Italy Trip Report
 

Just returned a little over a week ago from a whirlwind tour of Italy. I was stationed in Italy in Naples back in 1997-1998 and have always wanted to go back. This time I took my parents and mother-in-law with me (my husband declined the trip). We went to Rome, Sorrento, Capri, Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Florence &amp; Venice. It was wonderful and very tiring, but we all had a great time.<BR><BR>We arrived in Rome via Swiss Airlines on Sunday March 16. We had LimoService Rome pick us up at the airport. They were right there outside of customs as they promised. We also had them pick us up on our return home at 4:30 AM. I highly recommend this service. They are reliable and very reasonably priced.

In Rome we stayed at Hotel Navona which we liked but the daily trek up and down from the 3rd floor about killed my mother. No elevator, but the rooms were very nice and staff was helpful. <BR>Day 1 we just got settled in, walked around Piazza Navona and ate dinner.<BR><BR>Day 2 - After a lackluster breakfast at the hotel we started off walking to the Pantheon which was not far from the hotel. On the way we came across a fruit vendor in a little piazza and I bought some blood oranges which I love. My father saw an Italian woman lower a bucket from her apt. window to the vendor who put some fruit in it. The woman then raised it back up to the window. Very cool. We saw the Pantheon and made our way to the Trevi Fountain where we had throw our coins in to ensure our return to Rome. Then of to the Spanish Steps where we caught the metro for the Colosseum. <BR>Gotta get back to work...more later!

Everyone was in awe of the Colosseum. The last time I was there you could not go down where the arena was, now you can so that was better being able to get a close up view of the maze of passageways underneath. Next off to the Roman Forum where we hooked up with one of the free tours which was very good and helped bring the tumble of ruins to life. We then got lunch off of one of those rip off food &amp; drink carts. It's edible and convenient but that's about it. A bit pricey for what it is. We then went back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. For dinner we went to one of the restaurants in Piazza Navona. I don't remember the name, but the food was good. You have to watch though, the menu was reasonably priced, but they get you on the extras. Gelato was 7 Euro! Yikes!<BR>Day 3 - St. Peter's Cathedral. We skipped the dismal breakfast at the hotel thinking we could get something tasty at a bar on the way to St. Peter's. Would you believe we passed nothing?! We ended up eating from the crummy food cart again near St. Peter's and vowed never again to do this. <BR>St. Peter's was wonderful. I had forgotten how beautiful the church is inside. The different colors of marble are just gorgeous. It is really quite overwhelming. We went downstairs to where the tombs of the popes are and then proceeded to the Vatican Museum to view the Sistene Chapel. The last time I was there it was undergoing restoration and it looks pretty good. From the Museum we went on a trek for lunch and once again could not find anything decent, only touristy restaurants nearby. We ended up picnicking in the park next to St. Angelo's castle on delicious prosciutto sandwiches from a local bar. Then we toured the castle and went back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

That evening about 10PM, we heard a lot of commotion in the alley in front of our hotel. This was not uncommon really, but then my father alerted me to the fact that an American flag was being burned in the street directly in front of our hotel. I looked out the window &amp; sure enough a flag was on the ground on fire. No one was around and the next morning it was gone. This was the only incident of anti-Americanism we saw. Another incident, not anti-American, but anti-war was the next day my mother-in-law Elizabeth and I came across and Italian Communist group demonstrating for peace. We avoided it, but later on they appeared again this time parading down the street behind us towards Piazza Navona. The police had the streets all blocked off in front of the government buildings to prevent their access to the buildings. There must have been at least 50 police officers there. It was a peaceful demonstration though, they just walked and shouted carrying peace flags. It was a little unsettling though that they kept appearing when we were trying to avoid them.

sounds like an incredible adventure so far!!!!cant wait to hear more!!!i wil be in rome/capri/florence/venice in june and you descriptions are starting to bring my trip to life!! ladybug

Thanks Ladybug! If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.<BR><BR>Day#4 - We took the bus to San Sebastian Catecombs. Our tour group was small which was nice and the catecombs were very interesting. There were a lot of Italian school groups there are they were on their spring holidays. Then we took the bus back to the city and saw the Circus Maximus, Mouth of Truth and Capitoline Hill and later did some shopping. That evening we ate at a really good hole in the wall restaurant to the west of Piazza Navona run by an older lady. They have the best spaghetti pomodoro I have ever tasted. Gelato for dessert from one of the many gelato places nearby. My favorite was straciatella (chocolate chip). The Tiramisu was good too. I really liked the area we chose to stay in near Piazza Navona, lots of good restaurants reasonably priced and accessible to everything by foot or bus.

