Three days ago DH and I were strolling along the Arno, enjoying the golden Florentine sun. I am now sitting in my home near Chicago, where it has been cold and rainy for some days now, and we even built a fire today. We’re missing the warmth of Italy.

But, I’m getting ahead of my story.

This was our first trip to Italy; a gift from DH to me when I completed my degree (at the advanced age of 50). While we travel frequently in the US, our European travels have been limited to a couple of trips to France, and since we knew no Italian and didn’t have huge amounts of time for travel planning and research, we decided to take a Rick Steves Rome city tour (one week) and then go on to Siena and Florence on our own, thinking that that first week would make us more confident and competent. This proved to be a happy compromise, and I found the advice on this forum to be invaluable (especially the parts about bus and train travel, which at first blush seemed to have been conceived by some deranged Italian to confound tourists). I will say that the transitions proved to be the most, um, interesting part of the trip – more of that later.

We left Chicago on Friday, September 25 and had an uneventful flight to FCO (except that we saw actor Ben Stein in Terminal 3 at O’Hare – I’m sure it was more fun for us than it was for him). We arrived a day early (the RS tour began on Sunday, 9/27) to recover from jet lag and get somewhat acclimated. The tour hotel (Hotel Aberdeen; Via Firenze, 48; www.hotelaberdeen.it ) was full that first night, so I booked a room at Suite Dreams (Via Modena, 5; www.suitedreams.it ), a boutique hotel which is ranked #1 of Rome hotels on TripAdvisor and was, according to MapQuest, just around the corner from the Aberdeen. Location location, location, you know. Per the RS tour suggestion, we took the Leonardo Express to Termini (yes, we learned our lesson and soon switched to cabs…) and made our way with our rolling bags and other luggage through the Piazza della Repubblica. The directions from MapQuest (and the RS tour) were going well … turn on Via Nazionale, turn on Via Firenze, then to Via Modena. OK, looking for No. 5. We see 31, 33, 35. Too big. So, we turn the other way, numbers go down to 21 and then it dead ends. Well, we’re confused. Go back the other way again (rolling the bags over the cobblestones) … finally happen to turn around and look at the numbers on the opposite side of the street, and see 13, 11, 9. Aha! Numbers don’t match! So, the same deranged person who designed the Italian bus system also does street addresses.

So, we finally find No. 5, but no sign of the hotel. Eventually we look to the side of the door and see a small bronze plaque, Suite Dreams. There are also signs for other businesses, including another hotel. This is our first lesson in how the Italians hide hotels in nondescript buildings. We weren’t expecting a huge sign akin to a HILTON or WESTIN as in the States, but we were expecting some sort of identity marker, like you’d find in Paris. Anyway, I pushed the button and they buzzed us in; we took the teeny lift up to the second level and found the most charming little hotel. Large room, huge bath (all black and glass and stainless steel) with lots of fluffy towels, and a view of the central courtyard. Very minimalist decor, but pleasant. Good wireless (I had taken my little netbook so I wouldn’t have to cart my “big” laptop across the Atlantic and it was the best little machine!) and a comfy bed. Nice breakfast; the usual, but with more variety. At breakfast we encountered another first for us – the coffee machine. It was obvious where to set the cup, and the pictures on the buttons indicated short or long … but it took a couple of tries before we figured out that the little foil-wrapped discs were coffee, and needed to be slipped in the slot before pushing the button. OK, we’re uneducated tourists. But, it was the only time we encountered this type of coffee machine for the rest of the trip, so I didn’t feel so bad.

We spent our first day figuring out the Metro (thus immediately broadening our Italian train station vocabulary, starting with "uscita"), going to the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano and working our way back up via the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. I had read the warnings about validating tickets (though I don’t see how you could avoid it in the metro, unless you jump the turnstyle) and as we were leaving the station after our very first trip, at St. John Lateran, there were two gentlemen in uniforms at the exit (Metro police? Regular police? Guys who like to wear uniforms on a Sunday morning?) checking everyone’s metro passes to see that they were stamped and were within the time limit. That was the one and only time that happened in our week in Rome so I don’t know if that was a singular experience or not. We also moved to the Hotel Aberdeen (which <b>was</b> just around the corner, as MapQuest had indicated) and then met with the RS tour group at 3 PM.

