Trip report - Rome, Florence, and Urbino
Jul 15th, 2004, 01:45 PM
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Trip report - Rome, Florence, and Urbino
What a wonderful trip! We just returned Sunday from a 14 day trip to Italy - our first. My mind is still overwhelmed with all we saw and did! We spent our first 4 days in Rome, then 3 days in Florence, 4-5 days in Urbino and then back to Rome for a day and a half before flying back home.
First, I want to thank all those who post their experiences and advice on this website. I found it invaluable and only wish I had found this site sooner.
We had a direct flight from Chicago to Rome and arrived 7:30 am, tired but excited. We were glad that we had prearranged with B&B Fellini to be driven into the city. Fellini was great ? a nice room, friendly people and in a great location close to the Trevi Fountain. We arrived early and our room wasn't ready, so we wandered to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps ? and had our first (of many) gelato. After a short nap we went to the Galleria Borghese. The Galleria Borghese was impressive. I usually don't get excited by sculpture, but I found the collection here fascinating. Afterwards we walked back through the park, found a place for early dinner and headed to bed.
The next day we toured the Forum and Colesseum. We didn't do a tour, but did have a good guide. That night we had dinner at Restaurant Edy, located on a side street between the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. The food was wonderful - even the locals were willing to wait for a table. We even went back there our last night.
Tuesday was a holiday in Rome so we made plans to tour Ostia Antica, the old port city of the Roman Empire. We booked a tour with Scala Reale and we ended up with the docent to ourselves. It was an easy trip and the ruins were very impressive. We were glad that we had booked the tour however. We decided on Ostia Antica because it was closer than Pompeii. I would definately recommend visiting here.
On Wednesday we decided to take it easy and just wander where we wanted. We had breakfast at a cafe at Campo dei Fiori and then walked through the market. Then we wandered to the Pantheon and finally ended up at Piazza Navone. We decided to ditch the map and just wandered through the streets.
Thursday we took a mid-morning train to Florence. We splurged and took the ES first class. I was happy that we only took two 22" suitcases and carry-ons. We could have managed a 26" though. If you are taking several large bags, I would recommend the ES. Other trains do not have as much overhead space for baggage and first class also has a luggage rack at one end of the car.
In Florence we stayed at the Hotel Aldini. It is just steps from the Duomo and was s perfect location. The rooms are sound-proofed, so noise was not a problem. The first afternoon we wandered about, saw the open air market and went to the Accademia (we had reservations). The David and other statues by Michelangelo were impressive. I also enjoyed some of the art upstairs. I was amazed at how many people paid 9,50 euro (12,50 w/ reservation)only to look at the David! Also, after being so careful in Rome and not having any trouble, someone tried to pick by husbands wallet our first afternoon. Luckily, they didn't get anything. It was the only trouble we had. We had dinner at Ristorante da Benvenuto on Via Della Mosca. The meal was delicious. I had gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce followed by scallopine Benvenuto while my husband had penne with a meat sauce w/ cream and ossu bucco. At the end of the meal, they served us grappa. Another first experience!
Our second day in Florence we walked the Ponte Vecchio. The history is interesting and the gold overwhelming. That afternoon we went to the Uffizi. That was my favorite museum of the entire trip. We went later in the day and stayed 3 hours until closing. The last hour the museum was almost empty with no tour groups running you over. We did buy the official guide to the Uffizi and found it very helpful. Our visit wouldn?t have been as enriching without it. That night we ate at a wonderful restaurant on the bank of other side of the Arno from the Uffizi. The restaurant was Beccofino and it was "novou italian". The place was crowded by both tourists and Italians. I had the best saffron risotto with clams and rack of lamb with eggplant and tomato while my husband had ribollita, a traditional vegetable soup with bread and grilled fish over guacomole. My husband picked this meal as his favorite of all our meals. We ended with dessert wine and biscotti, a habit we quickly became addicted to. The evening ended with a leisurely walk back to the hotel.
On our last day at Florence we visited the Duomo and climbed to the top of the Duomo for some spectacular views. And we just wandered ? one of our favorite things to do. For lunch we went to a small wine bar, Coguinarius, on via delle Oche, just a block away from the Duomo. Both the wine selection and food were wonderful. We started with melon and prociutto and then my husband had pear and pecarino cheese ravioli and I had a pasta salad of rototini with pesto, tomatoes, greens and fresh mozzarella. After capping it all off with espresso, we headed out to walk it off. The afternoon was spent shopping in the San Lorenzo market place and then in some of the small stores in the more fashionable area. We had another wonderful meal at Ottorino, also on via delle Oche. We skipped the appetizer and went straight to the pasta. I had fettuccine with clams and mussels in a light herb sauce while my husband had gnocchi with pesto. For the main dish I had steak with rocket sauce and my husband had swordfish Sicilian style with tomatoes and capers. They didn?t even ask how I wanted the steak prepared ? it came medium rare which is how I like it. We finished dinner with wine and biscotti. The evening ended with us wandering around, taking in all the sights for the last time this trip.
This is getting long, so I?ll post the part about Urbino and Rome in a later post.