Day#5 - Took an intercity train from Rome to Naples about 2 1/2 hours. At Naples we caught the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. In the Naples train station just before you go down to the tracks for the Circumvesuviana there is a tourist info office where they will give you a schedule of the train and the local ferries to Naples, Sorrento &amp; Capri which came in very handy. We stayed at the Il Nido hotel in Sorrento. It is high up on a cliff and the view is beautiful, directly across from Mt. Vesuvius. Our rooms had balconies which overlooked the bay of Naples. We loved this hotel. It is not within walking distance to town, but they operate a shuttle into Sorrento which was very convenient and the ride was quite the experience amid the lemon groves and around the curves and other traffic. I felt like I got off a roller coaster after every ride. The first day we ate dinner at a little place called O Sole Mio in Sorrento. It's a very casual place where the menu is on the wall and you eat at benches, but the food is very good. We all got pizza and tried limoncello. The woman who ran the place had us try some Vesuvius wine and rice balls also. She just kept bringing out new things for us to try. We thought the bill would be sky high after all the food she loaded us up on, but it was only about 30 Euro for 4 people. She was a hoot too, very warm and funny.

Hi Scully..,<BR> Thanks for your report. I hope hubby realizes what he missed.

My first trip ever to Italy in June includes Florence and Venice. Anticipating your info! Incl. restaurants and helpful tips if you can. Also did you buy your train tix along the way? This seems to be the general consensus&gt;?

Ira, I think my husband wishes he had gone with us for the food &amp; wine, but he really is not a traveller. I would have liked him to have gone though. <BR><BR>E roz, we bought our train tickets along the way. We originally thought of buying an Italian railpass but then figured it really wouldn't save us much, if anything. What we did was when we arrived in a city, while we were at the train station we bought our tickets for the next trip. We wanted to make sure we had seat reservations so that's why we did it in advance. It worked out pretty well. In Naples we had a little adventure buying our tickets. This guy who said he worked for the city (and he looked official) asked us if we needed help. We didn't need help buying the tickets, but I asked him where the ticket windows were. He lead us there and proceeded to lead us to the head of the line and interpret for us what we needed. I speak survival Italian at best so I appreciated the help although we had no trouble getting our point across buying any other tickets. When our transaction was done he put out his hand and said &quot;5 Euro&quot;. We all just looked at each other amazed at this guy's gall. We coughed up 4 Euro and thanked him. When getting on the train there was another official looking guy who grabbed our luggage as we were boarding (we did not ask for this service) and put it up in the rack for us. Then he wanted a tip too! They are pretty slick. After that anytime someone wanted to help us in a train station no matter how official they looked we just said no grazie. We saw this mostly in Naples though. It made my father kind of irritated that they wanted tips, but I just chalked it up to another interesting story.

Fun report Scully!! I get to relive my trip. We stayed at Il Nido also. Loved it. We also had the &quot;official&quot; guys in Naples take advantage, but in the end they were helpful.

Hi, I have had the guys interpret for me too, but I appreciated it and gladly paid them the euro. If a porter would have helped I would have tipped too, but there are none to be found.<BR>This is how some locals get extra money, I wouldnt take offense, none was intended I am sure.

Thanks for the great report. Looking forward to hearing about Florence and Venice. We are going there in June. Was just wondering, how would I get in touch with limo service? I have tried www.limoservicerome.com and is not available. Thanks!

Hi! Sorry, I found the website. Thanks.

