Where's Waldo? Looking for Gaeta Help from Waldo...
 

Waldo, if you are out there and see this can you please help me? I just reserved a vacation rental on line in Gaeta. It looks nice and from reading your posts here on Fodors.com I know you are very familiar with Gaeta. If I send you think link can you tell me if you are familiar with the property and it's location? Any help with the area would be appreciated. Thanks! Heather

Here I am!

Waddaya wanna know?

YAY! Hi Waldo. Thank you for responding. I have asked all of my friends who have been to Italy if they have heard of Gaeta and no one (not even ONE) person has said yes. This makes me very happy because we like to stay away from the tourists in the high season. But also a little concerned because I can not find much info on the area at all unless it is from a website that is trying to sell me on the area. Nevertheless - I have booked a vacation rental for two weeks in Gaeta, here is the link:
http://www.interhome.com/ObjectDetai...mp;lCode=EN-CH
Do you have any idea where it is located? Are you familiar with the property at all? I have not had any response from the owner or the property management company as of yet...I believe you used to have a rental in the area and am hoping you can shed some light on our vacation choice.

I should tell you a little about us:

We are a two adults and our 15 year old daughter. WE love to be where the locals are, not around a bunch of tourists. We try to travel as travelers not as tourists. We prefer being off the beaten path but enjoy being close enough (walking) to the 'action' (restaurants, nightlife etc) as well. We are not fancy or high end people, and travel each year for a month at a time with one bag...pretty much carry our baggage on our backs.
Gaeta looks like one of our favorite little places in Spain, Cadaques, have you heard of it? It is a little fishing village near Roses where Dali lived...it is amazing!
So this makes us hope we made the right choice...any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Heather

oh, also, we are happy to just plant our butts on the sand and read a book all day or take a stroll on the beach. We don't need to be active all the time and we know that this will not be our last trip to Italy so we will get to see more of it next time around. Hope that helps you a little bit with understand us as a family and how we like to spend our traveling time.

thx.

You say that Gaeta is one of your favorite places in Spain???? The Gaeta I know is in Italy.

Ignore my last posting, the location of Gaeta is undoubtedly in Italy. I went to the highlighted location and studied the Interhome site. Believe me, that location they show is NOT Gaeta. I know Gaeta like the palm of my hand, and there is no place in Gaeta that resembles the photos. The place they show is lovely, and so is Gaeta, but there is something amiss, because they say that the apartment is "2km from the train station". THERE IS NO TRAIN STATION IN GAETA. The place looks very much like it may be outside of Formia, which is also great, but I'll bet the ranch that place is not Gaeta. The environment is distinctely different from Gaeta. However, I may be wrong. See if you can get an address or a map of the area. I'm certain I could assist you with any questions regarding Gaeta. In any event, the place shown is great. If it really looks like they show, you can"t go wrong. I can give you all the information you would want about the town of Gaeta, and the activities there.

hmmm,okay. I will ask for a physical address of the property and get back to you asap. thank you so much...

Well, there's no train station in Gaeta, so it's kind of odd that they would list that. The nearest train station is in Formia.

That said, the building looks attractive, and it's obviously right on the water. Probably down the shore toward Formia. If you'll have a car, getting into and out of Gaeta won't be a problem.

That said, I'd probably prefer to be IN Gaeta. Better yet, Sperlonga.

Hey StCirq!
Seems you know Formia-Gaeta. Ever been to Nostromo?

http://www.villaaccetta.com/index.html

here is the owners website I belive. I have emailed and asked what the physical address is.

I have a feeling the property is probably nice but it isn't really the area where we want to be as we don't plan on renting a car for the entire two weeks...possibly for a couple of days here and there though so we can drive up the coast.

sigh...

Waldo, here is another vacation rental we were interested in but I think there is a busy road right in front of it, though it doesn't mention it in the advert...any idea if I am right or not? Thanks!

http://www.atraveo.com/objekt/objekt...utname=Default

If the apartment is where the green arrow shows on the map, the location is great. You will be a fairly short walking distance from the town. However, that is not a good swimming or bathing beach. There is a lot of vessel traffic there, big boats, but the view of the Gulf of Gaeta is fabulous. You can get there easily by bus from the rail station in Formia. The bus is right at the station exit, and goes right by the apartment location. You would be close to Via Independenza in Gaeta. That little street is fabulous!!! There is only pedestrian traffic, and the place is swarming with great little shops and restaurants. Gaeta was home to the US Navy Sixth Fleet (it may still be), as such there are a good amount of American families there. Via Independenza was given a thoroughly American name, which the natives of Gaeta adopted. They now call it "Piccolo Alley". What a great place! At the very beginning (or end) of Piccolo Alley is the Piazza in Gaeta. I'm sure you would fall in love with it. There is a great big carousel right on the beach across the street from the piazza. The place reeks with beauty, activity and friendliness. The natives love Americans. Most of the people there have relatives in the Boston area. A great many immigrants from Gaeta went to the Cape Cod area when they immigrated to the US. I can write of Gaeta in volumes.
The second place you found is also in a great area. I have an Italian niece that lives there. There is a small beach there, but the water is much the same as the other place. They are pretty close to one another. Formia is also a great town. It is larger than Gaeta, and has a nice downtown area, and that great view of the Gulf of Gaeta. As StCirq mentioned, both towns are a short drive to Sperlonga. FABULOUS. That's another world.

