Puglia and Rome Trip Report

Old Jun 10th, 2008, 08:48 AM
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Day 13 – Back to Rome

We had a very nice breakfast at our hotel which was included in the price of our room. We then packed our rental car and drove out of Matera, heading east toward the coast. We decided to plan a lunch stop in Salerno.

Matera is located in Basilicata. The countryside in Basilicata is lovely, but more rugged than what we saw in Puglia. Numerous stone walls punctuated the Puglian countryside so it was clear the soil was rocky. But it was still capable of sustaining lots of agriculture – vineyards, olive trees, and many small farms with row crops of various types. The parts of Basilicata we saw appeared to be much less amenable to farming. Rather than rocks which were moveable and could be used for stone fences, Basilicata was a land of steep hillsides and enormous boulders. It appeared to be a much poorer area than Puglia.

About three years ago my husband and I and our two teenage daughters rented a house in Positano for a week in March. It was our location for exploring Pompei, the Amalfi coast area, Sorrento, Naples and Capri. We lucked into a week of beautiful weather and we able to enjoy that gorgeous area during a time of relatively few tourists. We did not get to Salerno and so decided to make a slight detour for lunch on our way back to Rome. We took the right freeway exit but soon found ourselves a bit turned around (I was the navigator) and lo and behold we were on the Amalfi coast highway. Our fonds memories of three years ago were all it took to dispel any inclinations to turn around. We drove on up the coast and had lunch at Maiori. We were sorely tempted to continue driving up the coast to Positano and beyond, but we both knew we didn’t have time to stop and go into Positano and it would have been too painful to just drive by on the coast road. So we drove as far as Amalfi and then took the road which goes up into the mountains from there. It was a lovely drive and well worth the extra time.

The rest of the drive back toward Rome was mostly uneventful. Naples and Vesuvius were very hazy, just as they were three years ago.

We were to return our rental car to Hertz at Fiumicino and began to look for a place to fill up the gas tank in order to avoid the typical surcharge assessed by rental car companies the world over (in our experience) for returning a car with less than a full tank of gas. I will spare the details except to say it was extremely difficult to find a gas station. We did eventually and returned the car without any problems. As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, we arranged our car rental through Hertz.it rather than Hertz.com and saved money over both the Hertz.com price, as well as the Autoeurope price. As you might expect, whether you booked through Hertz.com or Hertz.it, there was just one Hertz place at Fiumicino. There was a bit of a line and it did appear that most of the people in the line were English-speakers. When it was our turn, I handed him our internet confirmation as well as my husband’s passport and international driver’s license. He studied the internet confirmation for a few minutes. I was concerned for a moment that he might try to tell me the rate we had been quoted was only for Italian citizens. But after a few minutes he looked up at me and said, “You speak Italian?” I said yes, a little. And that was that. We were given our car and off we went, our bargain in tact.

After we dropped our rental car, we then had to deal with lugging our two large packages of ceramic dishes back to Campo di Fiori via public transportation. We each had a fairly large suitcase and it addition, we each had a box of dishes. Mine was a struggle, but doable. My husband’s was extremely heavy. We were staying two more nights in Rome and then one last night at the airport Hilton Garden Inn. We debated about trying to contact the Hilton and ask if we could leave the dishes there. But decided against it for a variety of reasons. After much sweat, some cursing and a fair amount of good luck, we arrived at Hotel Albergo di Sole in Campo di Fiori with everything in tact. It was late when we arrived at our hotel. We had a glass of wine in the piazza, found a restaurant near our hotel, enjoyed a light dinner and returned to our hotel for the night.

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Old Jun 10th, 2008, 09:29 AM
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Day 14 – Rome and the Borghese Gallery

We have visited Rome before, but had never been to the Borghese Gallery. We had 9:00 a.m. reservations and were aware we needed to arrive 30 minutes early. We left our hotel at 7:00 a.m. and walked (quickly I might add) to the Coloseo Metro stop. We took the metro to Flaminia and walked to the gallery from there. I must say it was confusing. We had a map and we able to determine we were walking in the right direction, but it was disconcerting that there were not more signs. We were also surprised at how long it took. We walked rapidly both before we got to the metro and after we got off. It took us the better part of an hour and 15 minutes.

