Trip Report: Venice, Tuscany, Amalfi Coast, Rome
Aug 10th, 2006, 12:39 PM
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Trip Report: Venice, Tuscany, Amalfi Coast, Rome
We enjoyed a fabulous trip to Italy in May! It has taken a while to write the report, but here it is! Thank you so much to everyone on this board for your insight. Although I didn’t post too many questions, I was definitely addicted to this site in the planning process!
Let me give you some background. My DH and I are in our late 20's. My DH has never traveled outside the continental U.S. I have traveled only to Great Britain (England, N. Ireland, Ireland, Scotland) as part of a foreign exchange program in college. We wanted to do a European trip prior to starting a family.
OUR ITINERARY: May 6th-20th, 2006
Venice: 2 nights
Tuscany: 3 nights
Amalfi Coast: 4 nights
Rome: 4 nights
FLIGHTS:
On the way to Italy, we flew American Airlines from Kansas City to Chicago, Chicago to Brussels, Brussels to Venice. On the way home we flew American from Rome to NY, NY to Dallas, Dallas to KC. Our flights were $880 each ($1021 with taxes, fees, etc. ) We booked in December.
I chose American because we had never really had trouble with domestic flights and they seemed to be reliable. However, we had several issues this time around. Our flights we had originally booked were cancelled and AA had us getting into Venice 5 hours later than our original itinerary, which we were pretty upset about. We were also getting back to KC 3 hours later than our original schedule. We had specifically booked these flights (and paid extra for the tickets) for the schedule. Supposedly, AA had emailed us about this change, however, we never received the email. So, at the airport, we changed flights again and were getting to Venice at 11:00 am, instead of 4:00 pm. The downfall of this last minute change was our seating arrangement. We were originally a window-aisle seat, and now we were middle/aisle group of 3. I didn’t think this would be a problem until we sat down! We were both VERY disappointed in the amount of room in our seats. It appeared to be the same as other domestic flights. I recalled on my trip to Ireland and acquaintances’ international flights, there was quite a bit more room. It was a pretty miserable flight.
MEALS:
All of the hotels we stayed at served a pretty wonderful breakfast. (But note that breakfast here is 8am-10am as opposed to 6-10 am in the states. This worked out fine for us everyday except the day we were leaving Rome) We were usually pretty full from breakfast so not incredibly hungry by lunchtime, at least not before siesta was over! Usually at lunch, we would grab a sandwich from a little osteria or enoteca that looked appetizing and sit in some shade somewhere to people watch. This worked out great for us, and we didn’t have a bad panini or tramezzini on our entire trip! Each was just a little different, but pretty tasty! It ended up being pretty economical as well. (Not the reason for the choice, but an added bonus) For dinners, we would attempt to find a recommended restaurant (by this site, or Fodors/Rick Steves guidebook) These worked out pretty well, too.
VENICE:
Transportation:
To get into Venice, we took the ACTV bus. We bought a 24 hour pass for 12E each, which was good for the vaporettos as well. Vaporetto #1 took us to the Ca D’Oro stop for Hotel Bernardi . We found all of this to be very easy and well marked. We walked most of Venice pretty easily (getting lost a few times of course!)
Hotel Bernardi, Cannergio, SS.apostoli, 4363-66. 93 E/night, www.hotelbernardi.com
We booked this hotel based on reviews from this site and tripadvisor.com. We had a double with private bathroom. We were very pleased with this hotel. It is just off the Ca D’Oro vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal. It was only a 6 min. walk to St Marks, but was in a very quiet area. Staff was very nice and helpful. Our room was bright and clean (#10) . Breakfast was good-rolls, juice, toast, and the very best hot chocolate we’ve ever had! They give a 5% discount for cash payment.
Restaurants/Gelato:
Ca D’Oro Gelateria -(on Strada Nova, just E.of Ca D’Oro vaporetto stop)
Our first taste of gelato, we were hooked, and none compared our whole trip! It was absolutely wonderful! DH had limone and said it was the best cold dessert he’s ever had! I had stracciatella and fragola (choc chip & strawberry) For 1.60E for 2 scoops, it was a great deal! We tried to go back the second night but they were already closed!
Pizzeria Marciana (near Piazza San Marco, 25E)
We were both craving pizza and walked into one of the first sit-down restaurants we saw. We were both pretty tired at this point(our first night) and couldn’t really focus on finding addresses of reccomendations! This restaurant was good, but not great. The service was definitely lacking. We had a margarita pizza and a four cheese pizza, which were good, but not nearly as good as others we would come to find.
Spizzico:
On our 2nd day in Italy, we weren’t quite accustomed to siesta, and attempted to find lunch around 2:30 pm. (We got a funny look walking into Enoteca Al Volto for lunch at this time) So this Italian fast food was the only thing at the time we could find serving food! Not ideal, but for 8E, not bad for the experience.
Day #1:
After 24 hours of travel, we were pretty beat! We got to the hotel and my DH was feeling rather ill from the travel and no sleep, so we decided to take a little nap. Slept for a few hours, and then walked Venice for several hours. Walked San Marco, Dorsoduro, some of Castello, and some of Cannaregio. We both fell in love with Venice!
Day #2
I won’t go into detail about the sites we saw, unless anyone has questions–I figure enough has been written about these! I’ll do more of the hows, costs, etc.
We got up early and headed to the Gallerie dell’ Accademia (6E each) on Vaporetto #1. We were there when it opened and had no line. I really enjoyed this. I bought an audio guide for 4E which was very helpful. After the Accademia we hopped back on the #1 and went to St Marks. The line for the St Mark’s Basilica was very long, so we went to the Correr Museum to purchase tickets for Doge’s Palace (12E each for the San Marco museum card). We skipped the long line for the Palace and went straight in. It was great. We both really liked the Palace. I wished at that point I had booked the Secret Itineraries tour, but guess we’ll have to save that for next time! After the Palace, we headed to find something to eat. In passing the entrance to St Mark’s, there was no line, so we went right in! (We had a great day for lines!) The Basilica was very ornate and impressive. After all of our sightseeing, it was around 2:30 pm, so we headed out to find lunch (it was siesta-but we weren’t quite used to that yet–see restaurants above)
After lunch, we were had to decide what to do with the rest of our day. We thought about heading to one of the islands, but opted instead for the Campanile ( 4.30E/each) We are both suckers for views, and really enjoyed this. There were fantastic views of St Mark’s Square, Basilica, Venice, and the mainland. On the way to the Campanile, we tried to hop on a traghetto at 3 different spots, but none were running! We were disappointed.
After the Campanile we sat on the steps of St Mark’s for a while and enjoyed music and the atmosphere until dusk. As darkness settled in, we hopped onto the #82 Vaporetto and headed north. The vaporetto was pretty empty. The Grand Canal at night is magical! We are so glad we followed recommendations on this one! We walked Cannaregio and San Marco that night too, which were also very pretty!
Thoughts on Venice: 1) LOVED IT!!!! Its like no other city in the world. A must see. 2) Its okay to get lost! 3) Walk, walk, walk!
Next: Tuscany
Let me give you some background. My DH and I are in our late 20's. My DH has never traveled outside the continental U.S. I have traveled only to Great Britain (England, N. Ireland, Ireland, Scotland) as part of a foreign exchange program in college. We wanted to do a European trip prior to starting a family.
OUR ITINERARY: May 6th-20th, 2006
Venice: 2 nights
Tuscany: 3 nights
Amalfi Coast: 4 nights
Rome: 4 nights
FLIGHTS:
On the way to Italy, we flew American Airlines from Kansas City to Chicago, Chicago to Brussels, Brussels to Venice. On the way home we flew American from Rome to NY, NY to Dallas, Dallas to KC. Our flights were $880 each ($1021 with taxes, fees, etc. ) We booked in December.
