Highlights and Ramblings: Italy travels between Cinque Terre and Positano (with too many stops in between)
Jun 22nd, 2004, 04:14 PM
#23
Original Poster
Montalcino. We stayed at the il Giglio for 3 nights. The hotel is in-town and has great views. It was the least expensive place we stayed and was a pretty good value--if you don't need help from the people at the reception desk.
Montalcino was the town where we faced the most language difficulties. 90% of the time, language was not a problem, but for the other 10% of the time, my 8-week Italian course, was inadequate. Shortly after arriving, I set out alone to explore the town. I got lost and when I asked 2 different people how to find my hotel, they could not help me. I must have really butchered the pronunciation of "Dove il Giglio?" It wasn't much better at the cafes either. We tried a couple for breakfast--they seemed annoyed when I asked for american coffee in my primitive Italian. At least I tried...
We took a day trip to Oliveto Maggiore and from there tried to find some open wineries (it was Sunday). No luck. Not getting to a winery was the biggest disappointment of the trip. To get over it, we bought a bottle of brunello (one of the less expensive labels) for dinner and then checked out the enotecca. That night, I became a red wine convert.
Next day, it was off to Rome. Why Rome? I took someone's advice on this board who suggested having each person select a day trip. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The answer that came back was Rome. And, since I asked... I should add that this is the same reason that 1 night in Florence got added to our trip.
I drove to Chiusi (with my niece and nephew) to catch the train to Rome. I was told it would take 50-60 minutes; took 1 hr and 20 minutes. I hadn't planned at all for parking and that took about another 20 minutes to find a spot. Things were not going well. We missed the train and arrived later than expected.
I planned our Rome trip around the Scavi Tour per advice here and then planned on the evening Enjoy Rome tour of the Forum/Colloseum. First stop was the Scavi Tour at 1:45. It was a quick and interesting 1-hour. It was led by a priest who discouraged questions. From here, we walked around St Peter's and then went back across town to book the EnjoyRome tour, only to learn it wasn't happening that day (even tho it was in the schedule I got from them). At this point, I'm practically in tears. Fortunately, I had my Mona Winks notes for "A Walk Through Ancient Rome" and we did a bit of it on our own. Also thanks to Rick Steves, we figured out the bus and subway system and wandered over to the Trevi fountain.
It turned out to be a good day, but since we are always short on time, once again we don't get to eat well. And, eating well is my favorite thing to do on vacation.
I came away from Rome with two thoughts. The first was that I didn't think the Scavi tour was worth scheduling the day around, I would have preferred to do the Ancient Rome tour. The second is that I really liked Rome and will return.
We caught the 9:30 train back to Chiusi and were back to the hotel at 12:10 pm. From here, the guys leave us and we (sister and niece) are off to Orvieto.
Montalcino was the town where we faced the most language difficulties. 90% of the time, language was not a problem, but for the other 10% of the time, my 8-week Italian course, was inadequate. Shortly after arriving, I set out alone to explore the town. I got lost and when I asked 2 different people how to find my hotel, they could not help me. I must have really butchered the pronunciation of "Dove il Giglio?" It wasn't much better at the cafes either. We tried a couple for breakfast--they seemed annoyed when I asked for american coffee in my primitive Italian. At least I tried...
We took a day trip to Oliveto Maggiore and from there tried to find some open wineries (it was Sunday). No luck. Not getting to a winery was the biggest disappointment of the trip. To get over it, we bought a bottle of brunello (one of the less expensive labels) for dinner and then checked out the enotecca. That night, I became a red wine convert.
Next day, it was off to Rome. Why Rome? I took someone's advice on this board who suggested having each person select a day trip. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The answer that came back was Rome. And, since I asked... I should add that this is the same reason that 1 night in Florence got added to our trip.
I drove to Chiusi (with my niece and nephew) to catch the train to Rome. I was told it would take 50-60 minutes; took 1 hr and 20 minutes. I hadn't planned at all for parking and that took about another 20 minutes to find a spot. Things were not going well. We missed the train and arrived later than expected.
