Italy Trip Report
 

This will be sorta short. <BR> <BR>Flew AirFrance, great flight, on time. Delayed on the way home, almost missed connection in Paris, luggage didn't make it. Air France delivered it the next day. <BR> <BR>First Venice. 3 nights at La Calcina, lovely room #33 with a view of the Guidecca Canal. It rained a bit the first night, the next day was foggy but warm. The next 2 days were bright and sunny. La Calcina was great, everyone was very nice. Very clean room, but super hard bed, and even harder pillow. Private bath, with hair dryer (didn't ever use mine). Nice shower, a bit small, but it was fine. Had a great meal at Trattoria al Ponte from my loney planet guide book. We made reservations and sat outside, however the book said you could enjoy the canal, but it was drained and fenced off. The food was wonderful and so was the service. <BR> <BR>We also ate at Harrys Bar one night. $189 for 2, 2 bellini's ($12 each, slightly larger than a juice glass), I had ravioli's and we had tomatoes and mozzerella as an appetizer, my husband had chicken and fungus! It was good, a bit cramped, wouldn't do that again. <BR> <BR>The water buses were super easy to figure out, language was not a problem, but I tried to speak as much as possible what little I know. <BR> <BR>Next on to Florence for 5 nights at Hotel Marios. We were in room 4, and as we checked in and viewed our room, we were greeted by the stench of ammonia, and I mean stench. It was gross. We requested a room change, it was unbearable. They said ok, tomorrow. In the morning we left and did our sight seeing, then came back to find they didn't move us...they got confused. Luckly the smell was a bit better. The bathroom was sorta yucky, lots of mildew, and very small. <BR> <BR>Love everything about Florence, food was great, people were great, Sangria was great. We went to Pisa for a day, and am very glad we did. I was really impressed, however I didn't like the writing on the walls on the street that said "Yankees, go home". Lots of political stuff all over. <BR> <BR>Next 4 nights were spent in Rome. We stayed at Hotel Fontanella Borghese. It was wonderful, by far the nicest place we stayed. Super friendly staff, very helpful. Modern rooms with no mildew. Veiw of a small street, not noisy at all. I was worried about the location, since I couldn't find the street on any map!!! But the location was great, 5 minute walk to Spanish Steps, 5 minutes to Trevi Fountain, 5 or so minutes to Piazza Navona, and the Pantheon. 20 minute walk or so to Capitoline hill and all that area. Had a great dinner at a place called Mario's in between Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain somewhere. Cab to the airport was crazy, wacky drivers!! Cost 80,000 Lira, about $40. 40 minute trip. <BR> <BR>Was delighted to see a makeshift shrine of the World Trade Center, 2 large square poster boards, 6" tall in the shape of the towers, with notes in Italian and English of well wishes. In front was a bench with a statue of a man, draped in flags and flowers, and in front of him on the ground was an American Flag with flowers and candles. <BR> <BR>The trip was amazing, Eurostar was a great way to travel, loved it! Loved everything. Used Lonely Planet Venice guide, great book. Used Fodors Rome guide, geat too, but needed pictures!!! Used Insight FLorence guide, that sucked. <BR> <BR>Thanks to all of you for help and advice.

Hi Dawn, good trip report... not too short, not too long. Did the Marius staff ever move you? <BR> Judy :-)

Welcome back Dawn. Sounds like you had fun. Where to next year?

I would love your opinion of how long to stay in Venice vs. Florence. I have 6 nights to split between the two. <BR>

Nope, we never changed rooms at Marios, they got confused to what we wanted...the smell went away eventually. <BR> <BR>Bob: We flew over the Alps, and I was in Awe. So I'm thinking maybe Switzerland or someplace, not sure, not sure if it will next year! <BR> <BR>Isabel: We did Italy backwards from what everyone else does. Everyone we met, did Rome, Florence then Venice. I didn't appreciate Venice until after I left and was in traffic and lots of people. 3 days in Venice was enough. I would probably just split them equaly, 3 nights in Venice, 3 in Florence. Florence is a good location if you want to go elsewhere i.e. Pisa or Sienna. If that's the case, then I'd spend more time in Florence. Ok, did I confuse you enough? Whatever you chose, you'll be fine.

Dawn, <BR> <BR>Your trip is sounding a bit similar to mine which is coming up at the beginning of November. I'll be doing the AirFrance flight thing (both ways), going thru Paris and continuing on to Venice and staying in La Calcina as well. I had already posted this previously, but since you have had hands-on experience I would love to hear more details on the flights (both ways), connections (both ways) and results of luggage mishap (did it happen both ways?) - how well did they handle it. Feel free to contact me at my e-mail address: [email protected]. Thanks in advance for any/all info you might have.

Dawn <BR>Do you have an address, email address, phone or fax # for the Fontanella Borghese? It sounds great.

thanks robin <BR>I also found out that the hotel is located starting on the 4th floor of a building. An elevator goes up to the fourth floor, and then there's a spiral stairway within the hotel to the next floor. Might be an issue for those who can't cope with stairs. There are hairdryers, and breakfast is available, don't know if it's included. <BR>Hotel is also praised on the karenbrown and timeout websites.

I posted my real address if anyone wants to e-mail me. <BR> <BR>Julie, Air France was great. Our original flight was canceled, but we were put on a later flight which was combined with 2 others, so it was full. It was on time, we had 1.5 hours to land in Paris and connect. Didn't come into the right terminal, so we had to take a shuttle to the one we needed. We had plenty of time. On the way back, we flew from Rome to Paris, and due to weather (I guess in Paris) we were delayed a while. Air France said it only takes 25 minutes to transfer the luggage, so ours would be fine. I didn't beleive it. We were met at our gate, and escorted to our plane. Once back in San Francisco, we were paged while waiting for our luggage. It didn't make the flight. I wasn't surprised. The took a description and said it would catch the Saturday flight, and we'd get it Saturday. We would have got it on Saturday, but were were out, so the delivery people left 2 messages, and finally just delivered it first thing Sunday Morning. I didn't mind, since then i didn't have to do laundry for another day!!! If it had been on the way to Italy, I would have been upset. I really like Air France. Everyone was nice, food was edible, movies were okay. <BR> <BR>Elaine, actually the hotel lobby is on the second floor, with a TINY elevator (3 person). There are some rooms on that floor, but ours was up the spiral staircase. They had someone bring our luggage up, which was nice. Upon checking in, they gave us a great map, circling where we were and all the important sights. They were by far the most friendly hotel. They offered to make reservations for us for anything, and gave us wake up calls when needed. I HIGHLY recommend this hotel.