Wow...thank you for such a detailed response Waldo. It is so hard to determine such things when I am so far away, unfamiliar with the area and unsure I have made the proper decision at all. I have been second guessing our choice of property since we booked it.

If the green arrow is in fact the point where this first property is located do you think there is another beach walking distance away that is sandy as opposed to rocky and has better water for swimming? We are sort of young, 40, 39 and 15 years old...and in good shape so we can get around fine.

The second property is nice as well but the first one has such charm...I think we would choose Villa Kiki first.

OH! Also, if we stay with the Villa Kiki can we get by without a car for our stay? I am thinking that the answer would be Yes since you said the bus goes right by the apt...but just double checking. :)

thanks again.

Hi, Waldo.

Do you mean the restaurant Il Nostromo in Gaeta? If so, yes, we had a lovely meal there a few years back.

It's a wonderful area that not very many people really delve into, at least not many Americans. We also loved going inland to some of the fairly remote hill towns.

okay, so I got a reply and this is what they said:

The villa is on Via Lungomare Caboto, Gaeta, LT, Italy.

What do you say Waldo?

To danasgirl-Via Lungomare Caboto is the Via on which the bus runs. Therefore, you don't need a car, since the bus stops along Via Caboto are pretty close to one another. A side comment, Via Lungomare Caboto is named after John Cabot, the "British" explorer. Cabot's real name was Giovanni Caboto, from Gaeta. It's a darn shame that he couldn't get any Italian backing for his voyages, instead the English financed him, and called him one of their own. Who knows, we might have fought the revolution in 1776 against the Italians! There are no good swimming beaches near the location. If you look at the map you referred to, with the green arrow, you will see "SERAPO" further into Gaeta. That is where I lived, and the beach there is very nice. It is on the other side of the Montagna Spaccata, the "Split Mountain" referred to in the story of Gaeta. The way the mountain sticks out into the sea, seems to separate the water from bad on one side to spectacular on the other side. The beaches on the northern side of Gaeta are great, all the way to Rome. Sperlonga is on that shore. You don't want to miss Sperlonga. Let me know if you want some more info.
To Stcirq-You got it! Il Nostromo, in my opinion, is the best all around restaurant in Italy. I've been to many in Italy, and for the money and quality, no one beats them. My wife and I frequented the place many times. The owner is a dead ringer for Danny DeVito, the actor. Same height and face! I gotta say that you're wrong about Americans going to Nostromo. Much of the credit for its success is due to the many American sailors and their families building up its' clientele. The place was a working man's restaurant for the dock workers and the AGIP workers lunches. When the US Fleet came to Gaeta, the Americans found out what a good place it was and all of a sudden, it grew like crazy. "Danny DeVito" now had a gold mine. From a little store front, he blossomed out to a great big restaurant. One thing else--all his waiters are pros. You cannot find any restaurant in the WORLD that has better, more efficient and professional waiters. Danny must hire them to his specifications. I gotta tell this story---One afternoon, my wife and I were hungry, so we decided to go to Nostromo. The place was packed, but it was a party going on. When we entered, we were about to exit, but a nice waiter told us to sit at a lonely table, and he would serve us. He then put down a complimentary bottle of wine that we could drink before taking our order. We were sitting there quietly, when a middle aged woman asked us to join their party. We did so thankfully. She then blew our minds when, IN PERFECT ENGLISH, she told us that this was the first bithday of her grandson, and she had come to Italy from Boston to throw her first born grandchild his first birthday party! Her son was in the US Navy stationed in Gaeta, and she wasn't about to miss her grandson's first birthday! How's that one? I have many more stories about Gaeta.

I love your stories Waldo. Thank you!

Well, my husband and I are weighing what you have said...and we are leaning toward this rental probably not being what we had hoped. It seems a little too off the beaten path for our tastes. We don't want to have to take the bus whenever we want to get into 'town' or spend some time on a nice (sandy) beach.

Can you point me in the direction of a property management company that has rentals in Sperlonga, Gaeta or Formia?
I am really not finding too much from the internet here in the USA. I know sometimes it seems that better searches are found within the country you are searching for...if that makes sense?

thanks again Waldo. BTW do you live in Gaeta? We'd love to take you out for a drink when we are there to say thanks in person.

I do not live in Gaeta. I'm a displaced Brooklynite now living in Frederick, Maryland. My wife's family, five sisters and three brothers, live in Naples. They are all Italians, but my wife was born in the US, therefore, a US citizen. We visit Naples every year, sometimes twice a year. They call her "L'Americana". We visited Gaeta about 20 years ago, visiting my daughter, whose husband then worked there for the US Navy. We subsequently fell in love with the place, and have been going there ever since. I can't direct you to any sites that offer rentals in Gaeta, Formia or Sperlonga. I can, however, recommend a great hotel right down the street where we were located. It's the Hotel Serapo. It has a fabulous location right on the beach, and it's a real nice place. As I understand, it's not too terribly expensive. There are many property management places in Gaeta, but they seem to be strictly local. That reminds me of another story--When my wife and I were looking for an apartment in Gaeta, we came across a place that had a for sale or rental sign on it (in Italian, naturally). In the front yard of this place were a couple of young boys playing. We asked, in Italian, which we both speak fluently, if they could point us to any information on the property. One of the young men then cried out, "hey Ma, there's some people interested in the apartment!" in perfect English. We were dumbfounded. It turned out that they were from Hartford, Connecticut. What a small world!