I planned our Rome trip around the Scavi Tour per advice here and then planned on the evening Enjoy Rome tour of the Forum/Colloseum. First stop was the Scavi Tour at 1:45. It was a quick and interesting 1-hour. It was led by a priest who discouraged questions. From here, we walked around St Peter's and then went back across town to book the EnjoyRome tour, only to learn it wasn't happening that day (even tho it was in the schedule I got from them). At this point, I'm practically in tears. Fortunately, I had my Mona Winks notes for "A Walk Through Ancient Rome" and we did a bit of it on our own. Also thanks to Rick Steves, we figured out the bus and subway system and wandered over to the Trevi fountain.
It turned out to be a good day, but since we are always short on time, once again we don't get to eat well. And, eating well is my favorite thing to do on vacation.
I came away from Rome with two thoughts. The first was that I didn't think the Scavi tour was worth scheduling the day around, I would have preferred to do the Ancient Rome tour. The second is that I really liked Rome and will return.
We caught the 9:30 train back to Chiusi and were back to the hotel at 12:10 pm. From here, the guys leave us and we (sister and niece) are off to Orvieto.
Jun 24th, 2004, 06:24 PM
#24
Original Poster
Montalcino to Orvieto. My plan was to stop in Montepulciano and a vineyard or two along the way. But, we missed the turn-off to town and didn?t go back to find it. Next time, I will have a really good map that shows exactly where to turn off for all the points of interest.
About this time, I discovered that I had left my notebook with all my plans, directions, train/ferry schedules back in Montalcino and there was no way we were going back there to get them. The good thing was that I at least remembered the names of the hotels that I reserved.
The road was alot windier than I expected and I suddenly wanted to get to where we were going and veg?that meant no vineyard stops. We continued the short drive to Orvieto and went up to the old section to shop and have lunch. There?s plenty of shopping to be done here. I bought a ceramic plate at Marco Polo pottery that was the prettiest one in all of Italy (IMO).
After shopping, we went to I Sette Consoli for lunch. This is the restaurant that receives all the raves on this board and rightly so. We ran into 2 other fodorites while there?all there thru Fodors. Their fixed lunch price is 40E; but you can don?t have to get the fixed lunch. Our bill for 3 was 86E, before we ordered the second bottle of wine. It is a wonderful setting, the food was excellent and the waiters couldn?t have been any more attentive. We ate outside in the tent-like structures, there was no noise, the sun was shining, I had no place to get to, no trains to take, and I finally began to feel like I was on vacation.
After lunch we set out to find our B&B, Locanda Rosati; it is 8 km from town and we had a little bit of trouble, but it turned out to be right by the side of the road. This was my favorite place to stay; the grounds are lovely, there?s a pool, and the food was excellent. It is the one place that exceeded my expectations. I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was that from here, we did no day trips. We stayed by the pool, shopped in town, ate and drank wine. It was perfect. We ate here two nights and the meals were the best I had. Dinner is served family style and there is an unending supply of wine and lemoncello with dinner. I especially enjoyed interacting with the other guests at dinner, even those who didn?t speak English. These two days were heavenly.
From Orvieto we are off for our 1-night stay in Capri. It was a quick train ride to Rome, a tardy ES to Naples, a suicidal taxi ride to the docks, a pleasant ferry to Capri, and a stressful time getting from the ferry to the hotel. Took about 7 hours door to door.
As we were getting off ferry, men started grabbing for our luggage. I found this very annoying and little did I know, it?s what everyone relies on to get their luggage to the hotel. But, not me. On a very hot day, through the crowds, we haul our own luggage on the funicular thru the town to the hotel. This was a very unpleasant experience. We learned; and had the porters take the luggage down when we left.
We stayed at the Mamela. The room was standard, nothing special, but the service was excellent. The pool was very nice and had great views. We went to La Grotelle (sp?) for dinner. It is built into the caves and the outside dining overlooks the sea. The food was okay, but the views were terrific. From here, we go to the main square to hang-out at a bar and people watch. At 12E per drink, we didn?t people watch for very long.
Next day, my sister and niece wanted to hang out at pool, and I took the bus to Anacapri to catch the tram for Monte Solaro. There are many spectacular views in Italy, but I think this is #1. It was truly spectacular and what I liked best about Capri. I had expected to like Capri the best of all the towns along the way. Turns out that it was my least favorite-too closed in, too crowded and overpriced.