I chose American because we had never really had trouble with domestic flights and they seemed to be reliable. However, we had several issues this time around. Our flights we had originally booked were cancelled and AA had us getting into Venice 5 hours later than our original itinerary, which we were pretty upset about. We were also getting back to KC 3 hours later than our original schedule. We had specifically booked these flights (and paid extra for the tickets) for the schedule. Supposedly, AA had emailed us about this change, however, we never received the email. So, at the airport, we changed flights again and were getting to Venice at 11:00 am, instead of 4:00 pm. The downfall of this last minute change was our seating arrangement. We were originally a window-aisle seat, and now we were middle/aisle group of 3. I didn’t think this would be a problem until we sat down! We were both VERY disappointed in the amount of room in our seats. It appeared to be the same as other domestic flights. I recalled on my trip to Ireland and acquaintances’ international flights, there was quite a bit more room. It was a pretty miserable flight.
MEALS:
All of the hotels we stayed at served a pretty wonderful breakfast. (But note that breakfast here is 8am-10am as opposed to 6-10 am in the states. This worked out fine for us everyday except the day we were leaving Rome) We were usually pretty full from breakfast so not incredibly hungry by lunchtime, at least not before siesta was over! Usually at lunch, we would grab a sandwich from a little osteria or enoteca that looked appetizing and sit in some shade somewhere to people watch. This worked out great for us, and we didn’t have a bad panini or tramezzini on our entire trip! Each was just a little different, but pretty tasty! It ended up being pretty economical as well. (Not the reason for the choice, but an added bonus) For dinners, we would attempt to find a recommended restaurant (by this site, or Fodors/Rick Steves guidebook) These worked out pretty well, too.
VENICE:
Transportation:
To get into Venice, we took the ACTV bus. We bought a 24 hour pass for 12E each, which was good for the vaporettos as well. Vaporetto #1 took us to the Ca D’Oro stop for Hotel Bernardi . We found all of this to be very easy and well marked. We walked most of Venice pretty easily (getting lost a few times of course!)
Hotel Bernardi, Cannergio, SS.apostoli, 4363-66. 93 E/night, www.hotelbernardi.com
We booked this hotel based on reviews from this site and tripadvisor.com. We had a double with private bathroom. We were very pleased with this hotel. It is just off the Ca D’Oro vaporetto stop on the Grand Canal. It was only a 6 min. walk to St Marks, but was in a very quiet area. Staff was very nice and helpful. Our room was bright and clean (#10) . Breakfast was good-rolls, juice, toast, and the very best hot chocolate we’ve ever had! They give a 5% discount for cash payment.
Restaurants/Gelato:
Ca D’Oro Gelateria -(on Strada Nova, just E.of Ca D’Oro vaporetto stop)
Our first taste of gelato, we were hooked, and none compared our whole trip! It was absolutely wonderful! DH had limone and said it was the best cold dessert he’s ever had! I had stracciatella and fragola (choc chip & strawberry) For 1.60E for 2 scoops, it was a great deal! We tried to go back the second night but they were already closed!
Pizzeria Marciana (near Piazza San Marco, 25E)
We were both craving pizza and walked into one of the first sit-down restaurants we saw. We were both pretty tired at this point(our first night) and couldn’t really focus on finding addresses of reccomendations! This restaurant was good, but not great. The service was definitely lacking. We had a margarita pizza and a four cheese pizza, which were good, but not nearly as good as others we would come to find.
Spizzico:
On our 2nd day in Italy, we weren’t quite accustomed to siesta, and attempted to find lunch around 2:30 pm. (We got a funny look walking into Enoteca Al Volto for lunch at this time) So this Italian fast food was the only thing at the time we could find serving food! Not ideal, but for 8E, not bad for the experience.
Day #1:
After 24 hours of travel, we were pretty beat! We got to the hotel and my DH was feeling rather ill from the travel and no sleep, so we decided to take a little nap. Slept for a few hours, and then walked Venice for several hours. Walked San Marco, Dorsoduro, some of Castello, and some of Cannaregio. We both fell in love with Venice!
Day #2
I won’t go into detail about the sites we saw, unless anyone has questions–I figure enough has been written about these! I’ll do more of the hows, costs, etc.
We got up early and headed to the Gallerie dell’ Accademia (6E each) on Vaporetto #1. We were there when it opened and had no line. I really enjoyed this. I bought an audio guide for 4E which was very helpful. After the Accademia we hopped back on the #1 and went to St Marks. The line for the St Mark’s Basilica was very long, so we went to the Correr Museum to purchase tickets for Doge’s Palace (12E each for the San Marco museum card). We skipped the long line for the Palace and went straight in. It was great. We both really liked the Palace. I wished at that point I had booked the Secret Itineraries tour, but guess we’ll have to save that for next time! After the Palace, we headed to find something to eat. In passing the entrance to St Mark’s, there was no line, so we went right in! (We had a great day for lines!) The Basilica was very ornate and impressive. After all of our sightseeing, it was around 2:30 pm, so we headed out to find lunch (it was siesta-but we weren’t quite used to that yet–see restaurants above)
After lunch, we were had to decide what to do with the rest of our day. We thought about heading to one of the islands, but opted instead for the Campanile ( 4.30E/each) We are both suckers for views, and really enjoyed this. There were fantastic views of St Mark’s Square, Basilica, Venice, and the mainland. On the way to the Campanile, we tried to hop on a traghetto at 3 different spots, but none were running! We were disappointed.
After the Campanile we sat on the steps of St Mark’s for a while and enjoyed music and the atmosphere until dusk. As darkness settled in, we hopped onto the #82 Vaporetto and headed north. The vaporetto was pretty empty. The Grand Canal at night is magical! We are so glad we followed recommendations on this one! We walked Cannaregio and San Marco that night too, which were also very pretty!
Thoughts on Venice: 1) LOVED IT!!!! Its like no other city in the world. A must see. 2) Its okay to get lost! 3) Walk, walk, walk!
Next: Tuscany
Aug 10th, 2006, 09:35 PM
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Mary, Mary, Gelateria Ca'd'Oro is MY neighborhood Gelateria-you have to try their arancia (orange) and the pompelmo di rosa (pink grapefruit) which is to die for! When I go there (and will be arriving very shortly again) for my daily gelato fix, they just greet me and smile, and say "the same?" Yes, please!
And the Campo SS Apostoli-didn't you love it? So close to Rialto, so close to all the wonderful little local restaurants in Cannaregio and across the traghetto in San Polo-and to the beautiful churches of dei Miracoli and Giovanni e Paolo. Of course, if you know your way and follow the little signs (called "nizioleti"
you can get to San Marco in 20 minutes from there-and there's nothing better than the Strada Nova for seeing the local life and color of Venice-out on the streets. It is an ideal location for getting to know the real Venice, and to get away from the madding crowds of San Marco.
It sounds like you and the DH had a lovely time in Venice- am looking forward to the rest of your report.
And the Campo SS Apostoli-didn't you love it? So close to Rialto, so close to all the wonderful little local restaurants in Cannaregio and across the traghetto in San Polo-and to the beautiful churches of dei Miracoli and Giovanni e Paolo. Of course, if you know your way and follow the little signs (called "nizioleti"
you can get to San Marco in 20 minutes from there-and there's nothing better than the Strada Nova for seeing the local life and color of Venice-out on the streets. It is an ideal location for getting to know the real Venice, and to get away from the madding crowds of San Marco.It sounds like you and the DH had a lovely time in Venice- am looking forward to the rest of your report.
