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Let's not forget the mosaics at Palazzo Massimo too

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Villa d'Este

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The uncrowded fountain at Janiculum Hill which was the inspiration for Trevi Fountain.

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What everyone wants to see--the laudromat--Haha!

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The view of the Dome from the terrace at the Museum of the Doumo

Gorgeous. I loved Palazzo Massimo, as I mentioned earlier on this thread. Never been to Villa d'Este in many trips to Rome. Another reason to return.

Funny, I am procrastinating completing my Italian homework right now. Looking at your photos counts as studying, right?

Lovely shots, europeannovice. As Leely2, one is further inspired to see Massimo. DH and I also met interesting folks at laundry mats. We also huddled against a dryer one very cold day. We made Pisa a base and were happy to follow a tour of the wonderful Duomo. Away from the touristy spot, it's a neat place.

Funny, I am procrastinating completing my Italian homework right now. Looking at your photos counts as studying, right?>>

naughty, Leely. But of course looking at these lovely photos are homework - perché non?

éé

I agree with Annhig, Leely2 is doing visual homework--that counts for sure!

Tduette--Yes we had some interesting conversations with the couples at the laundry. We actually met some really nice folks sitting next to us at restaurants and on the train too.

Naples and Sorrento

We skipped breakfast at the hotel and took with us some bread we had purchased at a Lucca bakery the day before to take on the train with us so we can have coffee and the bread on the train. We had an early morning train from Firenze to Naples. At the Rome stop an Australian couple came on board and sat across the table from us. We had a lovely conversation with them. They get to travel for a month. They do have a longer distance to contend with too. In the states we only get two weeks straight and we try to cram in as much as we can during that time.

From home I had arranged for two tours--one for Herculaneum and one for Pompeii with a company called Tours with Lello. We had specifically requested Lello for our tours since he is an archeologist who worked on the most recent excavations at the site and has extensive knowledge on the area. Through his company we did arrange for a driver to pick us up at Naples since we were towing luggage along and the driver gave us a nice overview of Naples which we would return for later plus he stored our luggage in the car while we toured Herculaneum and then dropped us off at our hotel in Sorrento.

The driver pointed out the castles and some buildings and fountains. We also went to Posillipo for a beautiful view of the bay of Naples from the hilltops. He tried to take us to a Pizza place in Naples but the place he wanted to take us didn’t open until after 12PM and that would mess up the day’s schedule so instead he took us to another pizza location in Herculaneum. You access the restaurant via a set of spiral stairs. It is open air with a covered awning. We had our first Napolitan Pizza. I had the traditional Margarita and DH had the Caprese Pizza. Both were delicious.

I noticed my legs were beginning to swell up from the salty dishes we had the couple of days before in Florence—the olives, the salami, etc.

We meet Lello and he takes us into Herculaneum. As I mentioned he is an archeologist and an expert in the excavations at both Herculaneum and Pompeii. It really helps to understand the story and history behind the rocks that you are viewing. He pointed out the layout of the vestibules and where the kitchen and bathroom areas would be vs. the entry parlor and courtyard. He pointed out that the dining rooms all had three sided walls. There were separate bedrooms to be used depending on the sun and if it was winter vs. summer. This was an upper middle class village and was relatively still in tact because it was preserved by the mud rather than destroyed by ash like at Pompeii. We walked past merchants’ quarters. They used the phallic symbol as a good luck symbol in front of merchant’s doorways. The merchants sold wine and we saw the pizza ovens. There were even hot and cold terracotta stone tureens for soup.

They were so sophisticated that they separated the rain water for drinking and had a separate sewer system installed. Unfortunately, they used iron pipes but they did not know that they should not be using iron. To get the colors for some of the frescoes they used sulphur for yellow and iron for red. All of these facts were so interesting.

We checked into the Hotel Antiche Mura about 5PM in Sorrento. After we checked in, the hotel concierge recommended a restaurant and the restaurant had a complimentary van pickup service. We ate at Vela Bianca. We had salad, vegetables, fish, shrimp risotto, lemon cake and coffee.

