Back from Italy
 

After months of planning a trip to Tuscany, Florence & Venice, I'm home doing laundry and unpacking! Thanks to Bob the Navigator who gave specific directions for finding Hotel L'Antico Pozzo in San Gigimano-many thanks-as we arrived late in the afternoon (late flight) and found ourselves lost in Tuscany at dusk, speaking little Italian-so when we finally got to San G. it was a tremendous relief to have your directions! It was easy to find thanks to you! The hotel was absolutely enchanting! Anyone with questions, just ask and I will try to answer! Italy was quite a place!! Sharon

I am going to Tuscanh for two weeks ( 6/19/ - 7/5 ) with my wife, another married couple and a single woman. We are concerned about the dress code for women in Italy. Can women wear nice looking shorts and sleeveless blouses? There is a discussion in Fodors any everyone seems to say no women cannot. What was your experience? Did you use the train system in Itlay at all and is so what was your experience like. We are taking a train from Cortona to Venice. We have also rented a car. Did you have any experience with a rental car. Any information wil be greatly appreciated.

Did you stay along the Cinque Terre at all? We are looking for a hotel in Vernazza. Also looking for a place to stay in Rome. Price range $100-125 a night.
We are traveling in September. Thanks

We'll be renting a house in Toscana mid June for a week, not far from Siena. Which were your five top experiences from your stay (including great restaurants) that you would recommend?

We rode the trains last year and found them usually to be on time. The second class could be hot. They were only crowded at rush hours. The station personnel were very helpful to us. We had passes so just got on.

Check in Siena to see if any activities are leading up to the Palio. Last June on a Sunday at noon we happened upon parades from each neighborhood marching and handing out leaflets. It was a memorable experience.

When I arrived in Vernazza last September 20, I couldn't find a room, as I didn't make any reservations. I walked down to the harbor and stopped in at the bar on the left hand side of the harbor and asked if they knew of any rooms available. The bartender immediately called a friend and he had a gorgeous apartment about 300 feet up from the harbor. The apartment had two bedrooms and a great kitchen. The only caveat is that we had to rent it for a minimum of three nights. That was fine with us as we had planned a three night stay in Vernazza. We had to go up two long flights of stairs, but it was well worth it. We were directly across the street from the bakery and we smelled the fresh bread each morning. Rick Steves hit the nail right on the head when he wrote about getting rooms in Vernazza.The price was $100.00 a night. We were two couples, so that made it quite a bargain.

I second the motion. MNy wife and I found a room in Vernazza for $50 a night the same way. Just wander around and ask. It's the best town to stay in at Cinque Terra.

"Dress code" It was very interesting to observe how the women dressed, as I too had the same dilemma. In Tuscany, women wore pants, skirts/dresses. Occasionally you would see a tourist in shorts-but infrequently. Sleeveless tops, tank tops etc are ok. I wore sandals the entire time and noticed that the women wore a variety of shoes! Tennis shoes for men & women were a sure sign of tourist (my husband wore them!) However, my feeling is, your wear whatever shoes are comfortable. My husband wore tennis shoes during the day and a pair of docksider/loafer type shoes in the evening. I wore pants and a jumper - I was determined not to overpack. In Florence, women wore alot of pants, but also skirts/dresses. Same here for shoes! I wore a sleeveless top into churches in each city we visited with not problem. There were signs outside the churches prohibiting shorts and uncovered shoulders, however, it was not enforced-they only required men to remove their hats. Venice-same dress "code", however, the women dressed much nicer on the overall. I wore the same things!!! Funny though, it was pretty warm in Venice and I did notice more people here in shorts than anywhere else. I confess, on our last day we both wore shorts and felt ok. However, at nite, it was back to pants/skirt/dress. Driving in Tuscany - get a good map when you arrive. If you know the exits you need, it is not that difficult. You can follow the autostrada or the superstrada - blue signs equal autostrada, green for superstrada. THe latter is the toll road. Fewer people in the small towns speak english well enough to give good directions, so be patient!! Get directions from the hotels you are staying at before you leave!! I didn't and what a mistake. The people drive very fast there, even on the country roads, which are incredibly gorgeous. THe back road are lovely, but slow if you need to get somewhere -but it is worth the drive. We drove into Florence to drop off the car at Hertz (Hertz was OK). However, even with a good map we could not find the streets and the traffic was worse than NYC or LA at rush hour-not only cars, but motor scooters! I would not ever ddrive again in Florence. Some nice Italian man on a motorcycle showed us the way to the rental place, otherwise we would have NEVER found it. Also, remember that many places, ie gas stations, close a couple hours for lunch. We arrived in Florence, planned to get gas, but forgot that the stations were ALL closed from about 1-3pm. Alot of the places in Tuscany also close in the afternoon for "lunch". Tuscany was very relaxing and beautiful. We just took in all the scenery, a few wineries and ate at numerous small restaurants. Everywhere we ate was great-not bad food!! Eat lots of gelati and wine/beer cost the same as water or other drinks. We stayed at L'Antico Pozzo in San Gigimano and it was lovely. It was clean, large room, modern bathroom etc & cost about 250000lire-worth every penny of it! In Siena we stayed at Hotel Duomo-it was ok-would not return there. Other questions re food-again, it was all good and there are numerous choices in terms of price and atmosphere. In FLorence, it is hard to find, but worth eating gelati at Vivoli-the best!!! In Venice we stayed at Hotel Do Pozzi. Very nice-clean, modern bathrooms and great location-would stay there again. Also, all the hotels had terrific breakfasts. We ususally ate a big breakfast, snacked throughout the day and had a good dinner. Plan to drink alot of bottled water during the day. It is hard to say my 5 favorite things. The beauty of Tuscany is indescribable! The Statue of David in FLorence in spectacular. Everyone, including me, just walks circles around it overwhelmed by its beauty. We went to the the museums, but frankly, renaissance art is not my cup of tea. If you go to the Uffizi, do make reservations in advance otherwise you will have a 2 hr wait. THere is a minimal charge to do it from the us-none of the museums are expensive. I really loved the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice-a must for 20th century art lovers. In Venice and Flor. there were several synagogues of great interest, as well as the "ghetto" in Venice, (if that's your area of interest). There is so much to see in each area and never enough time to do it all. We also decided that we would do what sites we could and not kill ourselves to hit all the sites. In Venice, in San Marco Sq. at nite there are 3 mini orchestras entertaining and people just stand and listen till 11pm & later (and eat gelati). Sorry if I am beginning to ramble!! If I have forgetten any questions sorry-will do more later.