More to come…

Good and interesting start, I eagerly await the next instalment.

We are big Rick Steves' fans but we have never taken any of his tours. I am anxious to hear about his Rome tour (and of course the rest of your trip!).

"...especially the parts about bus and train travel, which at first blush seemed to have been conceived by some deranged Italian to confound tourists...."

Wait til you go to Sicily!

Honestly, I think all the address irregularities are throwbacks to the days when they wanted strangers to be lost. When one is at war with the next city, things get funny.

Wasn't San G. stunning? Can't wait to read more. Sigh...

Great start! Can't wait to hear the rest...

I can't wait to read your next installment, pur! Love your writing style and sense of humour. And Italy of course.

Another fan here and thanks for the effort in writing and sending all of us an interesting perspective.

I'm missing Rome and look forward to the rest!

Enjoying your story and waiting for more.

This was not our first RS tour (we toured France from Rouen, through Normandy and Brittany, down to Arles in 2001 – two weeks after 9/11…) so we knew what to expect. The Hotel Aberdeen was perfectly fine; not quite as sleek as Suite Dreams -- no wireless, smaller room and bath, less choice at breakfast – but there was no coffee machine to figure out! Comfortable in a homey sort of way, and the staff was very attentive. The tour leader was Italian, born in Florence, now living in Rome and also working at her family’s winery in Orvieto. The other tour members were from across the United States, from Boston to Seattle, Atlanta to southern California, Chicago, Iowa, and Michigan. The majority were couples, but there were single folks and families, too. It was a diverse group, with a dentist, two physicians, several teachers, a graphic artist, a biochemist, and a few PhDs (like me!)

While we could have done everything offered in the tour on our own, we wouldn’t have done it nearly as efficiently, nor as quickly, and it would have taken me a lot of time to figure and plan and think. Not that I’m against thinking, but sometimes it’s just easier to let someone else do the legwork and then tell me about it. The RS tours treat you as though you are an adult, and give you lots of time on your own to do what you like. The tours include all of the highlights that the first-time visitor would want to include anyway, and then you can figure out what else you’d like to do. If you want to do something that’s not directly associated with a tour activity, the guide(s) will help you accomplish whatever it is. I realize that tours aren’t for everyone, and I’m no fan of the usual “get on the bus, get off the bus, and then follow the guy with the umbrella” tours, but this works for us.

After introductions and discussion of tour logistics, we walked the area, stopping a couple of times for discussion about the history of Rome and its rise and fall and rise, ending up at the Spanish Steps. After a little time to gawk at all of the expensive stuff in the shop windows (what would I do with a 700 Euro umbrella, even if it is Versace?) it was up the steps and over to the Via Veneto for a group dinner. Everyone got a packet of metro tickets and we had a lesson in metro-riding from the Barberini stop. The rest of the week was a mix of group activities and free time. We started with the Coliseum, Forum and Pantheon, with a local guide with expertise in history and archaeology. Then the Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s, with another local guide who is an art historian and archaeologist. If you wanted to see the Pope, the guide provided tickets to the Papal audience. We took a bus to visit Ostia Antica, the seaport ruin on the coast, and stopped for a tour of the Catacombs of San Callisto on the way back to Rome. (Now <b>that</b> was spooky. I kept wondering what would happen if there were a power outage while we were down there. I’m sure they have emergency lighting and all, but we were in NYC in 2004 when the power went out all over the east coast and people were stuck in the subways, getting themselves out with the light from their cell phones. How many of us tourists had cell phones with us in the catacombs? …) We visited the Borghese on the last day, again with a local guide with expertise in art and history. The tour includes all tickets and entrance fees (so you ”skip the line”), all transportation, and about half of your meals (besides the hotel breakfast).

