An Italian Honeymoon: Things we did besides …
Sep 18th, 2006, 10:46 AM
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An Italian Honeymoon: Things we did besides …
We just got back from our 10 night honeymoon to Italy. Words cannot begin to describe how wonderful the trip was. My new bride was beautiful, the weather was perfect, the scenery was breathtaking, and the food was delicious.
Both my wife (I love saying that) and I have been to Italy before (about 10 – 12 years ago) but my trip was when I was in the army stationed in Germany and her trip was with her mom so it goes without saying that we experienced the legend of Italian romance for the first time.
I will post all the details, funny stories, stressful parts, and useful tips over the next couple of days but here is a quick summary:
We traveled from San Francisco to Positano where we spent 7 days laying at the beach, eating mozzarella, drinking wine, and walking up and down lots of steps. We visited Ravello and Capri for day trips. We then headed up to Rome where we spent 3 nights in the Eternal City. We took the Scavi Tour as well as an after hour private Vatican Museum tour. Without spoiling all the good bits I will say that this private tour was the highlight of our trip.
This forum was very useful in my planning on this trip and I hope that this trip report will help someone else. I’ll start it off by giving a few quick observations based on some of the funny questions and posts that I have seen on this website.
- Stop worrying about what you are wearing! You will not fit in. They know you are a tourist. Wear what is comfortable and relax.
- If your wife wants to pack her entire closest of clothes DO NOT tell her that the folks on Fodors say it is a bad idea. As long as she has a husband who carries the entire load then she does not care.
- 98% of the restaurants are better than anything you are eating at home so relax about trying plan every single meal.
- The people on this forum that say taking the Amalfi Coast SITA bus is easy must travel at 5 am.
Lots more to come…
Both my wife (I love saying that) and I have been to Italy before (about 10 – 12 years ago) but my trip was when I was in the army stationed in Germany and her trip was with her mom so it goes without saying that we experienced the legend of Italian romance for the first time.
I will post all the details, funny stories, stressful parts, and useful tips over the next couple of days but here is a quick summary:
We traveled from San Francisco to Positano where we spent 7 days laying at the beach, eating mozzarella, drinking wine, and walking up and down lots of steps. We visited Ravello and Capri for day trips. We then headed up to Rome where we spent 3 nights in the Eternal City. We took the Scavi Tour as well as an after hour private Vatican Museum tour. Without spoiling all the good bits I will say that this private tour was the highlight of our trip.
This forum was very useful in my planning on this trip and I hope that this trip report will help someone else. I’ll start it off by giving a few quick observations based on some of the funny questions and posts that I have seen on this website.
- Stop worrying about what you are wearing! You will not fit in. They know you are a tourist. Wear what is comfortable and relax.
- If your wife wants to pack her entire closest of clothes DO NOT tell her that the folks on Fodors say it is a bad idea. As long as she has a husband who carries the entire load then she does not care.
- 98% of the restaurants are better than anything you are eating at home so relax about trying plan every single meal.
- The people on this forum that say taking the Amalfi Coast SITA bus is easy must travel at 5 am.
Lots more to come…
Sep 18th, 2006, 10:54 AM
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Congratulations to you and your wife ! So glad to hear you had a wonderful time and looking forward to hearing all about it. Well, not all.
Will be interested to hear about the Vatican private tour as when I read about it before I thought it was a ridiculous amount of money and couldn't possibly be worth it, so glad it was the highlight of your trip !
Did you get to Spiaggia Laurito outside Positano, at all ?
Will be interested to hear about the Vatican private tour as when I read about it before I thought it was a ridiculous amount of money and couldn't possibly be worth it, so glad it was the highlight of your trip !
Did you get to Spiaggia Laurito outside Positano, at all ?
Sep 18th, 2006, 11:16 AM
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You were so smart to schedule some relaxation time at the beginning. So many couples plan these action packed honeymoons, without realizing how dead tired - physically and emotionally - they will be after their wedding.
Sep 18th, 2006, 01:06 PM
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Welcome home SAPS, and congratulations! Can't wait to hear your Amalfi SITA bus experiences! I was there this time last year and found the buses horrible, that is when they showed up!
Please continue....
Please continue....
Sep 18th, 2006, 01:20 PM
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Congratulations to you and your wife saps. May you and your lovely wife have a long and loving life together filled with many blessings.
I too think you were smart to give yourselves some relaxing time at the beginning of your honeymoon. A wedding, reception and a long flight from SFO can do in the best of travellers. I am also looking foward to the next installment of your honeymoon trip! Best regards to both of you.
I too think you were smart to give yourselves some relaxing time at the beginning of your honeymoon. A wedding, reception and a long flight from SFO can do in the best of travellers. I am also looking foward to the next installment of your honeymoon trip! Best regards to both of you.
