Piccolina

I'm very much enjoying your trip report. Please keep it coming!

From the intro of the trip report, it sounds like you were there recently. May I ask how soon in advance did you make reservations for the hotels? I'm contemplating a trip to this area next June (although I know it's not the same timing as your trip) and am interested to know how far in adavnce I need to start making arrangements. Many thanks

Flame123

Piccolina - I am a "planner" and so I can tell you that I booked our B&Bs/hotels about 9-10 months in advance!! Because I usually do it this way, I always choose those places that do not require a percentage of payment up front at booking time and that have a very convenient cancellation policy.

All the places I booked above were of this nature. Also, since most places I choose are very small, as is the case also with those above, having few rooms means they book up quickly (as well as being highly rated on forums and travel sites).

ekscrunchy

I am thrilled that you loved the hotel, and that Agnese lived up to her stellar reputation!

I, too, had been frightened about driving on the Amalfi Coast and it turned out to be much easier than I had anticipated. And I am a pretty squeamish driver, used to staying within city limits. Once you got the hang of it, it was kind of fun to drive those curves.

Ready for more! We were in the area at more or less the same time, I think, although unfortunately I did not stay in Amalfi on this last visit.

Flame123

eks - Agnese is truly amazing and she deserves all the accolades one can heap on her. I thank you again for directing me to such a marvelous place!! I am NOT a squeamish driver at all and still people had me frightened about the coastal drive, it was really more of a breeze than a fright in the end!! The professional drivers on the road, i.e, bus drivers, trucks, etc. were amazingly patient and courteous and actually waved me forward and waited for me to pass them before they continued on their way. Super.

Yes I remember that you were in the area about the same time as we. Where did you stay and are you also writing up a report?

Flame123

This morning we had a lovely breakfast around 8:30 and by 10:00 we had the car out of the garage (it is about 200 meters from the hotel and parked by an attendant) and were on our way to Ravello, not far at all - only about 7 km - but it takes a while on this amazing serpentine road. We climbed up and up and were happy not to have too many occurrences where there were other cars OR BUSSES in the other direction and got to the center after parking before 11 AM.

We visited Villa Rufolo in the center piazza which is a lovely garden and villa and then we had a very long and quite hard climb of many stairs and winding roads to Villa Cimbrone, THE pearl of this town and on top "of the world" so they say. Amazing views, gardens, flowers, seaside, etc. Very hot today, back to summer weather here !!

Around 2 PM we stopped on our walk back for an hour break at a lovely under-the-trees shaded little bar where we had drinks and coffee. Then stopping at all the shops along the way I bought some beautiful ceramics (large bowl and platter) They packed it really well with bubble paper and so it is all set for its "ride home".

We left on time to try and get back to Amalfi before 4 PM (we are on a pedestrian street actually but they DO let cars come in and out verrrrrrry slowly) but there are certain times when you cannot go in and from 4-4:45 is one of them. Well as luck would have it, because of traffic etc. we got to the street entrance around 4:07. We asked the cop at the entrance if we could go in and sure enough he let us, I sure hope we will not have a ticket.......

At 8 PM we met downstairs for dinner and went to another place recommended by the hotel, also very good but quite expensive, well it IS a tourist town and nothing to be done. We DID however find, right across the street our first ability to have some sugar free ice cream - yogurt actually - and it was really great.

We plan on a coastal drive tomorrow towards Salerno and stopping all along the way wherever we feel like it.

TDudette

Sigh!

ekscrunchy

Enjoying this so much!

Flame: We drove up from Calabria. On the Amalfi Coast, I actually stayed in three different locations so my friends could get an idea of the lay of the land. Spent 3 nights in Ravello, 1 night in the hills of Furore, and 3 nights Praiano. (I thought the drive to Ravello,and from there into the hills of Monti Lattari, was more "challenging" than the Amalfi Drive)

We gave up the car after Furore and before our stay in Praiano (this was a mistake, especially in light of the fact that the hotel had free parking) and it was NOT fun to depend on the buses to get around from Praiano. Quite awful, in fact! I much preferred staying in Amalfi to staying in Praiano, partly for that reason.

