Cassandra's Trip Report Part 3 - Florence, Bellagio (Como), Venice
Jun 2nd, 2005, 01:23 PM
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Cassandra's Trip Report Part 3 - Florence, Bellagio (Como), Venice
FLORENCE: Not on our original itinerary but shoe-horned in for two travelers with a taste for the Renaissance. Getting there from Sorrento entailed connecting from the Circumvesuviana in Naples and then having the train reverse direction in Rome (see my general notes in Part 1). A reasonably pleasant trip, with nice if teasing glimpses of Tuscany. Once there, remember that street numbers come in two types, with an “r” referring to residential addresses, not retail, restaurant, or office addresses.
Hotel: Hotel Silla is in a charming and very convenient location (reviews on Fodors are mostly accurate). The entrance through a small atrium puts one in a very mellow frame of mind, but the bathrooms disappointed younger members of the group. One had only a minute shower with peculiar mitred-corner doors; the other had a bath with hand-held shower attachment and tricky surround. Breakfast on the terrace was nicer in theory than in fact, but pleasant nonetheless.
Restaurants: Nothing memorable here, I’m afraid -- we only had 2 dinners anyway and were short of time -- but the gelato is exceptional almost no matter where you get it. This is Mecca for gelato adorers. The Osteria de'Benci was handy but beyond slow, even for an Italian restaurant.
Sights: The dominant theme: <i> climbing </i>!!! Went directly to Boboli Gardens with only 1 ¼ hrs. to closing. Lumbered up the street to the entrance, then lumbered up the double-flight of stairs to the first terrace, then lumbered further up the stairs to the second terrace only to find another set of imposing steps up to a top terrace from which we had a spectacular but literally breathtaking view. Then we clambered down the stairs in search of more fountains, grottoes, flowers and found that a major pond/fountain was down a long hill up which we would have to lumber to get back to the stairs to the exit within 45 min. It’s a beautiful walk down and a beautiful, peaceful place, but Cassandra wondered on the way back up if there might be defibrillator paddles hidden in any of the sculptures, just in case. The next day, after the Uffizi, all but the faint-hearted Cassandra climbed the 463 steps up the dome of the Duomo. Everyone swore more time on the StairMaster once we got home.
About the Uffizi: Reservations are a MUST but easy enough to get; there’s no excuse for finding yourself waiting 2 hrs. in line for entry. It’s one of the many Firm Italian Rules we encountered that no one may enter sooner than 10 min. before their reservation. The Uffizi seems just about the right size for a museum encounter, although you may find yourself doubling forward and backward if you weren’t foresighted enough to use the restroom before starting your visit. The restrooms are at the end.
Otherwise, much of Sta. Croce was roped off for restoration, but it was still moving to see the tombs/memorials to the likes of Rossini, Dante, etc. And the perfection of the Brunelleschi cloister was calming on a hot, hectic day.
Best part of Florence: purely subjectively -- other than the grace of the architecture, the smell of the leather shops everywhere. Not quite up to the rapture of honeysuckle and orange-blossoms all over Sorrento, but nice.
Best unexpected moment of the trip: seeing an otter frolicking in the Arno! (Cassandra is ridiculously fond of otters.)
Jun 2nd, 2005, 01:24 PM
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BELLAGIO:
Getting there was half the drama: First, there are at least two ways to get there: train to Milano thence Como and a long, meandering ferry ride (1-2 hrs.); or train to Milan thence Varenna, and a very short (15 min.) ferry ride. We opted for the latter (and recommend that because the ferry from Como doesn’t run very late into the evening, which turned out to be an important point for us). However, the train from Florence sat stopped for almost an hour outside of Milan, and after a fair amount of incompetent eavesdropping in Italian and some more direct questions of various bilingual fellow passengers, we learned that construction workers up ahead had found an <i><font color="red">unexploded WW2 bomb </font></i>. Eventually -- and I assure you, I have no idea how or if the matter was resolved, but we heard no BOOM even though some of us were a mite jumpy by then -- the train crept forward and we arrived in Milan at the very moment our proposed train to Varenna left. We had to wait 2 hrs. to the next one, but it took a good hour just to get our bearings and the necessary information because the station was jammed with passengers from other trains delayed by the bomb.
According to a Herald-Tribune story about another such bomb later on, this is not so unusual occurrence, but the problem is that the bombs (fiendishly clever British bombs) are rigged to explode if handled more than once in 6 days. We could still be there, by my calculations.