Hello: I will be taking a tour with 14 women to Itlay on April 21st. We will travel by Brendan's Tours to Rome Sorrento Venice and others. Our places of staying overnight do list some Hotels but also in Sorrento a place called Villa Parco. My question is the electrical cureent. Pluging in things like hair dryers or hair curlers. Do they provide ways for us to use USA current? I bought an adapter with different plugs but my hubby says that it won't work because I also need a transformer. Does anyone have an answer? Thank You Guppy

Hello Again: I have one more question. My sister-in-law said we must wear long pants or a dress on this tour as there are a lot of places that do not allow you in unless you are dressed as stated above. My question--Can one where shorts? Is it true about what my sister-in-law told me? Thnka yoy Guppy

Hi: Just looked at my messages of questions!!!!!I need to learn to type better and save laughs on all my errors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Oh well such is life.

To visit many churches you should not wear a sleeveless top or shorts. Hopefully your tour director will advise you accordingly. You can solve the sleeveless top issue by tossing on a sweater while in the church.

Hi Guppy!<BR><BR>Yes, you do need a transformer for your electrical items along with the plug adapters. Some blow dryers have a switch that you can switch over to 220v so you don't need the transformer, just the adapter. The one I brought had this feature and it worked fine.<BR><BR>I wouldn't say you need a dress unless you want to bring one, but some churches won't allow anyone in if their arms and legs are bare. They have signs outside the doors letting you know this. Short sleeves are ok, but sleeveless shirts and shorts are not. Capri pants would be ok though I think. St. Peter's also did not allow bare midriffs.

Day#6 - Took the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii. Every time we took this train there were boys who would get on the train playing the accordion and holding out a cup for tips and then they'd get off at the next stop. My father loved this and donated to them every time. I liked them too, it's certainly not something I see every day. We got to Pompeii early as we had plans to see Herculaneum too. Several people tried to get us to take tours with them, but we decided we'd rather explore on our own. Free guide books are available at the entrance, but unfortunately they had run out of the English ones so we got an Italian one and I muddled through it. Pompeii was fantastic though even if you don't know what you are looking at. We probably only saw 1/4 of it as the site is quite large. We really wanted to see Herculaneum too though so we left and got lunch. Caught the Circumvesuviana to Herculaneum and this time we rented an audioguide to help bring some of the ruins to life. Herculaneum doesn't seem to be as popular as Pompeii but I think it's just as worth seeing as the ruins are in better condition even though the site is smaller. If you don't want to do much walking this is a plus. We then went back to Sorrento and had dinner at the hotel which was delicious. Every night possible I had a Caprese salad with dinner. I just love it! You can't beat the mozzarella di bufala.

Thanks for the train info. Please continue.......!!

Hi Scullysioux and Ellenem: Thank you for your replies. They are very helpful. I am enjoying Scullysioux's reports, it makes me more anixous to go even with this sad war going on. Keep up the good reporting. Of course I don't know how long you are staying. We are all going for 2 weeks. Thanks,Guppy

Hi: Thought of another question. Did anyone see or hear about Padre Pio? I am just about finished with reading a book on his life. Thanks, Guppy

We were in Italy from March 16-29 (two weeks). The weather was wonderful. It was in the low to mid 60's every day except the day we went to Naples it was in the 50's and chilly. No rain either for the whole two weeks. I realize we were very lucky.<BR><BR>Day 7 - We took the ferry from Sorrento to Capri. Our hotel shuttle took us to the port to catch the ferry. The road to the port is on a very steep narrow curvy hill and our driver Gianni about gave us heart attacks as he aimed for a group of school children walking on side of the road yelling &quot;two points!&quot; We all laughed with our hearts in our throats as he swerved away just in time.

Day 7 cont. - It took about 1/2 an hour to get to Capri. There were a lot of tourists there, many Americans. The first thing we did was catch the boat to the Blue Grotto. We had heard it's best to do it in the morning because the sun is best then for the color of the grotto. Also you can't go in all the time, it depends on the height of the water because the opening to the grotto is very small. The boats to the Blue Grotto are on the left right after you get off the ferry. You pay for the ride over, pay for the Grotto when you get there and pay for the ride back when you pay for the Grotto. Oops, gotta get back to work, more later!

