Ancona, Umbria, Tuscany, and Rome

Old Dec 31st, 2017, 03:49 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ancona, Umbria, Tuscany, and Rome

OVERVIEW

December 15-28, 2015

I was presenting at a conference in Ancona, Italy. My husband and I traveled there from Rome first, then drove back through Umbria and Tuscany before returning to Rome for Christmas.

Day 0: Travel from U.S. to Rome, Italy
Day 1-4: Ancona (stop in Assisi)
Day 4-6: Siena (stop in San Gimignano)
Day 6-9: Florence
Day 9-12: Rome
Day 13: Travel from Rome to U.S.

DETAILS

Day 0: SMF-MSP-ATL-FCO

Day 1: Arrived in Rome, drove to Ancona to stay at See Port Hotel
I was presenting at a conference in Ancona, Italy, a town on the east coast, across from Croatia, near San Marino. This is not a town with tourists, which is a real blessing in Italy. My husband loved the food – fresh seafood and yummy pizza from street vendors. The See Port Hotel was a pretty nice hotel, recommended by the conference organizers. Walking through crocked, paved streets, I made my way to the university on foot each day while my husband enjoyed strolling and people-watching.

Day 2: Ancona - Conference/husband strolled around town to scope things out later on

Day 3: Ancona – Same as previous day

Day 4: Drove from Ancona to Siena with a stop in Assisi
In the morning, we visited the duomo that sits atop the town. Much of Ancona was destroyed during WWII, but the Romanesque church is largely in tact. On our way to Siena, we stopped at Assisi to visit the basilica there. Assisi is a gorgeous town. There are tourists, but it was not overrun. We spent more time here than I expected – the church is huge and it was lovely to see it decorated for Christmas. We then drove to Siena and arrived at night to our AirBnb (which was more like a small hotel).

Day 5: Siena - Torre del Mangia and Palazzo Pubblico
We had morning espresso on the Piazza del Campo – one of the more beautiful public plazas in the world. Don’t eat here – it’s expensive. We enjoyed the cool misty morning with our water and café. We then climbed up to the top of Torre del Mangia (the big tower) for those picturesque views of Sienese rooftops and the Tuscan countryside. Later we went into the Palazzo Pubblico for a tour of the paintings depicting good and bad government, and to learn about the Palio (a horserace held in the piazza). Later on, we enjoyed strolling through Siena’s streets. There weren’t too many tourists and I never got tired to walking around, taking in the medieval vibe. We had dinner reservations at a restaurant that was partially inside of a cave (Pino di ciccio).


Day 6: Siena Duomo and drive to Florence with a stop in San Gimignano
More wandering around the structures around the duomo before entering. We had a rooftop tour, so we got to get another perspective of the town from above. I preferred the view from the Torre Mangia, but the Duomo rooftop tour allows you to walk in the upper gallery inside of the church, so it’s still worth the visit.

En route to Florence, we stop in San Gimignano, a tiny Tuscan town with very tall towers. Families built them taller and taller as symbols of wealth and strength. We climbed up a few of them for great views of the little town and the Tuscan countryside. We returned our rental car to the Florence airport and took a taxi to our AirBnb.


Day 7: Florence Duomo and Battisterio, Uffizi Gallery and Ponte Vecchio
We climbed the campanile first thing in the morning ahead of the crowds, then went into the duomo. Much larger than Siena, but both are beautiful and impressive. We both liked the intimacy of the Battisterio and the mosaics/doors therin. In the afternoon, we headed over the Uffizi Gallery and stayed until closing. We then strolled the Ponte Vecchio in the evening before chilling out in a large piazza on our way back to our AirBnb.

Day 8: Medici Library, Medici Chapel, and Santa Maria Novella church
We also visited the Medici Library and its astonishing collection of books, and the Medici Chapel which features Michelangelo sculptures. The Santa Maria Novella church is beautiful adorned with Gothic and early Renaissance frescoes not to be seen in the Duomo.

Day 9 (Christmas Eve): Morning train from Florence to Rome. Hotel: La Mongolfiera Rooms
We arranged a morning tour of the Vatican – through the Vatican Museums, Gallery of Maps, and St. Peter’s Basilica. We were in luck because this was a Jubilee Year, meaning the Holy Door was open. When you walk though, you are absolved of your sins. It is only open roughly every 25 years (the Pope decides when). I enjoyed having a guide, especially for the Vatican Musuems - the collection is massive. We were also lucky because St. Peter’s Basilica was more open than usual, in preparation for the midnight mass that evening (we were unable to secure tickets, despite my attempts to do so). Once we finished our tour, we strolled out of Vatican City, and back into Italy to our hotel. Later that evening, we attended a midnight mass at Basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. This was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. We were able to follow along, even though the mass was in Italian. Toward the end of the service, the Santo Bambino (a wood carving of the Baby Jesus from the 15th century) is revealed, and there is a processional, with everyone delivering him to the manger in the nativity scene inside of the church. It was touching and a wonderful mass if you are like us and had no luck getting Vatican midnight mass tickets.