By now my legs were very swollen and I emailed to the doctor back in the states. He called me back and said I needed to go to a pharmacy and get furosemide water pills. So after dinner the complimentary van dropped us off near the town pharmacy that was open late. The pharmacist was very knowledgable and I explained to him about my prior health issues I encountered a few months back and the medications I had been taking. He said that I did not need a prescription as antibiotics and many medicines are sold over the counter in Italy. He did say they sell the water pills in 25mg not 20mg as my doctor had wanted. He also told me to get an oil based cream that would help with the leg swelling as well and would not interfere with the other medications. Of course, I took my first dose at 10PM and was up all night going to the bathroom. The next time I realized I needed to take the water pills around 4PM after touring all day and before we go to bed so I had time to use the bathroom but was able to sleep!

The breakfast room at the Antiche Mura was delightful and led to the back courtyard with the swimming pool. The buffet was ample with a lot more sweets rather than savory as compared to the Hotel Artemide in Rome which had more of the omelets, eggs, meats etc. Both had yogurts and fresh fruit. Here we can squeeze our own oranges and make our own fresh squeezed orange juice.

Off to Pompeii we went and we met Lello at the entrance to Pompeii for our second tour with him. We saw the museum with the preserved casts of bodies and some artifacts. We saw their bathhouses and how they separated female and male changing areas. We toured the merchants’ district with pizza ovens and soup tureens. We saw the red light district for visiting merchants and some of the frescoes or menu of services on offer. We also toured the big amphitheater and the smaller acoustic theater and tried out our voices to see how they amplified if you stood on a certain spot. Having seen a special exhibit in the 1970’s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I became fascinated by Pompeii and was amazed and delighted to have finally seen the ruins in person. We also admired the sophistication in their development of a sewer system. They kept the people dry by using raised cobblestones to walk across the road. Lello made sure to take a picture of us walking across the stones like the Beatles Abbey Road album cover. Cute. The people of Pompeii and Herculaneum actually also used glass in the stone so it would reflect at night so the people can see at nighttime. Very clever. Pompeii and Herculaneum were also highlights of our trip.

We had originally planned on climbing Mt Vesuvius after Pompeii. DH climbed Mt. Vesuvius and got some really nice pictures. My legs were too swollen so I stayed back and waited for him to return. It took him about 40 minutes to climb up and back.

Dinner was at Ristorante Tasso in town. It is frequented by locals and tourists alike. There were many celebrations going on that evening--Birthday parties, anniversaries etc. We had salad, grouper, seabass and fresh fruit tea and espresso.

Next Up--Relaxing Day at Capri

Continuing to enjoy your TR! Thanks!

Thanks Joannyc!

Capri and Relaxing Day

Even during a whirlwind tour like we did, we needed at least one relaxing day. In the morning after a nice leisurely breakfast we walked around the town of Sorrento a bit. It was nice to see it during the daytime too not just when we were venturing out for our evening meals. Then we took the ferry over to Capri.

We docked at Capri at around 3PM and stayed there until 5:30PM so we had 2 and a half hours on Capri to explore. We took the Funicular up to the town center. We didn’t make it over to Anacapri with the ski lift up to the top because we didn’t have time. However, we walked around and found Augustus Gardens. The Gardens are stunning with a perfect view of the Faraglioni rocks down below. The gardens were in full bloom. The colors and landscaping were wonderful. Capri is very pretty and also fairly crowded. Not quite like Florence actually but still had plenty of people all around. The Augustus Gardens though were a pleasure to stroll through and was a nice area away from huge crowds.

I had wanted to purchase a bottle of water but on Capri they were charging 6 euro when all other places it was only 2 euro. Instead, I bought an orange slushi made with orange and lemon juice and ice. The size of the lemons all around Capri were absolutely huge.