First, I want to thank all those who post their experiences and advice on this website. I found it invaluable and only wish I had found this site sooner.
We had a direct flight from Chicago to Rome and arrived 7:30 am, tired but excited. We were glad that we had prearranged with B&B Fellini to be driven into the city. Fellini was great ? a nice room, friendly people and in a great location close to the Trevi Fountain. We arrived early and our room wasn't ready, so we wandered to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps ? and had our first (of many) gelato. After a short nap we went to the Galleria Borghese. The Galleria Borghese was impressive. I usually don't get excited by sculpture, but I found the collection here fascinating. Afterwards we walked back through the park, found a place for early dinner and headed to bed.
The next day we toured the Forum and Colesseum. We didn't do a tour, but did have a good guide. That night we had dinner at Restaurant Edy, located on a side street between the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. The food was wonderful - even the locals were willing to wait for a table. We even went back there our last night.
Tuesday was a holiday in Rome so we made plans to tour Ostia Antica, the old port city of the Roman Empire. We booked a tour with Scala Reale and we ended up with the docent to ourselves. It was an easy trip and the ruins were very impressive. We were glad that we had booked the tour however. We decided on Ostia Antica because it was closer than Pompeii. I would definately recommend visiting here.
On Wednesday we decided to take it easy and just wander where we wanted. We had breakfast at a cafe at Campo dei Fiori and then walked through the market. Then we wandered to the Pantheon and finally ended up at Piazza Navone. We decided to ditch the map and just wandered through the streets.
Thursday we took a mid-morning train to Florence. We splurged and took the ES first class. I was happy that we only took two 22" suitcases and carry-ons. We could have managed a 26" though. If you are taking several large bags, I would recommend the ES. Other trains do not have as much overhead space for baggage and first class also has a luggage rack at one end of the car.
In Florence we stayed at the Hotel Aldini. It is just steps from the Duomo and was s perfect location. The rooms are sound-proofed, so noise was not a problem. The first afternoon we wandered about, saw the open air market and went to the Accademia (we had reservations). The David and other statues by Michelangelo were impressive. I also enjoyed some of the art upstairs. I was amazed at how many people paid 9,50 euro (12,50 w/ reservation)only to look at the David! Also, after being so careful in Rome and not having any trouble, someone tried to pick by husbands wallet our first afternoon. Luckily, they didn't get anything. It was the only trouble we had. We had dinner at Ristorante da Benvenuto on Via Della Mosca. The meal was delicious. I had gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce followed by scallopine Benvenuto while my husband had penne with a meat sauce w/ cream and ossu bucco. At the end of the meal, they served us grappa. Another first experience!
Our second day in Florence we walked the Ponte Vecchio. The history is interesting and the gold overwhelming. That afternoon we went to the Uffizi. That was my favorite museum of the entire trip. We went later in the day and stayed 3 hours until closing. The last hour the museum was almost empty with no tour groups running you over. We did buy the official guide to the Uffizi and found it very helpful. Our visit wouldn?t have been as enriching without it. That night we ate at a wonderful restaurant on the bank of other side of the Arno from the Uffizi. The restaurant was Beccofino and it was "novou italian". The place was crowded by both tourists and Italians. I had the best saffron risotto with clams and rack of lamb with eggplant and tomato while my husband had ribollita, a traditional vegetable soup with bread and grilled fish over guacomole. My husband picked this meal as his favorite of all our meals. We ended with dessert wine and biscotti, a habit we quickly became addicted to. The evening ended with a leisurely walk back to the hotel.
On our last day at Florence we visited the Duomo and climbed to the top of the Duomo for some spectacular views. And we just wandered ? one of our favorite things to do. For lunch we went to a small wine bar, Coguinarius, on via delle Oche, just a block away from the Duomo. Both the wine selection and food were wonderful. We started with melon and prociutto and then my husband had pear and pecarino cheese ravioli and I had a pasta salad of rototini with pesto, tomatoes, greens and fresh mozzarella. After capping it all off with espresso, we headed out to walk it off. The afternoon was spent shopping in the San Lorenzo market place and then in some of the small stores in the more fashionable area. We had another wonderful meal at Ottorino, also on via delle Oche. We skipped the appetizer and went straight to the pasta. I had fettuccine with clams and mussels in a light herb sauce while my husband had gnocchi with pesto. For the main dish I had steak with rocket sauce and my husband had swordfish Sicilian style with tomatoes and capers. They didn?t even ask how I wanted the steak prepared ? it came medium rare which is how I like it. We finished dinner with wine and biscotti. The evening ended with us wandering around, taking in all the sights for the last time this trip.
This is getting long, so I?ll post the part about Urbino and Rome in a later post.
Aug 12th, 2004, 07:01 AM
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Lovely report! Thank you. I like the way you worked in just walking around...have plans sure...but take time to just "be"! Great...uh-0h tho... its an hour until lunchtime for me... Boyoboy, can you describe food!
Aug 22nd, 2004, 06:25 AM
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Great trip report. How did you find your restaurants? Had you researched ahead, or did you just stumble across them? I am definately going to try some of them when we are in Rome and Florence. Thanks for sharing
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