Aug 11th, 2006, 05:12 AM
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Girlspy- Thank you. We did have a lovely time. The neighborhood was wonderful, and oh, the gelato! We were soooo disappointed we didn't get to try it a second time. I don't remember the name of the other gelateria we tried in Venice, but it didn't compare at all!!! The churches around there sound fantastic, too, although we didn't get a chance to go in them. Next time around...
Aug 11th, 2006, 05:32 AM
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TUSCANY:
Hotel: Hotel Pescille, 3 km from San Gimignano, 95 E/noc, www.hotelpescille.it
Another hotel we booked based on this website’s reviews and tripadvisor.com. We loved this hotel! Its setting is beautiful, and there is a great view overlooking San Gimignano. Our double room with private bathroom was very quiet and modernly decorated with a view over the gardens (You can pay extra for view over San Gimignano) Breakfast was fantastic with fresh fruit, meats and cheeses, breads, cereal, yogurt, juices (our first taste of blood orange juice!) and cappuccino machine. Staff was very helpful in directing us to different Tuscan destinations. They also have an Enoteca at which we purchased some souvenir wine for a great price! They give a 5% discount for payment in cash.
Restaurants/Gelato:
Trattoria Chiribiri
Piazza della Madonna 1, just inside the main entrance to San G)
This little family owned restaurant was fantastic! I had homemade spinach and cheese crepes and DH had baked lasagna, and we enjoyed a Tuscan meat and cheese appetizer, all for 31E. Enjoyed the white house wine (complimentary while we were waiting!) It is very small and very popular, so try to get there early to grab a table (open at 7:30?)
Taverna Paradiso: just off Piazza del Duomo in San Gimignano
Our second night, we attempted to go back to Trattoria Chirubui, but had a 2 hour wait. We were starving, so headed for Osteria del Cavure,(recc by Fodorites) but they were closed on Wednesdays. So we found this restaurant instead. Maybe it was because we were famished by this time
but we absolutely loved this restaurant. I had the best spaghetti pesto I’ve ever eaten and my DH had Spaghetti Al Ragu (with meat) which was also fantastic! We had a blueberry “cake” (like a mix between pie and streusel) and a vanilla gelato with chocolate shavings for dessert. Fabulous desserts! The service was fantastic, too. We were pretty pleased with this restaurant. So pleased, we headed back on our 3rd night in San G. I got the pesto again, and DH had a seafood spaghetti. We also had dessert and wine. Fantastic again! (25 E first night, 28E second night)
Gelateria: I’m disappointed I can’t remember the name, because it was so good!! It was the first gelateria just inside main gate to San G. We had limone, limone,and more limone! Very good, in a homemade wafflecone. (3.60 E for 3 scoops) Yummy!
Day #3
We took the EuroStar train from Venice’s to Florence’s Santa Maria Novella. (27 E/each) It was a very nice ride. We bought tickets at the train station just before the train left.
We booked an automatic car through Hertz (the agency is 500 m from the train station). We booked through Hertz because they were quite a bit cheaper than autoeurope.com or other booking sites (with AAA discount) Although I had called 3 times prior to our trip and was assured we would have an automatic waiting for us, there was no automatic available. My DH was to be the primary driver, and has had a total of 3 lessons in manual driving in his life. Neither of us have ever owned a manual! Needless to say we were pretty upset, and very nervous about the next 4 days in the car! We were also upset because we had to argue with Hertz to get a cheaper price (They were still going to charge us the automatic price because they had upgraded us to a larger car!)
Our plan was going to be to stay in Florence for the afternoon/evening and then head to San G. But my DH was very understandably nervous about the car, and just wanted to get the heck out of Florence! We got directions from Hertz. After about 15 minutes, several times killing the engine, and the start of a hailstorm (!) we were very lost in Florence! It ended up taking us about 3 hrs total to get to San G (what should have taken 1-1.5 hrs!) We were very happy to finally make it to Hotel Pescille! We ate and walked around San G for a while. After our day, San G was a very welcome quiet town. The daytrippers had left, and we fell in love with it!
Day #4
My plan for the day had been to get up early and go to Siena, then maybe spend the afternoon/evening in San G/Volterra. Well we slept in a bit, and my DH was still very nervous about the car. We decided to head to Siena and then try to do some of Stu Dudley’s 1 Day Driving Itinerary.
We set out for Siena. Apparently, I didn’t research Siena enough, because I expected something much smaller. (When we asked Hotel Pescille for directions, they said “follow the signs, you know!”) So we followed the signs for Siena, and then I (the navigator) thought we should just get off at the first exit for Siena (didn’t realize there were several!!) Got off on the Siena Nord exit, which is not the one we wanted, and ended up driving around Siena looking for the City Centre for an hour. In the end, we must have at least drove near it, because ended up in the south of Siena. Decided to go ahead and do part of Stu Dudley’s drive and then head back to Siena in the afternoon. According to the drive we were to head south on the N2. Well, we had trouble locating this, and ended up on the 223. In our attempt to get back to the N2, we were lost in Tuscany for a few hours. I had brought my Tuscany map, and attempted to get us back to the N2. It actually turned out to be very pretty driving, and one of our favorite parts of Tuscany!
We finally made it to Montepulciano around 12:00, parked in a pay garage, and headed up to the main square. Grabbed some lunch at a little bar just off the main square (very good sandwiches!) and sat in the square for a while. Went into City Hall Tower, (1.60E/each) which had good views, but not much different than you can already see from the town. Walked Montepulciano for a while and loved it! I would definitely recommend visiting this town if you are in this area. It sits up on a hill with a large church, San Biagio, in the foreground. The drive to it is gorgeous, the views from the town are wonderful, and the town itself is very full of character.
Headed out of town and through Pienza, San Quirico, and Montalcino. Small stops in each of these towns (due to our hours of being lost and sleeping in, we weren’t able to spend as much time as I would have liked!) But all are worth a visit! Montalcino is located high on a hill and is very pretty as you are approaching it.
After Montalcino, we headed out for Sant’ Antimo Abbey. For some reason the signs out of Montalcino took us the roundabout way and we thought we were lost and got turned around, and ended up doing the same 8 km of road 3 times! Obviously, it took us much longer to get there than what it should have! But the Abbey is beautiful! Unfortunately, the exterior was under construction, which was disappointing. The setting around the Abbey is just beautiful, too!
After the Abbey, we decided to head back and spend the evening in Siena. Made it to Siena, but again, couldn’t find any signs directing us toward parking or City Centre. We drove around for about 90 minutes , located the soccer stadium, but couldn’t find a single place to park! Even now that I am writing this, it sounds unbelievable, but we really couldn’t. Maybe we were just looking in the wrong places. It was probably between 4:30 and 6:00 pm when we were there, and it must have been rush hour, because it was crazy! It was almost as bad as Florence to navigate and drive. I was pretty surprised by this because I guess I had pictured Siena as a small Tuscan town! Obviously, I didn’t pay close enough attention during my research of it! We found ourselves back on the road toward San G, and my DH, tired of being lost and driving, headed back to the hotel, without really seeing the delightful part of Siena. I was pretty disappointed in this, as we had heard so many wonderful things about Siena, but unfortunately, it left a sour mark in my DH’s book.
Headed back to San G and had dinner and walked more of the town. So nice after the daytrippers had left!
Day #5
Okay, this is starting to get a little long-winded, so gotta shorten the reporting a bit!
On a last minute whim, we decided to head to Pisa, because my DH thought at some point we may regret having not seen the Leaning Tower (and just before we left the states, 5 different people asked if we were going to see it–we took it as a sign!) Drove to Pisa, saw the tower, Duomo (2E each),and Baptistery. We both enjoyed this more than we expected to! And the pictures were fun, too. Obviously, it was packed with tourists. We grabbed some lunch at a little vendor just outside the Field of Miracles, where sandwiches and drinks were surprisingly tasty and reasonably priced.