We then took the Funicular back down to the dock area for our return trip to Sorrento. Lines were pretty long for the ferry. We had dinner at a restaurant called Bagni Delfino. It was the number 1 trip advisor rated restaurant in Sorrento and deservedly so because the food and service were great. We had salad with fennel, carrots, arugula, and lettuce. We had meat ravioli appetizer. For main course we had swordfish grilled and baked red snapper. We ordered a side of grilled vegetables eggplant, zucchini and peppers. The server filleted the fish in front of us. For dessert I had chocolate chip and pistachio gelato and we had tea and coffee. When we get the bill in Italy tea is spelled "THE". We found that amusing. The food was sublime.

It was a really nice relaxing day.

Next Up Ravello--Villa Cimbrone and Amalfi

Thanks for continuing. I know these reports are a lot of work, but you are helping future travelers. I've never been to Capri--what time of year were you there?

Thanks Leely2. Yes it is work but hopefully it helps others in their planning. I know I gathered information this way in my planning. We were there in Spring--May and it was already crowded.

Amalfi Coast

After an early breakfast in the beautiful breakfast room, we headed out on an adventure to Ravello. I wanted to see the gardens Ruffulo and Cimbrone. It took a little over 2 hours to get to Ravello from Sorrento and this is considered not quite the busy season yet. Up and around the mountains zigzagging across the narrow lanes with two way traffic.

Once we were in the square in Ravello, we decided to go to the garden furthest out which was Villa Cimbrone. Villa Cimbrone is a gorgeous garden set atop Ravello. There are many statues located throughout the gardens. Wisteria is in full bloom along with other beautiful flowering plants. We were told by some California tourists that one viewing spot toward the sea is where a Wonder Woman scene was filmed. So we took each other’s pictures at this spot. We spent a couple of hours in the garden. It really is a lovely setting. At this point we were getting hungry so we decided to skip Villa Ruffulo. We also decided we wanted to go back and explore Amalfi town a bit more and to eat our lunch in Amalfi before the long trip back to Sorrento.

When we arrived in Amalfi, we found a lovely square off the main area where the big Cathedral is located and ate at one of the restaurants. We had their signature Amalfi pasta called Scialatielli. It is a long square shaped pasta and is famous in the Amalfi region. We shared a salad. We then found a gelato place for gelato of course! The architecture of the main Cathedral in Amalfi is also stunning and we didn't have to wait 3 hours to get into it. Amalfi was a fun town to explore. It was time to work our way back to Sorrento. We didn't get to explore Positano this time. Can't do everything so that will have to wait for another visit.

We went back to the hotel and rested a bit before dinner. We went to L’Antica Trattoria which is walking distance in town. This restaurant had an open roof garden area with a trestle and leaves flowing over it. It did begin to rain a bit and they had to close the roof opening. A man came in to serenade the crowd with his mandolin.

We had a rice ball and prosecco that was given to us complimentary. We ordered the artichoke appetizer and the zucchini flower appetizer. We had pork chop and grilled fish. For dessert profitaroles and sorbet and tea (THE) and coffee.

The Amalfi Coast is gorgeous.

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Lemons everywhere and they are big
More homework for Leely2--LOL!

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View of Farglioni Rocks from Augustus Gardens in Capri

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Look at the size of these lemons

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View from a terrace at Villa Cimbrone in Ravello

Gorgeous! A couple years ago I stayed in Ravello, and I agree with you. The AC is touristy and crowded for a reason: it is stunningly beautiful.

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Look at the size of these lemons[/QUOTE] those are not lemons but cedro, you might know them as buddha’s hand.

Thanks Vinoroma for the clarification on the super sized citrus being a cedro or citron! The lemon zest are used to make the lemoncello in the area. Are the cedro used for a specific purpose or mainly just for show?

Leely2--Yes absolutely the Amalfi Coast is picturesque everywhere.

Vibrant, Noisy, Living Naples

Naples often gets very mixed reviews--some love it others hate it. We have to fall into the category of loving it. The picturesque scenic beauty of the Amalfi Coast with its fairy tale colorful houses it is not. But it is pretty (aside from the graffiti) in other ways. On the first day we saw Naples when we arrived by train the driver we had took us up to Posilipo and we had a great view of the Bay of Naples. Naples itself is a vibrant, living city with all its noises a big city usually includes. It practically has a gorgeous church on every corner. It has a fantastic market street with people doing their shopping. Architecture is very interesting. The Pizza is sublime. It has two great museums--we only had time for one--the Naples Archeology Museum which housed not only Pompeii artifacts but the Farnese collection and the new curator also displayed an Egyptian collection which was quite interesting.