Flame123

eks - sounds like you had an adventure as well!! In light of what you write about busses, I am glad that in the end we decided on having a car.

Here are our last two days in Amalfi and environs :


We had a delicious breakfast and were out by 10 AM after we got the car from the garage. We started out on the coastal road Amalfitana SS 163 which is THE hairpin curved famous road here and IT really was something!! It took a while to drive along it because as it is you cannot drive fast and there were TRUCKS and SEMI-TRALIERS and busses, etc. all along the way. But we were in NO hurry and enjoyed every second!!

After 5 km we arrived at Minori which is the small town that most of the service people in Amalfi live, like our hotel owner, a woman from a dress store here we met, the waiter in a restaurant we ate!! We happened upon a market going on then along the seaside so we stopped and walked around, etc for about an hour.

We passed by Maiori which is a larger town and more developed with many hotels along the seaside, large ones too. And continued VERY slowly with stops along the way for pictures, etc. through Cetara and on to Vietri sul Mare, a place where ceramics are the big thing and I bought some gorgeous pieces at ridiculously cheap prices. In one store we actually saw the young woman and man making the pieces and they were happy to have their picture taken. We spent about an hour here, also had some OJ and coffee before returning to the car.

There was a sign to the marina so we decided to take it on a wild road going down and then there was really nothing there, quite deserted but trying to get back up was a real issue and problem till we realized that the SAME small NARROW road also goes up and it was the ONLY way to go. Oh dear...... It was an experience!!!

From there we drove a very short distance to Salerno, the big city of the bay there where we entered into the center of town and luckily found a good parking place and walked around a bit. Visited the Duomo and had another coffee and ice cream and relaxed and people-watched a while before returning towards the car, walking along the long and beautiful promenade along the sea and then returning to Amalfi around 5:45.

I went up to the hotel roof terrace where they have a jacuzzi and an unbelievable large terrace with loungers, tables and chairs, etc. and it is just a piece of heaven. I will spend more time there before we leave because it was really something.

We planned on dinner at the same place as last night but they were full. So the restaurant suggested a place nearby which really did not have a lot of options but we managed with some appetizers and our yogurt afterwards.
Tomorrow POSITANO!!


Today we drove to Positano, it is in the opposite direction from Salerno and on another stretch of the gorgeous Amalfi coast road. The weather was iffy but not too bad and we managed to spend about an hour there before it started raining. It ended up raining the entire day and we were back early to Amalfi and everyone went their own way.

I ended up touring the beautiful cathedral right next to the hotel, having a campari/soda and coffee afterwards at Stella Maris - the first place we stopped on our first day in Amalfi and I ended there also, walking around the small streets and finding all sorts of narrow alleyways, covered passages, and hidden parts that I had not been to before. It felt a bit surreal and mysterious especially in the grey cloudy rainy day!! It was great.

We met for dinner at a small place right next to the hotel, it was OK, nothing special.

Tomorrow we leave for Le Marche and Ascoli Piceno !

annhig

Hi flame,

just found this and am enjoying it very much. too many years ago DH and I went to Sorrento for a week and visited many of the places you are talking about, including getting VERY sea-sick on the boat to Capri.

thanks for reviving the memory - I think!

Flame123

LE MARCHE!!


Today we were out at 10 AM and started driving towards Ascoli Piceno, via Salerno, getting messed up inside the city because the GPS is NOT good within the cities but eventually getting to where we needed and we stopped several times along the way. We ended up in Ascoli Piceno around 5:30, and the hotel is gorgeous. We dropped off the luggage in front of the hotel and then drove to the garage to park the car. Around 6:45 we met in the lobby, walked outside, we are in the MIDST of the gorgeous main piazza Arringo and there are several more here also. We are really in the greatest possible area of the city. As it happens today and tomorrow there is an antiques market right outside our door in the piazza (every third Saturday/Sunday of the month) so we walked around and enjoyed looking and people-watching.

