TRIP REPORT--Jennie's three week European vacation (London, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome)
 

OK, kids . . . here is the first section of my trip report. This was a three-week long trip and I am a long-winded person, so . . . . my trip report will be long. I?ll be posting it in sections by city. So here?s part 1. I?ll be sure to post all subsequent sections to this same thread.

SUMMARY: My mother and I traveled to Europe for the first time for either of us over three weeks from Sept. 18-Oct. 9, 2003. We went to London, Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome. This was our first trip to Europe so we wanted to stay on the beaten path so to speak, which is why our trip was limited to larger cities. We did take several day trips over the course of the three weeks, however. We were traveling on a fairly tight budget ($2000 for hotel, gifts and food for the 21 days). Therefore our choices of hotels and restaurants reflect that.

ITINERARY: Our itinerary was as follows:

Fly in: 9/18
London: 9/19-9/23
Paris: 9/23-9/27
Venice: 9/28-10/1
Florence: 10/1- 10/3
Rome: 10/3-10/8
Fly home: 10/9

LUGGAGE: We each took a 22 inch bag and one large purse (app. 13wide x 11 tall x 6 deep). We carried everything on. Did not get challenged about this at all. I had read/heard that we probably would not be allowed to carry on BOTH the 22 inch bag and the large purse, but the Northwest people did not say a word about any of it. My bag was a backpack and my mom?s bag was a roller bag. Each bag had its own pros and cons. There were times when we were walking longish distances over relatively flat terrain that I wished I could just drag my bag behind me and not have to bear the weight of it on my shoulders. However, when it came to going up and down stairs (of which there are many in Europe!) and/or on and off the metro/vaparettos, etc. I could see my mom wishing she could strap her bag on her back and not have to lift it up and down. So . . . it really comes down to your preference. If I had it to do over again, I would probably keep the same bag.

Each of us took a few basic pieces of clothing (3 mix and match pairs of pants and 4 mix and match tops, a black skirt, etc.) two good pairs of shoes (my mom did bring her sneakers after much deliberation and was glad she did. I had 2 good, sturdy comfortable pairs of Easy Spirits?one a basic walking shoe and one a little dressier looking mule style.), a good weight cardigan sweater to wear as a jacket in case it got chilly and assorted underclothing. We did basic hand washing in the sink of the hotel about every other evening and then a major, more thorough washing at the halfway point of the trip. This worked out fine. All of our clothing was made from quick dry, low maintenance fabrics, which dried overnight. We did bring a small travel iron, so anything that wasn?t 100 per cent dry in the morning was just dried by the iron. For that reason alone, the travel iron was worth it (it added some weight to my bag) to bring.

Along with the clothing, our bags held a conglomeration of odds and ends (general first aid stuff, a portable CD player, various guide books, Febreeze, travel Handi-wipes, travel-size packs of kleenex, etc, etc., etc.), some of which we used, some of which we did not use. I do not think there is anyway to determine conclusively what you will or will not need, so I will not list what we brought and/or list what I think YOU should take on your trip.

THE TRIP

Days 1 & 2:

Thurs. 9/18/03- Fri. 9/19/03
We flew Northwest Airlines RT from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Detroit and then Detroit to Paris CDG. The flight was uneventful. I did not sleep more than 45 minutes at a stretch, but I did doze off 3 or 4 different times, so I did get some sleep. My mom did about the same. We had taken Tylenol PMs, but they really didn?t seem to have an effect.

The Detroit airport is REALLY nice. If you have the choice to connect there or fly in/out of there, do it. It was well organized and easy to get around in. Unfortunately we went from there to what is, possibly, the WORST airport I have ever had the misfortune to fly into/out of: Paris CDG. Terminal 1 was, pretty much, a nightmare. First of all, the place looked like something out of a bad 1970s sci-fi movie! Second of all, it is not easy to find your way around once you get off the plane. We basically followed the crowd, but still . . . it was confusing. Trying to get from the terminal to the RER station was even worse. Had it not been for some very detailed instructions on how to get to the RER station, we might still be there wandering around in a circle . . . Suffice it to say that I will avoid this airport at all costs in the future. My advice for any first-timers who have to fly into this airport: Figure out where you need to go and how to get there in advance.

Originally, we were looking for an open-jaw ticket into London and out of Rome. However, after finding a $372 RT fare in/out of Paris, we made arrangements to fly in/out of that city. However, some friends of ours were already in London and we wanted to meet up with them, so we had to go immediately from Paris to London via the Eurostar. To do this, we had to go from CDG via the RER to Gare du Nord train station. Once we found the RER station (we had to take a shuttle from Terminal 1 to Terminal 3), we then had to wait over an hour in line to buy tickets. (Out of 5 possible windows, they had 2 operating. Also, there was only a slight suggestion of a line for the windows. Many, many people just walked up and cut into the line and bought their tickets.) However, once we finally bought our tickets and got on the RER, it was a quick (maybe 30-40 minutes) and easy ride to Gare du Nord. At the Gare du Nord, we went straight to the Eurostar boarding area with no problems, it was very well signed all the way from where we got off the RER to the boarding area. Between trying to find our way around CDG and then waiting in line for the tickets, etc. we only had about 20 minutes to spare between arriving at the Gare du Nord and boarding our 2:45pm train for London.

LONDON

After a relatively uneventful 4 hour train ride (it was supposed to be only 3 hours long, but we were delayed for some unexplained reason) we arrived at London Waterloo station. We hit the ATM machine there (This worked with absolutely no problems whatsoever as it did for the entire rest of the trip. We never even had the suggestion of a glitch with our ATM cards.). We then took the Underground (very easy to find in Waterloo station) to our tube stop (Gloucester Road) and then walked the rest of the way to our hotel, the Oxbridge Apartments on Collingham Road in South Kensington.

PROS: The Oxbridge Apartments were a fantastic deal (60 pounds per night for a one-bedroom apt. that slept 3 people.) and well located (Maybe a 5-10 minute walk to the Gloucester Road tube stop. Also, between the hotel and the tube stop there were several restaurants, two large grocery stores, a small grocery/convenience store, a Laundromat, a souvenir-type store that sold phone cards and rented cell phones for International use and an Internet Café with decent rates?2.50 pounds for an hour). Our apt. had three single beds (two in a bedroom, one in the living room) and a pull-out sofa. We also had a kitchenette with a fridge, stove, plates, cups, cutlery, cookware, etc., etc. In addition to the bed and pull out sofa, the living area had a small dining table, a coffee table, a TV and a phone. Also, we had a full bath with excellent water pressure. Finally, the guys who ran the place were very friendly (one of them even let me use his personal cell phone to make a local call when I was having trouble with my phone card.). I will mention (because I know there are those out there for whom this will matter) that the guys who ran the hotel were all middle eastern as were several of the other guests we saw. This didn?t bother us at all, but I realize it might make some people uncomfortable. I will say again that they could not have been nicer to us.

CONS: This place is not beautiful. While comfortable and functional, the apartments are not ?charming? at all (the color scheme is kind of a late 80?s Maroon/Green/Gold combination). The website claims that the rooms have satellite TVs. We had a grand total of about 8 channels, and I think all but 2 or 3 of those channels were in Arabic and, thus, not understandable to us. (Still, it was nice to have a TV.) The telephones in the room ONLY made 800 calls. This was fine for calling home on our calling cards, but not so fine when we were trying to make local calls (If, for instance, we were trying to make a reservation for dinner.). Finally, the elevator always seemed a little sketchy to me (it made this pretty awful sound -- kind of a loud whine or squeak -- on the way up/down), so I did not ride it if I could avoid it. This was fine for me, but for anyone who had issues with stairs (like if you had a lot of bags or were an older person or whatever), it could be an issue.

All in all, we were happy with our accommodations. We always felt safe and literally had pretty much everything we could want outside our doorstep. We are pretty low-maintenance people so they were fine for us.

After checking into the hotel, we just basically hung out and rested for a while (because of the transfer from Paris, it was almost 6 by the time we got to London.) before heading out to dinner. We ended up going to an Italian place near our hotel that was fine, but unmemorable. After dinner, we went to the Internet café and checked in with the folks at home. Finally, we went to one of the grocery stores and bought snacks, drinks, and breakfast items.

Around 9 o?clock, we decided we had stayed up long enough to beat the jet lag and went to bed.

Day 3 ? Sat. 9/20/03

Woke up a little before 8am feeling refreshed and ready to go. Jet Lag was really a non-issue for us.

