Nearly 5 weeks in Italy – Fantastico!
Oct 31st, 2019, 09:46 AM
#42
Join Date: Feb 2003
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progol,
Looking forward to your Bologna section! I should have realized Padua is the English name. The priest in Romeo and Juliet tells Romeo, "Get thee to Mantua." Mantua/Padua, makes sense....
Glad my Sicily report was helpful for you. TRs here really are invaluable!
Looking forward to your Bologna section! I should have realized Padua is the English name. The priest in Romeo and Juliet tells Romeo, "Get thee to Mantua." Mantua/Padua, makes sense....
Glad my Sicily report was helpful for you. TRs here really are invaluable!
Oct 31st, 2019, 10:16 AM
#43
Original Poster
We visited La Rotonda, one of Palladio's most well-known villas and one of his most influential. As I mentioned earlier, Thomas Jefferson styled his own Monticello after Palladio's work. And visiting was exhilarating; M was very excited to see the building, and I caught his bug! Approaching it was exciting!
It's short distance from Vicenza, and we tried to take a taxi, but none came, even by the train station. This is a place where it really pays to have an app or call to schedule a cab. We found the bus, which was a short distance away, and then a shortish walk up a hill to the entryway.
We had stopped along the road with Roberta Parlato, and saw how it was sited on a small hill, or monticello. And approaching it on our visit, we saw again how elegant and beautifully proportioned it is.
It's short distance from Vicenza, and we tried to take a taxi, but none came, even by the train station. This is a place where it really pays to have an app or call to schedule a cab. We found the bus, which was a short distance away, and then a shortish walk up a hill to the entryway.
We had stopped along the road with Roberta Parlato, and saw how it was sited on a small hill, or monticello. And approaching it on our visit, we saw again how elegant and beautifully proportioned it is.
Oct 31st, 2019, 10:38 AM
#45
Original Poster
We loved Vicenza and hated leaving it....until we arrived in Bologna, which we loved from the moment we arrived. I still can't name exactly why, but it's a busy good-sized city with a wonderful energy. Lots of students, thanks to having one of the oldest (and best!) universities in Europe, sometimes called the oldest in the world. Great museums! Amazing art & history and great food. I'm not going into details - I didn't take notes, but I made the decision to go to Bologna after reading maitatom's report. Read it and see why!
First, you'll be struck by the most wonderful architecture, with its arches, loggia, and porticoes! Even in the rain, this is a city that is easy to visit!
First, you'll be struck by the most wonderful architecture, with its arches, loggia, and porticoes! Even in the rain, this is a city that is easy to visit!
Nov 5th, 2019, 05:13 AM
#51
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Hi, Karenwoo, I'm so glad you're enjoying this! And I'm sure you will love a return to Italy! It's just chock full of wonderful sights/sites and tastes! Rather like a meal of rich desserts! By the way, I'm now in planning stage for our trip to China and am working with Yunnan Adventure travel!
ellenem, I'm glad you're enjoying this! And I'll post photos of La Rotonda shortly. Of course, I'm sure you remember that there are no interior photos allowed there, too.
More to come....
ellenem, I'm glad you're enjoying this! And I'll post photos of La Rotonda shortly. Of course, I'm sure you remember that there are no interior photos allowed there, too.
More to come....
Nov 5th, 2019, 05:44 AM
#52
Original Poster
<<I am happy to hear that you are working with Yunnan Adventure Travel, and I hope you are as satisfied with them as we were. You will love Yunnan province, I am sure. It is very different from Shanghai and Beijing. When will you be going next year?>>
Hi, Karen,
We'll be leaving the end of March, traveling through Yunnan for about 12 days in April. A little nervous but also excited! So far, the contact with Yunnan Adventure has been great and fairly priced.
Paule
Hi, Karen,
We'll be leaving the end of March, traveling through Yunnan for about 12 days in April. A little nervous but also excited! So far, the contact with Yunnan Adventure has been great and fairly priced.
Paule
Nov 6th, 2019, 05:43 AM
#55
Original Poster
Oh, thank you everyone!
Dayle, I will do my best to post as quickly as I can -- somehow in retirement, I have less than, not more time! And truly, I'm not that busy (maybe just a little lazier though!).
Melanie, many thanks! It's amazing what we end up with simply our iPhones, as we lost our camera charger early on (which was no big loss, as we weren't that fond of the latest camera!).
So more to come!
