TarheelsinNJ:
Congratulations! As Ms_Go will tell you...the couple who travels together gets lost together (or something like that).

We'll be in Capri, Positano & Naples in June...with daytrips to Ravello, Amalfi, Paestum, Sorrento and Pompeii. And it's all booked. Not bad, huh?

Can we stretch this to winter too? :-)
We'll be there 13th-18th January.

To Kismetchimera;

I've not yet made plans for an audience with the Pope; how would one go about doing so.

This would be the ultimate for my mom. She is from Poland and has this "bond thing" with the current Pope.

Thanks for any input.

Youngramma & Kismet......Make sure you take those pictures.....you'll be glad. The women in the story had the same outfits on with hats! What fun!!

To DAJ,
If you want more info. regarding the audience ..write on the search box,Pope audience, post number 9 gave a nice description of how to go by.

I should try it myself..

I grew up in Rome and never felt necessary to do it..Always took the Holy Father for granted,despite that he is also the Bishop of Rome..But you know how it is, I knew that he was always there and if I wanted to see him,I could always go to Saint Peter in Sunday for his Urbi et Orbi to the city and the world.
But now I live in Texas and Rome is so far away..

Count me in! Leaving April 26 for three nights in Rome and a week in Tuscany with nine of my best female friends. First trip with a group. I'm being trusted with a lot of the planning, and could never do it without the help of this board. Looking for the best airfare (of course), so when you find a good fare from SFO to Rome, please post here. It's not crucial that we all fly over together--some will be using FF miles on various airlines, others will buy tickets.

Well, that's it, then!
I'll transfer my semi-planned May gtrip to September or so. There's far too many of you going to be there in May, with your fat American dollars. It'll make everything far too expensive for me and my miserable little Aussie dollar, which, although sneaking up, is still only worth 75% of the US dollar.!
;)

Flying Naples on May 20 and then off to a villa with friends near Sorrento.

Already booked the villa and keeping my fingers crossed about UAL honoring my free reward tix from USAir.

Taormina--May 14-21, then Rome a couple days at the Forum. College son offered to go with me, so couldn't turn it down. Am renting a villa/apt near Mazzaro near the cable car--thinking closer to the beach will be good for son. Any advice or contrary thoughts welcomed. Never been to Sicily before, but just got back from Amalfi--I'm addicted to Italy also! Ciao, tutti.

ah, I'm very jealous of you all I would LOVE to be going to Italy in May. However, we may be going through a real life-change about that time (think retirement) and I'm not sure we'll be ready to just go....so I'm not making plans for anything just yet. sigh. Of course, Europe has been there for thousands of years, and I guess I can wait a while longer until we're in position to commence traveling again....

We are going June 20th through July 3rd!! Few days in Milan then up to the Lake Como area then down to Tuscany for a week!!

I will leave end of May probably for the month of June 2005. Can hardly wait!!!

My friend and I will be going with my mom (age 79)- she was on a tour to Italy 15 years ago and always dreamed of going back.

Leaving for a gem of hotel near Tourettes sur Loup on 1 may 2005

6 - 12 May: somewhere in Umbria or Tuscany (sill crossing thumbs for timeshare near Assisi - otherwise we shall stay in Assisi in a hotel - or maybe Pienza - I always wanted to go back there)

13 - 16 May: Rome

Cannot wait!!

Lekker,
is great that your Mom is able to go back once again in Italy.She is going to have a marvelous time.

Lots of great trips! I am planning for a birthday trip in late May (21st) - June, ~ 3 weeks. So far the plan in the works is 1 week Tuscany or Umbria, Rome/Amalfi coast/Pompeii and a Venetian finish. Trying to plan with a little group of friends is hard but starting to come together.

artlover: how are you flying from Italy-Spain? I am thinking of adding a week in Madrid if it works out.

Betsy: I am trying to organize for a group too -- have had to change from our original agriturismo plan because we changed the numbers...where are you staying with your gal pals in Tuscany?

Thanks annabelle

Hi. I am going to Sicily: Jan 24-Feb 17. I'm in the process of figuring out how many days to spend in particular regions. I am especially keen on farm holidays which include dinners (organic products from the farms and large areas for evening pre-dinner on the farm roamings) and having a car to visit ruins and caves and gorgeous scenic places. I'm a cinemaniac (my alias!) and I want to visit the kinds of places where deSica, Rossellini, Visconti and more recently Tornatore have filmed their movies. I want to wander the interior, up and down the mountains, more than I want to visit cities or the coast. Has anyone spent a lot of time wandering the interior? Also--not liking cities so much anymore, after decades of travel and visiting most of the major cities of western and eastern Europe--is 2-1/2 days in Palermo enough to take in the feel of it? Mostly I just like to wander in cities without a map and without any particular goal of a restaurant to find, etc. Whatever I find is what happens. I trust serendipity. Thanks.

Hi Annabelle. We're staying at Villa nell'Oliveto just north of Pienza through the agency called InTuscany. Check it out at www.intuscany.net. Rebecca and her crew have been wonderful to deal with. I found this property through www.slowtrav.com; the reviews there are great. We've paid half the rental as a deposit (this is typical), and then the dollar began its long slide, so the other half will be more than we had planned. Our next tasks are trying to snag a good airfare (from SF) and to figure out the logistics of day trips from the villa.

I might like to, but I don't usually plan that far ahead. Possibilities for a next trip are: Italy by myself, most likley either somewhere in Sicily, or some place in central Italy (in Umbria, or in Le Marche if I can figure out how to do it without renting a car), France by myself (probably Paris and then Montpellier using that as a base for day trips), France with a friend (trying again for the trip we were going to take this year but had to cancel), or Morocco with a tour.

Thanks Betsy
I will check it out tonight. The original place I wanted was a farmhouse/apts near Asissi -- owned by Rebecca, who is also connected with slowtravel. I wonder if it is the same woman? Anyway, thanks for the tip.
Annabelle

Annabelle, Rebecca is the owner of InTuscany. I don't believe the company has properties in Umbria, but I could be wrong. Also, I don't think she's connected with SlowTrav; rather, her very satisfied customers are vocal on the site (if you can be "vocal" on a website). There are several reviews of Nell' Oliveto at SlowTrav. Report back when you decide where to stay!

May 1-16, to the Big Three (plus Bellagio)...my family's first trip to Italy! Can hardly wait...