It was well after 7 pm when we left Milan on the train to Varenna -- a beautiful ride, btw -- and we got to Varenna just 15 min. before the next-to-last ferry of the day would take us to Bellagio. The sun had set, the sky was cobalt blue with streaks of peach, and the mountains glowed. A mystical, mind-photo moment. As we approached Bellagio, it all seemed magical, almost enough to make us forget we hadn’t eaten -- but not quite.
Hotel: The Du Lac had been described to me as “faded glory but nice enough,” and that seems accurate. This time the bathrooms prompted some tricky weighing-of-priorities as the group decided who got which room: one had bath with no shower; the other had the familiar minute shower with mitred-corner doors. The view out the first (second) floor windows over the water to the mountains was spectacular, but the heat rising from the tiled portico roof equaled a pizza oven’s, and the rooms were dark except at sunset and sunrise. And overnight (see “wish I’d known” comment below). Another occasion on which I’m sure rooms on higher floors were preferable -- heard people rebooking those rooms for 2006 as they checked out. One lamp, three lampshades, and one toilet needed repairs, and no bulb seemed brighter than 15 watts. At 9:45pm, we were pretty much limited to the very upscale in-house restaurant, eating at the street-level sidewalk tables. The food was actually quite good if pricey; we were discouraged from ordering dessert because it was so late. Fair enough. Breakfast was excellent in a room with a view, just below ours.
Wish I’d known: that there were shutters for the windows that were functional. Bright lights from the ferry landing shone in the room through the in-no-way lightblocking curtains, and it was only on our last night that one of us figured out that there were shutters and they could be closed over the window.
Restaurants: I already talked about the Bilacus and the Mistral by accident in Part 2. Go back and read that. Wish we’d had one lunch out on the “punta”/point, just for the view.
COMO: Mostly just to take a cheap cruise of the lake, we took the slow ferry down to Como on what turned out to be a blistering hot day. The lake breezes were cool, and the scenery impressive, making us wish we had time to stop at all towns and villas. But the ride was a longish 2 hrs. with many milk-stops; and Como -- compared to 30-year-old memories -- is an unimpressive and/but developed town and, other than our funicular ride up to Brunate, we regretted taking the time to go there. If you ARE stuck in Como for a few hours, do walk to the funicular and take it up to Brunate -- there isn’t much to do or see other than a couple of small sidewalk cafes near the funicular -- but the view from the funicular is spectacular. (And thank Apollo you don’t have to climb it!) The funicular runs every half-hour, takes about 7 minutes each way. You won’t believe how high it goes; I know our ears popped.
Getting there was half the drama: First, there are at least two ways to get there: train to Milano thence Como and a long, meandering ferry ride (1-2 hrs.); or train to Milan thence Varenna, and a very short (15 min.) ferry ride. We opted for the latter (and recommend that because the ferry from Como doesn’t run very late into the evening, which turned out to be an important point for us). However, the train from Florence sat stopped for almost an hour outside of Milan, and after a fair amount of incompetent eavesdropping in Italian and some more direct questions of various bilingual fellow passengers, we learned that construction workers up ahead had found an <i><font color="red">unexploded WW2 bomb </font></i>. Eventually -- and I assure you, I have no idea how or if the matter was resolved, but we heard no BOOM even though some of us were a mite jumpy by then -- the train crept forward and we arrived in Milan at the very moment our proposed train to Varenna left. We had to wait 2 hrs. to the next one, but it took a good hour just to get our bearings and the necessary information because the station was jammed with passengers from other trains delayed by the bomb.
According to a Herald-Tribune story about another such bomb later on, this is not so unusual occurrence, but the problem is that the bombs (fiendishly clever British bombs) are rigged to explode if handled more than once in 6 days. We could still be there, by my calculations.
It was well after 7 pm when we left Milan on the train to Varenna -- a beautiful ride, btw -- and we got to Varenna just 15 min. before the next-to-last ferry of the day would take us to Bellagio. The sun had set, the sky was cobalt blue with streaks of peach, and the mountains glowed. A mystical, mind-photo moment. As we approached Bellagio, it all seemed magical, almost enough to make us forget we hadn’t eaten -- but not quite.