For the rest of the afternoon, we decided to take a scenic tour and head down the SS222, see Chianti, and try to fit in some wine-tasting. Drove the Autostrada toward Florence and were going to catch the 222. I assumed (although I realize this is a dangerous word) that since the 222/Chianti region is so well known and touristy that there would be signs off the Autostrada. Well, there were no signs for either and we ended up going about 10 km past the exit I guess we should’ve taken. In the meantime, we hit a pretty bad traffic jam and ended up in a dead standstill for almost an hour! In the end, we backtracked through small Tuscan roads and ended up in Greve in Chianti. This is a nice little town. At the tourist info office (poorly marked signs, but we found it!) we were told about a place around the corner to sample all of the local wines of the region. It was called LeCantine di Greve in Chianti. They had 150 different wines from the region. We bought a wine card (come in increments from 5E to 30E) and sampled many different wines. We placed the card in different “kiosks” with different wines to obtain a glass of our choice. We paid anywhere from .80E to 4.90E per glass, depending on the cost of the bottle. The card came with free samples of different regional olive oils and bread and we also purchased an appetizer with the money on the card. Overall, we really enjoyed the experience! It was a lot of fun tasting many different wines! Next time, we will make a reservation at a winery and plan a bit more, but for our situation, this worked great for us!
After wine tasting, drove the 222 and headed back toward San G. Another beautiful drive. Stopped several times to grab pictures. At San G, grabbed a late dinner and enjoyed the little town for our last night.
Day #6
Had another great breakfast at Hotel Pescille, and were a bit sad to leave! We headed out for Assisi. (We got there without getting lost!) Parked at the bottom of the hill and had about a 20 minute walk to the Basilica di San Francesco. The walk up the hill toward the church was very pretty. The Basilica and tomb of St Francis were important for me to see, and so glad we did get to see them. Assisi is another fabulous walled hill town. The views from the church are pretty amazing, as is the town itself. I definitely could have spent more time here!
After Assisi, we headed to the Amalfi Coast. We made very good time to Naples (3 hrs) and then got stuck in Naples traffic for over an hour! It was some of the worst traffic we’ve ever been in! We finally made it through 2 traffic jams on the Autostrada (one was at the tollbooths-no one takes turns or has any courtesy when it comes to this!) The original plan was to stay in Pompeii, see it in the morning, then head for the coast. But after driving through Pompeii for a while (there were 2 exits & my viamichelin.com directions didn’t give me which exit to get off on, so once again we were lost) we decided we would not stay there! It was a bit run down, to put it nicely! Our next decision was to head for Sorrento, and attempt to find a hotel for the night. But, we missed the turn for the Amalfi coast because for some reason coming from the north, there is no sign for it! We got off, turned around, and saw the sign for the exit coming from the south. Turned off, and took us about an hour to get just outside Sorrento. By this time, we both just wanted to get out of the car! As we had no reservation for this night, we stopped at the first hotel we saw, Hotel Klein Wein, (see below). We ate supper at their rooftop restuarant, enjoyed the view for a while and then headed to bed! It was a pretty long day!
Thoughts on Tuscany: 1) Pictures do not do it justice! 2) Wonderful, relaxing, scenic, hospitable people, a perfect vacation spot 3) I can't believe I'm recommending renting a car because of all of the trouble we had with driving/navigating, etc, but the things we were able to see and do make me say it is almost a must-which brings me to another point:
Thoughts on driving in Italy 1) It is only for the very brave! 2) As in Venice, there is no shame in getting lost!! 3) Have very good maps, viamichelin directions, know European road signs, but once again, be prepared to get lost! We found it pretty difficult to navigate due to lack of signs and forewarning of upcoming turns, etc. 4) Enjoy the drive!
Next: Amalfi Coast
Hotel: Hotel Pescille, 3 km from San Gimignano, 95 E/noc, www.hotelpescille.it
Another hotel we booked based on this website’s reviews and tripadvisor.com. We loved this hotel! Its setting is beautiful, and there is a great view overlooking San Gimignano. Our double room with private bathroom was very quiet and modernly decorated with a view over the gardens (You can pay extra for view over San Gimignano) Breakfast was fantastic with fresh fruit, meats and cheeses, breads, cereal, yogurt, juices (our first taste of blood orange juice!) and cappuccino machine. Staff was very helpful in directing us to different Tuscan destinations. They also have an Enoteca at which we purchased some souvenir wine for a great price! They give a 5% discount for payment in cash.
Restaurants/Gelato:
Trattoria Chiribiri
Piazza della Madonna 1, just inside the main entrance to San G) This little family owned restaurant was fantastic! I had homemade spinach and cheese crepes and DH had baked lasagna, and we enjoyed a Tuscan meat and cheese appetizer, all for 31E. Enjoyed the white house wine (complimentary while we were waiting!) It is very small and very popular, so try to get there early to grab a table (open at 7:30?)
Taverna Paradiso: just off Piazza del Duomo in San Gimignano
Our second night, we attempted to go back to Trattoria Chirubui, but had a 2 hour wait. We were starving, so headed for Osteria del Cavure,(recc by Fodorites) but they were closed on Wednesdays. So we found this restaurant instead. Maybe it was because we were famished by this time
but we absolutely loved this restaurant. I had the best spaghetti pesto I’ve ever eaten and my DH had Spaghetti Al Ragu (with meat) which was also fantastic! We had a blueberry “cake” (like a mix between pie and streusel) and a vanilla gelato with chocolate shavings for dessert. Fabulous desserts! The service was fantastic, too. We were pretty pleased with this restaurant. So pleased, we headed back on our 3rd night in San G. I got the pesto again, and DH had a seafood spaghetti. We also had dessert and wine. Fantastic again! (25 E first night, 28E second night) Gelateria: I’m disappointed I can’t remember the name, because it was so good!! It was the first gelateria just inside main gate to San G. We had limone, limone,and more limone! Very good, in a homemade wafflecone. (3.60 E for 3 scoops) Yummy!
Day #3
We took the EuroStar train from Venice’s to Florence’s Santa Maria Novella. (27 E/each) It was a very nice ride. We bought tickets at the train station just before the train left.
We booked an automatic car through Hertz (the agency is 500 m from the train station). We booked through Hertz because they were quite a bit cheaper than autoeurope.com or other booking sites (with AAA discount) Although I had called 3 times prior to our trip and was assured we would have an automatic waiting for us, there was no automatic available. My DH was to be the primary driver, and has had a total of 3 lessons in manual driving in his life. Neither of us have ever owned a manual! Needless to say we were pretty upset, and very nervous about the next 4 days in the car! We were also upset because we had to argue with Hertz to get a cheaper price (They were still going to charge us the automatic price because they had upgraded us to a larger car!)
Our plan was going to be to stay in Florence for the afternoon/evening and then head to San G. But my DH was very understandably nervous about the car, and just wanted to get the heck out of Florence! We got directions from Hertz. After about 15 minutes, several times killing the engine, and the start of a hailstorm (!) we were very lost in Florence! It ended up taking us about 3 hrs total to get to San G (what should have taken 1-1.5 hrs!) We were very happy to finally make it to Hotel Pescille! We ate and walked around San G for a while. After our day, San G was a very welcome quiet town. The daytrippers had left, and we fell in love with it!
Day #4
My plan for the day had been to get up early and go to Siena, then maybe spend the afternoon/evening in San G/Volterra. Well we slept in a bit, and my DH was still very nervous about the car. We decided to head to Siena and then try to do some of Stu Dudley’s 1 Day Driving Itinerary.
