Pawleys

We returned from our 10 days in Italy Saturday. After a couple of years of reading and questioning on Fodors, I'm finally posting a trip report.
What a tremendous help you Fodorites have been. It really helped us make the most of our time in Italy.
We flew in to FCO,grabbed our rental car and drove up the S2. Stopped for coffee then for lunch in an Osteria Leone in Bagno Vignoni. Loved seeing the town and the restaurant owner insisted we share a coffee with him to help us on our way. Spent the first night in San Gimignano at Antica Poggia. Nice hotel, but tiny room not as nice as any pictured on the website. Dinner at the Cisterna was good (cinghale in chianti) and we had a table with a view of the countryside. Staying in San Gimignana was a bit of a hassle,requiring parking outside and taking a van to our hotel; but, we enjoyed being there in the evening after the hordes had left. Thurs morning was market day and it was difficult to navigate the street so after touring the museum and climbing the tower we headed to Lucca.
Beautiful drive on the back roads to Lucca. We found we enjoyed the drives as much as anything else we did; well, maybe not quite as much as the wonderful lunches with lots of great wine. Once we got to Lucca we didn't see any signs for the Centro Storica so we wasted a good amount of time finding the area and by then the Tourist Information and bike shop was closed for the their long lunch break.( This seemed to be a theme of our trip-arrive somewhere have a wonderful lunch and then realize that most everything will be closed for the next couple of hours.) So we found a little spot for pizza then wandered down Via Fillalungo. Enjoyed touring the excavations at San Giovanna.
We drove on to Cinque Terre where I learned how important it was to heed the advise of so many Fodorites who said be sure to have a good map. My Tuscany and Umbria Touring Club map covered the area right up to Liguria so I mistakenly thought we could follow my Via Michelin directions and get to Monterossa without a hitch, WRONG. We turned one exit to soon and wasted a good amount of time on tiny, mountainous roads asking for directions. My husband was not overly happy with me.
But we did finally arrive in Monterossa. We stayed in the older section of town in La Poesia a bed and breakfast on a narrow little street in the middle of town. It was charmingly decorated, had a lovely terrace where a wonderful breakfast was served. The owner is Niccoletta who is thrilled to have her own B AND B and was so warm and friendly. We enjoyed our two night with her. In fact, we loved the CT, had a wonderful dinner at Miki, great seafood and a fun atmosphere. The next day we took the ferry all the way to Riomaggiore, then explored and hiked our way to Corniglia for a nice lunch with a glorious view at Restaurant Cici.(We deserved it after the final four hundred steps that's right 400 up to Corniglia). We found the hike from Corniglia to Vernazza after lunch challenging enough. The views were wonderful and we loved going through the olive groves. The narrow stretches were intimidating for me; but, the young back packers kept racing by me unhindered by their flip flops. We took the ferry back to Monterossa to relax a bit then took the train to Vernazza to have dinner at the Gambero Rossa. It was a nice night and we were able to sit outside.
Saturday morning we got up early and decided we couldn't be this close and not get a peek at Portofino. Now with a great map in hand, we found our way easily out of CT and on to Portofino. What a beautiful harbour. Peeked in a few shops had lunch and a gelato then hopped back in the car to head to Cortona to meet our friends for dinner. (More later)

Pawleys

I just posted my first trip report. What happened to the paragraph indentations?

LoveItaly

Pawleys, I have had the same problem. Think most type their reports elsewhere but anyway here is what I do.

I skip a space (as I did here). No this is probably not the most efficient way and others can tell you a better way, but in the meantime - it works!!

Thanks for your report, your trip sounds wonderful

uhoh_busted

Don't worry! Be happy it isn't filled with question marks It is a great report, too! It will be fun to hear more.

ssachida

Thanks Pawleys, am leaving for Italy in less than a week and your report has me salivating!!
more pls

ira

Hi Pawleys,

Thanks for the nice report. Look forward to more.

>What happened to the paragraph indentations?<

At least you tried.

If you are using MS Word, try saving the file as "text only" or "text only with line breaks".

bobthenavigator

Yes, do tell us more.

Pawleys

Home from Italy Part 2
Made great time going down A1 from Liguria towards Cortona then had a difficult time following the Via Michelin directions from the Arezzo exit to Cortona itself. This seemed to be another trend on our trip. We'd make great time north to south and then get tripped up on the small roads.

Arrived in Cortona in the late afternoon. Amazingly enough found our friends immediately in the Piazza Garibaldi. ( A suggestion I got here on the forum.) Wandered the STEEP streets of Cortona, shared a bottle of wine in the Piazza. Then had a great dinner at the Loggiata. Shared an amazing antipasta platter and all had Segundis and more wine. Cortona was a very vibrant town on Sunday evening, lots of people, lots of shops open. We'd really like to see more of it.

Luckily our friends had already checked into our villa so they were able to lead the way to our remote location. We checked into the Villa Monte Solare for five nights. It's actually a very nice, small hotel housed in an old villa and its out buildings. They have a wonderful chef, cooking school, small chapel, two pools and tennis courts on the property. It's located in Colle San Paola near Panicale in Umbria. We had a spacious suite with gorgeous views over the olive groves.

