trip report
Jun 30th, 2005, 12:59 PM
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trip report
Before I begin my report, I would like to thank all the travlers on this message board for helping me plan our trip. We had a wonderful time.
We started out in Rome and stayed at Residenza Cellini, a very small charming hotel near the Piazza della Repubblica. Our first day was spent visiting the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Fountain of Trevi, various cafes and some shops. That evening we had a fabulous dinner at Gigilos., a restaurant near the hotel.
On our second day, we took a tour of the colosseum, forum, and Palatine Hill from Rome
Walks. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave us all kinds of interesting and obscure facts. We ate lulnch in the Jewish quarter at a wonderful oudoor cafe. In the afternoon we went to the Borghese Gallery and saw some wonderful sculptures. This was a very worthwhile
We started out in Rome and stayed at Residenza Cellini, a very small charming hotel near the Piazza della Repubblica. Our first day was spent visiting the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Fountain of Trevi, various cafes and some shops. That evening we had a fabulous dinner at Gigilos., a restaurant near the hotel.
On our second day, we took a tour of the colosseum, forum, and Palatine Hill from Rome
Walks. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave us all kinds of interesting and obscure facts. We ate lulnch in the Jewish quarter at a wonderful oudoor cafe. In the afternoon we went to the Borghese Gallery and saw some wonderful sculptures. This was a very worthwhile
Jun 30th, 2005, 02:15 PM
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If you have many more "parts" to go - - how about starting again (just cut and paste this part) and put it under a message header that mentions the <u>places</u> you <u>went</u>!
Best wishes,
Rex
Best wishes,
Rex
Jun 30th, 2005, 02:53 PM
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Goodness gracious! You went from bad to worse with "continued trip report".
Sorry to sound so scolding, but, my oh my... how could this fail to be so obvious to anyone preparing a trip report!?
I hope you won't find me insincere for signing off...
Best wishes,
Rex
Sorry to sound so scolding, but, my oh my... how could this fail to be so obvious to anyone preparing a trip report!?
I hope you won't find me insincere for signing off...
Best wishes,
Rex
Jun 30th, 2005, 03:14 PM
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Please see comments from Patrick as well on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34644356
(and for those of you who are curious - - this URL will lead you to the second part, at least)...
...as will clicking on wendy's (screen) name (i.e., on the blue underlined "wsz"
.
(and for those of you who are curious - - this URL will lead you to the second part, at least)...
...as will clicking on wendy's (screen) name (i.e., on the blue underlined "wsz"
.
Jun 30th, 2005, 03:32 PM
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I am taking the advice of this message board and posting the rest of the trip on this post.
Our third day was spent at the Vatican. We had a brilliant tour from Context Rome with Elizabeth. Costly but well worth it. For dinner we went to Antonios, Rick Steves favorite restaurant and had a great dinner.
The next day we took the Eurostar, which I highly recommend to Florence. We were able to make reservations the day before. We stayed at Morandi all Crocetta which was a convent turned into a hotel. It was centrally located and the room was pretty decent in size. Our first excursion was to check olut the Duamo, Babistry, and Cathedral. We did have to wait in line to climb the 463 steps to the top of the cathedral, but it was worth it to see the great views of Florence. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant called the Acedemia, near the Acedemia museum. We had dinner at a place called Za Zas , which I would rate as only fair. Then it was of course, time for gelato.
Our second day in Florece began at a great cafe called Ribiglio., a stand up bar with great warm pastries and capichilno. We spent the day going to the Academia museum to see the David and to the Bargello museum. As advised on this board, we had reservations for the Åcademia and were able to avoid long lines. We had lunch at Bocca Tiere for another fabulous meal. In the afternoon, we visited the church of San Croce. Many of the famous tombs were being renovated, so we did not get the full effect of the church. We had enjoyed our lunch so much the day before at the Åcademia that we returned there for dinner.
Our third day in Florence was one of the highlights of the trip. We hired Luca from Hills and Roads (which we learned about from this message board) to take us through some of the hill towns in Tuscany. Luca took us to Casstellino in Chianti, a 12th century castle, Montacino, a hill town overlooking vinyards, Pienza- set on a crest surrounded by green rollling hills, and Montepulciano- another fabulous hill town. „We picniced for lunch in one of the grassy fields near Montacino. Luca was very a great guide, very knowledgeable and accommodating. He charges 25 euro per hour. It was cheaper than renting a car for a day. For dinner we ate at the only place I would not recommed- Carfaggi in Florence.
On our fouth day in Rome we went to the Uffizi gallery. We wanted to get the audio guide- but they were out of them ( at 10:30 in the morning- go figure) Again we had made reservations from home and were able to avoid any lines. We had lunch at a place called Del Acqua which was absolutely wonderful. Our next stop was at the Piti Palace and the lovely sprawling Boboli gardens- a nice respite from museums. Dinner was at one of the local cafes.
