<MimarWell, Bologna's nice, but Venice is one of the wonders of the world. And of much greater interest to that 17-year-old. I know I'm prejudiced but I'd put Venice first before any other place in Italy.>

A word from the wise.

Okay. Thank you, Thank you for all the comments/ideas.
I've read everything. The overwhelming concensus definitely sounds like Cinque Terre and Venice.
I'm checking on hotels in CT to see if it is possible.

Now - here we go - one more question. If we go to CT, does it make more sense to go to Florence/Siena (vs Rome) as macanimals suggested so long ago. I looked at the timetables and we would arrive after the horse race so it should be less crowded. If we stayed in Siena, we could take a day trip to Florence and the trip to CT would be much shorter.

TuckH - I'm starting that new thread - Thanks for your help so far.