We set out for Siena. Apparently, I didn’t research Siena enough, because I expected something much smaller. (When we asked Hotel Pescille for directions, they said “follow the signs, you know!”) So we followed the signs for Siena, and then I (the navigator) thought we should just get off at the first exit for Siena (didn’t realize there were several!!) Got off on the Siena Nord exit, which is not the one we wanted, and ended up driving around Siena looking for the City Centre for an hour. In the end, we must have at least drove near it, because ended up in the south of Siena. Decided to go ahead and do part of Stu Dudley’s drive and then head back to Siena in the afternoon. According to the drive we were to head south on the N2. Well, we had trouble locating this, and ended up on the 223. In our attempt to get back to the N2, we were lost in Tuscany for a few hours. I had brought my Tuscany map, and attempted to get us back to the N2. It actually turned out to be very pretty driving, and one of our favorite parts of Tuscany!
We finally made it to Montepulciano around 12:00, parked in a pay garage, and headed up to the main square. Grabbed some lunch at a little bar just off the main square (very good sandwiches!) and sat in the square for a while. Went into City Hall Tower, (1.60E/each) which had good views, but not much different than you can already see from the town. Walked Montepulciano for a while and loved it! I would definitely recommend visiting this town if you are in this area. It sits up on a hill with a large church, San Biagio, in the foreground. The drive to it is gorgeous, the views from the town are wonderful, and the town itself is very full of character.
Headed out of town and through Pienza, San Quirico, and Montalcino. Small stops in each of these towns (due to our hours of being lost and sleeping in, we weren’t able to spend as much time as I would have liked!) But all are worth a visit! Montalcino is located high on a hill and is very pretty as you are approaching it.
After Montalcino, we headed out for Sant’ Antimo Abbey. For some reason the signs out of Montalcino took us the roundabout way and we thought we were lost and got turned around, and ended up doing the same 8 km of road 3 times! Obviously, it took us much longer to get there than what it should have! But the Abbey is beautiful! Unfortunately, the exterior was under construction, which was disappointing. The setting around the Abbey is just beautiful, too!
After the Abbey, we decided to head back and spend the evening in Siena. Made it to Siena, but again, couldn’t find any signs directing us toward parking or City Centre. We drove around for about 90 minutes , located the soccer stadium, but couldn’t find a single place to park! Even now that I am writing this, it sounds unbelievable, but we really couldn’t. Maybe we were just looking in the wrong places. It was probably between 4:30 and 6:00 pm when we were there, and it must have been rush hour, because it was crazy! It was almost as bad as Florence to navigate and drive. I was pretty surprised by this because I guess I had pictured Siena as a small Tuscan town! Obviously, I didn’t pay close enough attention during my research of it! We found ourselves back on the road toward San G, and my DH, tired of being lost and driving, headed back to the hotel, without really seeing the delightful part of Siena. I was pretty disappointed in this, as we had heard so many wonderful things about Siena, but unfortunately, it left a sour mark in my DH’s book.
Headed back to San G and had dinner and walked more of the town. So nice after the daytrippers had left!
Day #5
Okay, this is starting to get a little long-winded, so gotta shorten the reporting a bit!
On a last minute whim, we decided to head to Pisa, because my DH thought at some point we may regret having not seen the Leaning Tower (and just before we left the states, 5 different people asked if we were going to see it–we took it as a sign!) Drove to Pisa, saw the tower, Duomo (2E each),and Baptistery. We both enjoyed this more than we expected to! And the pictures were fun, too. Obviously, it was packed with tourists. We grabbed some lunch at a little vendor just outside the Field of Miracles, where sandwiches and drinks were surprisingly tasty and reasonably priced.
For the rest of the afternoon, we decided to take a scenic tour and head down the SS222, see Chianti, and try to fit in some wine-tasting. Drove the Autostrada toward Florence and were going to catch the 222. I assumed (although I realize this is a dangerous word) that since the 222/Chianti region is so well known and touristy that there would be signs off the Autostrada. Well, there were no signs for either and we ended up going about 10 km past the exit I guess we should’ve taken. In the meantime, we hit a pretty bad traffic jam and ended up in a dead standstill for almost an hour! In the end, we backtracked through small Tuscan roads and ended up in Greve in Chianti. This is a nice little town. At the tourist info office (poorly marked signs, but we found it!) we were told about a place around the corner to sample all of the local wines of the region. It was called LeCantine di Greve in Chianti. They had 150 different wines from the region. We bought a wine card (come in increments from 5E to 30E) and sampled many different wines. We placed the card in different “kiosks” with different wines to obtain a glass of our choice. We paid anywhere from .80E to 4.90E per glass, depending on the cost of the bottle. The card came with free samples of different regional olive oils and bread and we also purchased an appetizer with the money on the card. Overall, we really enjoyed the experience! It was a lot of fun tasting many different wines! Next time, we will make a reservation at a winery and plan a bit more, but for our situation, this worked great for us!
After wine tasting, drove the 222 and headed back toward San G. Another beautiful drive. Stopped several times to grab pictures. At San G, grabbed a late dinner and enjoyed the little town for our last night.
Day #6
Had another great breakfast at Hotel Pescille, and were a bit sad to leave! We headed out for Assisi. (We got there without getting lost!) Parked at the bottom of the hill and had about a 20 minute walk to the Basilica di San Francesco. The walk up the hill toward the church was very pretty. The Basilica and tomb of St Francis were important for me to see, and so glad we did get to see them. Assisi is another fabulous walled hill town. The views from the church are pretty amazing, as is the town itself. I definitely could have spent more time here!
After Assisi, we headed to the Amalfi Coast. We made very good time to Naples (3 hrs) and then got stuck in Naples traffic for over an hour! It was some of the worst traffic we’ve ever been in! We finally made it through 2 traffic jams on the Autostrada (one was at the tollbooths-no one takes turns or has any courtesy when it comes to this!) The original plan was to stay in Pompeii, see it in the morning, then head for the coast. But after driving through Pompeii for a while (there were 2 exits & my viamichelin.com directions didn’t give me which exit to get off on, so once again we were lost) we decided we would not stay there! It was a bit run down, to put it nicely! Our next decision was to head for Sorrento, and attempt to find a hotel for the night. But, we missed the turn for the Amalfi coast because for some reason coming from the north, there is no sign for it! We got off, turned around, and saw the sign for the exit coming from the south. Turned off, and took us about an hour to get just outside Sorrento. By this time, we both just wanted to get out of the car! As we had no reservation for this night, we stopped at the first hotel we saw, Hotel Klein Wein, (see below). We ate supper at their rooftop restuarant, enjoyed the view for a while and then headed to bed! It was a pretty long day!
Thoughts on Tuscany: 1) Pictures do not do it justice! 2) Wonderful, relaxing, scenic, hospitable people, a perfect vacation spot 3) I can't believe I'm recommending renting a car because of all of the trouble we had with driving/navigating, etc, but the things we were able to see and do make me say it is almost a must-which brings me to another point:
Thoughts on driving in Italy 1) It is only for the very brave! 2) As in Venice, there is no shame in getting lost!! 3) Have very good maps, viamichelin directions, know European road signs, but once again, be prepared to get lost! We found it pretty difficult to navigate due to lack of signs and forewarning of upcoming turns, etc. 4) Enjoy the drive!
Next: Amalfi Coast
Aug 11th, 2006, 07:14 AM
#8
Dear mary:
Sounds like fun, even though you got lost!! Most young people under 30 I know, like you, don't know how to drive a manual transmission. I already told my daughter(age 13) that she will need to learn, since it is an important skill when travelling overseas!!
Looking forward to the rest of your report!!
MY
Sounds like fun, even though you got lost!! Most young people under 30 I know, like you, don't know how to drive a manual transmission. I already told my daughter(age 13) that she will need to learn, since it is an important skill when travelling overseas!!
Looking forward to the rest of your report!!
