Honeymoon in Italy - brief trip report
Oct 14th, 2004, 06:42 AM
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Honeymoon in Italy - brief trip report
hi everyone. i don't quite have the time or energy to write a full trip report but thought i would share some of the higlights of our trip. we spent 3 nights in florence (Hotel Plaza Lucchesi), 4 nights in Rome (Hotel Quirinale), 2 in Sorrento (Hotel Villa Maria), and 2 in Positano (Hotel Pasitea), last night in Rome before flying out. our trip was amazing and there are very few things that we would have done differently. i have been to italy before so i'll just touch on things that i did for the first time on this trip.
one of the highlights was a winery tour and cooking class offered by the Accidental Tourist. a group of about 10 of us were picked up in Florence and taken to a villa about 40 minutes away where they make wine and olive oil. our guide, Elizabeth, taught us how they make oil and wine and gave us a tour of the facilities. afterwards we tasted each wine and of course, made purchases. then we were wisked off to the house of a local family where we all made fresh pasta and ravioli. Then the woman who owned the house cooked the pasta and loads of other dishes. we all ate in her kitchen...we were so stuffed by the end. this tour is a great value and so much fun. it was E80 per person which is a great price compared to some of the cooking classes that i have seen.
we rented a car when we left rome and drove to sorrento. our hotels were all fantastic aside from the Villa Maria. i would not recommend it. the rooms are only ok and it was a very noisy location. from Sorrento we took the ferry to Capri which i enjoyed very much aside from the Blue Grotto. don't get me wrong, the grotto is beautiful but not worth the money. they charge E8 for the boat ride to the entrance to the grotto, then out of nowhere, they charge you another E8.30 to get into rowboats to go into the grotto. then they expect tips on top of that. i just thought it was very deceptive and not worth the money.
having a car was wonderful. we really enjoyed driving along the coast and taking in the great views. Positano was the most beautiful place i have ever seen. the beaches aren't great, at least compared to the beaches in NJ and NY that i'm used to. but it was still beautiful and a great place to relax after lots of sightseeing.
i guess that's it in a nutshell. Thanks to everyone for your advice over the last few months!
Erin
one of the highlights was a winery tour and cooking class offered by the Accidental Tourist. a group of about 10 of us were picked up in Florence and taken to a villa about 40 minutes away where they make wine and olive oil. our guide, Elizabeth, taught us how they make oil and wine and gave us a tour of the facilities. afterwards we tasted each wine and of course, made purchases. then we were wisked off to the house of a local family where we all made fresh pasta and ravioli. Then the woman who owned the house cooked the pasta and loads of other dishes. we all ate in her kitchen...we were so stuffed by the end. this tour is a great value and so much fun. it was E80 per person which is a great price compared to some of the cooking classes that i have seen.
we rented a car when we left rome and drove to sorrento. our hotels were all fantastic aside from the Villa Maria. i would not recommend it. the rooms are only ok and it was a very noisy location. from Sorrento we took the ferry to Capri which i enjoyed very much aside from the Blue Grotto. don't get me wrong, the grotto is beautiful but not worth the money. they charge E8 for the boat ride to the entrance to the grotto, then out of nowhere, they charge you another E8.30 to get into rowboats to go into the grotto. then they expect tips on top of that. i just thought it was very deceptive and not worth the money.
having a car was wonderful. we really enjoyed driving along the coast and taking in the great views. Positano was the most beautiful place i have ever seen. the beaches aren't great, at least compared to the beaches in NJ and NY that i'm used to. but it was still beautiful and a great place to relax after lots of sightseeing.
i guess that's it in a nutshell. Thanks to everyone for your advice over the last few months!
Erin
Oct 14th, 2004, 07:42 AM
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Hi Marv,
no, my husband had never been to Italy before. it was fun to him take things in for the first time.
we were very happy with Hotel Quirinale. Quirinale and Plaza Lucchesi in Florence were a package deal. otherwise, both would have been out of our budget. we had a great room in Quirinale (probably because our travel agent is my husband's aunt so she took good care of us). Quirinale is very conveniently located. we could walk almost everywhere aside from Vatican city. It was a little noisy because it's in the center of the city, but that's why it was convenient. i previously stayed on the other side of the river closer to the Vatican which was much quieter. i would recommend Quirinale.
Erin
no, my husband had never been to Italy before. it was fun to him take things in for the first time.
we were very happy with Hotel Quirinale. Quirinale and Plaza Lucchesi in Florence were a package deal. otherwise, both would have been out of our budget. we had a great room in Quirinale (probably because our travel agent is my husband's aunt so she took good care of us). Quirinale is very conveniently located. we could walk almost everywhere aside from Vatican city. It was a little noisy because it's in the center of the city, but that's why it was convenient. i previously stayed on the other side of the river closer to the Vatican which was much quieter. i would recommend Quirinale.