Day 10 (Christmas Day): Capitoline Hill, Spanish Steps, piazzas, and Trevi Fountain.
Rome is pretty much shut down on Christmas Day, but we enjoyed strolling around the piazzas. We headed over to Capitoline Hill, walked up, then across, and came down the Spanish Steps before walking to the Trevi Fountain at night. It was packed after being virtually empty when we walked by the morning.

Day 11: Pantheon Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Imperial Forum
In the morning, we strolled the Piazza Navona (we were staying nearby). We were staying close to the Pantheon, but it had been closed until today, so we finally got to go inside in the morning.
In the afternoon, we took a guided tour into the Colosseum (walking through the Imperial Forum on our way there), followed by a walk through the Roman Forum. Definitely nice to have a guide at these things. There are a lot of people, and it’s good to have someone to tell you where to go and when. Walking back at night, we saw the Wedding Cake alit.

Day 12: Villa Borghese and more churches
We then took a taxi to the Villa Borghese where we had purchased tickets in advance (required – they severely limit entrance) and spent the day there. The Villa Borghese has a wonderful collection, but the museum itself is as much a star as the beautiful Bernini sculptures and Caravaggio paintings. It’s an intimate museum, where artwork is presented in small, well-designed rooms. It reminded me of the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston in a very general sense – a focused collection of outstanding artwork in a cozy setting. Definitely worth the trip if you like museums like me. It’s located in a nice park outside of the bustle of Rome.

In the afternoon, we visited San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, a tiny church designed by Borromini. We then visited Santa Maria della Vittoria, a church with an infamous sculpture by Bernini (The Ecstacy of St. Teresa). In the evening, we visited the Basilica Santa Maria in Trastevere (one of Rome’s oldest churches) to see the Byzantine mosaics.


Day 13: Travel home. FCO-CDG-LAX-SMF

NOTES:
1) I adored traveling in Italy at Christmastime. The churches are lovely. And sure it’s cool, but I don’t mind cold weather and it just isn’t THAT cold in Tuscany and Rome. This doesn’t stop the tourists in Florence and Rome, but the other places we visited were not overrun. The nativity scenes alone are worth a visit. N.B.: The bambino (Baby Jesus) is not in the manger until December 25.
2) Driving in the medieval part of Siena is not recommended. We should have arranged to drop our rental car here in hindsight (although we would have missed San Gimignano if we had), or at least done better research on where to park outside of the medieval part of the city. It is tough to navigate. The locals know what they are doing, but there are so many dead-ends and narrow streets, it is nerve-wracking. Do not rely on Google maps. We actually had to have a local help us back out of an alley when we got trapped in a dead-end.
3) Get printed maps before driving in Italy. Mobile service is not strong enough to support using your phone, and the maps are not great anyway for navigating towns.
4) Siena is overlooked by its larger neighbor – Florence – but I think Siena is certainly worth a few nights. While there are fewer of the traditional tourist sites, it is a wonderful place to stroll around and the medieval center feels frozen in time. I loved Florence, thinking back to my college art history classes, but Siena has an entirely different vibe that you won’t get with a day trip.
5) Re-entry into the U.S. through LAX is the worst. I’ve done it a few times and it seems worse each time. In future travels, we intentionally avoided LAX, even when it cost a little more to avoid it. We finally got Global Entry, so we might give it another go.
HisGirlFriday is offline  
Old Dec 31st, 2017, 07:17 AM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
thanks for posting this, HGF - sounds wonderful. Your lucky DH, getting to go on this trip on the back of your conference and lucky you to have his company. Also a good time of year to visit - last time we were in Siena [October about 10 years ago] it was hopping.

BTW, ref the size of Siena Cathedral, did you know that it was supposed to be more than 2x the size it is now, but work stopped in the C14 because of the Black Death and it was never resumed. If they'd ever finished it, it would have been enormous.
annhig is offline  
Old Dec 31st, 2017, 08:48 AM
  #3  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I did know that about the duomo in Siena - part of the original outer wall is still standing to give a sense of size. He wasn't my DH at the time - he was my boyfriend. He proposed in Rome on Christmas Day. Nice present, right?
HisGirlFriday is offline  
Old Dec 31st, 2017, 09:39 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 57,091
Received 5 Likes on 3 Posts
oh, that's wonderful - the best present. Belated congratulations.
annhig is offline  
Old Jan 4th, 2018, 09:14 AM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,012
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
lovely trip report and lovely story! Thanks for this idea of Italy at Christmas time, and esp. to smaller quieter places. I love Siena and am tired of Florence, as it is so crowded, but probably OK in the very early morning, like other big tourist cities. I prefer the countryside in Tuscany and Umbria.
Wish I could go back soon!!
taconictraveler is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
tribi
Europe
4
Jul 30th, 2007 05:25 AM
AmberND
Europe
10
Feb 5th, 2007 04:35 PM
Wonder_Woman
Europe
8
Oct 11th, 2006 08:26 AM
denino
Europe
7
Mar 11th, 2004 08:49 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -