My Italy Trip 2004
Jun 11th, 2004, 07:32 PM
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My Italy Trip 2004
My husband and I spent were in Italy from May 14th ?30th. This was the first trip for both of us. We wanted to see Tuscany, Cinque Terre, and Amalfi Coast. We saved Rome and Venice for future trips when our son is a bit older and can appreciate Europe.
Flew from Chicago to Rome on American Airlines. Arrived on time at 7:30 am on Saturday. Rented car at Autoeurope (also called Europecar) with no problems. We had an Alfa Romeo 156 manual transmission/diesel engine. This turned out to be a plus since diesel fuel (gasolio) is less expensive and the manual transmission was useful in the very hilly towns of Tuscany. Headed to Florence where we stayed for one night at the Hotel Orto De Medici. It was a very nice hotel with large balcony overlooking Florence and within walking distance of everything. Nice breakfast on the terrace. Staff was helpful.
One Day in Florence: First - we got lost. Could not get our bearings on where we were in relationship to the hotel as we could not find ?street signs.? It finally dawned on us that the street signs are posted on buildings that are close to intersections ? once we figured that out we were fine. Except for the thousands motorcycles zipping past us in all directions. And the jet lag. But we found the hotel, took a nap, and headed out to explore. We skipped the museums and just walked all over Florence for hours. Walked to Boboli Gardens and enjoyed the amazing views of Florence. We loved Florence and could have spent at least one more day there.
Two Days in Cinque Terre: Drove to Cinque Terre to stay in Monterosso for 2 nights. We picked this town since we had the car and it has a public parking lot. We ditched the car and dragged our bags to the older section of town. We fell in love with this town immediately. Our first glimpse of the Mediterranean! We stayed in the most wonderful B&B called La Poesia. It is right off the main street up a windy alley. We were greeted by Nicoletta ? the owner/host ? who was waiting for us to arrive. This place is so charming, spotless, and welcoming. It has 3 rooms plus a larger suite. Wonderful breakfast on the terrace ? great hostess, perfect location. We could have stayed there forever. Restaurants in town were wonderful ? had pesto, seafood pasta, and the local Cinque Terre white wine. Highly recommend it.
Cinque Terre Towns. : On the first day, we hiked the first day from Monterosso to Vernazza. This is a moderately difficult hike ? takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. Uphill the first half of the way with lots of continuous stairs, downhill the rest of the way. The views are breathtaking. The path is narrow ? less than 2 feet at some points and it is not without dangers since most of the path is not guarded by a rail. I would caution anyone who is not a bigtime hiker to be realistic about this hike, be cautious on the path, and wear sturdy footwear! It?s a great experience though and the views of the coast and Vernazza from the trail are postcard worthy. On the second day, we took the train to Riomaggiore and walked the ?Via Dell Amore? to Manarola and Corniglia. Anyone can walk the path to Manarola. It?s paved, flat, fenced, and wide. Only takes about 20 minutes. And so beautiful. The trail from Manarola to Corniglia is unpaved, some uphill parts but not very difficult and very tranquil. We did not hike the part from Corniglia to Vernazza ? it evidently is 1.5 hours and more difficult. We trained it to Vernazza again for lunch. This is where I attempted my first Italian with a waiter. I tried to say ?Va Bene? and instead said ?Va Bien? Mixing Italian and French badly. The waiter put his hand on my shoulder, shook his head, and laughed at me. In a nice way. Other Americans at a table near us asked him if it was fun living in Vernazza as he had been there his entire life and was in his 60?s. He said ?Vernazza is fun place to visit but odd place to live.?
Week in Tuscany: Headed for Tuscany for 6 nights. Stopped on the way at Pisa as it was on the way. Interesting to see but not a must and the town very touristy. We found a hotdog stand right outside the tower site and we decided we had to have one since we are from Chicago, Hot Dog Capital of the World. It was the best Hot Dog ever. No joke.
We drove to our destination in Chianti? Villa Vignamaggio outside Greve on the way to Lamole. I was speechless when we got there. This place is heavenly ? like something you dream of or see in a book. Formal Italian gardens, active winery, vineyards all around, two pools, unbelievable views, great rooms. Two very good restaurants in Lamole (Ristorante Lamole and Aia Di Canti) and our favorite in Greve called Nerbone. Nerbone is open all the time and you can have an early (for Italy) dinner. Everything on menu was awesome but the risotto and the roast pork was the best. The other restaurants are about 9Km off of the main road (S222), up the hill on windy roads in teeny townships of Lamole. Lots of locals and well worth it.