Dinner was in a great place also right there in the piazza called Migliori (which will become "our place" for several nights) where we had the typical Ascolane stuffed olives, with meat, they are then breaded and fried. It was yummy.

They speak almost no English and I was able to practice my Italian!! We had delish roast chicken, potatoes, salads, red wine Ascolani and everyone was very happy.

We had a Jacuzzi bath in our room which was lovely right before going to bed and unwinding!! A great start to this beautiful area!!


The next day we had a lovely breakfast in the hotel in a really beautiful antiques-filled room. Everyone went their own way today although in retrospect we ended up doing mostly the same thing. We decided to spend the day here in Ascoli Piceno since the antiques market was all over the entire town and because it was a good day for that.

So each couple went out walking and through the town. Since it was Sunday we went into whatever church and/or park or little street we came upon, the town is indeed a jewel and absolutely gorgeous. It was Sunday so all the townspeople were dressed in their finest and the churches had music and organ singing, etc. It was fun. Weather is much colder here than south and I wonder what it will be like in Rome. But we are mostly prepared and not freezing too much.

Around 12:30 we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for drinks and coffee and it was terrific. After more shopping and walking we went back to the hotel around 2PM for a rest and we actually fell asleep till around 5 PM, I guess we needed it.

Around 7 PM we found a place to sit in the main square - Piazza Arringo - which is a stone's throw from our hotel. Piazza del Popolo is the other main square just across and we watched the passegiata with families dressed in their finest and meeting up with friends and family, etc. It was lovely. We each had a beautiful glass of white wine which of course was served with little antipasti.

We met for dinner again at Migliori which has become OUR restaurant here. I had an antipasti of delish meats and cheese with salad and roast potatoes. We shared a bottle of local white wine. Another great day and great meal in a wonderful town!!


The next day's breakfast included fresh pineapple and kiwis!!! We walked to the car parking, included in the price of the superior room.

We started out towards some small hill towns - Offida was the first. We stopped at a winery and tasted some wines - Pecorino and a Passerina, both of which were just "eh" and did not tickle our taste buds at all. Then a Piceno Rosso which was also not too good so we did not buy anything yet.

If I had to describe this area of Italy, I would say Toscana most resembles it but it is different. The colors, the fields, the towns are different, but somehow a bit the same....... Anyway, most of the town was deserted - it being Monday morning and many European towns close on Monday for half day or whole day and I forgot that. Anyway I also did not have any more memory on my camera card so I deleted some pictures that were not terribly important since I also did not find anywhere to buy a new card here (I just barely found a card in Ascoli Piceno in the evening).

We met a lovely older woman who started talking with us, I understood most of it and conversed with her a bit. She told us she was 88 years old and we could NOT believe it. She told us about her family, etc. I love these encounters!! Everyone here in this area is SO SO lovely, sweet, smiling all the time, helpful, etc. They know NO English and so I am really practicing my Italian here!! I need to come here for a while.......

By the time we got back to the car it was about 1 PM and I knew everything would be closed now, if not being Monday, being siesta time. So I suggested we drive to Grottomare, a seaside town on the Adriatic and thought we would be able to walk along a boardwalk, have some food or drink, etc. Well it is really the end of the season, there was no true boardwalk, and so we just settled on some food and drink in a small place that was open. It was OK but nothing special, we all had fish or seafood, chips, salad and drinks. It was cheap but not worth more.

We then drove some more and ended up where I next wanted to be in a town called Castagnano, another amazing little town. The drive and the roads though all day were so dreamy and amazing we could not stop ooahing and aahing the whole time. Here I took a road all the way up to what can only be described as the top of the world and everyone just held their breath because it was SOME ROAD!! We then drove back towards Ascoli, parked the car and walked back to the hotel.


It was another beautiful day today. Weather is crisp, air is clean and skies are completely blue. Today we went into the hills of Sbillini Mountains, the other side of Ascoli and was it gorgeous!!

First we stopped at Acquasante Terme, where as the name implies there is a hot terme springs there, sulfur in the air, a beautiful old town!!

We drove to Arquata del Tronto, another gorgeous town high up in the hills, what roads I drove on today!! There is a fortress there and we arrived at the top at 12:36 and they close at 12:30. Oh well, we enjoyed anyway without actually going inside. We continued the drive and had a coffee at a bar in Montegallo. All these small places look completely deserted, there was hardly anyone anywhere and we could not figure out why. Maybe the kids were in school, the adults at work, etc. As it is, most of these places have less than 1000 inhabitants anyway !!

We continued towards Montemonaco, and there we came upon a father and son tending to their firewood for the winter, plus two dogs. Entered some of the public parks there and the churches which were really lovely and started for the way back towards Ascoli Piceno, via Comunanzo.

We were back at the garage just before 17:00 and walked back to the hotel. Had another dinner at Migliori.

On our last day here in Ascoli Piceno, we had an early breakfast and by 8:30 we were ready to start our day. We decided to drive around the area some more today.

We went first to Ritrapansone, another beauty of a small town with old Roman walls, etc. We had the best cappuccino of our trip, so far, there in a really great little bar. We then went onto to Cupra Marittima, right on the seaside which again as before was very no-big-deal but probably because it is not the season, but we drove through, went into a supermarket (I love supermarkets in other countries). Then onto to Montefiore dell'Aso because I wanted to get to a cantina which we never did find but again a lovely town with gorgeous views. All the roads and turns and twists were amazing and we kept oohing and aahing.

We returned to the hotel in the early afternoon and had dinner at another hotel-recommended restaurant called Al Teatro - a chef restaurant. It was very good, very small and beautifully decorated. We had veal steaks, beef stew, beautiful antipasti of salamis and formaggio, great vino rosso, and a lovely evening.

Tomorrow we head to Rome!!

ekscrunchy

I just wanted to thank you again for taking the time to write this report. Ascoli sounds like a true gem and one I hope to visit someday.


Coincidentally, Ascoli was featured a few weeks back on an episode of House Hunters Intl. A couple (they have a blog and post on SlowTrav) was living there but could not afford to buy so they ended up in Trivigno, Basilicata.

Flame123

Funny how things come around in a circle. I did not see that episode on TV but I have been reading that couple's blog for a long time on Slow Trav.

Ascoli is a gem and I hope to spend more time there one day.

annhig

lovely report, Flame, thank you. Le Marche has been lurking on my "to do " list but thanks to you it's now risen very close to the top, especially as I would be able to practice my italian when I got there!

how many nights did you spend there, and how many more did you wish you'd had?

Flame123

Thanks annhig. We spent 5 nights in Ascoli Piceno and while we did a lot and saw much, I was under the misguided perception that it would be enough time to see also the Northern part of Le Marche and we never even touched it. Never got to Ancona, Urbino and surrounds. So definitely I need to get back to that area for visiting those places. And I would love to just "veg" for at least a week in Ascoli. So in a perfect world, with lots of vacation time - at least another 5 days in Ascoli and another 5-6 days in the Northern part of Le Marche.

I think I would be hard pressed to say where we found more sweet, helpful and just adorable (for lack of a better word - not trying to be patronizing here....) people. Truly a gem in every respect of the word.

annhig

We probably wouldn't have longer than 5 days either - we would fly into Rome, drive to Ascoli, then make our way back to Rome via Orbetello where I spent a week earlier this year. it's only about 150 kms north of Rome so would be ideal for the way back.

now to find the time to fit it in!