Dayle, I will do my best to post as quickly as I can -- somehow in retirement, I have less than, not more time! And truly, I'm not that busy (maybe just a little lazier though!).
Melanie, many thanks! It's amazing what we end up with simply our iPhones, as we lost our camera charger early on (which was no big loss, as we weren't that fond of the latest camera!).
So more to come!
Nov 6th, 2019, 05:56 AM
#56
Original Poster
And here I am, trying to keep you up to date with info....
We booked a lovely apartment on VRBO -- and I knew I must've scored a nice place, because in reading the reviews after I booked it, I saw that Fodorite crellston and his wife had stayed there for a month and they gave it high praise! So I was happy!
https://www.vrbo.com/1555352a?noDates=true
And in truth, it is a lovely apartment in a fabulous location. Like every apartment, it has its own little minor quirks, but it was both an affordable place and prime location. The owner was also very quick to respond to any questions, and accommodated our earlier arrival from Vicenza. I'd stay there again. The only downside is the ongoing construction, so one morning, a workman on scaffolding walked by our bathroom window! But the curtains ARE drawn and this was not the norm!
From the "mezzanine" floor with extra bed/couch.
We booked a lovely apartment on VRBO -- and I knew I must've scored a nice place, because in reading the reviews after I booked it, I saw that Fodorite crellston and his wife had stayed there for a month and they gave it high praise! So I was happy!
https://www.vrbo.com/1555352a?noDates=true
And in truth, it is a lovely apartment in a fabulous location. Like every apartment, it has its own little minor quirks, but it was both an affordable place and prime location. The owner was also very quick to respond to any questions, and accommodated our earlier arrival from Vicenza. I'd stay there again. The only downside is the ongoing construction, so one morning, a workman on scaffolding walked by our bathroom window! But the curtains ARE drawn and this was not the norm!
From the "mezzanine" floor with extra bed/couch.
Nov 6th, 2019, 06:35 AM
#58
Original Poster
With extra special thanks to Fodorite annhig, I had a list of recommendations for places to see. I did my best to see as many as I could, and we saw
-Arcades. Lots of them, throughout the city.
-The Palazzo Poggi (a highly eclectic museum -- pix to come!)
-Piazza Santo Stefano - also known as the Piazza delle Sette Chiese, or the Piazza of the Seven Churches. This was one of our favorite spots in the city.
-The Basilica di Santo Stefano, in the above-named piazza
-Santa Maria Della Vita (for the terra-cotta statues)
-The Palazzo D'Acursio, former city hall, which contains the library (for the interior and the crypt, though we missed seeing the crypt) as well as other buildings
-The Archiginnasio of Bologna
-The food market behind Palazzo Popolo (fun, and we had a great lunch!)
We never had a bad meal, but our 2 favorite experiences in Bologna were at Da Cesari (reservations ESSENTIAL) and Sfoglia Rina, which I had gotten through maitatom's report. In fact, we visited Bologna thanks to that report, so we can thank or blame him for one more place that I want to return to!
I did not take a single note during our trip - I seem to have given up on that - and took lots of photos. Too many photos! I depend upon my iPad photo app to tell me where I am, but it doesn't tell me which is which! So I will identify as many as I can, but I'm afraid I'm not always sure which location is which!
-Arcades. Lots of them, throughout the city.
-The Palazzo Poggi (a highly eclectic museum -- pix to come!)
-Piazza Santo Stefano - also known as the Piazza delle Sette Chiese, or the Piazza of the Seven Churches. This was one of our favorite spots in the city.
-The Basilica di Santo Stefano, in the above-named piazza
-Santa Maria Della Vita (for the terra-cotta statues)
-The Palazzo D'Acursio, former city hall, which contains the library (for the interior and the crypt, though we missed seeing the crypt) as well as other buildings
-The Archiginnasio of Bologna
-The food market behind Palazzo Popolo (fun, and we had a great lunch!)
We never had a bad meal, but our 2 favorite experiences in Bologna were at Da Cesari (reservations ESSENTIAL) and Sfoglia Rina, which I had gotten through maitatom's report. In fact, we visited Bologna thanks to that report, so we can thank or blame him for one more place that I want to return to!
I did not take a single note during our trip - I seem to have given up on that - and took lots of photos. Too many photos! I depend upon my iPad photo app to tell me where I am, but it doesn't tell me which is which! So I will identify as many as I can, but I'm afraid I'm not always sure which location is which!