Using the Monte Solare as a base we visited: Pienza, a marvelous lunch at Beccon di Vino ( a real highlight of our trip), St Antimo (loved hearing the chants and the wonderful setting)the Banfi winery one day.
The next day we had a guide for the morning to see Assisi then had lunch in Spello at La Bastiglia (great meal, wonderful service) It was a little too cool to sit on their wonderful terrace; but, we enjoyed the dining room and the Umbrian wine. Rode to Montefalco to see the view from the bellevedere and shop for linens.
The last day at Monte Solare we stayed closer to home and visited Citta del Pieve. The women bought tickets to see the frescoes and wandered around town while the men found an enoteca and spent quality time previewing wine for our consumption. Stopped by Panicale for a short visit and to see the views of Lake Trasimeno.

More Later...

Pawleys

Part 3
I can't believe I forgot to mention the wonderful day we spent in Orvieto. We drove from Villa Montesolare on Sunday. We arrived in time to do a little shopping and see the Duomo. A thunder storm drove us into our restaurant, I Setti Consoli, for lunch. Had a beautiful meal. The foie gras was amazning. Thanks Fodorites for another wonderful suggestion. Rode to Civita-Bagnoregia late in the afternoon. Arrived around 5:00 PM, really a perfect time. The crowds were gone and we found parking right next to the bridge. We were enchanted by Civita and its mystical qualities. What wonderful views.

Most nights at Villa Monte Solare we returned after a full day of sight seeing. We usually picked up meat, cheese, fruit and wine and had a pick up supper. This worked out great for us since we had huge lunches everyday.
But, the last night we had the tasting meny with wines there and it was very enjoyable.

On Thursday we parted ways with our friends. They headed to the Amalfi coast and we headed towards Florence. We drove north on the A1 took the exit near Montevarchi then found the road near Radda to Volpaia. We'd missed it on our trip two years ago. Bought olive oil, vinegar, etc then took the white road on to Le Mole. What a wonderful spot for lunch. We sat on the terrace that had the see through plastic in deference to the cool weather. We enjoyed pumpkin soup, caprese salad and lamb. Also we tried the local wine which was good. But most of all we loved the view. We could actually see San Gimignano in the distance.

So after a wonderful relaxing lunch we drove into Florence to return our Avis rental car. I'd gotten extensive directions and the drop off was right inside the wall. But, with the traffic, one way streets and circles we were almost at the end of our wits finding it. In fact, my husband finally got out of the car and located it on foot. Oh, well just one little snafu!

We checked into our hotel, the Beacci Tornabuoni, which we thoroughly enjoyed. The roof top garden is delightful and a great place to relax after the hectic car return episode.
We wandered the streets. I can't get enough of this in Florence.

Ira, we had dinner at Ritrovo and really enjoyed it. Loved the warm atmosphere and the authentic cuisine.Thanks for the suggestion.

Our last day we had an early reservaton at the Accademia. It was wonderful to be the first to arrive and be able to see "David" without the crowds. We went to Santa Croce and the leather school, then took a cab to Fiesole and Villa San Michele for a special birthday lunch. The grounds are beautiful and their terrace has a spectacular view.

Dinner at Cammillo was the only disappointment of the trip. Crowded, rushed and unappealing I don't know how it gets recomended.

What a wonderful 10 days, I hate to think its over. I guess I'll just have to read other trip reports to get my Italy fix. Thanks to so many Fodorites:
Bob, Rex, Ira, Huitres......

Scarlett

A perfect trip report makes a person want to go there right away. This is a Perfect Trip Report
Thank you Pawleys!

Sally

I really enjoyed your trip report. We are going to Assisi for several days in December. Who was your guide there and what was the cost for a half day tour? What did the tour include?

I have been to Assisi before, but not for several years. I sometimes have trouble with my back, and I am trying to remember how steep it is for walking around town. What about Spello? How is that for walking?

Sounds like you had a great itinerary. We loved Bagno Vignoni and Orvieto, too.

Pawleys

Sally,
Villa Monte Solare arranged for our half day tour of Assisi. It was part of a Luxury Link package for the 5 nights in Umbria. So I don't know the cost. Our guide, Rogero, met us at the parking lot and we spent most of the morning in the Bascilica and the Cathedral that St Fancis grew up going to. I believe Rogero is associateted with the tour center there. Assisi was not as steep as Cortona or some of the others; but, I thought Spello was very steep. We loved them both. We definately needed more time in Assisi.

DOCK

Hi, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your report. We plan on drivingfrom Florence to Monterosso next July and I was going to use ViaMichelin. Any particular alternate map you would recommend? Also was parking a problem in Monterosso. I have already booked at Villa Steno. We will be taking our 10 and 15 year old boys with, any particul;ar hike between the towns you would not recommend for the 10 and old and a 40 year old with a bad knee. Thanks.

Pawleys

As far as hikes, the tourist information office has a brochure with lots of options. We hiked the Via Amore between Riomaggiore and Manorola which really is a stroll the next section between Manorola and Corniglia was a legitimate hike. There are actually two options we did the lower road which was stenuous enough for us.We did the first two before lunch and the Corniglia to Vernazza stretch after lunch. Depending on how bad your knee is you should be able to do all of those. And you can opt out and take the train from any town. I've heard varying reports on the last section between Vernazza and Monterossa. We didn't try it because we were hot and tired. But, there are pleanty of options besides it.
I'm so jealous, have a great time.