After showering and having breakfast in the room, we headed for the Portobello Road market. We took the tube (Will take this opportunity to add that we bought a 4 day, zones 1 & 2 tube pass online prior to our trip. Was WELL worth it.) and made it over there before the crowds got really big/bad (were there by 9:00am). They have everything you could possibly want at this market. We bought quite a few souvenirs for family/friends (everything from a silver flask to some antique art prints to magnets to tee-shirts, etc.) and felt like we got pretty good deals on everything. We stayed here until around 10:30am and then walked over to Kensington Park. This was a pretty good walk but was pleasant and not strenuous at all. We got to the park and walked around the grounds near the Palace (did not take a tour), checked out the gift shop and then had lunch at the Orangerie Restaurant. My meal (their house sandwich?pastrami with cream cheese and pickles on wheat bread?a salad and potato chips) was about 7 pounds, I think. With my drink I think I paid about 10 pounds total. I don?t remember what everyone had, but we were all satisfied with our meals and the price. I would recommend this restaurant.

After lunch we walked through the rest of the park to the Albert Memorial and the Royal Albert Hall. From there we walked to the Victoria and Albert Museum. We absolutely loved this place! The clothing, the religious artifacts, the textiles . . . it was all just so fascinating. Plus, it was FREE! We stayed for almost three hours before deciding we had had enough. After the V&A (at this point it was almost 5pm), we decided to head over to Harrod?s since my mom?s friend REALLY wanted to see it and we didn?t know when else we could/would work it into our schedule. I honestly don?t remember if we walked or tubed it to Harrod?s (I think we rode the tube), but we got there shopped for a little while (picked up some more little things) and then headed back to the hotel to rest for an hour or so before going out for dinner.

Dinner was at Blackfriars Pub (Across the street from the Blackfriars tube stop. Very easy to find/get to.). I had fish and chips (excellent) and everyone else (my mom and two of our friends) had hamburgers w/ chips (fries). My meal was about 8 pounds and, I think theirs were about 6 or 7 each. I also had a pint of beer. Total, I think I paid around 10 or 11 pounds for everything. The pub itself is beautiful. Lots of old, dark wood and beautiful leaded glass windows, with kind of an overall ?Art Nouveau? style. I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

After dinner, we took the tube home and went to bed.

Day 4 ? Sun. 9/21/03

Sunday we started our day at the Tower of London. We got an early start (after another breakfast in our room) and were at the Tower about 20-30 minutes before it opened. We bought our tickets at the tube stop (13 pounds) and headed under the underpass and to the entrance to the tower. As a result of getting there early AND buying our ticket at the tube stop, we got to stand in the ticket holders line and were behind 4 or 5 other people at most. They opened up right on time and we went straight for the crown jewels. There was NO wait whatsoever and we were able to look at the jewels at our leisure (we also watched the entire coronation video which was very interesting and gave us an added appreciation of what we were looking at.). All told, we rode the little moving escalator past them 4 times (twice on each side)! After gawking at the jewels we walked back to the entrance where we picked up a Beefeater tour. Our tour guide, Mick, was OUTSTANDING. This was the best tour we had of any site on our entire trip. Mick made the history of the tower really come alive. In addition, he was funny and personable. After the tour we (and over half of the other people in our group) tipped him. He did not act as if this was expected, but neither did he seem surprised. I gathered this was a perfectly acceptable thing to do and that it was appreciated, but not expected. After the tour (which lasted about an hour) we wandered around the tower complex a bit longer (went up inside several of the towers, which you don?t do during the guided tour) before checking out the gift shop and then heading across Tower Bridge for a quick peek at David Blaine (bizarre!).

After the Tower, we took a tube to the general vicinity of the British Museum where we had a quick lunch at a?everyone gasp in unison?Burger King restaurant!!! Like I said, we are not foodies and we were in a hurry and on a budget (which we didn?t stay on very well the day before!). After lunch we walked to the Museum where we stayed for several hours. The British Museum was also, quite awesome. The newly restored reading room is just HUGE and very beautiful. We toured the Egyptian, Greek and British wings. After the museum, we split up and my mom and I headed to Browns for afternoon tea. We got there about 5pm and waited about 30 minutes for a table (they don?t take reservations on Sunday) in the extremely sumptuous and comfortable ladies room downstairs from the tea room/library. The meal itself was wonderful. The service was impeccable and the food/tea was delicious! I had the house blend and my mom had some sort of a fruit blend. They brought us sandwiches, cakes, cookies, pastries, scones with clotted cream and jam . . . you name it! We were absolutely stuffed. Plus the ambiance was just wonderful. The room was beautiful, yet comfortable and inviting with little tables surrounded by comfy, chintz-covered chairs. We felt 100% comfortable even though we were in casual slacks and blouses. Even though our meal was 25 pounds each, I felt as though it was worth every single pence! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

After tea, we went back to the hotel and took a nap before heading back out to the Tower for the Ceremony of the Keys. This 700-year-old ceremony during which they lock up the Tower of London for the night was absolutely fascinating to witness. The tickets were free, so I?d encourage anyone who has the opportunity to send off for them and attend.

After the Ceremony we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Day 5?Monday 9/22/03

On this day, we took the tube to the Westminster stop and started our day by checking out Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye (which we did not actually go for a ride in due to my Mom?s great fear of heights).

From there we walked to Westminster Abbey, which is across the street from the Parliament building. Westminster is absolutely amazing. We actually got there about 20 minutes before it opened and were very close to the front of the line. We took the audio tour at Westminster and it was well worth the 3 or 4 (I can not remember exactly now) pounds it cost us. There are so many tombs in Westminster that you really do need to either take a guided tour or get the audio guide to really appreciate it.

From Westminster, we headed west towards Buckingham Palace. We were hoping to see the changing of the guards, but, due to the fact that at this point in the year, they only do it every other day, we were unlucky and found ourselves there on an off day. From Buckingham Palace we headed back east, down the mall, under the Admiralty Arch and into Trafalgar Square. After taking a bunch of pics in the square (great shots from every angle!), we decided to have lunch at St. Martin?s in the field?s crypt café. IMHO, the food was both mediocre and overpriced. I?m afraid I can?t really recommend it. After lunch, our group split up and my mom and I walked south down Whitehall, past10 Downing St. (kind of a bust . . . you can?t really see much) to the Cabinet War Rooms.

I have to say that my visit to the Cabinet War Rooms (I went alone, my mom needed to get off her feet for awhile, so she spent the 45-50 minutes I was touring the War Rooms sitting across the street in St. James park and writing in her journal) was one of the highlights of my trip. This is a fascinating tour! I?d highly recommend it to anyone.

After the Cabinet War Rooms, we walked back over to the Westminster tube stop (where we?d started our day) and headed back to the hotel to rest before the Jack the Ripper tour we?d planned to take later that evening.

When we got back to the hotel, there was a message for me from my boyfriend at home that said I needed to call him ASAP. This is not a message you want to receive while on vacation, 5,000 miles away from home, let me tell you! When I called him, he told me that everything was OK, but that someone from London had called him (our home number is listed on the Emergency Contact page) and told him that they?d found my passport at a tube stop and were trying to figure out how to locate me to return it! To this day, I?m not exactly sure how my passport came to rest at the tube station. I had it in my money belt and don?t remember going into the money belt for any reason while at the tube stop. However, the zipper was open when I checked it. The only thing I can think is that, when I put it on that morning, I neglected to zip it and, over the course of the day, my passport just worked itself out of the money belt. I was wearing a skirt that day, so if that is, in fact, what happened, I probably wouldn?t have felt it fall to the ground. At any rate, the guy who found it left his number, which I called, and was gracious enough to come to the hotel to bring the passport to me. I tried several times to give him some money as a reward, but he refused to take it. He was just an angel! I didn?t get his name, but I was so very, very grateful. The bottom line, I guess, is don?t forget to zip your money belt! I was very, very lucky!

Because of all this, we ended up missing the Jack the Ripper tour. Instead, my mom and I went and had dinner at a lovely Indian restaurant on Cromwell Road called The Delhi Brasserie (134 Cromwell Road. SW7) The food was good and the prices were reasonable.

Day 6?Tuesday, 9/23/03

On this day, we were scheduled to take the Eurostar to Paris later that same afternoon, so we only had about a half a day to sightsee. We spent the majority of our day at St. Paul?s Cathedral. St. Paul?s was beautiful on the inside, but was unfortunately covered with scaffolding on the outside. However, we thoroughly enjoyed our time there and spent a good two hours there looking around, climbing the dome (just myself and one of our friends. My mom stayed at ground level), touring the crypt, etc. After St. Pauls we headed back to the hotel to pack up and check out. We were able to leave our bags at the hotel while we ran around and got some last minute souvenirs and had a quick lunch. Finally, we went back to the hotel, caught a cab and headed to Waterloo station and, ultimately, to Paris.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF LONDON: I loved London. After having a week to process the entire trip, I would have to say that London was my overall favorite city. While Venice was more beautiful and Paris was more romantic, London was just the total package. The people of London were so incredibly charming and friendly and helpful. The tube made getting around SO easy. There were more things to see and do there than you could do if you had three weeks probably. And so on and so on. I would highly recommend London to anyone . . . especially someone who is going overseas for the first time. I was completely charmed and beguiled and can?t wait to go back and give this city the attention it really deserves!