Details:
Today it is raining actually pouring enroute to Naples. However, by the time we got there the rain had subsided but we still needed to wear our rain jackets on and off throughout the day. We went to the Jesus Church and a Gothic Church. There are many churches in Naples. The Gothic Church looks like a fortress rather than a church from the outside. We passed by monuments and elaborate palace style buildings. The insides of the churches rival some of the ones in Rome.

We ventured into the street called Spaccanapoli. We toured the shopping district and saw the fruit and vegetable stand with zucchini flowers! In the US they take the flower off the zucchini so I had never seen one with the flowers on it. We saw tripe shops and fish shops and meat shops and we went into a place that was decorating Christmas ornaments. We also toured a place that makes lemoncello and they showed us the process of how the cut the lemon zest and how the liquor is made. Then we got to taste it and purchase it!

We then stopped for lunch at a traditional pizza place and had a real Napoli Pizza. We also ordered zucchini flowers which are deep fried with cheese. It was all delicious.

We then spent the afternoon at the Naples Archeological Museum which houses many of the artifacts found in Pompeii. In addition to seeing the secret room with the frescoes of the menu of services the brothels provided, we also saw the Farnese bulls and their Egyptian Collection. We covered the entire museum. It is a gem of a museum. I wish we had time for the Carpodimonte Art Museum but that will have to wait for another visit.

Back to the hotel to rest and change for dinner. We had reservations for Il Bucco a fixed price tasting menu. The ambiance was serene and lovely. I had a shrimp and artichoke appetizer, fish cake, pasta with fish, red snapper and a chocolate dessert. DH had cheese puff, lamb with cheese, pasta, pulled pork and a ricotta cheese and ice cream dessert.

Next--Last Full Day in Italy--Back to Rome and the Vatican

(Is there a way not to have all the original text copied into an answer when you hit reply?)
Cedro salad is delicious, but you can also use it just like you use lemon, for jams, custards, syrups, liquors...

Thanks so much Vinoroma for how cedro is used. We didn't get to taste it in Italy but we certainly did have some lemoncello and lemoncello cake too. Lemons abounded everywhere with its fragrance--just added to the whole ambiance.

Back to Rome and the Vatican Day

We had breakfast served to us in a bag as we were leaving for a 6AM Marozzi bus back to Rome from Sorrento. The bus was on time and very comfortable. It was raining again today as we towed our luggage to the bus stop. We were concerned where the bus would pick us up and we asked our hotel staff for explicit directions. We scoped out the area the night before so we would know where to go the next morning. Rome cabs came to meet us at the Tiburtino bus terminal and take us back to Hotel Artemide for our final night before we headed back home. We were able to check in early so we dropped our bags, grabbed some coffee and off to the Vatican area we went for the day.

We took the metro from the Republica station to Ottavania and walked over to St Peter’s Basilica. We saw the lines for entry to the Basilica were at least a few hours long. However, I had purchased through the Vatican a timed Scavi tour months ago which allowed us quick access to the underground of the Basilica. We just had to find the Swiss guard special entranceway. Once finally found they told us we were too early. We ventured across the street to the main Vatican book shop and mailed some postcards that would have the Vatican stamp on them. They also had restrooms we could use. I was nervous about the Scavi tour tickets because when I applied it took a long time before I received a reply back but I did eventually get one and for the time we had requested.

We ventured back to the Swiss guard entrance and proceeded through airport style security. The rains were pretty heavy again. We had a 3PM English tour that was given to us by a man from Washington D.C. who was studying to become a priest. He spoke perfect English since he is an American and told us the story of how they believe the bones they found is St Peter’s and he told us why the Basilica was built on this very spot. He pointed out a section of a 1st Century Roman road. The tour was fascinating. At the end of the hour and a half tour we are led to the entrance to the Basilica without having to go through security again.