The group meals are at nice restaurants – not ones that will get a Zagat rating, but nice, solid places. The meals typically included the whole nine yards – antipasto, primo, secondo, and dolce. One day we had a cooking demonstration at a Sicilian restaurant – we got to visit the kitchen while the owner explained the dishes and ingredients, the chef cooked up single servings to show, and then we ate what we had just seen cooked. That meal started with a salad, then we had two pastas – one with cream, pistachios and cheese, and one with tomatoes, basil and eggplant – followed by grilled pork, and then espresso and cannoli. Wine was sometimes offered with the meals; when not, you were free to purchase whatever you liked, and sometimes we’d split a bottle with another tour couple. The final dinner was really lovely – a “rooftop garden” restaurant (which was enclosed, but whatever). As I mentioned, the tour guide’s family owns a winery in Orvieto, and she provided six wines for tasting with the meal. We also had a strolling guitar player, who sang all of the usual touristy Italian songs: <i>Volare, Return to Me, That’s Amore </i> … It sounds cheesy, but it was really sweet. We all sang. We danced. We drank wine and ate. The guide provided Perugina chocolates for everyone. And the final song of the evening was bittersweet, <i>Arrivederci, Roma.</i> Goodbye, goodbye to Rome …

Next, we’re off to Siena.

The RS tour officially ended on Saturday morning, but some folks left early to catch flights and we didn’t see most of them after dinner on Friday night. We were on our way to Siena, now armed with a week of Rome experience and somewhat comfortable in branching out on our own. I chose Siena because I figured it would be a much different experience from big city Rome (which it was) and because it would be a central location for day trips to into Tuscany (which it sort of was).

As I mentioned earlier, the transitions were the most interesting parts of the trip. After much research and reading of this forum, I had figured out that the best way to Siena was the SENA bus, which leaves from the Tiburtina station in Rome. So we schlepped our rolling bags and other luggage from the hotel back to Termini (we hadn’t yet made the switch to cabs, and as it had been a week since our “looking for Via Modena, 5” odyssey, we had forgotten what a pain it is to trek with luggage while simultaneously dodging traffic and clutching your belongings in fear that pickpockets will swoop down in your most vulnerable moment). (Boy, those parenthetical phrases can get long, don’t they?)

So, we take the B Metro line to Tiburtina, and emerge to find the train station. We see where to buy train tickets, and the train arrival/departure board, but nothing about buses. So I approach a nice young man in a blue uniform, smile real pretty, and start with my usual opener, “Buon giorno. Parla inglese?” Yes, he speaks a little English. Could he tell me where to get the SENA bus to Siena? He walks me to the station door and points to the right. “Over there.” OK, thanks. So, DH and I walk over there, but we still don’t see any buses. We decide that DH will take the bags and stand in a shady spot while I find the buses and get tickets. So, I venture a little farther, and still don’t see anything. Now, there are some other, local buses in front of Tiburtia, and there’s a clutch of bus drivers standing at the front, probably telling lies to each other. So, I approach them, put on my smile, and repeat my standard, “Buon giorno. Parla inglese?” Of course, this gets a round of guffaws and one replies with something like, “Of course we speak English, and Japanese and Arabic, too.” (I figure this out from his expression, and I catch “Japonaise” and “Arabique” or something similar in his reply.) So, I smile again, acknowledging my stupid question, and say, simply, “SENAbus? Siena?” The jokester takes pity on me and points in the same general direction as we were told earlier, but adds, “Behind square.”

So, I finally find a bunch of buses, and a line of folks standing in front of a widow with a large <i>Biglietteria</i> sign. All right! So, I get in line, and when I reach the window and ask for Siena, the clerk shakes her head and points behind her, “Inside.” OK … I walk around to where she pointed and find a row of small cubbies, like a mini strip mall. I head into the first little office. I wait in line again, this time for a long time as the clerk is on the telephone. When I finally get to the window, I ask for Siena and she shakes her head. “Next one.” OK … I go into the next little office; nope. “Next one.” When I am finally nearly out of options, I happen to get in the right line at the right window and am successful in buying two tickets from a bored young lady. I ask where the bus will be located (I know, I’m taking a big risk here …) and although her expression is one of disgust, she tells me that it will be in slot eight. Thank you Lord Jesus. I go back and retrieve DH, who thinks I’ve run off with Bonny Prince Charlie since I’ve been gone so long, and we get on the bus and have an otherwise uneventful three hour ride to Siena.

Once again, for the last time though, we get the rolling bags going and make our way from the bus plaza at Piazza Gramsci through the winding streets of Siena to our hotel. Based on recommendations from this forum I booked a room at the Piazza Ravizza, and it was indeed lovely. I had booked the loft room, as I had read on TripAdvisor that it was very roomy and had a big bathroom, but when we arrived they had upgraded us to a garden side room with a great view of the Tuscan hills. It was wonderful, as was the hotel in general. Thanks to all Fodorites for the great recommendation.