Nice report, Jennie. London is my favorite, too, and I am always glad to find other people who enjoy it.

Hi Jennie,
So glad to see the beginning of your report. I know it will be full of humor and great info. Cant wait to read all of it.

Janda

Hi Jennie,

Good report. Let's have more.

Hi Jennie!
Just a clarification about the Detroit airport. You're right, the new Northwest terminal is REALLY nice. DTW's other, older domestic terminal, however, is such a pit it makes any terminal at CDG look like a palace!
-Mark M. (a former Detroiter)

Great report, Jennie! Keep it up.

Wonderful, detailed report :)

Looks like you had realistic expectations and could go w/ the flow.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip . . . . .

You're doing a great job, Jennie. And there's nothing wrong with being long-winded. You never know what you might say that will turn out to be exactly what someone planning their trip needs. London's a great city that deserves detailed attention. Go for it and keep on typing!

Really interesting report. I like all the details, makes it much more personal!!
And I totally agree about CDG airport. It's a complete joke.

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone. Sorry for all the question marks where commas and/or apostrophes should be!

Here's part 2:


PARIS

Day 6 (con?t)

We arrived at Gare du Nord in the early evening and quickly and easily made our way into the metro(where we bought a carnet of 10 metro tickets) and headed straight for our hotel, the Hotel les Argonautes in the 5th arr. Les Argonautes is located at 12, rue de la Huchette.

PROS: Les Argonautes is very centrally located and convenient to the metro. I?d say it?s maybe a 5-minute walk to the St. Michele metro stop. It is also very inexpensive. Our double with private bath was only 71 Euros per night. The room was not huge, but not tiny either. We are about 200 yards from the Seine and Notre Dame (We even have a view of a sliver of the river from our streetside window.) The people at the front desk were very friendly and helpful and the lobby was very funky (kind of an African safari theme) and inviting with a TV and tables to sit at, etc.

CONS: This place is BASIC. There were no phones, no televisions, no nothing in the rooms. Also, the rooms had an even worse color scheme than our London hotel (garish yellow, orange, and blue). There was no charm at all to the rooms despite the beamed ceilings. Finally, our streetside room was LOUD!!! This is a very touristy area with bars, restaurants, etc. lining the street. Even with the window closed tight, we could hear shouts of Opah! (sp?) emanating from the Greek restaurants until the wee hours. I am a pretty sound sleeper, so this really didn?t bother me that much, but my mom didn?t sleep well, even with earplugs in. If noise bothers you, you shouldn?t even consider this hotel. Even our friends, who had a room at the back of the hotel, were kept up. There really aren?t any quiet rooms.

After our arrival and check-in, we just kind of wandered around the area and then across the Seine and over to Notre Dame. It was just about sunset at this point and it was a wonderful introduction to Paris: Sunset over Notre Dame and the Seine. Ultimately, we wandered around until we found, of all things, a Mexican restaurant. We were intrigued by the idea of Mexican food in Paris that we decided to try it. It was FULL of Parisians (we were the only people that I could tell of speaking English), which we took to be a good sign. When all was said and done, it was actually fairly decent. The price was reasonable, too. The name of the restaurant was Tampico and I believe it was on Rue Xavier-Privas. Didn?t get the exact address, sorry. After dinner, we walked around a bit more, found some crepes for dessert and then called it a day.

Day 7?Wednesday, 9/24/03

We got up bright and early and took the metro to the Eiffel Tower (Trocadero metro stop). We got there about 15 minutes before it opened and were thus able to get in line to the top of the tower before it was too long. While waiting in the line, we had our first small world experience. The young man who got into the line directly behind us turned out to also be from our home state of Oklahoma. Funny. Once the ticket window officially opened, it took app. 25 minutes to get through the line, buy our tickets, and get to the second observation level (which turned out to be as far up as my mom could tolerate.). We spent about 45 minutes walking around and looking at the view, taking pictures, and then shopping in the gift shop before heading back down and out. I found it more than enough to go to this level, but our friends went up to the top level and said the views from up there were even more stunning.

Once out of the tower, we headed back to the Trocadero metro stop and got back on the metro to the Arc de Triomphe. Once out of the metro, we walked over to the arc and walked around it and looked at it from every conceivable angle, but did not go up inside. From the Arc, we walked down the Champs Elysees. We even got to stop and actually BUY something on this super-posh boulevard, which was fun. (Our friend?s boss had asked him to please stop and buy a purse for him at the Louis Vuitton store for his daughter?s birthday, so we did.). We walked all the way down to the Place de la Concorde, at which point, we took a left and headed down the Rue du Rivoli. Our goal was to find Angelina?s for lunch and hot chocolate, which we did. It was absolutely FANTASTIC. I just had soup and salad for lunch (which was fine), but it was the desert that was so amazing. I had the hot chocolate and a lemon tart. Both were out of this world. This was a little pricey, but was worth it. The hot chocolate was like someone took a milk chocolate bar and melted it and then put it in a cup. It was served with a small mountain of pure whipped cream. Amazing. The address of Angelina?s is 226 Rue du Rivoli.

After Angelina?s we headed to the Louvre, which was only a short way up the street. At some point, we crossed over the Rue du Rivoli to the Tuileries gardens, so that we entered the courtyard of the Louvre from the front. After taking the requisite pictures at the Pyramid, we began to search out the museum pass holders entrance (we bought our pass with no problems at the Trocadero metro stop earlier in the day. €30 for a three day pass.). The passholder entrance was a little difficult to find, but we just kept asking people to point us in the right general direction until we found it. Once at that entrance, we walked right in to the museum with no wait. Once inside the Louvre, we realized that it is quite true what everyone says: It is, in fact, HUGE. So, we decided to start with the Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities, which included the Venus du Milo and the outstanding Winged Victory (this statue, which has always intrigued me in pictures, just blew me away. It is really, really beautiful and amazing).From there, we kind of wandered through the portrait gallery to the Mona Lisa Again, everyone is correct: it IS kind of a let-down. Very small, behind glass and absolutely mobbed. The way TO the Mona Lisa is lined by amazing artwork that it seems as though 99.9% of the people there don?t really care to see. They just want to get to the Mona Lisa. This is fine, of course. To each his own, but they are really missing some great art. Anyway, after Mona we toured Napoleon?s apartments before ending up in front the enormous ?Coronation of Napoleon? by Jaques-Louis David. Wanting to go out with a bang, we called it a day and left the Louvre.

After the Louvre, we went back to the hotel for a rest and tried to decide where to go for dinner. After much discussion, we decided on Le Petit Prince (12 Rue de Lanneau) based on the recommendations from this board. We called for a reservation and were able to get one for later the same evening (probably because our requested time was still relatively early for dinner in Paris). This restaurant lived up to its reputation. I had the prix fix menu (a delicious fried potato and sausage concoction for an appetizer and veal with a creamy oregano sauce for a main course) and then one of our friends and I shared a chocolate mousse for desert. Total, it was around €25 (I did not have wine, just mineral water). Everything was excellent. I would recommend this place.

After that it was back to the hotel and to bed.

Day 8?Thursday 9/25/03

On this day we stayed close to home and toured Notre Dame, Sainte Chappelle and the Conciergerie in the morning.

We started at Notre Dame. What can I say about Notre Dame that hasn?t already been said? Nothing. So I won?t even try. It?s a must see, that?s all you need to know. We did not go up to the top, unfortunately. I really, really wanted to but the line was long and I was really the only one who felt strongly about doing it. So, I decided to be philosophical and leave it for another time. I will definitely be back to Paris, so I just chalked it up to leaving myself something to look forward to next time!

After Notre Dame, we walked to Sainte Chappelle, which ended up being one of my top 5 favorite sites on the entire trip. I was just so blown away by the room. The weather was perfect that day (warm, but not overly bright) and the even light made the stained glass look just perfect. I could have stayed for several hours, but ended up being dragged away by the rest of the group. Again, I resolved to come again the next time in Paris and take all the time I wanted.

After Sainte Chappelle, we skipped on over to the Conciergerie (literally about 100 yards from Sainte Chappelle), which I ended up really liking. I know many people consider it a let down, but I actually found it interesting . . . Probably because I had pretty low expectations to start with. It?s worth doing if you have a museum pass and enough time in Paris.