We spent our fifth day in Siena and San Gimignano. We took a bus to both places. In retrospect, I think we should have only gone to San Gimignano and skipped Siena. While the Cathedral was nice in Siena, we found San Gimignano to be more charming.
On to Venice- We spent 3 days in enchanting Venice and stayed at the highly recommended Locanda Orseola. We were not disappointed. While in Venice we visited the Frari Church, and the Scuola Grande di San Roco on our first day. We ate a sumptous lunch at Acqua Pazza, a wonderful outdoor cafe. Our second day was spent at the Doges Palace- secret Itinerary- agian well worth it- reservations are necessary. In the afternoon we toured St Marcs Basilica and the museum. We went in the later afternoon when there were fewer tourist. We had a wonderful dinner at Masaniello and then went to a fabulous concert with Interiprati Veneziani. They were plalying works from Vivaldi, andChopin.
Our last day we decided to go modern ( we were getting tired of Gothic paintings by this time) and went to the Peggy Guoggenheim museum. The audio guide was well worth it. Before dinner we took a gondola ride ( we picked it up at one of the smaller canals- a great tip) and enjoyed it very much. we had dinner at La Fantego still another fabulous place to dine.
We rented a car in Venice and drove through the dolomites to Trento and Andalo ( where my husbands family is from) We spent 2 days there and then drove on to Switzerland to stay with family.
All in all it was a fantastic trilp.
Our third day was spent at the Vatican. We had a brilliant tour from Context Rome with Elizabeth. Costly but well worth it. For dinner we went to Antonios, Rick Steves favorite restaurant and had a great dinner.
The next day we took the Eurostar, which I highly recommend to Florence. We were able to make reservations the day before. We stayed at Morandi all Crocetta which was a convent turned into a hotel. It was centrally located and the room was pretty decent in size. Our first excursion was to check olut the Duamo, Babistry, and Cathedral. We did have to wait in line to climb the 463 steps to the top of the cathedral, but it was worth it to see the great views of Florence. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant called the Acedemia, near the Acedemia museum. We had dinner at a place called Za Zas , which I would rate as only fair. Then it was of course, time for gelato.
Our second day in Florece began at a great cafe called Ribiglio., a stand up bar with great warm pastries and capichilno. We spent the day going to the Academia museum to see the David and to the Bargello museum. As advised on this board, we had reservations for the Åcademia and were able to avoid long lines. We had lunch at Bocca Tiere for another fabulous meal. In the afternoon, we visited the church of San Croce. Many of the famous tombs were being renovated, so we did not get the full effect of the church. We had enjoyed our lunch so much the day before at the Åcademia that we returned there for dinner.
Our third day in Florence was one of the highlights of the trip. We hired Luca from Hills and Roads (which we learned about from this message board) to take us through some of the hill towns in Tuscany. Luca took us to Casstellino in Chianti, a 12th century castle, Montacino, a hill town overlooking vinyards, Pienza- set on a crest surrounded by green rollling hills, and Montepulciano- another fabulous hill town. „We picniced for lunch in one of the grassy fields near Montacino. Luca was very a great guide, very knowledgeable and accommodating. He charges 25 euro per hour. It was cheaper than renting a car for a day. For dinner we ate at the only place I would not recommed- Carfaggi in Florence.
On our fouth day in Rome we went to the Uffizi gallery. We wanted to get the audio guide- but they were out of them ( at 10:30 in the morning- go figure) Again we had made reservations from home and were able to avoid any lines. We had lunch at a place called Del Acqua which was absolutely wonderful. Our next stop was at the Piti Palace and the lovely sprawling Boboli gardens- a nice respite from museums. Dinner was at one of the local cafes.
We spent our fifth day in Siena and San Gimignano. We took a bus to both places. In retrospect, I think we should have only gone to San Gimignano and skipped Siena. While the Cathedral was nice in Siena, we found San Gimignano to be more charming.
On to Venice- We spent 3 days in enchanting Venice and stayed at the highly recommended Locanda Orseola. We were not disappointed. While in Venice we visited the Frari Church, and the Scuola Grande di San Roco on our first day. We ate a sumptous lunch at Acqua Pazza, a wonderful outdoor cafe. Our second day was spent at the Doges Palace- secret Itinerary- agian well worth it- reservations are necessary. In the afternoon we toured St Marcs Basilica and the museum. We went in the later afternoon when there were fewer tourist. We had a wonderful dinner at Masaniello and then went to a fabulous concert with Interiprati Veneziani. They were plalying works from Vivaldi, andChopin.
Our last day we decided to go modern ( we were getting tired of Gothic paintings by this time) and went to the Peggy Guoggenheim museum. The audio guide was well worth it. Before dinner we took a gondola ride ( we picked it up at one of the smaller canals- a great tip) and enjoyed it very much. we had dinner at La Fantego still another fabulous place to dine.
We rented a car in Venice and drove through the dolomites to Trento and Andalo ( where my husbands family is from) We spent 2 days there and then drove on to Switzerland to stay with family.
All in all it was a fantastic trilp.