More to come …

Good, I'll be waiting for the next episode. You've given me some chuckles this morning, thanks.

I am thinking of taking that Siena bus - I will be sure to allow plenty of time now thanks

After we settled in the hotel we took a walk around town. Although I had several detailed maps, it was a challenge to navigate Siena’s winding streets. We finally just sort of went with the flow, and where we ended up, we ended up. We made it to the Campo about 3 PM, which I had seen in hundreds of photos – and it didn’t look as I expected. It turns out that we were there on the Saturday evening of the annual celebratory dinner for the Contrada which won the Palio run on August 16. This year it was the Owl Contrada. The main part of the Campo was roped off, surrounded by hundreds of pots of shrubberies. There were long tables set up, and were being covered with white tablecloths and being set with china and crystal. A fellow in a yellow slicker was standing on the edge of a tank set near the clock tower, as it was being filled from two big hoses. There was scaffolding all over the place, and four or five big screens were being set up at strategic places around the edges of the Campo. It was all quite festive, and we planned to return later in the evening to see the show.

We got lost a couple of times but finally managed to return to the hotel and then headed out to what turned out to be the best dinner of our trip. It was at a small (ca. 12 tables) restaurant about two blocks from the Palazzo Ravizza, the Osteria del Gatto (via San Marco, 8; http://www.osteriadelgatto.com/en/home.htm -- a not very informative website). The menu is handwritten and then photocopied every day, as it changes with what’s fresh and what’s available. We had the most marvelous, simple pasta (DH had ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta and sautéed in butter and sage; I had gnocchi in a gorgonzola sauce). Then DH had a beef stew of sorts, with caramelized onions and I had roasted guinea fowl. Yum. It’s not big, but it’s good.

After dinner we went back to the Campo to see how the Owls were doing. All of the tables were filled with folks in evening dress, and the head table was especially festive. The tank that was being filled with water earlier was now a fountain, with dancing waters and colored lighting that changed from red to blue to green to yellow. The big screens were showing recaps of the winning run, interspersed with live footage of the happy winners. At the back of the tables, near the Fountain of Joy, was a caged area filled with straw and feed, and the winning horse (I assume) was also there enjoying the festivities. Every so often the Owls would break into song. They were having a wonderful time. As we walked back to the hotel we came across a number of street parties, where non-winning contrade were showing that they could have a good time, too. Impromptu bars were set up at street corners, and there were flowers, more portable shrubberies, special lighting, etc. I’ll tell you what – the street cleaners were busy the next morning!

The next day was Sunday, and since we had decided to not rent a car we were stuck with either public transportation or an organized tour if we wanted to get out into the hill towns. Since there are few buses on Sunday (not that I would want to necessarily try a bus again that soon!) we opted for a tour which included two winery visits and stops in Monteriggioni, Castellina in Chianti, and San Gim. The Tuscan hillside was gorgeous, and I really enjoyed the stops in the small towns. We arrived at San Gim at dusk, and it was brooding and dark with its towers. The architecture was stunning, but we only had an hour or so there and all we were able to do was to walk by all of the souvenir shops, eat some gelato, and pass the ever-popular torture museum. I’ve always heard that San Gim is wonderful, and I would have liked to have seen it during the day. But we can be hopeful and plan on seeing it the next time in Italy!

Tomorrow we’re off to Florence. On a bus …

How lucky to be in Siena to see that celebration!

Yes, Yvonne, we were indeed lucky with the celebration party. It was something to see. And, the floors in the Duomo were also uncovered, so we were lucky there, too!

We finally got smart and took a cab from the hotel back to Piazza Gramsci to catch the bus to Florence. Not the SENA bus, but rather the Sita bus (that one letter makes all the difference!) The ride is cheap – something like 6.50 Euros one way, and once you figure out the system (there’s Area 1, and Area 2, and Area 3, and maybe Area 4) and the buses to Florence are either <i>Rapide</i> (ony a couple of pick up stops in town, and then straight to Florence in about one hour 20 minutes) or <i>Diretta</i> (makes three or four stops and takes two hours). Our bus was to be the 8:33, and I kept watching for one to arrive. None ever did, but I noticed that a bus which had been parked near the stipulated Area 3 now had its doors open. So I went over and asked the driver, who looked like an irritated James Carville, if this were the bus to Firenze and he nodded, just a little, but enough so that we stashed the luggage and made the easy trip to Florence.