Next we are off to Positano.
About this time, I discovered that I had left my notebook with all my plans, directions, train/ferry schedules back in Montalcino and there was no way we were going back there to get them. The good thing was that I at least remembered the names of the hotels that I reserved.
The road was alot windier than I expected and I suddenly wanted to get to where we were going and veg?that meant no vineyard stops. We continued the short drive to Orvieto and went up to the old section to shop and have lunch. There?s plenty of shopping to be done here. I bought a ceramic plate at Marco Polo pottery that was the prettiest one in all of Italy (IMO).
After shopping, we went to I Sette Consoli for lunch. This is the restaurant that receives all the raves on this board and rightly so. We ran into 2 other fodorites while there?all there thru Fodors. Their fixed lunch price is 40E; but you can don?t have to get the fixed lunch. Our bill for 3 was 86E, before we ordered the second bottle of wine. It is a wonderful setting, the food was excellent and the waiters couldn?t have been any more attentive. We ate outside in the tent-like structures, there was no noise, the sun was shining, I had no place to get to, no trains to take, and I finally began to feel like I was on vacation.
After lunch we set out to find our B&B, Locanda Rosati; it is 8 km from town and we had a little bit of trouble, but it turned out to be right by the side of the road. This was my favorite place to stay; the grounds are lovely, there?s a pool, and the food was excellent. It is the one place that exceeded my expectations. I think part of the reason I enjoyed it so much was that from here, we did no day trips. We stayed by the pool, shopped in town, ate and drank wine. It was perfect. We ate here two nights and the meals were the best I had. Dinner is served family style and there is an unending supply of wine and lemoncello with dinner. I especially enjoyed interacting with the other guests at dinner, even those who didn?t speak English. These two days were heavenly.
From Orvieto we are off for our 1-night stay in Capri. It was a quick train ride to Rome, a tardy ES to Naples, a suicidal taxi ride to the docks, a pleasant ferry to Capri, and a stressful time getting from the ferry to the hotel. Took about 7 hours door to door.
As we were getting off ferry, men started grabbing for our luggage. I found this very annoying and little did I know, it?s what everyone relies on to get their luggage to the hotel. But, not me. On a very hot day, through the crowds, we haul our own luggage on the funicular thru the town to the hotel. This was a very unpleasant experience. We learned; and had the porters take the luggage down when we left.
We stayed at the Mamela. The room was standard, nothing special, but the service was excellent. The pool was very nice and had great views. We went to La Grotelle (sp?) for dinner. It is built into the caves and the outside dining overlooks the sea. The food was okay, but the views were terrific. From here, we go to the main square to hang-out at a bar and people watch. At 12E per drink, we didn?t people watch for very long.
Next day, my sister and niece wanted to hang out at pool, and I took the bus to Anacapri to catch the tram for Monte Solaro. There are many spectacular views in Italy, but I think this is #1. It was truly spectacular and what I liked best about Capri. I had expected to like Capri the best of all the towns along the way. Turns out that it was my least favorite-too closed in, too crowded and overpriced.
Next we are off to Positano.
Jun 25th, 2004, 09:43 AM
#26
Original Poster
Positano. Spent 4 nights at the Villa Rosa. Service and views were excellent, room was standard with small bath. We enjoyed breakfast, wine tasting and lounging on the terrace, which seemed larger than the room. Even tho I was prepared for a lot of steps to get to the hotel, I hadn?t realized the steps essentially start as you get off the ferry.
We spent a day at the beach, eating lunch at Tre Sorelles. Pizza was good and lunch was fun. Pizzas here were larger than we got elsewhere and 1 would have filled the 3 of us. Waiter ended up leaving the bottle of lemoncello on the table for us at no charge. What an afternoon?
We ate dinners at Café Positano, da Vincenzo, Constantino and Buca di Bacco. My favorite was Bucca?The only one I didn?t like was da Vincenzo; after all the positive comments here for that restaurant, I?m wondering if I was in the wrong place.