Chianti/Tuscany: We spent a week here and loved it. We did day trips to many of the towns like Radda, Castellini, Volterra, San G, and Monterigionni. One of the most perfect days was a long drive we did south of Siena through the ?Crete.? This landscape is totally different from Chianti. This is the typical rolling hills with cypress trees dotting the landscape that you see on pictures. The views are incredible. Our first planned destination was S?Antimo Abbey to see the twice daily Gregorian chants by the monks of the abbey. This is well worth the trip and the little town has 2 great family run restaurants where you can soak up the local flavor. We traveled on to Pienza which was not planned and turned out to be one of my favorite places.
One Night in Tivoli. Ugh. Since we were headed to Amalfi Coast but did not want to do the full drive in one day, we stayed over in Tivoli outside of Rome at Hotel Sirene. On the way, we stopped at Orvieto and Civita Bagnoregio. Orvieto is worth the trip just to see the Duomo let alone the town. Civita is a little hard to find, sort of cool to see but not a must. We got to Tivoli expecting a garden paradise only to find a fairly run down town where we were warned to take everything out of our car. The people we met were very nice though. We found a wine bar where the prices for drinks was so cheap - a few Euros for a liquer or wine. We tipped the waiters a few more Euros for each drink and they were whispering to each other about how great the tips were. I would not stay there again but we made the most of it and had fun at this wine bar.
Four Days in Ravello: It is not possible to fully describe the views from Ravello and the special atmosphere of this place. Like many of the places we visited, I had looked at many pictures of the views from Ravello on the different internet sites. But you simply can not get the true feeling of the place until you are standing on a balcony looking over the blue Mediterranean drinking a limoncello and smelling the perfumed air from the gardens of Villa Cimbrione or Rufolo. Exquistite. We stayed at Villa Hotel Maria which has a beautiful restaurant and lovely staff. I have so many charming stories of Ravello but fear I am taking up too much space. We traveled to Amalfi, Positano, and Capri but Ravello was? special.
Last Day: Stopped at Pompeii, started raining, jammed with tourists, so we left. Stayed at Hilton Airport in Rome ? very convenient but pricey and you get the big reality check ? the trip is over but the memories will last forever.
Flew from Chicago to Rome on American Airlines. Arrived on time at 7:30 am on Saturday. Rented car at Autoeurope (also called Europecar) with no problems. We had an Alfa Romeo 156 manual transmission/diesel engine. This turned out to be a plus since diesel fuel (gasolio) is less expensive and the manual transmission was useful in the very hilly towns of Tuscany. Headed to Florence where we stayed for one night at the Hotel Orto De Medici. It was a very nice hotel with large balcony overlooking Florence and within walking distance of everything. Nice breakfast on the terrace. Staff was helpful.
One Day in Florence: First - we got lost. Could not get our bearings on where we were in relationship to the hotel as we could not find ?street signs.? It finally dawned on us that the street signs are posted on buildings that are close to intersections ? once we figured that out we were fine. Except for the thousands motorcycles zipping past us in all directions. And the jet lag. But we found the hotel, took a nap, and headed out to explore. We skipped the museums and just walked all over Florence for hours. Walked to Boboli Gardens and enjoyed the amazing views of Florence. We loved Florence and could have spent at least one more day there.
Two Days in Cinque Terre: Drove to Cinque Terre to stay in Monterosso for 2 nights. We picked this town since we had the car and it has a public parking lot. We ditched the car and dragged our bags to the older section of town. We fell in love with this town immediately. Our first glimpse of the Mediterranean! We stayed in the most wonderful B&B called La Poesia. It is right off the main street up a windy alley. We were greeted by Nicoletta ? the owner/host ? who was waiting for us to arrive. This place is so charming, spotless, and welcoming. It has 3 rooms plus a larger suite. Wonderful breakfast on the terrace ? great hostess, perfect location. We could have stayed there forever. Restaurants in town were wonderful ? had pesto, seafood pasta, and the local Cinque Terre white wine. Highly recommend it.