Great story and info.You could be my tour guide! they're all the places we want to go. Going May5-15 but will be broken up in with a side trip to Palermo (for work)friday evening, Sat.,and we can leave Sun. night. Trying to figure out how to fit it all in and in what order. We fly into Rome,(have been to Rome so only need a day or so there)any suggestions? Thanks so very much for any info, and I'm anxious to read more. Tell your boss WE need you!

Capri cont. - We took the boat which held about 10-15 people over to the Blue Grotto. On arriving our boat had to wait because there were two other boats ahead of us. The big boat does not go in, they transfer you to a rowboat which will hold 5 people maximum and that is very cramped let me tell you. Once you are in the boat you get in line to go in the grotto. When it's your boat's turn, the guy in charge has to time it when the waves going in are low as the opening really is not much bigger than the boat. Everyone then has to lay on the floor of the boat so your head does not get knocked off going in. Once inside it is a beautiful electric blue unlike anything I've seen before. One of the captains of the rowboats was singing Santa Lucia while we were in there and it echoed throughout the cave. I've heard people say it's touristy and a rip off, but it was one of the highlights of the trip in my opinion. Not just for the grotto but for the whole boat ride over &amp; transfer into the rowboat experience. They don't stay long in the grotto, maybe 5 mins. &amp; then you're out and back in the bigger boat. It was a lot of fun. Back on Capri we had lunch and walked to the Faraglioni the big rocks out in the water. We mostly just walked around taking in the scenery, taking photos &amp; poking into shops. It was a very nice day. Back at Sorrento port there is an orange bus that will take you up the hill if you don't want to walk up which we didn't. They sell the tickets in a booth nearby. Did some shopping then back to the hotel for another wonderful dinner.

Jan6570, I'll have to think about your question and get back to you. What kind of info do you specifically need?

Hi, Scullysioux, thanks for your trip report. It is most enjoyable and informative. <BR>Did you book your hotels online before you leave for Italy? How long was your trip? How many days did you stay in each city? Did you use a tarvel agent?<BR>I would like to take my 9-year old granddaughter to Italy next year during her Spring Break, should I avoid Rome during Easter?<BR>

Pat Rick,<BR>Thanks for the feedback.<BR>We did book all our hotels on line before we left, probably about 3 or 4 mos. ahead. All the hotels we picked had websites which allowed us to reserve on line. We used a travel agent for the airline tickets only. They usually know where to get the least expensive fares and what all the options are. We tried to get an open jaw flight into Rome and out of Venice so we didn't have to return to Rome the last day, but it was not available at the time. We made our flight reservations in late January thinking that if we waited longer the price would go down. Did it work? I'm not so sure. In hindsight I probably would have made the flight reservations earlier, but it all worked out ok in the end.<BR>We were in Italy 13 days. This was our itinerary:<BR>Rome - 4 days<BR>Sorrento - 4 days<BR>Florence - 2 days<BR>Venice - 2 days<BR>back to Rome - 1 day<BR>The length you spend in each place depends on what you are into. We only spent 2 days in Florence, which really was only a day and a half actually with travel times to get there. The family members I travelled with are not really into art, I am, but I've been there before, they haven't so we didn't do any museums except the Accedemia. It worked out well. I would have liked to have had an extra day in Venice though. The amount of time we spent in Rome was perfect to see what we wanted to see although there is always more to see there. We spent 4 days in Sorrento as a home base because we planned on making several side trips to Capri, Pompeii &amp; Herculaneum &amp; Naples.<BR>I myself, have never been to Rome during Easter, but from what I have heard it is very crowded that time of year. If you want to go then I would make my reservations as far in advance as possible.