Day trips were to Amalfi/Ravello and Pompeii. Went to Ravello on Sunday and many of the stores were closed. Had a great lunch at Cumpa Cosimi. Toured the gardens at the castle and wished we had made plans for the chamber concert. If any of you are going to Ravello, I highly recommend getting concert tickets, the setting is spectacular. We took the train/bus back to Positano. It was standing room only and not air-conditioned. The worst part was, we didn?t know when to get off the bus and ended up missing our stop and hiking back down to our hotel.
Pompeii was fascinating. But, bus and train travel there were most unpleasant. Again, standing room only on the way back. If you go, be sure to take a tour. Shortly after we got our tickets, an English speaking guide came along gathering up folks for his tour. It was 10E per person. Unfortunately, he had between 25 and 30 people on his tour and I couldn?t always hear or understand what he was saying. The positive part was that he brought us right to the more important sites. It was a good 2-hour tour.
If you take either of these trips, be sure to print out train, bus and ferry schedules to get the most out of your day. I got them from the hotel and they weren?t always right, causing us to waste time waiting for the next one.
So ends our trip and my obsession with finishing this report. Want to summarize with my list of top 10 ?Bests?:
Best View: Mount Solaro in Capri
Best Italian Experience: Cucina Rustica in Monterosso
Best Overall Guidebook: Rick Steves hand down (Italy, Mona Winks, Dictionary)
Best Splurge: Taking taxi to Naples airport from Positano
Best Overall Stay: Locanda Rosati
Best Day Trip: Pompeii
Best Piece of Artwork: David
Best Planning Tip: Print out bus, train, and ferry schedules
Best Shopping: Florence
Best of All: Coming home to my quiet house (Italy is very noisy)
We spent a day at the beach, eating lunch at Tre Sorelles. Pizza was good and lunch was fun. Pizzas here were larger than we got elsewhere and 1 would have filled the 3 of us. Waiter ended up leaving the bottle of lemoncello on the table for us at no charge. What an afternoon?
We ate dinners at Café Positano, da Vincenzo, Constantino and Buca di Bacco. My favorite was Bucca?The only one I didn?t like was da Vincenzo; after all the positive comments here for that restaurant, I?m wondering if I was in the wrong place.
Day trips were to Amalfi/Ravello and Pompeii. Went to Ravello on Sunday and many of the stores were closed. Had a great lunch at Cumpa Cosimi. Toured the gardens at the castle and wished we had made plans for the chamber concert. If any of you are going to Ravello, I highly recommend getting concert tickets, the setting is spectacular. We took the train/bus back to Positano. It was standing room only and not air-conditioned. The worst part was, we didn?t know when to get off the bus and ended up missing our stop and hiking back down to our hotel.
Pompeii was fascinating. But, bus and train travel there were most unpleasant. Again, standing room only on the way back. If you go, be sure to take a tour. Shortly after we got our tickets, an English speaking guide came along gathering up folks for his tour. It was 10E per person. Unfortunately, he had between 25 and 30 people on his tour and I couldn?t always hear or understand what he was saying. The positive part was that he brought us right to the more important sites. It was a good 2-hour tour.
If you take either of these trips, be sure to print out train, bus and ferry schedules to get the most out of your day. I got them from the hotel and they weren?t always right, causing us to waste time waiting for the next one.
So ends our trip and my obsession with finishing this report. Want to summarize with my list of top 10 ?Bests?:
Best View: Mount Solaro in Capri
Best Italian Experience: Cucina Rustica in Monterosso
Best Overall Guidebook: Rick Steves hand down (Italy, Mona Winks, Dictionary)
Best Splurge: Taking taxi to Naples airport from Positano
Best Overall Stay: Locanda Rosati
Best Day Trip: Pompeii
Best Piece of Artwork: David
Best Planning Tip: Print out bus, train, and ferry schedules
Best Shopping: Florence
Best of All: Coming home to my quiet house (Italy is very noisy)
Jun 25th, 2004, 09:50 AM
#27
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I'm rushing through reading this as the internet place in Montepulciano is about to close. Fun picture of us in Orvieta. And, Jackie, I distinctly remember hearing you three say after lunch you had to get on the road to find your hotel, but then said "forget it, let's get another bottle of wine". I was immediately impressed with your method!