After leaving the Conciergerie, I decided to split off from the rest of the group for some much needed alone time. I love my family and friends, but this was Day 8 and I really had not had any time to myself. During this time, I did not do anything special. I just wandered around the streets of Paris in the general vicinity of where the 5th (Latin Quarter) meets the 6th (St. Germain des Pres). I didn?t really do anything specific, but I highly recommend a walk in this area. It looked like what I imagined Paris would look like . . . know what I mean? Lots of small streets and cool shops . . . stuff like that. Later in the afternoon, I found myself in the lovely park that?s next to the church of St. Julien le Pauvre church, where I had a ham and cheese baguette that I shared with a flock of pigeons and a stray black cat. Very nice.

After about 3 hours on my own, I went back to the hotel to meet back up w/ my group for dinner. We ate at an unmemorable café near our hotel. Not bad, but rather blah . . . didn?t write down the name.

Day 9?Friday 9/26/03

Today was Versailles day. Getting to Versailles was quick and easy. We were able to catch the correct RER train directly from the St. Michel tube stop. I can?t remember exactly how much the ticket was, but it was pretty inexpensive. Once we got to Versailles, we walked the approximately half mile or so to the Chateau. It was very easy to find (there are signs, but we just basically followed the crowd).

Versailles is really overwhelming. Since we had a museum pass, we were able to bypass the gigantic line to get in. This was great. However, because we bypassed the main line and went in a side door, we were a little confused as to where, when, how, etc. to get on the main tour loop. Once we figured it out, however, we were all set. We just took the basic tour inside, didn?t pony up any extra cash for the special tours you can take. This place is really unbelievably grand and opulent to the extreme. It?s really not surprising the peasants eventually revolted. If I had been one, I would have revolted too! It did seem as if old Louis the XIV was quite the Renaissance man, though. Seemed like a very interesting fellow. Expensive tastes, though!

The only bad thing about the Chateau is the hoards of people. And, to be specific, it?s not really so much the average, everyday tourists that are the main problem. It?s the massive tour groups of 40 or 50 people that are so desperately trying NOT to lose their guide (you know, the guy or girl with the hanky tied to a stick) that they move from room to room en masse, gumming up the works like a too-big wad of toilet paper through a sewer line. Versailles was the first place they really caused any major problem (although I?d noticed them at the Louvre, too) and I grew to hate these groups. I began to purposefully turn down offers for guided tours just so I wouldn?t be one of THOSE people. But I digress . . . where was I?

Oh yeah . . . we were just finishing the main chateau of Versailles. After that, we walked outside and DID pony up the extra money to tour the gardens (€3, I think). It was money well spent. Talk about amazing . . . wow! I can?t even estimate how far back from the chateau the gardens went. 5 football field lengths? 6? 7? I have no idea. It wouldn?t matter though, even if I did know the exact distance. It really must be seen to believed. We began walking through the gardens towards the general vicinity of the Grande and Petite Trianons (where the king and queen went to get away from Versailles, which in and of itself was a getaway house . . . interesting. Again, is it any wonder the peasants eventually had enough!?) and Marie Antoinette?s Hamlet (A little village that Marie had built where she and her friends could go to pretend they were just average peasants living the simple life in the French countryside). About 1/3 of the way down on the left, we found a small café where we grabbed a quick lunch of sandwiches and potato chips. Of course, being the eatery of a major tourist attraction, this food was mediocre and over priced. Still . . we had fortified ourselves for the massive amount of walking that was to come.

After lunch we headed back towards the Trianons, which we eventually found. Both the Grande and Petite were impressive. I actually liked the Petite better, though. After leaving the Petite Trianon, we walked and walked and walked and walked some more until, eventually, we came to Marie?s Hamlet. Now THIS was cool. I loved the little houses and the little farm and the little gardens and the little lake and all the little stuff that was out here. If I ever get rich, I?m going to build myself a Hamlet like Marie?s to play in! I loved it.

What I did NOT love, however, was the LOOOOOONG walk back to the chateau. I?m talking miles here, people . . . Like maybe two or three. I realize there was a little tram we could have hopped on, but we couldn?t ever seem to catch the little sucker! My poor Mom was about ready to just chop her feet off at the ankle by the time we made it back through the gardens, past the chateau and down the street the half mile back to the train station. I know she was really in pain because she did not even want to stop and look in any of the gift shops that line the route between the chateau and the train station! Getting back to Paris was just as easy as getting out to Versailles and we found ourselves back at our hotel by 6:00pm.

At this point, I called the hotel of a fellow Fodorite, Barb, and arranged to meet her for drinks and dinner. After scouting ahead to find a restaurant and installing Mom and one of our friends, Ken, at said restaurant, I went to Barb?s hotel, picked her up, and took her back with me. The place we picked to eat was Italian (our friend Ken picked it because he was not going to be able to stay with Mom and I as we went on into Italy and he was craving Italian food.) and was pretty good. It wasn?t super great, though, so again I did not get the name of the place. After we finished eating, Mom and Ken went back to the hotel (Ken and the rest of our friends were flying back home the next day.) and Barb and I stayed to have desert and finish off our bottle of wine. We had a nice long talk about life, travel, and the Fodors board before finally calling it a day and going our separate ways. I really enjoyed meeting up w/ Barb. She was traveling alone, which I found incredibly gutsy. Also, she was very smart and articulate and just an all-around nice person to talk to. On the way back to my hotel (which was very close to the restaurant), I actually got kind of turned around (stopped to take pictures of a little, tiny car from several different angles and then forgot which direction I had been facing originally) and got lost for about 15 minutes. I?m sure the half bottle of wine I?d just polished off didn?t help my sense of direction any! But, finally, I found some nice college girls (we were near the Sorbonne) who helped me find my way. It was kind of fun, actually, to be lost in Paris! By the time I got back to the hotel, I said good-bye to our friends and then just crashed.

Day 10 --9/ 27/03

Today was our last day in Paris and Mom and my first day to be on our own. As such, we didn?t have much on the agenda. It was a day for sleeping late and then going around and picking up any last minute souvenirs before indulging in some general wandering. We ended up spending a few hours exploring the Ile St. Louis (had some Berthillon ice cream?pretty good) during which time we were privileged to catch the act of a street performer named Clark from Princeton, NJ. Clark juggled fire, rode unicycles while carrying an American tourist named Rachel on his shoulders and just generally entertained a large group of people for about an hour on the bridge that leads from behind Notre Dame to the Ile St. Louis. I enjoyed his show immensely. Very funny guy.

At around 4:00 we went back to the hotel to pick up our luggage (they?d been holding it for us since we checked out that morning) and head for Paris Bercy station to catch our night train to Venice. Finding Bercy station was not as easy as I anticipated. You have to take the metro to the Bercy stop and then go completely out of the station, across a street, up a flight of stairs and across another street to the train station. It is not a really far distance, but with luggage it is feels like a bit of a trek. The good thing is that Bercy station is really small, so it?s EASY to find your way around and figure out which train is yours, etc. After sitting and waiting (and chatting with a very nice older woman who was born in France but who had lived in the US for the past 40 years named Irene) for a couple of hours, it was time to board our train. Despite the fact that we?d only reserved two berths in a 4 berth couchette, the other people in our compartment didn?t show and we actually had the entire compartment to ourselves. This was nice. Those compartments are small. Unless you get a compartment to yourself, it is really imperative to pack light. There was a couple in the compartment next to ours that ended up having to leave a piece of their luggage out in the hallway all night because their 3 massive bags wouldn?t fit in the compartment they were sharing with another person. It was really ridiculous. At any rate, as we realized we had lucked out and were on our own, we settled in and began to eat the sandwiches and other assorted goodies we?d bought at the train station for dinner. Sometime during dinner, the conductor came by to take our passports. As we freely and willingly handed them over (because I new to expect this from the Fodors board!) he said, ?Ah, you have done this before, no?? When we told him we hadn?t, he said, ?Really? Never??he asked ?Nope, never,? we replied. ?Hmmm . . .? he said. ?I can not believe it. Usually Americans who are on the train for the first time do not want to give their passports away at all!? Funny. Chalk another one up to the Fodors boards! We finished dinner and watched the French countryside until it was too dark to see. At that point, we folded out our beds, put the sheets on and called it a night. Au Revoir, France!

Next stop, Venice!

Sorry, accidentally left this last paragraph off:

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF PARIS: Paris more than met my expectations. I expected to love it and I did. It is an extremely beautiful and romantic city. The only thing that kept me from being just totally swept away is that I was with my mother . . . in Paris. I mean, don?t get me wrong, I love my mom. But Mom is not the person you want to stroll along the Seine at sunset with . . . know what I mean? I can?t wait to go back and experience Paris with my boyfriend.