Day 8 - We woke up to a very windy brisk day, the coolest so far. Luckily the sun was shining, but it was quite nippy. Took the Circumvesuviana to Naples where we caught the metro to the Naples Archeological Museum. The first thing we did was sign up for the Secret Closet Tour which is a tour of the risque items found at Pompeii &amp; Herculaneum. You can sign up for the tour in the same room where you buy your tickets at the info booth. You can only get into this room if you are on the tour as it is under lock and key. It was very interesting as the guide described where the items came from and what they were used for. They have tours in English. Then we toured the rest of the museum which houses many many objects found in Pompeii &amp; Herculaneum such as jewelry, swords, kitchen items, furniture, paintings, sculpture, mosaics etc. There is even a mass grave of skeletons in their original positions when they were being covered by lava at Herculaneum. If your plans include Pompeii or Herculaneum this museum really brings these places to life and if you have time I really recommend this museum.<BR>Next we ate lunch at the pizzeria directly across from the museum. My margherita con funghi was excellent. We all enjoyed it, but they had the door open the whole time and we about froze to death. My father was coming down with a cold at this time too. We then walked down via Toledo/via Roma. As it was Sunday all the shops were closed so it was kind of a boring walk. Usually it's a very exciting street, but not on Sunday. I had wanted to stop at the San Severo church, but everyone was cold and wanting to return to Sorrento so we walked to the Molo Beverollo port(I'm not sure I spelled that right) and caught the ferry to Sorrento where we did more shopping and went back to the hotel for our final delicious dinner at Il Nido.

Enjoyed your report! We wre in Rome in March. We stayed at Hotel Navona too! Great location, I thought the owners were great. PJ

Scullysioux, thanks for your reply, that helps. I am looking forward to the rest of your report so I can model my trip after yours.

PJ, We were at Hotel Navona March 16-19 and then again on March 28. When were you there? We were on the 3rd floor and then the 4th floor, 2nd &amp; 3rd floor in Italian. The staff was very helpful especially with figuring out which buses to take. I enjoyed it too.

Scully, We were there 3/6/03 to 3/10/03.<BR><BR>We were on the 1st floor, same floor as lobby. We had a twin room, definitely barebones! Clean and great water pressure for the shower. I liked the heated towel racks too.<BR><BR>We never had breakfast there, sounds like we did not miss anything! PJ

Day 8 - Caught the Circumvesuviana for the last time to Naples. Then we hauled our luggage up the stairs (the escalator was broken)and took a Eurostar train to Florence. The train was quite new looking and comfortable. It think it took about 4 1/2 hours to get to Florence. Once there we bought a map and found our hotel which was only a short distance away. We stayed at the Hotel Bellettini. Upon arrival my father went to bed as his cold was catching up with him while the &quot;girls&quot; went out to scope out the neighborhood. We instantly came upon the Central Market which is really huge. It is a long street with carts and carts of merchandise selling a ton of leather, a million scarves and also some t-shirts, souvenirs, etc. Typical tourist stuff, but really fun to look at at. After perusing, but not buying we set out to find a decent restaurant for dinner. We got spoiled in Sorrento eating at the hotel because it was so good and we didn't have to look for a place to eat each night. We walked around a while and saw a place that the menu looked decent on and made plans to come back later. When we did come back later with my father we went in and it was very touristy inside. It had about 20 countries flags hanging inside and the menu was in 4 languages. The food was about like eating a Michelina's frozen dinner and it was not cheap. We were very dissatisfied with this meal. It was the kind of place we had tried very hard everywhere else to avoid. So, we went back to the hotel and looked in my Rick Steve's book for a decent restaurant recommendation for the next night.

Day 9 - We had plans to see the Accademia museum first thing this morning. We got up early and ate breakfast at the hotel which was very good. Many things to choose from and blood orange juice too! After breakfast we walked to the Accademia and got in line. We did not have reservations and arrived there about 8:45 AM. There was already a short line about 10 people long. We had to wait about 15 mins. and were let in. We saw the prime reason for the visit which of course was Michelangelo's David. He was magnificant. We went and sat down on the benches behind David and an American tour group passed by. One of the guys sat down next to my mother and he was wondering what that was strapped to David's back. My mother said it was a slingshot and that it was David from David and Goliath. The poor guy obviously didn't even know the story because he misunderstood and thought my mother said &quot;David and the Lion&quot; The guy said to her &quot;Aw come on, everyone knows you don't go after a lion with a slingshot! &quot; We all got a good laugh out of that one. When we left the museum the line to get in was wrapped around the building. This was probably about 10:00. If you don't get there early you may want to make reservations. Next we headed to the Ponte Vecchio and then Piazza Signoria. There Elizabeth and I left my parents at the Loggia and we went to see Santa Croce church which I had never been in before. After that we went back to meet my parents. There were several people dressed up like statues next to the Uffizi. They were totally still until you put money in their box and then they would come to life. My parents were fascinated watching them. I must admit I donated to &quot;Dante&quot; to make him come to life and get my picture taken with him. Very entertaining. We got lunch at a bar and ate outside. For some reason in various points of the city we kept getting a whiff of sewage. Not everywhere, but occassionally. There were some men working in the street that we came across that had a portion of it dug up so that probably was the culprit. Not real pleasant though. After lunch my father went back to the hotel to rest and the &quot;girls&quot; went out shopping at the Central Market. Then my mother got tired and Elizabeth and I went to the Straw Market where I bought a tapestry. I was looking for some kind of art to bring home and this was perfect. It is a panoramic view of Florence and quite large. I could roll it up in my suitcase and no worry about it getting ruined. That night we went to dinner at the Rick Steve's recommened restaurant and we were not disappointed. It was a little hole in the wall, but very good. My mother had the Florentine steak and it was one of the best steaks I have ever tasted. Guys with accordians kept coming in the restaurant playing for tips and after the 3rd one came in the lady running the place would yell at them and chase them out. After dinner gelato and back to the hotel.

