviously these physicists and mathematicians have never driven a Fiat along this stretch of road. I don’t care how many times I return to this little piece of paradise…I will never drive there. Back to the story…

In Positano we stayed at the Hotel Marincanto (www.marincanto.it). Overall, I thought it was a very nice hotel but not great. There were things we very much liked about the hotel and things that we did not like.

What we liked: Breakfast, private beach access (300 steps), the view, and the staff.

What we disliked: We had to change rooms (I did know about this when I booked), one night our rooms had ants, and some of the bathroom fixtures were barely surviving.

The rest of Tuesday we just unpacked and then decided whether we would try to stay up or take a nap…the infamous jet lag question. We opted for a short nap and an early dinner. I was asleep by 8:30 pm…romantic, I know…but if you are reading this trip report wanting hot romance then just keep reading. Here is a teaser: it involves champagne, a lounge chair, an ocean terrace and a local festival with fireworks.

Tomorrow’s installment will be Days 3 & 4 which included lounging at the Positano beach L’Incanto and getting spa treatments at the Palazzo Sasso in Ravello.

Checking in was funny because there was a couple that had basically brought their entire kitchen cupboard with them. To make weight with their baggage they were dumping cereal, diapers, canned vegetables. It was like they thought that there were no grocery stores in Chicago.

So when we checked in and one bag was 58 lbs I quietly pulled out $25 and payed the clerk even though she was trying to get me to open the bag and move stuff around. I did not want people laughing at me like I laughed at that other couple.

What goes around comes around...I guess!

Love your writing...lucky bride!

I love your posts because it reminded me of my honeymoon in Rome last January. My husband is half Italian but has never been to Italy (or Europe) I am from the Philippines and I was so proud to be able to show him around Rome. We had the greatest time walking around Rome in freezing weather (we live in Honolulu)eating the most delicious food. We didn't gain any weight from all the walking. Amazing!

The best idea we had was hiring a private guide/driver to take us around Rome and outside of Rome. He took us to his Village and I got to take a cooking lesson. That litte restaurant was so charming and served us the best steak and lamb.

WE HAD SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME. I WISH WE WERE BACK IN ROME RIGHT NOW.

Congratulations, lovely posting so far, waiting for the tours in Rome...and the rest. Lots of happiness to you both.

Wishing you and you bride a long life full of blessings and dreams fufilled. Can't wait to hear about the parts of your trip that can be shared on a family forum!

Don't worry I'll keep this family friendly :-)!

Days 3 & 4

First off…
Positano is absolutely stunning. Pictures don’t do it justice. The views, the shops, the steps, and the restaurants are all what make it a little slice of paradise. The day before as we arrived into Positano we did not truly appreciate the town as we were basically punch drunk after 24 hours of traveling, but as we woke up this morning and sat on our terrace we instantly fell in love with our new home.

Breakfast at the Marincanto was awesome. I could eat salami and cheese for dinner 6 nights a week (the 7th night must be a ribeye steak) so Italian breakfast was my dream meal. We had about 6-8 different meats, 3-5 different cheeses, fruits, several different pastries and an endless supply of coffee.

Getting ready that morning KC learned that blow dryers in Italian hotels stink. I learned that you don’t pee in the bidet. I also spent about 10 minutes trying to decide why the toilet had two different size flush buttons but they each produced the same amount of flush power.

We spent the rest of the morning strolling around the town looking at the 10,000 pottery shops and dodging cars, which had no intention of stopping. KC and I decided to not get each other wedding presents but instead to look for something on our trip that would be special for us. Independently we came to conclusion of artwork so we had a blast looking at all the paintings of the region.

We headed down to the beach in the early afternoon and lazed there for hours. It was truly the first relaxing time we had in a couple of months. The hotel had a special rate with the beach below for renting lounge chairs, 10 Euros per day per person (normally 15). The water was great. The temperatures were warmer than the California coast but colder than tropical locations. I busted out my snorkeling gear and looked like a dork but I didn’t care. KC was all excited to go topless on an Italian beach but to her dismay everybody was fully dressed in their bathing suits so she did not want to be the only one. It must be that most of the people were from the USA, Canada, England and Australia…you know us modest English speaking folks. KC kept trying to get me to wear a Speedo and I decided that Italy did not need to see that.

That night we headed up the mountain to Il Ritrovo for dinner. I asked our hotel to make a reservation for us and the restaurant sent a car to our hotel and picked KC and I up right on time. The car driver reminded me of Large Marge from the Pee Wee Herman movie…it was an uncanny resemblance. Dinner was awesome. The view was great although it was already dark so we did not see the sunset. For most of our dinner meals we shared antipasti and then had our own first and second course. We dined on caprese salad (which is my new favorite food), gnocchi, risotto, and veal (God forbid).