When we finished with the Scavi tour, the Basilica was getting ready for 5PM mass which was wonderful. So we stayed to listen. We took pictures of La Pieta the famous sculpture by Michelangelo. It now sits behind glass but you can still get a good view of it. The Basilica with all its marble and paintings is amazing. The Dome is stunning. We had originally wanted to climb to the top of St Peter’s Dome to get a good view of Rome. However, it was raining that day and we really would not have had enough time because we had a scheduled Livitaly evening tour of the Vatican Museums at 8PM that Friday and we needed to eat dinner first. The museums are open on Friday evenings from May to October but the Basilica is closed after 7PM. I had scheduled the tour of Baslica for earlier so then we can eat something and come back for the museum tour later.

We certainly didn't want to deal with the daytime crowds at the museums when you are wall to wall with other people and can't really see anything to appreciate it since you are shoved along the corridor. The early morning tour was not an option for us on this day anyway since we were on the bus but even that time slot didn't appeal because you would rush into the Sistine Chapel and then backtrack to the museum when crowds are coming in from the other direction. We opted for the evening tour which is certainly crowded but manageable.

I want to thank Bvlenci for her advice while I was doing all this planning months and months before the trip. We were originally scheduled to visit Italy the year before but we had to change things and then health issues almost interferred with this trip but luckily we were able to go.

We walked a few blocks away to find a place called Il Sorpasso. It is a wine bar frequented by a lot of locals. We shared an avocado and tomato salad, eggplant with zucchini parmesan, salmon and spinach. It was very good.

After dinner we rushed to find the group tour from Livitaly. Deborah was giving the tour. She explained to us the history of the Sistine Chapel commission and showed us the panels we would see inside. We toured the Pineapple courtyard. We then toured the maps room with its gold ceilings, the tapestry rooms, saw the Lacoon and she explained that the Lacoon in the Uffizi has the arm upright because that is how the Pope wanted to see it. However, the original that was uncovered for the Vatican had a missing arm that was recovered and when it was placed in the bent position, it was the perfect fit which is probably how the sculptor wanted it.

The amount of gold in the Vatican Museums is striking. The paintings and tapestries and artifacts are absolutely stunning. We toured the museum from 8-11PM. Afterwards, Deborah walked us back to St Peter’s Basilica to see it all lit up at night and to take our photos in front of it with no crowds just the lights and the nighttime scenery. What a difference from the daytime crowds. We took a taxi back to the hotel close to midnight.

Next to our hotel is a gelato place and it was still open so I had to get my last pistachio gelato of the trip before going to bed.

The next day back to the airport and the long immigration lines for the flight home.

Overall--We loved Italy! We loved the food, the people we encountered (except at my initial airport experience) and of course the magnificent history, architecture and artwork all around. We did not appreciate the crowds especially in Florence when those cruise ships were in unleashing massive crowds into one area. The Vatican Museums and the Uffizi should institute timed tickets like they do at the Borghese Gallery in Rome for efficient crowd control. We loved the two tour groups we used for specific sites. Even though we are independent travelers, for certain areas we found it helpful to have guides impart their wisdom to what we were viewing and help us navigate through the massive museums of the Vatican and the Uffizi and the sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii. They both provided excellent top notch knowledgeable guides.

We wished we were able to actually go into the Doumo and Baptistry in Florence. We wished we had time to climb the Dome at St Peter Basilica. We would have liked to visit Doria Pamphilij and some other wonderful art galleries. We would have liked to visit Castel Saint Angelo. However, what looks good and feasible on paper from home doesn't always materialize when you get there. We did manage to see quite a bit though in our limited time so we have no regrets. We thoroughly enjoyed what we accomplished.

Of course we only had time to see a fraction of the country. The Amalfi Coast is absolutely gorgeous from every angle--sea and land. There is much more to see in Italy too. Reasons to return for future trips.