Flame123

Here is the last part of our trip - 3 glorious days in Rome!!

We set out for Rome, by chance, along road SS4 most of the way - smaller roads, windy and beautiful through the mountains of Lazio, never been there before and was really nice. Only connected to A1 quite close to Rome.

We arrived to the Rome airport and the Hilton Hotel exactly at 1:45 for our 2:00 PM pickup time with the driver from RomeCabs.

Our driver from the airport (I had arranged with RomeCabs a very very VERY good company and one that I HIGHLY recommend!! to wait for us at the Hilton Airport hotel, move the luggage from our car to their car, drive with us to the rental return, and then take us to our apartment - which is really what it is - in the midst of Rome ) - he told us that this morning there was torrential rain in Rome so much so that most of the city was FLOODED!! Traffic was horrendous, etc. etc. By the time we were driving with him most of the traffic was better, the flooding has receded, etc. And the rest of the day was great. Our landlady here told us that up until about 2 days ago it was 38 degrees Celsius here !!! Good thing I was not there then !!!

We are right around the corner from the Campo di Fiori in a tiny little street in an apartment building where other tenants live. Our apartment here consists of two lovely bedrooms – one very large, the other a bit smaller but still very good, with an adjoining bathroom for each, and in between them, a complete kitchen with breakfast items, and other items as well for cooking, etc. Just beautiful.

After settling into our rooms we immediately walked out in the afternoon to the Campo, then Piazza Navona and ended up at the Pantheon, all well within an extremely short walking distance and it is terrific! I had the first of many coffees at my beloved St. Eustachio which really WAS amazing and I bought four 500 gm bags - as a beginning - to take back home!! YUM. We made some supermarket purchases before returning to the apartment.

Then more walking and many many many pictures and back to room around 6:30 to rest, wash up and out to dinner at Baffetto 2, near the Campo, that I read had one of the best pizzas. It was indeed excellent but the crowning glory was the "spinaci" - spinach. How do they make it so delicious?

We also had an amazing salad Caprese with mozzarella.



On our first full day in Rome we had breakfast together in the morning in our kitchen, made a salad from veggies we bought the day before and it was great.

We split for the day and we went straight for the old Jewish quarter. Everything is SOOOOOO close to this amazing apartment we shall never stay anywhere else when in Rome!!! Anyway, on the way we walked through the Campo where there is a market every day and I bought two fresh figs to try - never had fresh figs before and they looked great - they were only OK. Then onto a bar for my first coffee of the day - cappuccino - near the river. Then we walked along the river till we got to the synagogue, also very close. We went to the Porta Ottavia where there are more excavations going on, through the Teatro de Marcello where we actually have never been I think. And just walked all along the very many small streets and alleys, walking into stores, picture galleries, etc. I found several restaurants that I had "marked" from my searches on the net, etc. and in the end we went into the most famous one called Piperno to try the very famous artichokes Jewish-style. Well they were indeed very very good but the restaurant was very fancy and I mean OLDDDDD waiters with white coat tuxedoes!! And so it was also very expensive but I took that mostly in stride!! After that we walked some more and went towards Piazza Venezia also very close and then the whole Foro Romano and to the Colosseo before returning all the way back home, on foot, tired but very happy.

On the way we stopped close by on Via Gubbonario where there is a place called Filletti di Baccala that we had read about (and I remembered to bring the article!!) where they serve JUST fried fillet of Baccala - cod and we wanted to try it. The article said it was open UNTIL 6 PM each day but it was closed. So we sat down at a bar right next to it, ordered coffee and light coke and asked the waitress. She said they open at 5:30 and we were tired enough and happy enough to just sit there and talk and people watch till then. It ACTUALLY only OPENED at 6 PM so the article was wrong. But we walked in and had the fish and pronounced it good. We saw a very long line the following evening out the door for this place!!

