SusanP

dina, it sounds as though you had a great trip. I also spent a couple of days on my recent Italy trip at the pool, just swimming and relaxing, and it was great. Looking forward to more.

dina4

bfrac- We had a hard time finding a lot of info on Milan in this forum, and a lot of people are sort of neutral about it. So we were pleasantly surprised. I think if you plan on one full day, you will be happy with seeing the main sites. I would also recommend buying tickets for a performance at La Scala if you can.

Susan -- i'm glad you had relaxing time in Italy, too!

dina4

FLORENCE

We took the Eurostar 1st class train from Milan to Florence. It was so nice, we were sorry the ride was over! (The Amica fare was available for first class a few days before, whereas the amica fare for 2nd class was sold out. That made the differential practically nothing!)

This was our 3rd trip to Florence as a family. While many don’t enjoy their time here, especially in the summer, we adore this place.

Highlights:

1. Renting an apartment. We stayed in the Conti Apt, rented through Sleeping in Florence, and it was spacious, clean, and very comfortable. The air conditioning worked wonderfully, and the whole rental process was painless and smooth. It was in a very central, convenient location and was a great value, too -- 155 euros per night for a 2 bedroom apartment, half a block from the Baptistry on San Lorenzo street. (no minimum stay)

2. Exploring the Boboli Gardens early in the morning and having the place to myself! Beautiful and serene!

3. Climbing the dome of the Duomo. My husband and I had read Brunellesci’s Dome and were eager to do this. We got there first thing in the morning (maybe 30 minutes after opening) and there was no line. It was definitely warm, and a bit crowded, but we LOVED the experience. Honestly, though, I don’t know how anyone can do this in the middle of the day in the summer heat with crowds. Our son joined us, but our daughter has claustrophobic tendencies and decided to skip it and sleep in. (Probably a wise move on her part. She could have probably handled 80% of it, but the other 20% was pretty tight.)

4. Finding Michelangelo in Florence. We had also read The Agony and the Ecstasy, so were eager to explore some Michelangelo sites. We sent to the Medici Chapel and San Lorenzo Church. We found the Library he built here. Gorgeous! These were all sites that weren’t on the top of our list on our earlier visits, but it was so fun to get to see them after reading this amazing book!

(which brings us to...)

5. Seeing DAVID. No matter how many times you’ve seen this masterpiece, it bowls you over every time.

6. Shopping in the open air markets. (well, this was mostly a female highlight for our family)

7. Renting bikes at the train station and riding through the city. (Or otherwise titled, living dangerously in flip-flops and without helmets on bicycles in Florence). We spent most of our time in the Oltrano section. My husband and son also rented bikes on another day and rode UP to Piazza Michelangelo and back. (My daughter and I opted out of this uphill adventure (“Are you kidding -- it’s 100 degrees outside!!”), but they had a great time.

8. Walking through the Piazza della Signoria one night after dinner to find a full symphony orchestra and choir belting out Beethoven’s Ninth. We felt this was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was SPECTACULAR!!

and last but not least... EATING!! Here are our tops:
(so many restaurants, so little time)

1. TrattoriaSostanza -- this is one of our all time favorites. Consistently fantastic -- we’ve eaten dinner here five times.

2. Osteria Del Cinghialia Bianco (The White Boar) -- this is my new favorite. We ate here twice, recommended by a friend in Los Angeles who said it was the inspiration for the Italian restaurant he opened here.

3. Trattoria Mario -- they only serve lunch. Limited menu and simple dishes, but beyond belief flavor. Always crowded.

4. Osteria L’Antico Noi -- bar none the best sandwiches we have ever had in our lives.


Only Disappointment:

Not enough time for more meals in this city.


Next up: a stop in Siena for the PALIO!!

SeaUrchin

dina, thanks for another wonderful report.
What is the name of the restaurant in Los Angeles? I always enjoy the
Osteria Del Cinghialia Bianco in Florence too.

Maizy

Dina, what a great trip report!

I enjoyed hearing about your teens and the fun they had. I've been to Italy several times, and next summer I'm planning to take my 14 year old granddaughter with me. We will be in Tuscany for the most part.

She is pretty mature, and every time I go she begs me to take her.

Several folks I've talked to say that she might be bored , so I will try some of the things that your teens did.

Also, I imagine Italian teens wear about the same the same as here....maybe a bit more formal sometimes. I don't want to drive you nuts about footwear, but my teen wears flip-flops almost all the time (we live in Florida). I think she might need flats as well.