MY
Aug 11th, 2006, 11:38 AM
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EvenMary...I am enjoying your trip report. I loved the Chiribiri...the pumpkin ravioli was to die for. I also had crepes as well!!...I was stuffed but loved every bite. I think I confused the waitress a bit as I wanted two primi instead of a primi and secondi...but I really had a hard time chosing so what the hay. It was one of the best bargains of the trip...wonderful food and service.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your stay in the Amalfi.
I'm looking forward to hearing about your stay in the Amalfi.
Aug 11th, 2006, 01:51 PM
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Bailey- Glad I could help. I used this board as my main travel advisor! There are so many wonderful experienced travelers here, you can find out just about any information you need to know. I am glad to answer any specific questions you might have!
MY-Thanks for the nice comments. I wish my DH and I had learned at your daughter's age! It would have been nice! It was quite nerve-racking for my DH "learning" in Florence with the crazy Italian drivers, especially with me not completely sure where I was going! Oh well, its all an experience, and it now makes for pretty good stories among both of our families!
Crazy4Travel- Yes the Trattoria was wonderful! I could've eaten there again and again! I think it is the smallest restaurant I've ever been in! The customer who walked in after us said "Do you have an upstairs or a downstairs or something?" They didn't quite understand what she wanted!
MY-Thanks for the nice comments. I wish my DH and I had learned at your daughter's age! It would have been nice! It was quite nerve-racking for my DH "learning" in Florence with the crazy Italian drivers, especially with me not completely sure where I was going! Oh well, its all an experience, and it now makes for pretty good stories among both of our families!
Crazy4Travel- Yes the Trattoria was wonderful! I could've eaten there again and again! I think it is the smallest restaurant I've ever been in! The customer who walked in after us said "Do you have an upstairs or a downstairs or something?" They didn't quite understand what she wanted!
Aug 11th, 2006, 01:56 PM
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AMALFI COAST
Transportation: Circumvensia train to Pompeii and back to Sorrento (3E each-catch from Sorrento train station and get off at Pompeii Scavi-very easy!) We used SITA buses to get around the coast. (1-2E/each-Blue/Green buses you buy from Tabacchi shops prior to boarding, Orange buses buy on the bus)
Hotel: Hotel Klein Wein, Piano di Sorrento, 70E/night
We happened upon this hotel due to our last minute change in plans. They had many rooms overlooking the sea. We ended up in a quadruple with private bath for 70E. This was sort of a Best Western-ish hotel. Not much character, but good value. The staff was absolutely wonderful-we were dead tired and they went out of their way to help us find a parking space in the garage (staff moved his own car to make a space for us!), make a long distance phone call, and ensure we had a great view for supper in their rooftop restuarant. Although I wouldn’t necessarily reccommend this hotel as it was not an ideal location (in an outskirt of Sorrento) and wasn’t the prettiest I’ve been in, at the time it was just what we needed!
Hotel Le Sirene: Via S. Nicola, Praiano, 90E/noc, www.lesirene.com
We just have to say, Thank you, Ira!! Ira reccommended this hotel, and it was absolutely wonderful! From the moment we arrived, the owners, Giancarmine and Maria’s, hospitality was fantastic. (He carried our suitcase down and then up many stairs!) Our room had an amazing view! I booked Jan 2nd, and Giancarmine said we had the best room! (#9) We had 2 windows, an L-shaped terrace overlooking the sea, and very pretty, simple decor. Breakfast was served on the terrace and delicious with fresh fruit, pastries baked by Giancarmine, drinks made by him (coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate, freshly squeezed OJ), and meats/cheeses. We also enjoyed drinks in the bar in the evenings served by Gian. There is also a lovely courtyard and rooftop terrace. The only negative we noticed on this hotel was the shower had no walls/curtain! (just a showerhead in the corner of the room-it made the bathroom pretty wet while showering!) Overall, I would highly reccommend this hotel! It was wonderful!
Restaurants/Gelato
Hotel Klein Wein Restaurant: Piano di Sorrento:
This restaurant/hotel we were very happy to find (see Day #6 above) They had a set menu, which was 10E each. The food and waiter service was only okay, although the hotel staff was very helpful. The view over the sea was nice.
La Brace Ristorante, Praiano: (On the coast road near the bus stop)
We loved this restaurant so much we went back a second night! When we asked Giancarmine if it was a good place to eat he said “It is the traditional restaurant of Praiano, very delicious!” That was what we wanted to hear! We loved the service and the fact that it was family owned. On the first night, I had Pizza al Praiano, DH had Spaghetti al Praiano. We also had one of the most wonderful desserts we’ve ever had-Limone Gelato in a frozen lemon-it was so smooth and creamy and fantastic. (25E total) In the states, I would pick chocolate over lemon anyday, but not here! Limone is wonderful! On the second night, we had wine, I had another pizza and DH ordered spaghetti al scampi, and another wonderful dessert of blueberry “cake”. (31E) The restuarant also has a beautiful view over the sea, and we were able to watch the sunset over the mountains.
Ravello Gelateria: (unsure of name, on main square) very good! Lemon and chocolate- (3E for 2 scoops)
Capri Gelato: street cart just off Piazza Umberto, sold Lemon granitas (3E) and gelato (3E/2scoops) Very good! Everyone should try a lemon granita!! So refreshing on a hot day!
Day #7
Woke up in the morning, dropped the car in Sorrento, then took the train to Pompeii. Spent the morning and early afternoon in Pompeii (10E each, which includes a nice guidebook and map which is not advertised by the admission counter but just to the left of it-very worth it! ) Many of the attractions in Pompeii were closed, but we enjoyed it anyway. Be sure to take sunscreen, water, and walking shoes!
Trained back to Sorrento, then caught the SITA bus outside the train station to Praiano. Got a seat on the right of the bus for a lovely view of the sea as the bus drove to Praiano. ( We had taken some motion sickness pills prior to boarding as we had road about the curves-we are very glad we did!) The trip was about 90 minutes. Got to Hotel Le Sirene (see above) and relaxed for a few hours. Then we walked Praiano for a while, which is a very lovely town with very lovely Italians! Then went to La Brace for dinner. Back to Le Sirene for drinks on the terrace. Tried Limoncello-pretty strong, but enjoyed it! Giancarmine loves to serve drinks!
Day # 8
Slept in a bit, caught a bus to Amalfi, then to Ravello. We were going to try to go to Ravello, then back to Positano for the evening, but with sleeping in and infrequent buses, this didn’t quite happen! We had just missed the bus in Amalfi, so we grabbed some lunch and enjoyed Amalfi for a while, and finally made it to Ravello around 1pm. We ventured to try to find Villa Rufulo, and ended up uphill from the main square in a little garden called Villa Rufulo, which was very pretty, but not exactly what we were looking for. We ended up walking all around Ravello, and I really fell in love with this town! Eventually, we headed back to the main square, sat and put our feet up for a while and had some gelato. Then we headed toward Villa Cimbrione (5E each-there are signs from the main square) I really enjoyed these gardens, and the Infinity Balcony is pretty amazing! My DH and I both got a small case of vertigo on the balcony. We sat for a long time and enjoyed the view (and recovered from the vertigo!) We stopped into a few churches to light a few more candles on the way back from Villa Cimbrione. Then we headed back to catch a 4:10 bus to Amalfi. We couldve stayed in Ravello for a long time! The buses to and from were actually pretty crowded, but once in Ravello, it didn’t seem touristy or crowded at all. I thought it was peaceful and relaxing!