Cinque Terre Towns. : On the first day, we hiked the first day from Monterosso to Vernazza. This is a moderately difficult hike ? takes about 1.5 to 2 hours. Uphill the first half of the way with lots of continuous stairs, downhill the rest of the way. The views are breathtaking. The path is narrow ? less than 2 feet at some points and it is not without dangers since most of the path is not guarded by a rail. I would caution anyone who is not a bigtime hiker to be realistic about this hike, be cautious on the path, and wear sturdy footwear! It?s a great experience though and the views of the coast and Vernazza from the trail are postcard worthy. On the second day, we took the train to Riomaggiore and walked the ?Via Dell Amore? to Manarola and Corniglia. Anyone can walk the path to Manarola. It?s paved, flat, fenced, and wide. Only takes about 20 minutes. And so beautiful. The trail from Manarola to Corniglia is unpaved, some uphill parts but not very difficult and very tranquil. We did not hike the part from Corniglia to Vernazza ? it evidently is 1.5 hours and more difficult. We trained it to Vernazza again for lunch. This is where I attempted my first Italian with a waiter. I tried to say ?Va Bene? and instead said ?Va Bien? Mixing Italian and French badly. The waiter put his hand on my shoulder, shook his head, and laughed at me. In a nice way. Other Americans at a table near us asked him if it was fun living in Vernazza as he had been there his entire life and was in his 60?s. He said ?Vernazza is fun place to visit but odd place to live.?
Week in Tuscany: Headed for Tuscany for 6 nights. Stopped on the way at Pisa as it was on the way. Interesting to see but not a must and the town very touristy. We found a hotdog stand right outside the tower site and we decided we had to have one since we are from Chicago, Hot Dog Capital of the World. It was the best Hot Dog ever. No joke.
We drove to our destination in Chianti? Villa Vignamaggio outside Greve on the way to Lamole. I was speechless when we got there. This place is heavenly ? like something you dream of or see in a book. Formal Italian gardens, active winery, vineyards all around, two pools, unbelievable views, great rooms. Two very good restaurants in Lamole (Ristorante Lamole and Aia Di Canti) and our favorite in Greve called Nerbone. Nerbone is open all the time and you can have an early (for Italy) dinner. Everything on menu was awesome but the risotto and the roast pork was the best. The other restaurants are about 9Km off of the main road (S222), up the hill on windy roads in teeny townships of Lamole. Lots of locals and well worth it.
Chianti/Tuscany: We spent a week here and loved it. We did day trips to many of the towns like Radda, Castellini, Volterra, San G, and Monterigionni. One of the most perfect days was a long drive we did south of Siena through the ?Crete.? This landscape is totally different from Chianti. This is the typical rolling hills with cypress trees dotting the landscape that you see on pictures. The views are incredible. Our first planned destination was S?Antimo Abbey to see the twice daily Gregorian chants by the monks of the abbey. This is well worth the trip and the little town has 2 great family run restaurants where you can soak up the local flavor. We traveled on to Pienza which was not planned and turned out to be one of my favorite places.
One Night in Tivoli. Ugh. Since we were headed to Amalfi Coast but did not want to do the full drive in one day, we stayed over in Tivoli outside of Rome at Hotel Sirene. On the way, we stopped at Orvieto and Civita Bagnoregio. Orvieto is worth the trip just to see the Duomo let alone the town. Civita is a little hard to find, sort of cool to see but not a must. We got to Tivoli expecting a garden paradise only to find a fairly run down town where we were warned to take everything out of our car. The people we met were very nice though. We found a wine bar where the prices for drinks was so cheap - a few Euros for a liquer or wine. We tipped the waiters a few more Euros for each drink and they were whispering to each other about how great the tips were. I would not stay there again but we made the most of it and had fun at this wine bar.
Four Days in Ravello: It is not possible to fully describe the views from Ravello and the special atmosphere of this place. Like many of the places we visited, I had looked at many pictures of the views from Ravello on the different internet sites. But you simply can not get the true feeling of the place until you are standing on a balcony looking over the blue Mediterranean drinking a limoncello and smelling the perfumed air from the gardens of Villa Cimbrione or Rufolo. Exquistite. We stayed at Villa Hotel Maria which has a beautiful restaurant and lovely staff. I have so many charming stories of Ravello but fear I am taking up too much space. We traveled to Amalfi, Positano, and Capri but Ravello was? special.
Last Day: Stopped at Pompeii, started raining, jammed with tourists, so we left. Stayed at Hilton Airport in Rome ? very convenient but pricey and you get the big reality check ? the trip is over but the memories will last forever.
Jun 12th, 2004, 01:24 AM
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Wow, for 1st-timers you really did well in your choices. I imagine you are now permanenetly hooked and are already looking forward to the next trip1
Funny about mixing your Italian and French..I do it all the time and it is always good for a laugh or a sympathetic look!
Plan away!
Funny about mixing your Italian and French..I do it all the time and it is always good for a laugh or a sympathetic look!
Plan away!
Jun 12th, 2004, 07:21 AM
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Your trip sounds wonderful. Loved reading the descriptions. We loved Ravello and Chianti too. We plan to do CT and Umbria in October. How did you find La Poesia? Did you have reservations? We're looking for a charming place with great views.