I'm sorry you missed Villa Carlotta this time; but you can visit again maybe. I didn't see George Clooney either! In Portofino they said I should have come last week as they said he was there then. ha ha

Again your trip report is great, and you were all over Italy! Good for you. If you or anyone else has some tips for my trip with my special girl, I would appreciate any help.

Thanks!

Maizy

dina4

Sea Urchin -- the L.A. restaurant is Toscana. it's in Brentwood. Do you know it?



Maizy--
I'm so glad you enjoyed the report. My daughter is almost 16, and my son is 18. They both were flip-flops (Rainbows, to be specific) every day in Italy. My daughter brought nicer sandals to wear for dinner. It was sort of hot for closed-toe flats, but not sure when you'll be traveling. We're from Southern California, and teenagers in Italy tended to dress just like our kids here. Feel free to ask more questions when you think of them.

I don't think your granddaughter will be bored, especially if she's begging to go. Our kids love Italy. In fact, my son needed more downtime than my daughter. She was always up for shopping or seeing a church or museum, but a couple of hours of doing nothing but listening to their ipods or reading a book was something they also seemed to really enjoy.

Another good idea is to suggest some books for her to read. This year, my daughter read "Birth of Venus", but there are so many books set in italy to choose from! Maybe even give her a guide book.


I need to get back to writing about the Palio, Rome and the end of our trip. Probably won't get a chance until tomorrow...

mariebut

Great report dina, especially pleased with your experience with the Conti apartment as we are booked in there for early October. Anything else you can tell me about it would be great. Were the restaurants you mention expensive with your children and did they enjoy anything in particular. we are taking our daughters 18 & 16 with us.The bike hiring sounds like a wonderful idea.

dina4

hi marie,

I think you'll be very pleased with Conti apt. The beds are really comfortable, and it's in a fantastic location. it really looks just like the photos. no surprises.

There is a washer, but not a dryer. There was a nice ledge and laundry rack outside one of the bedroom windows where you can hang stuff could dry.

There are also a lot of stairs leading up to the apt, so if you have bad knees it might be a problem. For us, it was a great and much-needed opportunity to burn off calories...

Re: the restaurants, I would say Sostanza and Cingiale Bianco were in the mid-priced range in terms of what we saw in Italy. We always had two courses each, wine, and maybe a dessert or two to share. I think those dinners came to about 150 euros. The lunch places were much cheaper. 8 or 9 euro for a pasta at Mario's and maybe 5 or 6 euro for a sandwich at Antico Nio.

The food in general in Italy was very expensive for us. (Having two teens, of course, makes it cost twice as much!) Prices seemed higher than our last trip, too. First courses tended to be in the 8-14 euro range, with pastas the same and meats and fishes in the 20 euro range. For us Americans, this translated into a lot of dollars, but I guess if you're from London, it might seem like a bargain!

Have a wonderful trip! October should be lovely! How are you able to get your girls out of school at that time of year?

Let me know if you have further questions.

dina

mktopks

I am really enjoying your great trip report. We will be in Italy for 2 weeks in late Sept - early Oct. Can't wait! We will spend our last night in Milan. I was wondering if you could provide an address for the "Chocolate Gelato Shop", as well as the two restaurants you enjoyed so much? I wasn't able to find them by "googling" them.

Thanks for your help!
Ciao.

dina4

Bebel's:
address and NYTimes review --
http://tinyurl.com/5vawh7

La Torre di Pisa:
address and NYTimes review --
http://tinyurl.com/5cstdf

Gelato at Chocolate. Unfortunately, i can't find this address either. I do remember it's in the area a few blocks north of the Last Supper and west of (and close to) the Cadorna subway station. Maybe you can ask your hotel concierge?

Have a fantastic trip!

socaltraveler

Nice report. Sounds like we may have been in Positano at the same time you were, since we were also watching soccer games at dinner time.

I have to say that we also went to Chez Black, and had a really nice meal, good service, etc. It maybe not have been our best meal in Italy, but it was certainly far from mediocre. And while I would say something like "different strokes", we also enjoyed lunch at Bilicus while at Lake Como the year before.

And I will agree that seeing David also bowls me over each and every time.

SeaUrchin

dina, I went to Toscana years ago. I will have to try it again. I will tell my friend who lives near there, too. Thanks.

mariebut

Thanks Dina, its so nice to hear first hand reports on the accomodation I've selected, helps me relax about the whole thing. Thanks also for the food details we are from Australia so the prices are quite expensive to we are used to , but we thought it would be. In Australia our children have four school terms with a 2 week break in between each and our eldest is in first year Uni so they won't miss too much. - this our whirlwind trip of Europe!! only away for a month.

mariebut

I'm looking forward to your Rome adventures too as we will be visiting there too.