The following is a little side story, but pretty much typifies the Italian way of life!: The buses on the way to Ravello were pretty crowded, so we decided to get to the bus stop about 30 minutes early to catch the bus back down to Amalfi. The bus schedule posted said there was one bus for Amalfi at 4:10, then not another one until 5:05. When the bus showed up at 3:55, I asked the bus driver if it was the correct bus to Amalfi. The bus driver said yes, and everyone piled on. At this point, there were about double the number of people on the bus that should be allowed, with still more people waiting! The bus driver then turned off the bus and got off. About 5 minutes later, another bus showed up and someone asked if he was the 4:10 bus to Amalfi. The bus driver said yes. So about ½ the people from our bus piled into the other bus. I told my DH I was staying as our bus driver told us this was the bus to Amalfi. At 4:10, the 2nd bus (that we were not on) pulled out for Amalfi. Meanwhile, our bus driver was chatting and smoking a cigarette. By 4:20, I was beginning to get angry! We had come 30 minutes early to the bus stop and I was told this was the correct bus, and we were still sitting! At 4:25, just as I had gotten up the nerve to get off the bus and let the driver have a piece of my mind, he climbed on and started the bus. Everyone in the bus clapped! We headed to Amalfi. Just before Amalfi, we caught up with the bus that had left before us-because the driver stopped for gelato! I thought that anyone who had ever been to Italy could appreciate the story!
Since it was later in the day than we anticipated, we decided to head back to Praiano and relax and grab some dinner. Before dinner, we decided to walk to the Praiano beach. Some Canadians we had met staying at Le Sirene informed us it was 800 steps and several streets to and from the beach. We decided we were up for it! Although I lost count at about 200, I am sure the Canadians were right! The beach was very small and rocky, but a fun adventure anyway! The water felt pretty nice by the time we got down there!
Since we enjoyed La Brace so much, we went back there, and once again, thoroughly enjoyed it! After dinner, headed back to Le Sirene to have evening drinks. Giancarmine thought that since I enjoyed the Limoncello so much I might enjoy a Sambucca (spelling?) Well, it was a bit strong for me and I think he was hurt that he had recommended something that I didn’t like! I figure everything is worth the experience!
Day #9
Le Sirene had booked a hydrofoil to Capri for us (29E each through Positano Jet) from Positano. So we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast and then caught a bus to Positano. Had some time to spare, so we walked Positano for a while-which of course, is very picturesque! I could have used some more time here for shopping and wandering!
Our hydrofoil left from the Positano beach at 11:00. We hopped on, and in 40 minutes we were at the Capri port. We rode on top of the boat, and had a great view for the trip. We got to the port, and according to my guidebook, there was supposed to be a Tourist Information office at the port, but we never did find it (We did find one in the town of Capri) We were a little worried about the rest of the day once we experienced the port because it was so packed with tourists and merchants attempting to sell you something! We followed the signs for Capri town, and ended up in Piazza Umberto about 25 minutes later. (We walked with a couple from Scotland, the hubby kept saying “This is a bloody lot of steps!”) Walked Capri town enjoyed a lemon granita (YUM!) and found the bus for Anacapri. (We liked this bus stop because there were actually lines! There was no pushing and shoving for a seat! But they really packed that bus!) At Anacapri, we grabbed a bite for lunch, and headed to find the chairlift for Monte Solaro. (Its right on the main square-Monument Square) but in the process we wandered toward Villa San Michele. Didn’t quite make it all the way there, but the path is really pretty. The chairlift was a neat ride-a little scary! (6.50 E each for both ways) We enjoyed the views and the ride. At Monte Solaro, we sat for a long time partway down the walking trail to Anacapri, which was quiet and nearly free of other tourists. We enjoyed the view of Capri, the sea, and the Faraglioni Rocks.
Eventually headed back down to the port and sat on the beach for a long time. It was such a gorgeous day, the beach quiet, and the Mediterranean very blue! It was nice! Our boat was scheduled to leave at 6:15 so we headed back to the docks, and had a nice ride back to Positano. At Positano, we walked and window shopped for a while and then caught a bus to Praiano. We were pretty wiped from a day of lots of walking and sun and had snacked throughout the day, so we decided to skip eating out and stopped by a little grocery store in Praiano. We bought the best strawberries we had ever eaten, some Italian cheese, and several other items to make a wonderful little dinner. We ate on our room’s terrace and greatly enjoyed it! We then enjoyed some more drinks on the terrace with Gian. We had hot chocolates! (The total for our 3 nights of drinks only came to 9E-what a deal!) It was the perfect night for it! What a wonderful relaxing day!
Next: Rome
Transportation: Circumvensia train to Pompeii and back to Sorrento (3E each-catch from Sorrento train station and get off at Pompeii Scavi-very easy!) We used SITA buses to get around the coast. (1-2E/each-Blue/Green buses you buy from Tabacchi shops prior to boarding, Orange buses buy on the bus)
Hotel: Hotel Klein Wein, Piano di Sorrento, 70E/night
We happened upon this hotel due to our last minute change in plans. They had many rooms overlooking the sea. We ended up in a quadruple with private bath for 70E. This was sort of a Best Western-ish hotel. Not much character, but good value. The staff was absolutely wonderful-we were dead tired and they went out of their way to help us find a parking space in the garage (staff moved his own car to make a space for us!), make a long distance phone call, and ensure we had a great view for supper in their rooftop restuarant. Although I wouldn’t necessarily reccommend this hotel as it was not an ideal location (in an outskirt of Sorrento) and wasn’t the prettiest I’ve been in, at the time it was just what we needed!
Hotel Le Sirene: Via S. Nicola, Praiano, 90E/noc, www.lesirene.com
We just have to say, Thank you, Ira!! Ira reccommended this hotel, and it was absolutely wonderful! From the moment we arrived, the owners, Giancarmine and Maria’s, hospitality was fantastic. (He carried our suitcase down and then up many stairs!) Our room had an amazing view! I booked Jan 2nd, and Giancarmine said we had the best room! (#9) We had 2 windows, an L-shaped terrace overlooking the sea, and very pretty, simple decor. Breakfast was served on the terrace and delicious with fresh fruit, pastries baked by Giancarmine, drinks made by him (coffee, cappuccino, hot chocolate, freshly squeezed OJ), and meats/cheeses. We also enjoyed drinks in the bar in the evenings served by Gian. There is also a lovely courtyard and rooftop terrace. The only negative we noticed on this hotel was the shower had no walls/curtain! (just a showerhead in the corner of the room-it made the bathroom pretty wet while showering!) Overall, I would highly reccommend this hotel! It was wonderful!
Restaurants/Gelato
Hotel Klein Wein Restaurant: Piano di Sorrento:
This restaurant/hotel we were very happy to find (see Day #6 above) They had a set menu, which was 10E each. The food and waiter service was only okay, although the hotel staff was very helpful. The view over the sea was nice.
La Brace Ristorante, Praiano: (On the coast road near the bus stop)
We loved this restaurant so much we went back a second night! When we asked Giancarmine if it was a good place to eat he said “It is the traditional restaurant of Praiano, very delicious!” That was what we wanted to hear! We loved the service and the fact that it was family owned. On the first night, I had Pizza al Praiano, DH had Spaghetti al Praiano. We also had one of the most wonderful desserts we’ve ever had-Limone Gelato in a frozen lemon-it was so smooth and creamy and fantastic. (25E total) In the states, I would pick chocolate over lemon anyday, but not here! Limone is wonderful! On the second night, we had wine, I had another pizza and DH ordered spaghetti al scampi, and another wonderful dessert of blueberry “cake”. (31E) The restuarant also has a beautiful view over the sea, and we were able to watch the sunset over the mountains.
Ravello Gelateria: (unsure of name, on main square) very good! Lemon and chocolate- (3E for 2 scoops)
Capri Gelato: street cart just off Piazza Umberto, sold Lemon granitas (3E) and gelato (3E/2scoops) Very good! Everyone should try a lemon granita!! So refreshing on a hot day!