Hotel: The Du Lac had been described to me as “faded glory but nice enough,” and that seems accurate. This time the bathrooms prompted some tricky weighing-of-priorities as the group decided who got which room: one had bath with no shower; the other had the familiar minute shower with mitred-corner doors. The view out the first (second) floor windows over the water to the mountains was spectacular, but the heat rising from the tiled portico roof equaled a pizza oven’s, and the rooms were dark except at sunset and sunrise. And overnight (see “wish I’d known” comment below). Another occasion on which I’m sure rooms on higher floors were preferable -- heard people rebooking those rooms for 2006 as they checked out. One lamp, three lampshades, and one toilet needed repairs, and no bulb seemed brighter than 15 watts. At 9:45pm, we were pretty much limited to the very upscale in-house restaurant, eating at the street-level sidewalk tables. The food was actually quite good if pricey; we were discouraged from ordering dessert because it was so late. Fair enough. Breakfast was excellent in a room with a view, just below ours.
Wish I’d known: that there were shutters for the windows that were functional. Bright lights from the ferry landing shone in the room through the in-no-way lightblocking curtains, and it was only on our last night that one of us figured out that there were shutters and they could be closed over the window.
Restaurants: I already talked about the Bilacus and the Mistral by accident in Part 2. Go back and read that. Wish we’d had one lunch out on the “punta”/point, just for the view.
COMO: Mostly just to take a cheap cruise of the lake, we took the slow ferry down to Como on what turned out to be a blistering hot day. The lake breezes were cool, and the scenery impressive, making us wish we had time to stop at all towns and villas. But the ride was a longish 2 hrs. with many milk-stops; and Como -- compared to 30-year-old memories -- is an unimpressive and/but developed town and, other than our funicular ride up to Brunate, we regretted taking the time to go there. If you ARE stuck in Como for a few hours, do walk to the funicular and take it up to Brunate -- there isn’t much to do or see other than a couple of small sidewalk cafes near the funicular -- but the view from the funicular is spectacular. (And thank Apollo you don’t have to climb it!) The funicular runs every half-hour, takes about 7 minutes each way. You won’t believe how high it goes; I know our ears popped.
Jun 2nd, 2005, 01:25 PM
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VENICE: Bella Venezia!!! Such a pleasant surprise, after expecting worse crowds and gimcrackery and pickpocketry and smelly canals. Only deterioration 20-30 yrs. after previous visits was the ubiquitous, depressing graffiti. Otherwise, it still can enchant.
Arrival: Had to reverse the ferry-train-train process through Milan, but much easier without bombs on tracks. Had done our homework about the vaporetto and bought -- perhaps foolishly -- the blue card good for 72 hrs. and all the public restrooms you can use. I never ever ever saw anyone check anyone’s tickets or passes. Managing luggage getting on and off is a trick, but not as much of a trick as managing luggage going up and down the stairs of all the bridges over small canals. We had two to get to our hotel, but by now we had quads of steels, all of us.
Hotel: Big surprise here! I had feared that the B&B Locando Ca’Gottardi, near the Ca D’Oro vaporetto stop, might be a somewhat homespun B&B with Italian accent; what we got was a stylish, modernistic boutique hotel! Warning: <i> no elevator</i> to get to lobby/rooms level (Cassandra promised everyone she’d checked that, but apparently not….. sigh ….); but the desk clerk came down and asked “which is the heaviest case” and helped us with that. The rooms were the smallest and darkest yet (windows looking out on a wall), but the décor was carefully thought out -- padded damask walls, yet!. The lobby-breakfast area is just beautiful, albeit with deeply disturbing paintings of red nudes entangled in sex, battle, or death -- unclear which.
But it was the bathrooms that enchanted Laptopper and GF (and were fine for Cassandra and DH)! One needed to file a flightplan before using them, especially for a shower. The shower enclosure was round and looked like something Willie Wonka might have designed for a space launch. After about 10 minutes of reading directions, one could either take shower at any level from 4 to 6 feet overhead, experience spitting spigots up and down one’s body, or -- the perfect thing after a 90F day of sightseeing -- start the steambath. Discerning just which way to push what lever in the sink was a lesser challenge, and it only took a moment to figure out where the water would come out.
I highly recommend this hotel, but I also urge any guest to make sure the shower door is fully rotated to the closed position and to know what the temperature of the water is <i> <font color="blue"> before </font></i> turning on the multiple spitting spigots up and down one’s body. The walls are padded but they can’t filter out particularly loud screaming.