On Thursday I had booked KC and myself some spa treatments at the Palazzo Sasso in Ravello (www.palazzosasso.com). We took the ferry from Positano to Amalfi (5.50 Euro per person each way). Once we got to Amalfi we bought SITA bus tickets and waited for the bus with 1.3 million other folks. The bus came and 1.29 million folks got on. We did not. I cannot believe how many people squeeze onto that thing. It was like a buffalo stampede. For 22 Euros we took a nice, calm, air conditioned taxi ride to the Ravello town square. We passed the bus and were very glad we opted for the cab.

From the town square we asked for directions twice to the Palazzo Sasso and upon arrival we were awe struck with the opulence of the hotel and the friendliness of the staff. Even though we were just using their facilities we were never treated like second class citizens. We were escorted down to the spa area past the pool and lounge chairs looking out to the coast. KC got a facial first and then we both got massages. The facilities were excellent, the staff great, and the service perfect. After our treatments we had full use of the pool and spas. We had a glass of white wine and dreamed of the day when this could be a yearly event. From the room rate prices on their website this may stay a dream…ouch!!!

We walked through town and headed down to Villa Cimbrone where we walked through the gardens and just casually hung out until we needed to head back to Amalfi to catch the ferry. In Amalfi we saw a bride walking (or I should say attempting to walk) up the steps of the main church. As she slipped I couldn’t help myself and giggled and KC couldn’t help herself and smacked me upside the head.

After a few days in Italy we quickly become accustomed to the evening dining schedule and at about 9:00 we headed down to the main square for dinner. We ate at the pizzeria below the Buca de Bacco Hotel and had a great dinner. We tried buffalo mozzarella for the first time and while we liked it we did not like it more than the regular stuff. The restaurant was right on the beach and was a great spot to people watch. There was some kind of kids dance recital being performed on a stage on the beach so it was fun to watch a bunch of Italian kids dancing to Brittney Spears.

Thanks for reading all of this…it is fun to write.

Tomorrow’s part will include meeting “The Man”

saps

Thank you for making me laugh! My wedding is in 10 days and we leave for Italy in 12 our first stop Positano. Your trip report was a great diversion for me today as the stress of last minute wedding plans are in full force. I look forward to reading more.
Best Wishes to you and your wife!

Robyn

enjoying this. . . more please

saps,

Your trip review has been a lot of fun to read, and I am looking forward to more! We leave for our honeymoon in Italy on Thursday (9/21), and can't wait!! I am reading your review very closely for tips!

Thank you so much for sharing.

Saps,

Your report is a treat! Yes, your SITA bus experience was exactly the same as mine from Amalfi to Ravello - except I did get on and lived to regret it! Never again - a taxi next time!

Looking forward to the rest!

Good stuff! I head to Capri and Positano in three weeks myself so keep it coming!

I love your writing style and sense of humor-can't wait for next post!

bm

I usually stick to the posts about France, but this is fun.

Thank you all for your kind words...this is really fun to write.

I might try to get my "The Man" portion written today. It is a very cool little story about meeting a local olive oil producer.

If you have any specific questions about Positano let em fly.

Dayle, I honestly do not know how people actually take those buses. At some point you have to say how much uncomfortableness is worth the $ savings. For some folks I guess they can tolerate a lot more than us.

Saps,
My first trip to the Amalfi Coast was in March - buses were a breeze.

Big difference during tourist season! Unfortunately as a solo traveler on a budget, I never considered a taxi. I sure will in the future though - well worth the $$.

Thanks for an entertaining report - I laughed out loud when I got to the part about the bidet! :))

Best wishes for a wonderful life together - you and your wife sound like great and fun-loving people.

May you enjoy many more journeys together.

I am a moderator on a wedding message board so let me say, "Thank you!" for posting the link to your wedding location. It was beautiful.

You have such a great flair for writing. Your trip report has made me laugh many times already! Can't wait to hear the rest.

Diane

Days 5 & 6

Friday was almost a repeat of Wednesday. We shopped in the morning and decided which souvenirs we were going to buy and we chose our piece of art that we would eventually purchase on Sunday. We chose an original oil painting by Vincenzo Aprile, a Sorrento based artist. The painting was of the view, from our hotel sundeck, of Positano at night. It is absolutely beautiful and the lights of the city and church are what finally sold us on this piece of art.

After the beach in the afternoon we napped (uh…yeah…we napped) and got all dressed up for a night on the town. About 7:30 we walked down to the hotel Le Sirenuse and had some cocktails at their Champagne Bar. Can’t speak about this hotel’s rooms, restaurant or other facilities but here is what I do know…the Champagne Bar was fabulous. They sit you outside on very comfortable outdoor furniture and bring you an assortment of little snacks. They had a DJ inside playing a very nice mix of Italian and American music. The candles are lit and your view is of the church dome and hills of Positano. The drink menu is not cheap (15-20 Euro per glass of champagne) but the ambiance, service and romantic factor cannot be beat.