Jun 12th, 2004, 09:17 AM
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Thanks for your trip report. It was nice to hear about the hotels and areas you explored. I'm going to Italy for the 1st time in August with my husband. We thought about Cinque Terre, but decided to wait until our next trip. But your B&B and Monterosso sounded very nice. Did you like the Amalfi Coast better? We are staying in Positano, but definitely want to spend some time in Ravello.
Also, we are planning to spend 3 nights in Montalcino, but we had considered your hotel in Chianti. If you could do it over, would you stay at Villa Vignamaggio, or would you have preferred staying in southern Tuscany (Pienza/Montalcino area) better?
Did you bring your son with you, or were you guys alone? We are leaving our 3 y.o. & almost 1 y.o. home with grandparents, which will be hard but I think well worth it. I hope you don't mind all these questions!
Also, we are planning to spend 3 nights in Montalcino, but we had considered your hotel in Chianti. If you could do it over, would you stay at Villa Vignamaggio, or would you have preferred staying in southern Tuscany (Pienza/Montalcino area) better?
Did you bring your son with you, or were you guys alone? We are leaving our 3 y.o. & almost 1 y.o. home with grandparents, which will be hard but I think well worth it. I hope you don't mind all these questions!
Jun 13th, 2004, 07:22 AM
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Thanks for your great trip report. WE just returned from Rome and a Mediterranean cruise and are planning already for next year's trip to Tuscany and other parts of Italy. Your observations and experiences will be very helpful. I will say that while we did not like the town of Tivoli, se found the gardens at Villa d'este a highlight. We had only one hour and could have stayed several more. Also, Pompeii was amazing for us, although I recommend getting there early befoe the crowds.
Jun 13th, 2004, 08:32 AM
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I'm so glad you loved Ravello!-
The first time I stayed on the Amalfi Coast, I also stayed at the Villa Maria.
As I was traveling solo, they gave me the little room off the garden below the terrace resturant. Ravello is a quiet town, but with many facets! I have fond memories of it, and hope to return soon!
A fine choice!!!
The first time I stayed on the Amalfi Coast, I also stayed at the Villa Maria.
As I was traveling solo, they gave me the little room off the garden below the terrace resturant. Ravello is a quiet town, but with many facets! I have fond memories of it, and hope to return soon!
A fine choice!!!
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Jun 13th, 2004, 12:29 PM
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Thanks for the nice feedback on my trip report. I have listed a good website for hotels in Monterosso. This is where I found La Poesia. I also included the website for La Poesia also.
www.monterossonet.com
www.lapoesia-cinqueterre.com
La Poesia doesnt have a view but otherwise its great. Hotel Baia in the newer section is right on the beach - you may want to do some research on this site or Trip Advisor.
Its hard to say if its better to stay in Vignamaggio or Southern Tuscany. Both are beautiful but different. I really wanted to stay in Chianti region so I picked Vignamaggio. I think there may be a bit more to do in Chianti - more little towns and restaurants. Either one would make a good base for day trips. Also, in summer, I believe the Crete area is less green than in May- i think the hills are either bare or turn yellow/hay colored.
Also - we did not bring our son. He is 10 and we are thinking of bringing him on a Europe trip in the next two years. Germany maybe.
If I had to choose between Amalfi Coast or the Cinque Terre/Tuscany, I would say CT/Tuscany. I loved AC but I fell in love with CT and Tuscany. Although, we did fall in love with Ravello too so i guess we are hooked on Italy anyway you look at it.
www.monterossonet.com
www.lapoesia-cinqueterre.com
La Poesia doesnt have a view but otherwise its great. Hotel Baia in the newer section is right on the beach - you may want to do some research on this site or Trip Advisor.
Its hard to say if its better to stay in Vignamaggio or Southern Tuscany. Both are beautiful but different. I really wanted to stay in Chianti region so I picked Vignamaggio. I think there may be a bit more to do in Chianti - more little towns and restaurants. Either one would make a good base for day trips. Also, in summer, I believe the Crete area is less green than in May- i think the hills are either bare or turn yellow/hay colored.
Also - we did not bring our son. He is 10 and we are thinking of bringing him on a Europe trip in the next two years. Germany maybe.
If I had to choose between Amalfi Coast or the Cinque Terre/Tuscany, I would say CT/Tuscany. I loved AC but I fell in love with CT and Tuscany. Although, we did fall in love with Ravello too so i guess we are hooked on Italy anyway you look at it.
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