Food: Tired of killing time perusing restaurant-review cribsheets and then having diplomatic 4-way negotiations about choices, we braved following the suggestions of the hotel desk and owner. We were glad we did, particularly in the case of Al Vagon on a side canal in Cannaregio not too far from either the Rialto or the Ca D’Oro stops. The food was good enough though not stellar, but it seemed the perfect place for our last dinner -- with one-light gondolas slipping silently past the arched porch where we sat.
Sights: As in Rome, San Marco means crowds crowds crowds… and sometimes imposingly gigantic cruise ships being towed out to open water. We “did” Peggy Guggenheim’s museum (younger half of group was unimpressed) and Murano -- which taxed everyone’s patience, I’m afraid. You have to know precisely what you want and/or what is good glass, and be aware that a great deal of what you see was made in China. The contempt of the shop owners, and even the “furnace” managers, for those who are not going to spend big bucks is palpable. I’ll also list a very expensive gelato break at Café Florian here as a sight, not a restaurant -- we went there as a tribute to my grandmother, who dallied there with a Russian count ca. 1915. Note: we pointed out to the waiter that there was no music at the moment, therefore we should not pay the 5 Euro “music cover,” and he smilingly agreed. It was heavenly but pricey gelato.
Best find of Venice and best shopping find of the trip: Galleria Cristallo 3D Face-Scan, about half way between the Rialto and S. Marco on Calle dei Fabbri. For not an exorbitant fee, one can have one’s 3D photo taken (think hologram) and then inscribed within a glass cube. The result can be seen from all angles, even in natural light. Laptopper requested a portrait of Cassandra and DH (thereby misting Cassandra’s eyes a bit), and we had Laptopper submit to one (which took three tries to subdue hair and Get The Eyes Right), which he was happy to do. There was also one done of GF. The result was good, the cost less than 200 E for a total of 4 of varying sizes, with a discount for cash. It’s possible someone does this in one of America’s large cities, but I hadn’t seen it before and am delighted with my glass portrait of Laptopper. The website http://www.galleriacristallo.com/ gives an idea but doesn’t do it justice.
GOING HOME: There seems to be no middle ground between a 20-min. watertaxi ride to the airport for 80E and a 1 ½ to 2 hr. trek by walk to Fondamenta Nuovo to the shuttle boat or to Pza Riale bus for less than 10E. We opted for the taxi, despite the cost, and were glad we did when we encountered a couple of levels of chaos in the airport. Note: from the water shuttle or taxi dock to the airport is a LONG walk; take the free, yellow bus shuttle that circulates nearby.
POST SCRIPT: The Lawn Guest House in Horley, UK, near Gatwick, is a charming way to spend an overnight layover; the Khushboo Indian restaurant is a good restaurant to take your mind off not having good Italian food again for a while.
Arrival: Had to reverse the ferry-train-train process through Milan, but much easier without bombs on tracks. Had done our homework about the vaporetto and bought -- perhaps foolishly -- the blue card good for 72 hrs. and all the public restrooms you can use. I never ever ever saw anyone check anyone’s tickets or passes. Managing luggage getting on and off is a trick, but not as much of a trick as managing luggage going up and down the stairs of all the bridges over small canals. We had two to get to our hotel, but by now we had quads of steels, all of us.
Hotel: Big surprise here! I had feared that the B&B Locando Ca’Gottardi, near the Ca D’Oro vaporetto stop, might be a somewhat homespun B&B with Italian accent; what we got was a stylish, modernistic boutique hotel! Warning: <i> no elevator</i> to get to lobby/rooms level (Cassandra promised everyone she’d checked that, but apparently not….. sigh ….); but the desk clerk came down and asked “which is the heaviest case” and helped us with that. The rooms were the smallest and darkest yet (windows looking out on a wall), but the décor was carefully thought out -- padded damask walls, yet!. The lobby-breakfast area is just beautiful, albeit with deeply disturbing paintings of red nudes entangled in sex, battle, or death -- unclear which.
But it was the bathrooms that enchanted Laptopper and GF (and were fine for Cassandra and DH)! One needed to file a flightplan before using them, especially for a shower. The shower enclosure was round and looked like something Willie Wonka might have designed for a space launch. After about 10 minutes of reading directions, one could either take shower at any level from 4 to 6 feet overhead, experience spitting spigots up and down one’s body, or -- the perfect thing after a 90F day of sightseeing -- start the steambath. Discerning just which way to push what lever in the sink was a lesser challenge, and it only took a moment to figure out where the water would come out.