We then headed down into town to Max’s for dinner. This was our favorite dining experience in all of Positano. Max’s is an art gallery and restaurant and is actually where we bought our painting from. The wine we ordered (1999 Piano Di Montevergine) was the best red wine I have ever had. I love wine but I do not love the whole “wine expert” snobbery that you find living in California. Watching the Sommelier work was fascinating as I thought he was going to make love to the bottle. The food was fantastic and the atmosphere was great. I told a local that we ate at Max’s and she gave a disapproving look as it is not “authentic”. I told her Max’s was 7,000 miles away from my home so it was authentic enough! Price wise it was expensive but not outrageous.

Saturday morning we had booked a boat tour along the Amalfi Coast through Gennaro e Salvatore Tour Company (www.gennaroesalvatore.it). Let me start by saying that we cannot recommend this company enough. They are wonderful and well worth their very reasonable price ($75 Euros per person and it included lunch). Peter (son of Gennaro) was our captain that day. Peter’s mom is English so he sounds like a Brit and he is just one of the nicest guys around. There were about 6 other folks on the tour with us including an older Italian husband and wife (soon to be referred to as “The Man”). We cruised along the coast and stopped a few times in small coves and grottos so we could get out and swim. KC has a morbid fascination of sharks…so she asked about 12 times whether there were sharks in the water and when 12 times the answer came back no she jumped in. About 1.4 seconds later she jumped out and said that was enough. She would rather just lie on the deck and soak in the sun. I swam around and had an awesome time except that my snorkel tube sank to the bottom of the sea.

We stopped for lunch (or what later I would call breakfast, lunch and dinner) at a restaurant along the coast that could only be reached via boat or 1000 steps. It turned out to be a 6 course meal including wine. Bruschetta, antipasti veggies, gnocchi, calamari, fresh fruits and dessert were on the menu. Oh my goodness it was on of the best meals ever because everything was so fresh. While at lunch Peter told us the story about “The Man”…

This Italian couple that was with us (they didn’t speak one bit of English) were the owners of the largest olive grove along the entire Amalfi Coast. Peter is a friend of theirs and this was their first day off from work together for the entire season. Peter was treating them to this boat cruise. They are ‘old school’ olive oil producers and work the land like they did generations ago. We actually tasted their olive oil during lunch. We were raving about the olive oil (before we knew they had made it) and as lunch concluded they offered to bring some down from their home to the boat docks for us to have. Church was at 7 pm on Sunday so the oil would be ready for us at 6 pm. The next day we went to the docks and there in an unlabeled bottle was 1 liter of the best tasting olive oil we have ever had. This guy was “The Man” around the Positano region when it came to olive oil so we were thrilled to be able to bring home a bottle of his oil. This lunch and experience with his truly authentic family was something that we will always remember from our honeymoon.

That evening Positano had an all night festival and I do mean all night. They had live music until about 3 am. Still full from our lunch we decided to skip dinner this evening and instead enjoyed some limoncello at our hotel bar. KC was under the impression that limoncello was like a big glass of lemon-aid so I think she was a bit disappointed when a small drink in a shot glass came out. We sipped our drinks and got some champagne and headed up to the terrace to enjoy the music. Even though we were at the other end of the beach the music was loud (later I found out that the hotel had a speaker that broadcasted the music). We had a fabulous time lounging on our terrace, listening to the music, drinking champagne and waiting for the fireworks. The fireworks went off at about 12:30 am and they lasted for about 20 minutes on the beach and a bit longer on our terrace.

Next installment will be Capri and then we are off to Rome (visiting Pompeii en route).

I love your story telling. Keep it coming. I am laughing and thinking of magical Italy.

Congrats on your wedding. I was laughing out loud while I read your trip report. Can't wait to read the rest ...
We are staying at the Marincanto in about two weeks and I have been VERY nervous about staying there after reading several recent reviews. How was your room once they moved you into a renovated room? Would you stay there again??

saps.. thank you so much for taking us along your honeymoon trip. It really sounds so romantic. I'm hoping someday my hubby and I will make it there. Married 31 years so far, i'm wondering if it would be quite as romantic when we finally get there.
Looking forward to your next post.

Cindi,
Don't sweat about the hotel. It is very nice. We were in the renovated part of the hotel for both rooms. The first room was a junior suite special with a jacuzzi tub that opened to the terrace. It had some knobs that were falling off and it was not totally private so we only used it once. The bedroom was large and the bathroom was good size also. It is hard to compare it to an American 4 star hotel because I don't think the comparisons are fair. It is in a old building that is on the cliff so of course it does not look modern. The interior of the rooms were very mediterranean (tile flooring, white drapes, older furniture).

The rooms were very clean and the housekeeping came twice a day. I should have mentioned the Positano ants earlier...we noticed that all along the railings and other ledges the entire city was crawling with ants. One morning there were ants in our room and at breakfast I told the front desk and we didn't have another problem. I don't think ant problems were unique to the Marincanto.

The staff was great and answered all our questions and made several dinner reservations for us.

While I was not blown away by any aspect of the hotel I was a satisfied customer and would stay there again.