Erin
Oct 15th, 2004, 03:23 PM
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Erin, I am interested in the Accidental Tourist portion of your trip. You mention that 10 people were picked up in Florence and taken to a villa. Who made the arrangements? Is there a minimum number of people they are willing to pickup/drop off?
Any details you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Any details you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Oct 16th, 2004, 10:21 AM
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Hi,
We also loved the Accidental Tourist tour we did last April. Elizabeth was also our guide and she was great. We did the wine walk and loved every minute, including meeting and spending the day with people from around the world.
Here's the url kane
http://www.accidentaltourist.com/
Thanks for the report erin
We also loved the Accidental Tourist tour we did last April. Elizabeth was also our guide and she was great. We did the wine walk and loved every minute, including meeting and spending the day with people from around the world.
Here's the url kane
http://www.accidentaltourist.com/
Thanks for the report erin
Oct 18th, 2004, 07:12 AM
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hi kane,
www.accidentaltourist.com. it's my impression that they do these tours everyday. when i booked the tour they simply asked me which day i wanted to go. now if no one else had signed up for that day, maybe they would have canceled on me or offered me a spot on another tour. they do ask you to call the day before to confirm your attendance. anyway, we all met at Piazza Demidoff and 2 cars came to get us. like i said, we probably had 10 people. after the winery tour, some people chose to picnic while the rest of us cooked so you can see they are very flexible.
you don't pay anything until the end of the day and they insist that if you weren't satisfied you don't owe anything. cost is E80 each.
erin
www.accidentaltourist.com. it's my impression that they do these tours everyday. when i booked the tour they simply asked me which day i wanted to go. now if no one else had signed up for that day, maybe they would have canceled on me or offered me a spot on another tour. they do ask you to call the day before to confirm your attendance. anyway, we all met at Piazza Demidoff and 2 cars came to get us. like i said, we probably had 10 people. after the winery tour, some people chose to picnic while the rest of us cooked so you can see they are very flexible.
you don't pay anything until the end of the day and they insist that if you weren't satisfied you don't owe anything. cost is E80 each.
erin
Oct 30th, 2004, 06:06 AM
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I would have to say the blue grotto was a colossal waste of time, if the experience had actually lasted enough time to waste.
We took the bus down from Anacapri (which was almost as much nail-biting fun as the bus between Capri and Anacapri), so we saved on the boat ride out. Plus, we probably got on the little boat faster (and more safely) than those people who came by water.
I wasn't planning on doing it, but my fellow travellers wanted to, so we did. The boatman didn't speak one word to us, just loaded us in like cattle and rowed us over to the boat where we paid 8,30 euros!
Inside, the grotto was dark and the blue light appeared to come up from a couple of places near the entrance. the same effect could have been achieved with a couple of spotlights under the water. Interesting, but not exciting. 3 boats were in the grotto at the same time. For some reason, the boatmen started arguing and yelling at each other. I think somebody had taken 5 people in his boat, which made the others mad.
The entire time spent inside was probably about 45 seconds (we rowed around in a circle and then out). I was down in the boat, but I still managed to get hit in the face by the chain as our boatman (still yelling) pulled us out rather roughly.
Then, we had to listen to them yelling at each other outside, while we waited to unload at the dock.
My companions didn't mind it so much, but it would have been nice to spend maybe 2 minutes inside the grotto without all the fighting.
The best thing on the island is the church of San Michele with the majolica tile floor of Paradise (2 euros), and the chair lift up to the top of Mt Solaris (I think that's the name), with its fantastic views (6 euros).
We took the bus down from Anacapri (which was almost as much nail-biting fun as the bus between Capri and Anacapri), so we saved on the boat ride out. Plus, we probably got on the little boat faster (and more safely) than those people who came by water.
I wasn't planning on doing it, but my fellow travellers wanted to, so we did. The boatman didn't speak one word to us, just loaded us in like cattle and rowed us over to the boat where we paid 8,30 euros!
Inside, the grotto was dark and the blue light appeared to come up from a couple of places near the entrance. the same effect could have been achieved with a couple of spotlights under the water. Interesting, but not exciting. 3 boats were in the grotto at the same time. For some reason, the boatmen started arguing and yelling at each other. I think somebody had taken 5 people in his boat, which made the others mad.
The entire time spent inside was probably about 45 seconds (we rowed around in a circle and then out). I was down in the boat, but I still managed to get hit in the face by the chain as our boatman (still yelling) pulled us out rather roughly.
Then, we had to listen to them yelling at each other outside, while we waited to unload at the dock.
My companions didn't mind it so much, but it would have been nice to spend maybe 2 minutes inside the grotto without all the fighting.
The best thing on the island is the church of San Michele with the majolica tile floor of Paradise (2 euros), and the chair lift up to the top of Mt Solaris (I think that's the name), with its fantastic views (6 euros).
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