Sep 18th, 2006, 01:51 PM
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Just in case anybody cares…
Our wedding took place on September 2nd at the Rios-Lovell Estate Winery (www.rios-lovellwinery.com) in the Livermore Valley of California. My morning started off with 9 holes of golf with the boys followed by perhaps the most embarrassing 20 minutes of my life…a manicure. As three female customers looked at me giggling I just shut my eyes and repeated I love KC, I love KC, I love KC. They should include a statement like this in the vows…”Do you promise to love, honor and not make your husband ever get a manicure again.”
The ceremony was wonderful. We had about 145 folks attend which was just right for our venue. My 6 nieces were all part of the bridal procession and the youngest, 3 yrs old, got so freaked out by the photographer that she did not walk down the aisle. It was the cutest thing ever.
For our reception we named the guests tables after places or things we would visit or see while we were on our Italian honeymoon. Each table name had a very “over the top” accompanying description. We had a lot of fun creating these and it made our trip just that much more special.
On to the honeymoon…
Our wedding took place on September 2nd at the Rios-Lovell Estate Winery (www.rios-lovellwinery.com) in the Livermore Valley of California. My morning started off with 9 holes of golf with the boys followed by perhaps the most embarrassing 20 minutes of my life…a manicure. As three female customers looked at me giggling I just shut my eyes and repeated I love KC, I love KC, I love KC. They should include a statement like this in the vows…”Do you promise to love, honor and not make your husband ever get a manicure again.”
The ceremony was wonderful. We had about 145 folks attend which was just right for our venue. My 6 nieces were all part of the bridal procession and the youngest, 3 yrs old, got so freaked out by the photographer that she did not walk down the aisle. It was the cutest thing ever.
For our reception we named the guests tables after places or things we would visit or see while we were on our Italian honeymoon. Each table name had a very “over the top” accompanying description. We had a lot of fun creating these and it made our trip just that much more special.
On to the honeymoon…
Sep 18th, 2006, 02:01 PM
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Quote: "If your wife wants to pack her entire closest of clothes DO NOT tell her that the folks on Fodors say it is a bad idea."
I wonder why did she need clothes at all.
I thought you were on your honeymoon!
I wonder why did she need clothes at all.
I thought you were on your honeymoon!
Sep 18th, 2006, 02:47 PM
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Love you sense of humor saps. And I bet you will have to get another manicure on your 1st wedding anniversary, the 5th, the 10th etc. 
Seriously though, your wedding sounds like it was delightful and full of love, the way weddings should be.
Seriously though, your wedding sounds like it was delightful and full of love, the way weddings should be.
Sep 18th, 2006, 03:50 PM
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Day 1 & 2 - Monday, Sept 4th
I’m sure there are worse sounds than an alarm clock going off at 3:45 am but at that moment I could not think of any. The only saving grace was that it was time to get up to start our trip. The night before involved hurried packing, champagne drinking, lots of laundry and a couple of arguments about how many bottles of shampoo are really needed for a 2 week trip.
I hired a town car driver to drive us to the airport and we headed out the door at 4:45 am for SFO. We flew from SFO to Chicago to Rome on American Airlines. At check-in we got moved into an exit row for the SFO-ORD flight and that was great. The ORD-FCO portion was another story. The AA 767 was cramped. Is it possible to make coach seats any closer together? I was so close to the guy in front of me that I was actually reading his book with him. It did not help that we sat on the plane for 2 hours while they fixed a communication problem. Luckily for us the first cocktail was on the house…that was sure nice of them.
We finally arrived in Rome on Tuesday morning. As I planned this trip I decided that I was going to splurge on several things and our Rome to Positano transportation was one of those items. I hired a private driver to pick us up at FCO and drive us to our hotel to Positano. We used Benvenuto Limousine Service (www.benvenutolimos.com) based on the Amalfi Coast and were very satisfied with our service. This is a family owned business and Umberto (the father) picked us up right outside Customs and we were quickly on our way to Positano in his Mercedes.
Okay…I will talk more about the roads and driving conditions along the Sorrento Peninsula and Amalfi Coast later but let me just say…WOW…and this is coming from somebody who ten years ago was driving a limousine in San Francisco. As an engineer I’ve always been taught that two objects cannot occupy the same space however obviously these physicists and mathematicians have never driven a Fiat along this stretch of road. I don’t care how many times I return to this little piece of paradise…I will never drive there. Back to the story…
In Positano we stayed at the Hotel Marincanto (www.marincanto.it). Overall, I thought it was a very nice hotel but not great. There were things we very much liked about the hotel and things that we did not like.
What we liked: Breakfast, private beach access (300 steps), the view, and the staff.
What we disliked: We had to change rooms (I did know about this when I booked), one night our rooms had ants, and some of the bathroom fixtures were barely surviving.