Also, I have to say two things: 1) I did not encounter even ONE outright rude person in Paris. I did encounter some who were brusque and businesslike, but I used to live in New York City where brusqueness is an art form, so I didn?t take it personally. I can speak passable French, so this may have had something to do with the way I was received and treated, but I was pleasantly surprised; AND 2) I found Paris to be very clean, specifically in regards to dog poop. On another thread, I talked about how my entire group was on ?dookie patrol? during our trip, but did not see any. I?m sure it exists, but I didn?t see copious amounts of it like I expected to.

Great report, Jennie. I'm really enjoying it. Glad you had such a great trip. :)

Your report is so helpful! I am planning a trip with my Mom in the spring. How old is your mom?

BarbaraS:

My mom is 53. She was pretty much game for anything that did not involve heights.

Also, about a week before our trip, she tripped over something while taking her daily morning walk and turned her ankle pretty badly. It had healed up pretty well by the time we left. However, on those days (like the Versailles day) when we walked a great deal, it would start to bother her in the late afternoon/evening.

Jennie

Your Paris segment really brought back memories of my time in Paris. Looking forward to Venice.

Hi Jennie: I am really enjoying your report! It's so funny, I went to the Petite Prince for dinner while in Paris too - one of the best meals of my trip. Also the day you watched the street performer, I was sitting at a little cafe just across the bridge on the Isle watching him too. Paris is not so big afterall. It was great meeting you and your Mom. I love traveling solo, but I must admit Paris would be wonderful to experience with someone you love.

Jennie:

What a great post so far! I totally agree with everything in your Paris post especially the take on the tour groups at Versailles. I was so happy to get out to the gardens to leave them behind. I ended up spending way more time than I had planned in the gardens but worth it.


I had to laugh about being in Paris with your mom. I was in Paris alone and definitely felt like I wish I was there with a guy. That city IS really romantic and everyone seems to be in love.

Can't wait to hear about the Italy part of the tour. :)

Thanks so much for your London trip report! We are planning our trip for 3 days over Thanksgiving and your report is so helpful.

I have to add in regard to your lost passport -"Man! Does someone up there look out for you or what?!" My husband once had to sleep on the sidewalk outside of the embassy in Rome after being robbed of his passport, money and tickets home! Of course he was 18 or 19 at the time and unwise to the ways of the world...but you are a lucky woman!

I too liked the Conciergerie. I think it's because my wife likes to call Robespierre by a slightly different neame. She'll say, "Isn't that where Robitussin was put in prison.?" Alas, whether it be Robespierre or Robitussin, nothing ended up stopping his coffin.

Glad you had a great trip.
((H))

When do we get to Italy?!

Hey everyone! Again, thanks for the kind remarks!

Sorry for the delay. I left my notes at home this morning so today's installment of the saga will have to wait a day. In return, you will get TWO cities (Venice and Florence) in only one day! How's that for a deal!

Jennie :)

"you will get TWO cities (Venice and Florence) in only one day!"

Well, there goes my work day tomorrow. Make it looooooooong.
((H))

Jennie-

In the last 3 weeks I have been passively reviewing posts in anticipation up a return trip to Italy. I was there in 1976 so it has been quite a while. If you had to pick just one city in Italy to spend 8 days, which would you chose and why?

FancyFree:

My first reaction upon reading your question is to say that I am really not a good person to ask that question of, as I have only been to 5 places in all of Italy (and two of those places were short daytrips). Surely someone with MUCH more experience in Italy that I have would be a better person to ask.

Still, you did ask and I HAVE been there, so here goes:

If I went back to Italy tomorrow, I'd go back to Florence. Not because it was my favorite city in Italy (Venice wins that award) but because I found it to be well-located (all sorts of day trip possibilities from Florence ), in a beautiful geographic setting (deep green rolling hills and mountains, the Arno river, amazing sunsets . . . sigh) and easy to get around in (compact, cabs are cheap, etc.). Also, the people in Florence were easily the most pleasant and friendly we encountered while in Italy.

So there you go . . . hope it helps!

Jennie :)

Venice and Florence are coming up!

Day 11?Sunday, 9/28/03

We awoke early (around 7am) on Sunday morning expecting to be arriving in Venice at 8:00am. However, we weren?t awake very long when we realized something wasn?t quite right . . . the train was not moving. At this point, I remembered that I?d actually half-way awoken in the middle of the night a couple of times and noticed the train wasn?t moving then, either. Hmmmm . . . strange. After about 30 minutes of stillness, the train did, in fact, start to move again . . . at about 4 miles an hour by my decidedly non-scientific estimation. Again . . . strange. When 8am rolled around and we were A) not in Venice and B) still moving VEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRY slowly, I began to think something just might be wrong. However, I could not find the conductor/attendant to ask what that thing might be. All I could think of is that perhaps one of Italy?s infamous strikes had started or something. After about another hour, we pulled into a station where the sign said ?Milan.? Uh-oh, something was very, very wrong here. It?s 9 am and we?re just now in Milan? We were supposed to be in Venice an hour ago and we?re only in Milan? Hmmmmmmm . . . About this time, the conductor finally comes down the corridor with croissants and juice for breakfast. I ask him what the matter is and he tells me that there is an ?Electrical problem.? Ah . . . well, OK. So I ask him when he estimates we will arrive in Venice. He says that it will be at least three more hours. OHHHHHH KAAAAAAAAAAY. Well, it ends up being more like 4 and by the time we finally pull into Venice it?s 1:00pm. To say that my mother and I are about to go insane is an understatement. I now have a better understanding of what being in prison must be like! Our 12 hour train ride ended up being more like 18. Jeez . . . I?m getting tense just writing about it.

Anyway, we disembark and try to find a cash machine in the station as our Venice hotel requires cash payment up front. Alas, the only one we can find is broken! Great. Well, we decide we?ll get to the hotel, drop the bags off, ask the clerk to direct us to an ATM and then check-in. So we head off in the direction of the vaparettos. They are very easy to find, there is a ticket booth right there, and the dock we need is right in front of us. We wait for the correct boat to pull up (be careful here if you?re a first timer as several different numbered boats can leave from the same dock. Make sure you?re getting on the boat you want to be getting on.) and when it does . . . wow! These things are crowded. And I don?t just mean, you have to kind of squeeze past a few people while getting on. I mean, they are sardine-can packed and you WILL be getting up close and personal with your new friends while on this boat. At any rate, we get on and find a place to squeeze on downstairs. There are two other American tourists down there also. The guy half of this couple has a suitcase roughly the size of Mt. Vesuvius with him. In chatting with him, we discover that they?re getting out at the same stop we are: San Zaccaria. Well, at the San Zaccaria stop, Mr. BigSuitcase gets up and meekly starts saying, ?I?m sorry. Excuse me. Pardon me,? etc. while feebly attempting to navigate this monstrosity of a suitcase through the throng of people. Unfortunately for us, we have the misfortune to be caught behind this mess. His girlfriend/wife/whatever is like, ?Jeff, just push your way out, we have to get out!? and he?s like, ?Julie, I?M TRYING! I can?t get the suitcase through the crowd,? etc. and my mom and I are like, ?Let?s have this lover?s spat later. We need to get off the damn boat!? Well, that didn?t happen. While Jeff and Julie were arguing, people stopped getting off the boat and other people started getting ON the boat. Of course, Jeff and Julie and their suitcase were now right in the middle of the walkway leading down stairs and couldn?t really move. SO now the people trying to get on were unable to do so. At this point, an Italian man behind US who?d also been unable to get out due to Jeff and Julie?s luggage started SCREAMING at them in Italian while gesturing wildly at their suitcase. Obviously, he was saying what the rest of us were thinking which was, ?If you?ve got a suitcase that big . . . don?t get on a crowded Vaparetto! Either wait for one that?s not crowded or (even better) take a water taxi. I mean, if you?re rich enough to have enough crap to fit in a bag that big, you?re rich enough to shell out the bucks for private transportation!