Back to the apartment around 6:30, at 8:20 we went out to the Campo to OBIKA the mozzarella bar for dinner. I had a burrata mozzarella of the four types they offered with prosciutto -YUM and a salad of rocket, bresaola (another type of hard salami) fennel and tomatoes, we shared some Gewurtztraminner wine and it was pure heaven. The place was gorgeous, the atmosphere was young and lively and everyone was happy. Onto the baccala area afterwards where we found sugar free yogurt gelato for us and everyone was full and happy going to bed.



We began our day today around 10:15 and walked to St. Eustachio where I had a cappucino and hubby had a hot chocolate with whipped cream. Yum. We sat and people watched for a while and then made our way towards Fontana di Trevi, because how COULD we not be there and throw in some coins right? Lots and lots and LOTS of people, I thought the season was coming to a close but apparently it is still going strong here. Wonderful weather, beautiful sunny clear blue skies, cool in early morning and night, warmer during the day but far from being a problem of heat. Just fabulous.

We then walked towards Piazza di Spagna and on the way I went into an eyeglasses store and bought THE most beautiful Gucci sunglasses. They "hit" me in the window and I just had to have them.

We then walked all around the Piazza, into and by good old Cafe Greco, all the fancy stores there, etc. and took some pictures. Finally ended up at Piazza Popolo where we sat and I had my campari soda and then a coffee. On the way back towards the hotel we walked another road the Via del Corso and stopped in several stores along the way but bought nothing.

Back to apt. around 4PM. We all now sat and had coffee together in the kitchen and told each other about our adventures

Dinner tonight was at Voglia di Pizza FINALLY a totally gluten free place I found and it was even really close to the apartment right off the Campo!!

We had a FABULOUSSSSSSSSSSSSSS dinner tonight at the restaurant right here in the neighborhood. It is actually so close that had we gone two houses down one of the other nights, we would have happened upon it. The guys had regular pastas and pizzas and we shared a "suppli" - those are rice balls with mozzarella cheese inside and fried, then each had a cacio e pepe (typical Roman pasta dish with pecorino cheese and freshly cracked pepper and that is it of course with olive oil and salt!!), and shared a pizza. WOW was it terrific!! I was SOOO full afterwards that could not even taste the sugar free yogurt they had in "our place" right near the restaurant. In any case we sure do know where we shall be having our lunch tomorrow before leaving Rome !!



Today we had a later breakfast and waited for Lavinia and her Mom to come to the apartment, they cleaned both our rooms and then we left all our suitcases in one of the rooms and it was locked until we returned to wait for the cab around 4:30.

We walked through the Campo this morning towards St. Eustachio for my last coffee THIS TIME in Rome and bought two more bags to take home!! Then towards Piazza di Minerva to see the statue, which was all under construction, Largo Argentina to say hi and bye to the kitties (cat sanctuary there), sunning themselves on the ruins!! Despar supermarket for last buys - parmeggiano, gorgonzola! YUM. Vacuum packed for the way by VERY nice young guy at counter, wink!!

Walked back towards campo, had last Campari THIS TIME at bar on the campo, people watched till 1:30, back to last night's yummy restaurant for gluten free pizza and other stuff. Sugar free yogurt for desert around the corner and just hanging out till time to get back to apt. Taxi at 5 PM to the airport and dreaming of another visit VERY SOON!!!

Flame123

topping if you missed the last part of my report.

jmct714

So glad you topped -- I had missed the latest installment!
Your apartment sounds lovely. Can you provide a link?
Thanks!

Flame123

With pleasure!!

http://www.flaminidomus.com/

And from tripadvisor :

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ome_Lazio.html

4carolina

Hi Flame,
We will be in Ascoli in mid-May,for 3 nights and wonder which map you used to plan your daily forays?Is there alocal tourist office providing info??i have been MIA from planning this trip for a couple of months,and need to get it all down shortly.Thanks !!