The rest of Tuesday we just unpacked and then decided whether we would try to stay up or take a nap…the infamous jet lag question. We opted for a short nap and an early dinner. I was asleep by 8:30 pm…romantic, I know…but if you are reading this trip report wanting hot romance then just keep reading. Here is a teaser: it involves champagne, a lounge chair, an ocean terrace and a local festival with fireworks.
Tomorrow’s installment will be Days 3 & 4 which included lounging at the Positano beach L’Incanto and getting spa treatments at the Palazzo Sasso in Ravello.
I’m sure there are worse sounds than an alarm clock going off at 3:45 am but at that moment I could not think of any. The only saving grace was that it was time to get up to start our trip. The night before involved hurried packing, champagne drinking, lots of laundry and a couple of arguments about how many bottles of shampoo are really needed for a 2 week trip.
I hired a town car driver to drive us to the airport and we headed out the door at 4:45 am for SFO. We flew from SFO to Chicago to Rome on American Airlines. At check-in we got moved into an exit row for the SFO-ORD flight and that was great. The ORD-FCO portion was another story. The AA 767 was cramped. Is it possible to make coach seats any closer together? I was so close to the guy in front of me that I was actually reading his book with him. It did not help that we sat on the plane for 2 hours while they fixed a communication problem. Luckily for us the first cocktail was on the house…that was sure nice of them.
We finally arrived in Rome on Tuesday morning. As I planned this trip I decided that I was going to splurge on several things and our Rome to Positano transportation was one of those items. I hired a private driver to pick us up at FCO and drive us to our hotel to Positano. We used Benvenuto Limousine Service (www.benvenutolimos.com) based on the Amalfi Coast and were very satisfied with our service. This is a family owned business and Umberto (the father) picked us up right outside Customs and we were quickly on our way to Positano in his Mercedes.
Okay…I will talk more about the roads and driving conditions along the Sorrento Peninsula and Amalfi Coast later but let me just say…WOW…and this is coming from somebody who ten years ago was driving a limousine in San Francisco. As an engineer I’ve always been taught that two objects cannot occupy the same space however obviously these physicists and mathematicians have never driven a Fiat along this stretch of road. I don’t care how many times I return to this little piece of paradise…I will never drive there. Back to the story…
In Positano we stayed at the Hotel Marincanto (www.marincanto.it). Overall, I thought it was a very nice hotel but not great. There were things we very much liked about the hotel and things that we did not like.
What we liked: Breakfast, private beach access (300 steps), the view, and the staff.
What we disliked: We had to change rooms (I did know about this when I booked), one night our rooms had ants, and some of the bathroom fixtures were barely surviving.
The rest of Tuesday we just unpacked and then decided whether we would try to stay up or take a nap…the infamous jet lag question. We opted for a short nap and an early dinner. I was asleep by 8:30 pm…romantic, I know…but if you are reading this trip report wanting hot romance then just keep reading. Here is a teaser: it involves champagne, a lounge chair, an ocean terrace and a local festival with fireworks.
Tomorrow’s installment will be Days 3 & 4 which included lounging at the Positano beach L’Incanto and getting spa treatments at the Palazzo Sasso in Ravello.
Sep 18th, 2006, 03:58 PM
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Checking in was funny because there was a couple that had basically brought their entire kitchen cupboard with them. To make weight with their baggage they were dumping cereal, diapers, canned vegetables. It was like they thought that there were no grocery stores in Chicago.
So when we checked in and one bag was 58 lbs I quietly pulled out $25 and payed the clerk even though she was trying to get me to open the bag and move stuff around. I did not want people laughing at me like I laughed at that other couple.
What goes around comes around...I guess!
So when we checked in and one bag was 58 lbs I quietly pulled out $25 and payed the clerk even though she was trying to get me to open the bag and move stuff around. I did not want people laughing at me like I laughed at that other couple.
What goes around comes around...I guess!
Sep 19th, 2006, 02:00 AM
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I love your posts because it reminded me of my honeymoon in Rome last January. My husband is half Italian but has never been to Italy (or Europe) I am from the Philippines and I was so proud to be able to show him around Rome. We had the greatest time walking around Rome in freezing weather (we live in Honolulu)eating the most delicious food. We didn't gain any weight from all the walking. Amazing!
The best idea we had was hiring a private guide/driver to take us around Rome and outside of Rome. He took us to his Village and I got to take a cooking lesson. That litte restaurant was so charming and served us the best steak and lamb.
WE HAD SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME. I WISH WE WERE BACK IN ROME RIGHT NOW.
The best idea we had was hiring a private guide/driver to take us around Rome and outside of Rome. He took us to his Village and I got to take a cooking lesson. That litte restaurant was so charming and served us the best steak and lamb.
WE HAD SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME. I WISH WE WERE BACK IN ROME RIGHT NOW.