Day #7
Woke up in the morning, dropped the car in Sorrento, then took the train to Pompeii. Spent the morning and early afternoon in Pompeii (10E each, which includes a nice guidebook and map which is not advertised by the admission counter but just to the left of it-very worth it! ) Many of the attractions in Pompeii were closed, but we enjoyed it anyway. Be sure to take sunscreen, water, and walking shoes!
Trained back to Sorrento, then caught the SITA bus outside the train station to Praiano. Got a seat on the right of the bus for a lovely view of the sea as the bus drove to Praiano. ( We had taken some motion sickness pills prior to boarding as we had road about the curves-we are very glad we did!) The trip was about 90 minutes. Got to Hotel Le Sirene (see above) and relaxed for a few hours. Then we walked Praiano for a while, which is a very lovely town with very lovely Italians! Then went to La Brace for dinner. Back to Le Sirene for drinks on the terrace. Tried Limoncello-pretty strong, but enjoyed it! Giancarmine loves to serve drinks!
Day # 8
Slept in a bit, caught a bus to Amalfi, then to Ravello. We were going to try to go to Ravello, then back to Positano for the evening, but with sleeping in and infrequent buses, this didn’t quite happen! We had just missed the bus in Amalfi, so we grabbed some lunch and enjoyed Amalfi for a while, and finally made it to Ravello around 1pm. We ventured to try to find Villa Rufulo, and ended up uphill from the main square in a little garden called Villa Rufulo, which was very pretty, but not exactly what we were looking for. We ended up walking all around Ravello, and I really fell in love with this town! Eventually, we headed back to the main square, sat and put our feet up for a while and had some gelato. Then we headed toward Villa Cimbrione (5E each-there are signs from the main square) I really enjoyed these gardens, and the Infinity Balcony is pretty amazing! My DH and I both got a small case of vertigo on the balcony. We sat for a long time and enjoyed the view (and recovered from the vertigo!) We stopped into a few churches to light a few more candles on the way back from Villa Cimbrione. Then we headed back to catch a 4:10 bus to Amalfi. We couldve stayed in Ravello for a long time! The buses to and from were actually pretty crowded, but once in Ravello, it didn’t seem touristy or crowded at all. I thought it was peaceful and relaxing!
The following is a little side story, but pretty much typifies the Italian way of life!: The buses on the way to Ravello were pretty crowded, so we decided to get to the bus stop about 30 minutes early to catch the bus back down to Amalfi. The bus schedule posted said there was one bus for Amalfi at 4:10, then not another one until 5:05. When the bus showed up at 3:55, I asked the bus driver if it was the correct bus to Amalfi. The bus driver said yes, and everyone piled on. At this point, there were about double the number of people on the bus that should be allowed, with still more people waiting! The bus driver then turned off the bus and got off. About 5 minutes later, another bus showed up and someone asked if he was the 4:10 bus to Amalfi. The bus driver said yes. So about ½ the people from our bus piled into the other bus. I told my DH I was staying as our bus driver told us this was the bus to Amalfi. At 4:10, the 2nd bus (that we were not on) pulled out for Amalfi. Meanwhile, our bus driver was chatting and smoking a cigarette. By 4:20, I was beginning to get angry! We had come 30 minutes early to the bus stop and I was told this was the correct bus, and we were still sitting! At 4:25, just as I had gotten up the nerve to get off the bus and let the driver have a piece of my mind, he climbed on and started the bus. Everyone in the bus clapped! We headed to Amalfi. Just before Amalfi, we caught up with the bus that had left before us-because the driver stopped for gelato! I thought that anyone who had ever been to Italy could appreciate the story!
Since it was later in the day than we anticipated, we decided to head back to Praiano and relax and grab some dinner. Before dinner, we decided to walk to the Praiano beach. Some Canadians we had met staying at Le Sirene informed us it was 800 steps and several streets to and from the beach. We decided we were up for it! Although I lost count at about 200, I am sure the Canadians were right! The beach was very small and rocky, but a fun adventure anyway! The water felt pretty nice by the time we got down there!
Since we enjoyed La Brace so much, we went back there, and once again, thoroughly enjoyed it! After dinner, headed back to Le Sirene to have evening drinks. Giancarmine thought that since I enjoyed the Limoncello so much I might enjoy a Sambucca (spelling?) Well, it was a bit strong for me and I think he was hurt that he had recommended something that I didn’t like! I figure everything is worth the experience!
Day #9
Le Sirene had booked a hydrofoil to Capri for us (29E each through Positano Jet) from Positano. So we enjoyed another wonderful breakfast and then caught a bus to Positano. Had some time to spare, so we walked Positano for a while-which of course, is very picturesque! I could have used some more time here for shopping and wandering!
Our hydrofoil left from the Positano beach at 11:00. We hopped on, and in 40 minutes we were at the Capri port. We rode on top of the boat, and had a great view for the trip. We got to the port, and according to my guidebook, there was supposed to be a Tourist Information office at the port, but we never did find it (We did find one in the town of Capri) We were a little worried about the rest of the day once we experienced the port because it was so packed with tourists and merchants attempting to sell you something! We followed the signs for Capri town, and ended up in Piazza Umberto about 25 minutes later. (We walked with a couple from Scotland, the hubby kept saying “This is a bloody lot of steps!”) Walked Capri town enjoyed a lemon granita (YUM!) and found the bus for Anacapri. (We liked this bus stop because there were actually lines! There was no pushing and shoving for a seat! But they really packed that bus!) At Anacapri, we grabbed a bite for lunch, and headed to find the chairlift for Monte Solaro. (Its right on the main square-Monument Square) but in the process we wandered toward Villa San Michele. Didn’t quite make it all the way there, but the path is really pretty. The chairlift was a neat ride-a little scary! (6.50 E each for both ways) We enjoyed the views and the ride. At Monte Solaro, we sat for a long time partway down the walking trail to Anacapri, which was quiet and nearly free of other tourists. We enjoyed the view of Capri, the sea, and the Faraglioni Rocks.
Eventually headed back down to the port and sat on the beach for a long time. It was such a gorgeous day, the beach quiet, and the Mediterranean very blue! It was nice! Our boat was scheduled to leave at 6:15 so we headed back to the docks, and had a nice ride back to Positano. At Positano, we walked and window shopped for a while and then caught a bus to Praiano. We were pretty wiped from a day of lots of walking and sun and had snacked throughout the day, so we decided to skip eating out and stopped by a little grocery store in Praiano. We bought the best strawberries we had ever eaten, some Italian cheese, and several other items to make a wonderful little dinner. We ate on our room’s terrace and greatly enjoyed it! We then enjoyed some more drinks on the terrace with Gian. We had hot chocolates! (The total for our 3 nights of drinks only came to 9E-what a deal!) It was the perfect night for it! What a wonderful relaxing day!
Next: Rome
Aug 12th, 2006, 06:27 AM
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bellastar and LC-glad you enjoyed the story! My personal favorite part is the bus driver stopping for gelato! Can you imagine if U.S. bus drivers tried that?? I thought it was pretty funny!
Here is a link to some of my pictures. (Although I think you have to have a sign-on to walgreens.com to get in, I'll try to figure out where else I can post that you don't need a sign on)
http://photo.walgreens.com/share/p=6...=SYE/otsi=SALB
Here is a link to some of my pictures. (Although I think you have to have a sign-on to walgreens.com to get in, I'll try to figure out where else I can post that you don't need a sign on)
http://photo.walgreens.com/share/p=6...=SYE/otsi=SALB
Aug 13th, 2006, 07:28 AM
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watercolor- I would stay in Praiano again. It is a really nice little town, and we loved Le Sirene. It is also closer to other coast towns, decreasing the amount of time it takes to get around. But, a lot of people on this board have stayed in Ravello and have loved it!