I highly recommend this hotel, but I also urge any guest to make sure the shower door is fully rotated to the closed position and to know what the temperature of the water is <i> <font color="blue"> before </font></i> turning on the multiple spitting spigots up and down one’s body. The walls are padded but they can’t filter out particularly loud screaming.
Food: Tired of killing time perusing restaurant-review cribsheets and then having diplomatic 4-way negotiations about choices, we braved following the suggestions of the hotel desk and owner. We were glad we did, particularly in the case of Al Vagon on a side canal in Cannaregio not too far from either the Rialto or the Ca D’Oro stops. The food was good enough though not stellar, but it seemed the perfect place for our last dinner -- with one-light gondolas slipping silently past the arched porch where we sat.
Sights: As in Rome, San Marco means crowds crowds crowds… and sometimes imposingly gigantic cruise ships being towed out to open water. We “did” Peggy Guggenheim’s museum (younger half of group was unimpressed) and Murano -- which taxed everyone’s patience, I’m afraid. You have to know precisely what you want and/or what is good glass, and be aware that a great deal of what you see was made in China. The contempt of the shop owners, and even the “furnace” managers, for those who are not going to spend big bucks is palpable. I’ll also list a very expensive gelato break at Café Florian here as a sight, not a restaurant -- we went there as a tribute to my grandmother, who dallied there with a Russian count ca. 1915. Note: we pointed out to the waiter that there was no music at the moment, therefore we should not pay the 5 Euro “music cover,” and he smilingly agreed. It was heavenly but pricey gelato.
Best find of Venice and best shopping find of the trip: Galleria Cristallo 3D Face-Scan, about half way between the Rialto and S. Marco on Calle dei Fabbri. For not an exorbitant fee, one can have one’s 3D photo taken (think hologram) and then inscribed within a glass cube. The result can be seen from all angles, even in natural light. Laptopper requested a portrait of Cassandra and DH (thereby misting Cassandra’s eyes a bit), and we had Laptopper submit to one (which took three tries to subdue hair and Get The Eyes Right), which he was happy to do. There was also one done of GF. The result was good, the cost less than 200 E for a total of 4 of varying sizes, with a discount for cash. It’s possible someone does this in one of America’s large cities, but I hadn’t seen it before and am delighted with my glass portrait of Laptopper. The website http://www.galleriacristallo.com/ gives an idea but doesn’t do it justice.
GOING HOME: There seems to be no middle ground between a 20-min. watertaxi ride to the airport for 80E and a 1 ½ to 2 hr. trek by walk to Fondamenta Nuovo to the shuttle boat or to Pza Riale bus for less than 10E. We opted for the taxi, despite the cost, and were glad we did when we encountered a couple of levels of chaos in the airport. Note: from the water shuttle or taxi dock to the airport is a LONG walk; take the free, yellow bus shuttle that circulates nearby.
POST SCRIPT: The Lawn Guest House in Horley, UK, near Gatwick, is a charming way to spend an overnight layover; the Khushboo Indian restaurant is a good restaurant to take your mind off not having good Italian food again for a while.
Jun 2nd, 2005, 01:34 PM
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Thanks for the report, Cassandra!! Question about Hotel Silla. In Sandra Gustavson's Cheap Sleeps book, she says that this hotel is a thirty-minute walk to Pitti Palace. Can this be true? Could you tell me approximately how long a walk it is, for example, to the Ponte Vecchio. It sounds like a good choice but I am wondering about the location; you say it is a good one, yes??? Most of the places I like to eat are on that side of the river and it is difficult to find a good, moderate priced hotel there. Thanks again!
Jun 3rd, 2005, 07:01 AM
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Hi Cassandra, nice report. Thanks. We spent quite a while staring at all the holograms in the window of the shop you describe. They were facinating although a few of them seemed eerie - something about the eyes, I think. I'm glad that yours turned out so nicely.
Jun 3rd, 2005, 07:24 AM
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Cassandra, thank you so much for sharing all your trip info with us! We're getting ready to leave in just 5 days ( Oh My Gosh!!!) and I really appreciated all your tips and humor and insight. Thanks!
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