ANYWAY, we get to the next stop and, due mainly to Jeff being afraid of receiving a severe beating if he does not manage to get himself, his wife and his luggage off that boat, we are, in fact, able to disembark. Of course, the bad news is we are quite a ways away from where we need to be. So, out comes the map as we proceed to simply try to find our way back to where we need to be to get to our hotel. The problem is, being Venice newbies, we have no idea just how hilarious/preposterous this idea is. After walking for a good 45 minutes, we have no IDEA where we are, where the hotel is, etc. To compound this, it?s pretty warm and humid and both my mom and I are about to pass out. Suddenly, my mom stops walking and announces that she?s done. She absolutely refuses to go another step. We ultimately decide that she will take a table at a little café and wait with the bags while I go find the hotel. So off I go. Without the weight of my backpack on my shoulders (and now that I?ve taken off my sweater), I am able to think more clearly and DO, eventually find the hotel. When I walk in, bedraggled, sweaty and rumpled from my 18 hours on the train, 30 minutes on the Vaparetto and 45 minutes wandering aimlessly the very nice young man at the front desk kindly pretends not to notice. I tell him my name and that I have a reservation and that I?m sorry I?m so late (we?d e-mailed ahead and told them we?d be arriving between 10 and 11am) but our train was late due to an electrical problem and?he interrupts me at this point and says??Oh yes, because of the black out.? ?Ummmmm, the what?? ?The blackout. You know, the entire country of Italy was without power. This is why your train was delayed, probably.? OOOHHHHHHHHHH KAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY . . . now I get it. There was a blackout. No big deal, just the entire country of Italy left powerless. What is with these blackouts already?

So anyway, he asks if I?m alone, at which point I remember my mother back at the café and tell him that we got lost trying to find the place because of the Vaparetto fiasco and that my mom is waiting for me at a café and that I have to go and get her lest she start to think I fell in a canal or something. So I rush back to the café (which is actually quite close to where we need to be) and retrieve my mom and my bag and we go back to the hotel: The Albergo Doni, Riva Schiavoni, S. Zaccaria N. 4656 Calle del Vin. I would recommend this hotel to any budget travelers looking for a well-located, good value hotel in Venice.

PROS: We loved this hotel. It was located on a small side canal, approximately 5-10 minutes from Piazza San Marco. Our double w/o bath was good sized and did have a sink (and a bidet) in the room. So we could at least brush our teeth and wash our face before bed in the privacy of our own room. The shared bathrooms were one floor up and one floor down from our room. The shower was one floor down. These areas were spotlessly clean and we never had to wait to use the shower or either of the bathrooms. The hotel is quiet and the staff is friendly and helpful. There is a sitting area on each floor where you can sit by the window and look out over the small canal. The parquet floors and Venetian style windows in these sitting areas were very lovely and charming. Our room was €85 for the double and included breakfast.

CONS: Can?t really think of anything major. If I had to pick something I?d say again, the place is a pretty basic hotel. There are no phones or TVs in the room or in any of the sitting areas. Also, the included breakfast left a little to be desired. It consisted of some rolls with various spreads and coffee and juice (it was plenty for us, though). There was a TV in the breakfast room, but it was only on one of the 2 mornings we ate there. Finally, the bed was firm to the point of being downright hard.

Originally, we?d planned to do quite a bit of sightseeing on this day (back when we thought we?d be getting in early in the morning). However, since it was getting on to 4:00 by the time we got checked in and settled (this including taking a shower), we didn?t really do anything on the rest of our first day in Venice. Instead we just kind of wandered around, found Piazza San Marco, checked out all of the cool glass shops, etc. We ended up walking over to the Accademia Bridge before turning around and heading home. We ended up having dinner at an unmemorable café near our hotel before going to be relatively early.

Day 12? Monday, 9/29/03

After a rainy night, our first morning dawned cool and misty in Venice. Originally, we?d planned to go to Murano on this day. However, we ended up scrapping that plan. Instead, we spent the morning enjoying the beauty of a nearly empty Piazza San Marco (it was early, like around 8:00-8:30am) and touring the Basilica when it opened at 9:30. We spent a little over an hour in the basilica (including checking out the museum with the original horses, etc.). After that, we headed over to the Rialto Bridge. The view from this bridge is just incredible. It?s just surreal to stand there and look out over the Grand Canal and realize you are actually in Venice. Wow. After lunch, shopping and more aimless wandering, we decided to find and check out the Frari church in the afternoon. I?d highly recommend a visit to this church. It certainly lives up to its billing. After the Frari and some more aimless wandering, we headed back towards our hotel.

On the way, we managed to find a self-service Laundromat (can?t seem to find where I wrote down the exact location, but it was just about a 5-10 minute walk north and east of Piazza San Marco) AND an internet café (also just a little north and west of San Marco near a square called, I THINK Campo Filippo Giacomo?or something very close to that.). After carefully noting the location of each, we went back to the hotel and gathered up our clothes. Up to this point, we?d been washing things in the sink and drying them overnight, which was working OK, but we were really happy to get the chance to get our things REALLY clean. We ended up spending about and hour at the Laundromat and then another 30 minutes or so in the Internet Café. After finishing up with that, we dropped the stuff back off at the hotel and then headed out to find a place to eat. We ended up at a pretty good place called Ristorante Marco Polo (Castello - S. Lio, 5571). It was memorable because A) It didn?t cost an arm and a leg; B) the waiter was extremely friendly; and C) the food was more than decent. It wasn?t gourmet, but it was good.

Day 13? Tuesday, 9/30/03

Our last day in Venice. At this point in the trip, my Mom was really needing a break from walking. She?d injured her ankle about a week to 10 days prior to our departure and it was kind of starting to bother her. So I spent most of this day alone. I started by touring the Doge?s Palace. I originally intended to take the Secret Itineraries tour, but decided against it the day before. I wanted to be able to do the tour at my own pace. I did have a pretty detailed guidebook, though which was fine (the Rick Steves Venice book). Since I was one of the first people in line this day (I got their about 20 minutes before it opened), I had a lot of the rooms to myself. This included the prison area (after you walk across the bridge of sighs, you?re in the prison). Well, as I was wandering around down there, I somehow got kind of off the beaten path and became a little lost. I was literally ALONE in a dark area that has a series of almost identical little hallway/passageway type things that lead off of several larger corridors. The problem is that everything really looks the same down there. One minute I was leisurely looking into centuries old prison cells, the next I was nervously looking around me trying to figure out just where in the hell I was and how to get back to the ?main drag? so to speak. To quell my growing panic, I calmed myself with the thought that I WOULD be found eventually, most likely when one of those massive tour groups came through! Eventually, of course, I did find my way out on my own, but I was seriously creeped out for a while there. I couldn?t help but wander if any ghosts of old Venetian prisoners were watching me and laughing at my stupidity!

From there, I walked all the way over to the Peggy Guggenheim collection, taking my own sweet time as I went. It was during this walk that I had some of my favorite Venice moments. I didn?t try very hard to stay ?on the beaten path? and I ended up seeing some really lovely sights. Nothing major, just little things that would sound trite if I tried to put them into words. But my point is that everyone who goes to Venice should take an aimless walk at least once while in this amazing place. (Make sure you have a good map so that you can find your way back again, though!) After a couple of hours of this aimless wandering, I finally found myself at the Guggenheim. After almost two weeks of looking at a lot of really old art, the Guggenheim collection was a refreshing change of pace. It?s a small collection that is VERY easy to see in an hour or so. It?s a little pricey (I think it was €8 or €9) but I felt it was totally worth it. While at the Guggenheim I had a late lunch at the café there. It was decent and the setting (overlooking the sculpture garden) is pretty. By the time I finished at the Guggenheim, it was getting to be late afternoon, so I headed back to the hotel to check on Mom. The bad news was, she still wasn?t feeling all that well. The good news was, she had a good book to read and was perfectly content to continue to take it easy at the hotel. She had gone out and grabbed some lunch, so she wasn?t a total shut-in this day!

After all my walking, I was pretty tired, so I indulged the a little siesta, before heading over to a restaurant near the Rialto fish market to meet another Fodorite, JandaO. Janda and I had agreed to meet for Ombra y chichetti at a restaurant in that area that ended up being closed. So, we walked over to a different place that I do not recall the name of (perhaps Janda does?). Oh wait, I found it in her pre-trip report: it?s Cantina do Mori and the address is: 429, Calle dei Do Mori, San Polo. This place was GREAT and very reasonably priced. I would recommend it. Janda was also great to meet and wonderful to talk to. Like Barb, she was also traveling along and, thus, had my profound respect and admiration. We had a very nice chat and had a great time sharing our pictures of our respective pets/loved ones/etc. Unfortunately, I didn?t get to spend as much time with Janda as I would have liked as I was anxious to get back to my mom and see how she was feeling. Still, after our snack, we walked back over to the Rialto bridge together, looking into several shops along the way. At the bridge we went our separate ways. We agreed to try to get together again in Florence and Rome because it turned out that our itineraries put us in those cities at the same time, too. (However, it turned out that this didn?t end up happening.)

By the time I got back to my mom, she was feeling quite a bit better and was hungry so we went out and had dinner at a place near our hotel. (Unmemorable, unfortunately, but not terrible as I recall). We then went back and got ready to leave the next day for Florence.