Thanks again

marigross

Keep posting! Great report.

missypie

We found the food in Italy to be quite expensive, too (and that was in '06 when the dollar was stronger.) We had a lot of below average meals in Italy and I have since concluded that we just weren't willing to spend enough money. When in Barcelona and in Germany, we didn't eat at 5 star places or anything, but being willing to pay $100-$150 per casual dinner meal for our family of 5 (rather than the $60-80 I was trying to stick to in Italy) made a very positive difference.

dina4

Yes, missypie, the food was a lot, but so good!! I did a lot of research on restaurants ahead of time, so i knew many good places, but was still shocked at the prices. Plus food is one of the main reasons we keep going back to Italy...

Our only food disappointments were in Rome. But I'll get to that later.

dina4

SIENA --- Day Trip ... but what a day trip!

The Palio, July 2, 2008

We had been in Tuscany during the Palio before, but never had the financial means to buy tickets for four or the guts to just “show up”. Well, this year, still not enough money, but we did find the guts to just show up.

So after renting a car in Florence, we drove into Siena with our fingers crossed at about 2 in the afternoon. There was no traffic at all into the city. We pulled into a parking lot, drove about 20 feet, and found a parking spot. Wow! that seemed too easy.

We then walked into the town (about 10 minutes max). The buildings were decorated with contrada flags, but the streets were surprisingly quiet. Did we have the wrong day?

Upon entering Il Campo, the main piazza, we saw the track, barricades, and bleachers set up. Someone had recommended staking out a spot along one of the “spoke streets” that go downhill towards the Campo, which we did. The boys hung out for about an hour, while us girls went to see the History of the Palio documentary in a little theater (very good!) and browsed through the shops and town. We then switched with the boys, but found out we would not be able to stay in our staked out spot because it was be closed off.

So at about 3:30, we moved into the center. We were able to get a spot near the rail, in the shade, at the finish line. It really wasn’t that bad. I sat down and had my book to read, and the others made friends and chatted with some American college kids.

At 5:00, things started to change drastically. Mainly, no more sitting and a lot more people. People were squeezing/pushing in and things were getting tight. Imagine an elevator with the maximum amount of people in it, and this is how were standing at this point, with 2 hours to go before race time (or so we thought).

Eventually the parade of contradas began at about 6. We were thrilled for some distraction -- each contrada in Renaissance costume parading by, twirling flags in the air, etc. Fantastic. Well, there were 13 contradas, and frankly, even I was getting bored after a while.

And oh how we envied those people sitting in the bleachers and balconies, were just now showing up!

By 6:30, imagine being in an elevator with three times the maximum people in it. That’s how crowded we were. We had been standing around the same people for hours now, and we were all very friendly and on good terms. Every once in a while, a pushy obnoxious person would come by trying to get to the rail. Are you kidding?? We’ve been standing here for hours! We’re talking some serious pushing and pushing back.

There was also the fainting. Several people were carried out on stretchers, and we only saw the people fainting in the SHADE. Can’t imagine what was going on with those poor people stuck out in the sun!

Yes, this whole drama may sound miserable, but for some strange reason, it was actually spectacularly fun. Our kids did not complain once, and my husband was smiling ear to ear the entire time.

So at 7, we found out that race actually starts at 7:30.
At 7:30, there were about 30 minutes of false starts.

And then at 8, it finally began. The excitement was unreal. As the horses started their final lap, fans went crazy and started to try to leap over people to get over the rail onto the track. (There are no rules, here, remember.) We had to stand our ground and hold on tight, since we were at the rail. In fact, we had to do this for 2 or 3 minutes after the race was over until the fanatics got through, and then we could walk out easily.

Wow! After the race we all felt exhilarated! People were celebrating, flags were waving, bands were playing. (I'm surprised there were no fireworks, but I guess that wouldn't have gone with the Renaissance tradition) Words really can't describe what it felt like to be there at this moment.

(And, of course, we had been liberated from the center. I was thinking at the time that that also added a lot to the feeling of exhilaration.)

We were in our car by 8:30 heading to Montalcino. By 9:30, we had checked into our hotel and were seated in a restaurant for another great meal.

This was truly a fantastic day. We were all thrilled and smiling for hours.

nitsirk13

Enjoying your trip details. We will definitely check out some of your restaurant recommendations in Florence when we go in September.

missypie

The Palio sounds like staking out your place in front of the castle in the Magic Kindgom for fireworks on New Years Eve, only moreso! Glad it was worth it.