The bus stops in Florence at a station just across the street from Santa Maria Novella, so we walked over, bought train tickets for the ride back to Rome before leaving for home, and then caught a cab to our B&B – the Casa dei Tintori, about a block from the Arno and just around the corner and down the street from the Basilica di Santa Croce. When the cab left us in front of what seemed to be an apartment building, I was ready – I checked and there was the buzzer for the B&B. No more wandering the streets with rolling bags looking for the hotel. It’s a small place (five rooms) on the second level of what was originally a dyers house (thus the name). Each room is a color – the red room, green room, yellow room, etc. It’s a small, homey place which makes you feel right at home. And the wireless is excellent!

Our first stop was Santa Croce, but much of the interior was swathed in canvas and surrounded by scaffolding. The tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo were visible, but Dante’s memorial and Machiavelli’s and Rossini’s tombs were hidden. The good people of Santa Croce had provided photos of the ones that were covered, and some tourists were taking pictures of the pictures – amazing what people will do sometimes. We did the usual Florentine things – Accademia, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, and the Dome. Florence is a beautiful city. But we did have one of our few encounters with some “ugly Americans” in Florence. We happened to sit next to a couple from Texas at a sidewalk café and we exchanged pleasantries. We learned that they were on a tour and they had only one full day in Florence. The wife had slept until noon (she wasn’t much interested in Florence) and the husband asked, “Tell me. Have you had any good food here in Italy?” We expressed our pleasure with the Italian cuisine we had experienced, but he wasn’t convinced. All they had had was pizza, which wasn’t nearly as good as the pizza they got at home in Texas. DH said that Chicago pizza (“our” pizza) was the best in the world, but that some of the Rome pizzas were darned good, too, especially that at Da Baffetto, if you liked thin crust. But Tex wasn’t convinced. He said that they were to go out to “an estate in the country” to have a “traditional Tuscan meal” that night, and he was hoping that would be good. I chimed in and said, ‘Well, if it’s a traditional Tuscan meal, you’ll probably have beans and wild boar.” Mrs. Tex had a look of horror on her face when we left them…

More to follow (but not lots more)!

I am really enjoying your trip report. Sounds like you had a good mix of tour and independent traveling, and the older I get, the more I appreciate a tour that treats you like an adult - it is not always so much fun to wander around aimlessly in certain situations. Plus, I like having other people to talk to besides the wonderful DH.

We stayed at the Palazzo Ravissa in the spring of '06, visiting our daugher who was studying in Siena - loved the hotel, the gardens, the views from our windows - we were just talking about it the other day and agreed we would stay there again if ever we get back to Siena.

Looking forward to more.

I feel your pain about asking where to buy tickets for buses, where to stand in line, etc....

I went through the same thing last week. We were waiting for the bus in Pesciera. The sign said to buy your tickets before getting on the bus but there wasn't a sales counter anywhere for buses. So I went into the train station, which is right in front of the bus stop, and asked the man selling train tickets where I should buy my bus tickets. He didn't know and had to ask a colleague. The colleague said, "on the bus" (which turned out to be true.) Then I asked him about the bus schedule. They had no idea.

In Switzerland, the bus and train schedules are dependent of each other so bus drivers and train ticket sellers are quite aware of both schedules.

When it comes to public transportation, Switzerland and Italy can be very different.

A great trip report so far. Thanks for posting.

"While we could have done everything offered in the tour on our own, we wouldn’t have done it nearly as efficiently, nor as quickly, and it would have taken me a lot of time to figure and plan and think."

As you later found in your bus search, the above sentence incapsulates the difference between DIY and tours. On the other hand, the freedom to stay on in a place you enjoy is sacrificed with a tour.

You could have been DH and me-one person minding the luggage while the other searches for "over there"! Yes, a little coordination would be helpful but c'est la vie in Italie!

Glad you hit Siena at a good occasion!