Day 14 ? Wednesday 10/1/03

We had reservations on the 8:30am train for Florence, so we were up and out of our hotel by 7:15am. It?s a good thing, too, because the first vaparetto we needed to take from the San Zaccaria stop was too crowded to get on, so we waited for the next one. While we DID get on that one, it was also EXTREMELY crowded. We stood on the upper deck this ride not wanting to get stuck downstairs again like last time. I realized at this point that to/from the train station was the only time we ever used this form of transportation. We just walked everywhere else. We were sweating whether we were going to make our train a little (due to missing the first boat), but we made it to the station with a good 10-15 minutes to spare and were soon on our way to Firenze!

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF VENICE: In a word, Beautiful. While there were things NOT to like about Venice (the crowds, the expense, the rather surly natives?the proprietors of our hotel and the waiter at the Marco Polo Restaurant being notable exceptions), none of those things (IMHO) came close to dimming the inherent beauty of this amazing place. It?s true what everyone says: ?No matter how many times you may have seen pictures of it in books or movies, etc. NOTHING can truly prepare you for Venice in real life. The greenish-blue color of the canals, the way the morning mist clings to the top of the buildings like a shroud, the way the Byzantine cathedral on Torcello looks when you look out across the lagoon while standing on the edge of Piazza San Marco . . . it?s just all so magic. I will definitely be back.

Enjoyed your Venice segment, Jennie. It brought back many memories of our time there this summer. I had no idea that the vaporetto's had a downstairs. We rode one three times and I never noticed. Guess it was that magic that is Venezia that had me mesmorized.

Statia:

You know, I'm not sure if they ALL have a downstairs, but the two we were on definitely did. They had kind of what I'd call king of a "main level" and then, down about 5 stairs to a "lower level." Whatever you do, do not get stuck on that lower level behind a man with a big suitcase. You will regret it!

OK, here's Florence. Rome MIGHT get posted tomorrow, but it's more likely to have to wait until Monday. I DO have to get SOME work done! Ha-ha!

FLORENCE

Day 14 --- Wednesday 10/1/03 (con't)

We arrived in Florence right on time (11:30am-ish) and easily found our way from the train station to our hotel, the Hotel Dali (Via Dell' Oriuolo, 17).

PROS: This was our favorite hotel of the entire trip. In fact, I posted a separate post about this hotel pretty much first thing upon our return. (If you want to see it, click on my name and it will come up. It's called Hotel Recommendation---Florence.). It was inexpensive (€75/night for a double with private bath), well located (5 minute walk to the Duomo. Had views of the Duomo), clean, charming, and had lots of nice "extras" (for example, we had a mini-fridge in our room). The best thing about this hotel, however, was the owners, Samanta and Marco. This young (early 30s) couple simply could not have been nicer or more helpful. They are both natives of Florence and, thus, know EVERYTHING about the city and the surrounding areas. They helped us with directions, reservations, suggestions, etc., etc. On top of all of this, they ALWAYS greeted us with genuine smiles and a Good Morning, Good Evening, How did you sleep?, How was your day?, What did you see today? Etc., etc, etc. We only stayed at this place for two nights, and were sorry we had not planned to spend more time here. I just can't say enough about how nice they were. If you are on a budget and go to Florence, stay here. You will not be sorry! The only reason they are not wildly popular already is that they've only been open about 3 years and don't really advertise, except by word of mouth (that?s how we found out about it).

CONS: Again, if I HAD to come up with something: No phones or TVs in the rooms. It's a budget hotel, after all! Also, the back of the hotel overlooks a courtyard and, across the way, there is a dance studio. The studio practices until 10pm, so if you're in a room on the back and want to go to bed early, you must close your window. Don?t know how well this would work in the summer. This didn't really affect us (we stayed up later than 10 both nights we were there) but I did notice it. (However, they really do quit right at 10pm.) Finally, the hotel is actually on the second floor of a larger building, so it's a little confusing when you first get there (we were kind of like, Now where do we go?). But there is an elevator so no need to climb stairs.

After getting settled into the hotel. We had a very quick lunch (I won?t say where, but it's an American chain that starts with a Mc!) and then headed off to see if we could, by chance, get in to the Accademia. Like a dolt, I'd forgotten to make reservations in advance from Venice the day before. Since it was on our itinerary to do that day, we decided to at least go check it out and, if it was too crowded, just go ahead and make reservations for the following day. Lo and behold, when we got there, there were exactly 2 people standing in the non-reservation line waiting to get in, so we took our place behind them. After about 10 minutes (during which time the line did grow, but not very much) they let us into the museum. (I'd say it was about 1:30pm at this point). The Accademia is not a big place. After wandering around a bit, we headed for David. On the way, we saw Michealango?s ?Prisoners? which were really, really cool. Then, there was Dave. He's incredible, even partly covered in scaffolding (if you're facing him, it was on his right and towards the back.). There was quite a crowd around him and many, many people were taking pictures. Now, I know this is often a subject for debate on this forum. But I have to say that in the midst of a BUNCH of very blatant, flash photography there were three guards standing right there, basically doing absolutely nothing. Occasionally, one of them would look over and say "No photo, no photo" in a kind of bored, languid voice, but there was no real attempt to prohibit picture taking. There were definitely signs that said don't do it, but only a basically non-existent attempt to enforce the prohibition. In the face of this indifference, I took two pictures myself (both without flash). So . . . take it for what it's worth. After Dave, we quickly checked out the rest of the Accademia and decided to head back towards the middle of town. When we got outside, we noticed that the previously almost non-existent line had grown a great deal and now stretched halfway down the block. So I guess we got lucky.

After the Accademia, we walked over to the Duomo (which was about half covered in scaffolding) and went inside. There was absolutely no line and it really wasn?t THAT crowded inside, either. The inside of the Duomo wasn?t nearly as barren as I expected. It was actually quite lovely. The painting that covers the inside of the dome has been recently restored and it shows. It was really beautiful. Still, we did not spend more than half an hour inside. We then walked over to the Baptistry and quickly checked out the ?Doors of Paradise? (did not go inside here) before heading down the Via Dei Calzaiuoli to the Uffizi. We then wandered past the Uffizi to the edge of the Arno. By this time, the sun was just starting to set. After taking some pretty amazing pics, we stopped at a self-service cafeteria for dinner. This was more than decent food for a great price. There are a million of these places in Florence and they all looked similar so I'm not going to worry about finding the receipt and listing the exact name.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel, stopping at the small grocery store that was on the same street as our hotel for some snacks and drinks to tide us over for the next few days.

Day 15---Thursday 10/2/03

On this morning, we had breakfast in our room thanks to our trip to the grocery store the night before. First and foremost, we had a couple of "housekeeping" items to attend to this morning. First of all, we walked over to the train station to make reservations for our train to Rome the next day. This was EXTREMELY easy to do. There was a fairly long wait (about 20-30 minutes) but that's just because they only had one window open. (Efficiency . . . not exactly an Italian strong-suit . . . but who cares . . . you're in Italy!). After that, we walked over and bought a couple of bus tickets from a newspaper seller and scoped out the bus stop for our planned trip up to Fiesole later that evening.

Also, over the past few days, we'd realized that, for all our good intentions, we needed to buy a separate bag to hold all of the goodies we'd been accumulating over the course of the trip. Our bags were not only starting to burst at the seams, they had gotten FREAKING HEAVY!! It was really starting to be an issue. We figured it we bought another bag, we could at least distribute the weight differently. So, we found a place where they sold duffel bags, back packs and the like and bought a little rolly duffel bag for around €15. We felt like we got a pretty good deal.

Armed with reservations, tickets and new bag, we headed back to drop everything off and have a light lunch back at our hotel. On the way, however, we decided to go see the Medici Chapel. I really liked it, but my mom was kind of Renaissance-d out by this time and was not that crazy about it. As we left, we ran right into the San Lorenzo street market. How convenient that we happened to have our new bag with us! After quickly surveying the scene and taking stock of our money, we decided we needed to A) get to a cash machine and B) fortify ourselves with a extra-large gelato.

After getting money and food, we went on a minor shopping spree. I got: 4 pair of kid leather gloves in a variety of colors for €15 each, some really beautiful lambswool scarves for €7 each, a leather belt for each of my dad, brother and boyfriend for €15 each, a couple of leather bound journals for my sister and myself for €8 each and some little leather purses/wallet thingies for €6 each. Ok, so I went a little nuts. But the end result is that I knocked EVERY last person off of my souvenir list and got out of there for less than €200, which was good. I had a souvenir budget of €500 of which I'd only spent about €150 (mostly on some little glass things in Venice), so when I walked out of that market, I was in good shape! If you're looking for nice souvenirs, this is the place to go! I?m sure you could get higher quality stuff elsewhere, but as we were A) trying to stick to a budget and B) primarily looking for little things for other people, this was perfect for us.

