Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Italy trip report

We just returned Friday from a two-week trip to Rome, Siena, Florence, and Venice. We travel quite a bit, but this was our first time to Italy. Instead of my usual lurker tendency to procrastinate on writing a trip report, I am going to get this done before I forget all the details. The jet lag has definitely lowered my IQ for now, but I will try to make this coherent.

Travel and Weather -
We made it into Rome and out of Venice despite the pesky volcano. I was mostly concerned about getting there, but it always nice to be able to get back too. The weather was fine overall.
We had some rain in Florence and Venice, but we were prepared for it so no worries. We pack light, carry-ons only, and we were happy with the mix of clothes we brought. We tend to dress the way we would at home which does not include white athletic shoes, sweatshirts or fanny packs. While walking around one day, I heard a rather large woman telling her friend that she wished she had worn her green velour sweatsuit that day. A green velour sweatsuit. I would have like to have seen that.

Food – Big thumbs up for Italian food in general. We did not have a bad meal anywhere, and there were a few real standouts.
I think our best meal was at Ristoranti Crispi in Rome. The seafood ravioli and sea bass were wonderful.
In Florence, we had a couple of good meals at a little neighborhood place called Acquacotta. I had a delicious, hearty vegetable soup with bits of bread in it. The restaurant, La Giostra was great as well.
In Venice, we ate at Taverna San Travaso and Casin Sin Nobili, thanks to the recommendations I found here on Fodors. San Travaso had excellent tiramisu that I would like another piece of right now. While we were eating there, one of a group of cruise ship day-trippers at a table next to us demanded that the waiter bring some tomato sauce for his pasta. The waiter was obviously surprised and explained that the dish was made with fresh tomatoes. He offered to bring more tomatoes and the response was an imperious “Bring me some tomato sauce, you know, marinara. And bring me some more garlic too.” You have to imagine it in a loud New Jersey accent (no offense to all the nice folks in NJ). What a bonehead. The waiter did not bring them any tomato sauce or garlic, I am happy to report.
I ate more than my fair share of Gelato, and by the time we left, I was starting to form an addiction to drinking a quick espresso while standing at the bar. What a good idea that is.

Hotels -
We stayed at Roma Boutique Hotel in Rome. I cannot say enough good things about the staff there. Alessandro in particular is incredibly helpful and gracious. A transfer from the airport to the hotel is included in your stay, and they are very quick to offer help with restaurant recommendations, help with museum tickets, and whatever else you need. It was a great way to start our trip. Breakfast is delivered to your room every morning which is nice. I am always happy to avoid having to speak to anyone until after some coffee and food.
We only stayed one night at Palazzo Ravizza in Siena and it was fine.
In Florence, we stayed at the Il Villino. At first I thought the neighborhood looked a little dicey, but it turned out to be perfectly fine. Sergio and his family are friendly, and the location was great – easy walk to the main sites but far enough away to be nice and quiet.
I really liked our hotel in Venice, the Hotel Galleria. We had room number 10 with a lovely view of the Accademia Bridge and the Grand Canal. We spent a fair amount of time just watching the activity from our room windows.

The sights -
We saw so many incredible things, I will just mention a few. The one thing I was most looking forward to was visiting the Forum and Colosseum, and they did not disappoint. We ended up booking a private guide from Through Eternity since I did not see any small groups tours at a time that would work well for us. She is a university professor and really helped us appreciate what we were looking at. We also went on the Scavi tour while we were in Rome, which I would recommend. The remains of the necropolis are impressive.
The Duomo in Siena reminded me of the Mezquita in Cordoba with all the striped marble columns. Just walking around the city itself is an experience, and it is easy to imagine the place as it was in medieval times.
We had four days in Florence, and I feel like we barely scratched the surface. We ended up not getting into the Uffizi even though we had tickets. The entire area was a complete zoo with pouring rain and hordes of tourists umbrella-jousting. By the time we made it into the right line, we were too late to pick up our tickets. At that point, I just wanted to get away from the crowds, but DH was pretty disappointed. Oh well, next trip. The Galleria Accademia was great. To be honest, I thought I might be a bit under whelmed by the David after hearing and reading so much about it. We were in the museum late, not too long before closing time, and it was not crowded at all. What an impressive and moving piece of art. I also enjoyed looking at the Prisoners. You really have the feeling of someone emerging fully formed from the stone.
It seems that people either love or hate Venice. Put me in the first group. It is touristy, but so pretty and like no place else I have been. I loved the Basilica with its mosaics. One of the guidebooks said the tour of the upper level was not worth the price. I think it was expensive, maybe 4 euros for a small exhibit, but if you like tapestries and want to see the mosaics up close, definitely do it. There were very few other people up there so you can linger and enjoy the beauty of the place.

Overall – The food and wine were fantastic. The people were nice and very tolerant considering the crush of tourists. There are so many things to see, we certainly will be back. I think next time we will mix urban sightseeing with a visit to the country and away from the crowds.

Thanks to all of you for your many posts here. We found them very helpful while planning our trip.