I am also heading from Naples to Florence and to Hotel Belletini. Did you buy your tickets in Naples? 1st or 2nd class?<BR>Any advice for the Naples to Florence and the Hotel?<BR>Thank You

Silvia,<BR><BR>We did buy our train tickets in Naples a couple of days before we left for Florence. We took a Eurostar, 2nd class. The Eurostar is very nice. I don't think it's necessary to spring for 1st class really. It's quite comfortable.<BR>When you get to Florence, Hotel Bellettini is not hard to find if you have a map. They sell them at the Florence train station if you don't have one. The map I bought is this little tiny booklet that when you open it up the map pops out at you and unfolds and when you shut it it folds itself back up into the little booklet. It's the coolest thing. Anyway, the hotel is not far and is on a dark street that looks like an alleyway. There is an elevator to go up to the reception which we appreciated because we got tired of lugging our luggage up the stairs. The staff is courteous and the rooms are basic, but clean and the beds are comfortable. Our room faced the street and was very noisy with the window open. With it closed it was ok though. The room was spacious enough, but the bathroom we had (I think we had room 41) was very small, but the shower was enclosed. The room my parents had (room 39) didn't have an enclosed shower, just a showerhead sticking out of the wall and when they showered the whole bathroom floor was wet the rest of the day. The breakfast was very good. Several types of rolls to choose from, yogurt, cheese, ham, juice, coffee, buffet style. <BR>The hotel also had free internet access located in the lobby which was nice to e-mail home. There are safes in the rooms, you have to ask at the desk for the key if you want to use it. The room we had had a tv. There were 3 English channels, CNN, BBC &amp; CNBC if you want to catch up on news. That's all I remember for now. If there's anything other info you need let me know.

Day 10 - Off to Venice. Left Florence about 8:50, took the Eurostar, our train was a little late getting in, but not too bad. Arrived in Venice at approximately noonish. We first bought 3 day passes for the water bus(vaporetto). Our hotel had provided directions for us on how to find our hotel so we hopped on the appropriate water bus and off we went on the Grand Canal. It took about 1/2 an hour to get to the St. Angelo stop where we got off and wandered through the streets following the directions. It's very easy to get lost in Venice (which is not always a bad thing) and at one point we weren't sure which way to go. We asked a local gentleman if he knew where our hotel was. It turned out we were standing right next to the side of the hotel. We stayed at the Locanda Fiorita. The rooms were very small, but nice. The bathroom could have used a little de-mildewing, but otherwise I enjoyed it. The staff was very helpful and pleasant. We found a restaurant nearby for lunch and had some pasta. Then we walked around getting lost and checking out shops and taking photos. We made our way to the Rialto bridge and took the water bus back to the hotel where we rested for dinner. We went to dinner about 7:00 and I don't know if it is Venice or just the area we were in, but we could not find a real restaurant, only snack bars. We wandered around for about an hour intil we got really tired and cranky and finally settled on an osteria in the Campo San Stefano which was a little more than we wanted to spend, but it was so good! Worth the extra money.