We have visited many art galleries in Europe. Rome, London, Paris, Florence, Vienna, Madrid. . . We both agreed the Borghese Gallery was our favorite. We absolutely loved it. If you go, we highly recommend the hand-held audioguides. We also recommend booking the 9:00 a.m. slot. The reason for this is that you must check everything you bring and there is only one spot for checking and retrieving your checked items. As we were leaving we were in line to retrieve our belongings along with people who were also checking their items for the 11:00 a.m. slot. Many were still in line when the 11:00 a.m. showing had opened. You only have 2 hours and you don’t want to spend part of that time in line waiting to check your personal items.

We walked back to Flaminia and took the metro to the Spanish Steps stop. Actually it would have been just as easy to walk to the Spanish Steps since the distance to each metro stop is about equidistant from the Gallery. We did enjoy a more leisurely walk through the Borghese Gardens on our return. We wandered down to the Trevi Fountain and then found a place for lunch near Piazza Navona and then returned to our hotel for a nap. After the nap we found a spot for gelato and then walked to the Pantheon. I never tire of seeing this incredible place. We then walked to Chiesa Santa Maria and were in time to watch the end of another wedding. We again heard Mendelssohn’s lovely march played on a magnificent pipe organ as we watched the wedding party depart. We walked back to Campo di Fiori for a glass of wine then back to Piazza Navona neighborhood for dinner. When we returned to Campo di Fiori a musical religious ceremony in which the group were all holding candles was just ending. It was very moving.

Day 15 – Mother’s Day and Our Last Day in Rome

We were up early and after finding a spot for a cappuccino took a nice walk along the river. We came upon an outdoor market as we returned to our hotel. We bought cheese, wine, bread, apples and water. We then returned to our hotel and packed our bags for check out. The hotel staff very kindly allowed us to check out and leave our bags there for the day.

We took the metro back to Flaminia and walked to the Borghese Gardens to have our lunch. It was a lovely day. We found a shady bench along one of the paths and watched many families out enjoying the day. I did miss my two daughters and dear mother, but otherwise it was a perfect way to enjoy Mother’s Day.

We walked back to our hotel, stopping along the way for a gelato. Then we gathered our belongings for another trek back to Fiumicino. Once we arrived, however, we had a great deal of difficulty getting to our hotel. I had booked our reservation on Expedia and did not have a telephone number for the hotel. I had also assumed – foolishly – that there would be a central place for airport hotel transportation pick-up. After asking numerous times and being given incorrect information (this included bad advice from the airport Information desk) I finally called Expedia and they transferred me to the hotel. The hotel directed us to go stand near a yellow pylon outside the airport. We found the pylon and were eventually collected by the hotel van. It should be noted there was absolutely no sign of any kind indicating that this particular pylon was the spot where the Hilton Garden Inn van stopped. In any event, we were driven to the hotel where we checked in. After a lovely bath, we headed to the bar for an expensive glass of beer before dinner.

We had a very early flight the next morning. We flew Rome to Brussels to Chicago to Portland. About 24 hours after we left Rome we arrived back in Portland. The first thing I did was weigh the dishes. 34 pounds. Then to bed!
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Old Jun 10th, 2008, 05:02 PM
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Marta: Brava!

Thanks for finishing the report. Someday soon I hope to get our tickets to Puglia. When we do, I'm sure this trip report will come in handy.
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Old Jun 10th, 2008, 11:03 PM
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Marta - WONDERFUL report, loved reading it and going back to my own lovely time spent in Puglia.

Now we have pictures, memories, souvenirs, etc. to hold us till our next trip, right??
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Old Jun 12th, 2008, 09:30 AM
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Ahh Flame, you are right of course. Those memories will have to suffice for awhile. I really did fall in love with this part of Italy and very much want to return. As you could tell, I'm sure, I relied greatly on your trip report and itinerary in planning our trip so we are hugely in your debt for what turned out to be possibly our best European adventure yet.

Pilates, good luck to you in planning a trip to this lovely part of Italy. I do very much recommend arranging a trip during the later April, early May time of year. I cannot believe there could be a prettier time of year to be there.
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Old Jun 14th, 2008, 09:33 PM
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Marta - I am so pleased that my trip report and ideas afforded you such a great time on your own holiday. That's why we are on these boards!! YAY!!

For a change this year we were in Provence during April and while it was our first time there and I miss not having been in Italy, it was beautiful in it's own right and we had a lovely holiday!!
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Old Sep 2nd, 2008, 11:33 AM
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