After spending almost 2 hours and €200 at the street market, we decided to move on. We dropped our goodies off at the hotel and tried to decide if we'd rather take the time to eat lunch or go to Santa Croce church. By this time it was late enough to consider skipping lunch in favor of an early dinner in Fiesole. (Besides, I counted the monster mound of gelato I'd had prior to hitting the market as my lunch.), so that's exactly what we did.

To be honest, I wasn?t all that crazy about Santa Croce. I mean, maybe we were "churched" out. Maybe it was that we didn?t have all that much time to enjoy it but I just found it OK. Of course, Michealangelo's tomb is there, which makes it very special, but I didn?t find the church itself to be particularly inspiring.

After the church, we headed back to the hotel, quickly changed clothes and hustled off to catch the bus for Fiesole. It was easy to find the bus stop (across from Santa Maria Novella church) and the right bus. If anyone plans to take a bus from this stop, here's a word of advice: Do pay close attention to the bus numbers, though, as this is a major bus stop and all different numbered buses are pulling up at any given time.

The bus ride to Fiesole was great: Short, relaxing and scenic. As we got higher and higher above Florence, the view just got better and better. Finally, the bus pulled up to its last stop and we got off. We'd read that the best view in Fiesole was up from the public park just below the Church of San Francesco. So after consulting our guidebook, we crossed the street to one of THE steepest walkway/streets I?ve ever seen. I mean, I?m talking so steep as to be a difficult walk. I?m in pretty good shape and I struggled! As we trudged up towards the top (maybe 100-150 yards or so), we both agreed that the view had better be worth it! Well, of course it was. Florence looked absolutely beautiful nestled in the valley below, the Duomo, Baptistry, and River clearly visible from our spot. After just sitting and taking in the view for a while (and, let?s be honest here, recovering from the climb!) I decided to go on up the hill to the little Church of San Francesco. This church dates from (I think) the 1400s and is (according to a local woman who was up there at the same time we were) very rarely open to the public. However, due to the fact that there was a special art exhibit in one of the buildings in the church complex, people were able to go in and look around. It was worth the small, extra climb from the park. This place was a little gem!

After going and retrieving my mom, we headed back down the hill (much better than going up!) towards town. Once back at the bus stop we headed off to find a place to have dinner. We ended up at a crowded pizzeria on the main square. Despite the relatively early hour (between 6 and 7), it was pretty crowded, so we figured it would be good and it was. It was also reasonably priced. I?d recommend this place (I don?t have the exact name and address---it's something like Etruscan Pizzaria--, but if you go to the main piazza (Piazza Mino), you can NOT miss it. After dinner, we hopped back on the bus and headed back to town. On the way back to the hotel, we hit the internet café and then called it a day.

This is probably as good a time as any to mention that I wrote in an online journal about every other day of this trip. Internet access was plentiful from every city and, with the exception of Venice, was very affordable (basically the equivalent of between $3 and $5 an hour. Except for Venice where I paid a ridiculous €4.5/ half hour!). I did not have any problems accessing anything I needed online. Also, I called home every night. I did this by buying phone cards and using those cards from payphones. In general, these cards were a pretty good deal. A €5 card would get me anywhere from 100 (London and Italy) to 200 (Paris) minutes. I do NOT recommend buying the type of card in Paris that you actually stick into the phone. We got totally ripped off with one of those cards. For €8 we got something like 50 credits. Well, each credit equaled only 15 seconds. So our €8 card lasted us exactly 12 minutes! Stick to the cards that requires you to dial a local number and then enter a pin code (obtained by scratching the back of the card with a coin). If your hotel has a house phone you can use (or, even better if you have a phone in your room), you'll get more time for your money than if you use a pay phone.

Day 16---Friday 10/3/03

We were heading off to Rome later this day, so we went ahead and checked out of the hotel first thing in the morning and just left our bags with them until we were ready to leave.

Since we did not have to leave until 2:00pm, we had plenty of time to tour the Uffizi, have lunch and quickly hit the Ponte Vecchio. Our hotel had made us early reservations for the Uffizi (8:45am). It?s a good thing we had the reservations, too, because the line for no reservations was LONG, even at that early hour. We took our time in the Uffizi and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the Botticelli room. This museum is definitely a must see. After the Uffizi, we we wandered around and over the Ponte Vecchio. Just on the other side of the bridge is a leather store called Parri?s. This place came highly recommended to us by some friends in the states, so we stopped in to check it out. We did not end up buying anything, but they had some wonderful, high-quality stuff for very fair prices (although not ?bargains? per se.). After shopping in the store and visiting with the owners a bit, we crossed back over the bridge and back past the Uffizi and went over to one of the restaurants that line the main square and had a quick lunch. It was OK (we had a pizza and a salad), but not great. After lunch, we headed went back to the hotel where they called us a cab to take us to the train station so we could catch our train to Rome.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS OF FLORENCE: I?ll be honest: my very first impression of Florence was YUCK! Coming from Venice I found it loud, polluted and dirty. Plus, this was our first city in Italy with actual ROADS, so it was here, while trying to cross the street in front of the train station that I was practically run down by my first Vespa! Those things are EVERYWHERE and are potentially dangerous to tourists. I mean, people drive like maniacs on them; weaving in and out of traffic; completely ignoring traffic signals, etc. I ended up hating those stupid things by the time our trip was over.

At any rate, by the time I got from the train station to our hotel, I was prepared to not like Florence. HOWEVER, I actually ended up liking it very much. Part of this, I know, was due to our hotel owners. I simply can?t say enough nice things about them. Plus, Florence was THE easiest city we visited to get around in. Everything is within a 20-30 minute radius. Also, with a very few exceptions, the people in Florence were very sweet and friendly. Finally, Florence?s geographic setting is A) very dramatic and beautiful and B) makes it a good home base for day trips to the smaller, outlying towns. All in all, I?d gladly go back to Florence again for a longer time. Next time I will take more daytrips.

Dang . . . forgot to include the name of my favorite sweet shop of the entire trip!

Caffe La Loggi Degli Albizi in Florence has all sorts of sweets and cookies and pastries. I had a kind of danish/popover type thing with cream cheese with cinnamon and sugar mixed into it that just about caused me to pass out from ecstasy! It was so good.

The address is B.Go Albizi 35/R.

Jennie, I just read all of this in one sitting and I am hooked! Can't wait for Rome, but I'm sorry your report is almost over. I feel like I just went to Italy with you! Thanks so much for a wonderful read!

Jennie

Wow, thanks. I loved the detail, and I could just see that man struggling with the big suitcase on the vaporetto.

If they're that crowded even at 730 am, I just might eschew them my next trip (which will be for the first time in many years, I don't remember them being that crowded back then.) But perhaps that was only the most popular lines, eg 1 and 82?

Sue_xx_yy:

The vaporetto routes we took were the 51 & 52 (the same routes, one going clockwise and one going counterclockwise.). While I don't think these are the two MOST popular routes, I think they are on the MORE popular end of the scale. Perhaps someone with more experience in Venice could comment on this . . . ?

Jennie :)

Jennie - just to add to all the praise you have already gotten - This has to be the best trip report I have ever read, here or elsewhere. Thanks so much.

You guys really are too kind. What with all the typos and spelling mistakes with the foreign words and wayward question marks, etc. . . . I'm just glad you can make sense of it! That you're actually ENJOYING it is icing on the cake.

Thanks very, very much for all your nice comments.

Jennie :)

Hey Jennie - Great trip report!

We will be in Rome in March and I'll be the "mom" on this trip with my 21 and 9 year old daughters. Hope we have as much fun as you did. Anxious to read more about your trip.

Jennie, thanks for your interesting trip report and I am happy that you enjoyed my Europe:)
Waiting to see your reaction seeing the beautiful Eternal City.
Ciao,
Kismet

This trip report is fabulous! Just when I think I can't stand another sleepness night on an airplane across the Atlantic, you are making me desperate to go to Paris and Italy! I'll be sad to see your report end.

Jennie: I agree, this is the best trip report I have ever read. Thank you. It is obvious it comes from your heart and that more than makes up for any minor typos or spelling.

Hi Jennie,

Great report. Just as I was getting over Italy, you brought it all back.

What about Rome? You can't keep us in suspense like this!

Hi everyone:

I am so, so sorry about the delay. I have been waylaid by an illness of some sort . . . still not sure what. Early flu perhaps? That's what it feels like anyway. I spent all week-end unable to get out of bed. Felt a bit better yesterday, but not much.

I am home again today, but feel well enough to attempt to sit up for the amount of time I think it will take to finish Rome. Should have it posted by the late afternoon today.

Sorry again!
Jennie :)