Venice - November 2008

3 Nights in Venice – A Sinking City

Our longest day of travel was when we went from Cinque Terre to Venice. The trip required 2 train changes and took about 6 hours. It was raining when we arrived in Venice and that made me a little nervous. It floods in Venice, normally in November and March, so I was hoping we wouldn't be there for any flooding. It had been raining in Venice the previous 5 days, but luckily for us, it only rained the day we arrived.

We opted to use our Hilton points for our stay in Venice, might as well save some money. We had been staying in small hotels and family-run B&Bs throughout our trip, but we enjoyed the comfort of the hotel. We had a nice, large, flat screen TV to watch the U.S. election results, we arrived in Venice on Nov 4. It was also our anniversary and the hotel had a bottle of Bellini and a card waiting for us in our room. After getting used to having a cappuccino and a croissant for breakfast, we had a nice buffet that included eggs, potatoes, waffles and the most delicious ham. Staying in the Hilton was a nice way to end our trip and celebrate our anniversary.

Venice has some great architecture and lots of canals and bridges everywhere. The gondolas everywhere were beautiful. We got lost in Venice a lot! There are no major streets and none of the streets go straight and once you hit a piazza, the streets go off in different directions. We had the most trouble looking for restaurants that were in our Rick Steves book. By the time we found a place, I was starving! There were signs along certain paths that pointed you in the direction of the major sites, like St. Mark's Square, the Rialto, even the train station, but it was hard to stay on the right path. All the sudden there weren't anymore signs. It was neat though seeing the backstreets of Venice, not knowing where you were. You couldn't get too lost, since you were on an island!

The food in Venice was my least favorite. There were a lot of fish on the menus. We like fish, Mike more than me, but options for non-fish dishes were very limited. I was brave, however, and tried cuttlefish in ink while we were there. It was a popular dish in Venice, so I wanted to try it. I didn't like it much, but ate what I could. We went to a hole in the wall joint for lunch one day and I had spaghetti with clams and Mike had fish lasagna, both were pretty good. Our last night, we went to a restaurant that proudly served no fish. It was one of our favorite restaurants from our trip.

We flew out of Venice and were able to find our way to the airport without having to pay 100 Euros for a private water taxi. We took the 8am hotel shuttle to the Zattere stop and walked to Piazzale Roma in about 20 minutes. From there, we took the 8:40am bus #5 (2.50 Euro pp) to the airport and were dropped off at the terminal in 25 minutes.

LODGING

Hilton Molino Stucky (TA Review)

We used our points to stay at this hotel. We were visiting Italy for 2 weeks and Venice was our last stop and it was our anniversary. 

The hotel is located on the island of Giudecca, but they offer a free shuttle that ran from 0800-2350 while we were there, it may run later in the summer. It left the hotel at :00 and :40 every hour. When leaving at :00, it stopped at Zattere and San Marco. When leaving at :40, it only stopped at Zattere. It left from Zattere back to the hotel at :30 and :45 every hour. It left from San Marco back to the hotel at :20 every hour. There was an hour break between 1340 and 1440 and between 2040 and 2140.

ACTIVITIES

Tour the Grand Canal by Vaperetto – Great Scenery and Architecture

We bought a vaporetto pass once we arrived in Venice.  It was for 48 hours.  It really came in handy if you want to get somewhere fast.  Walking is not fast as you can get lost very easily, which is fun too if you aren't in a hurry (or hungry!).

We got on line 2 at the train station going down the canal.  We sat in the back outside for better views.  We stayed on the vaporetto all the way to St. Mark's Square.  I read the guide book while we rode down the canal and tried to point out things to Mike as he snapped pictures.

There were other people doing the same thing with different guide books.

Doge's Palace – Venetian Gothic Palace

This palace was the seat of the Venetian government and home of it's ruling duke for 400 years.

We decided to do the Secret Itineraries Tour to go into rooms not normally open to the public.  It was 5 Euros extra per person to do this tour.  Our group was only 15 people, which was very unusual according to our guide.  Our tour lasted a little over an hour.  It was really cool hearing the story of Casanova and how he ended up in prison there and also finally escaped.  I would really recommend this tour.

After the tour, we toured the main halls of the palace.

Top of the Campanile di San Marco – Views of St. Mark’s Square and Venice

You don't climb to the top of the Campanile, you ride the elevator!  There were some nice views once at the top, but I think the views from the San Giorgio Maggorie across the lagoon were better.

Top of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore – Better Views than the Campanile

We decided to visit the church and go up the belltower to see the views.  Again, you ride the elevator to the top.  The church has a Gregorian Mass at 8am that I wished we'd gone to, maybe next time.

Murano – Island of Glass


We took a vaporetto to Murano to walk around and look at all the glass.  The island is popular with glass factories and a glassmaking museum.  We strolled the main canal Via Fondamenta Vetrai to visit the various stores selling glass products.  There were some amazing things made out of glass!

Drink Wine at Al Marco – Have Some Wine With Locals

One of the things Rick Steves recommends doing in Venice is a pub crawl.  He recommends going from place to place having different courses or appetizers at each place.  We didn't do a full pub crawl, but we did stop at one of his recommended places to have a drink.

This place is just a hole in the wall that serves a nice selection of wine.  You order a glass and just stand around in the square and enjoy conversation and the wine.  We ended up having 2 glasses each and by the time we left, there were several others that had come up and were standing around the square.

St Mark's Square - Great Vibe

There are a lot of people in St Mark's Square most of the time.  This is the square where you see people feeding the pigeons.  People try to attract a lot of pigeons and take photos of themselves with the pigeons all around or on them.  

We came here one evening to find some live music.  During the busy tourist season there are dueling orchestras.  We found a pianist playing outside a little cafe on evening during our visit.  We sat at a table and ordered 2 cappuccinos and a piece of cheesecake to share and enjoyed the music.

RESTAURANTS

Brek – Cafeteria By Train Station

We got off the train in Venice and was starving.  We wanted to eat something right away.  We went to Brek, which is a cafeteria style place 5 minutes from the train station.

We had lasagna, pasta and shared a huge salad.  It was a great fast place for a meal and was very busy.  We spent 15 Euros on our meal.

Trattoria da Giorgio ai Greci – Canalside Setting off the Grand Canal

We were looking for canalside dining and decided on this restaurant as it was a little away from the "Rialto Bridge Tourist Trap."  Supposedly, the restaurants along the Grand Canal are becoming known for bad food and service and expensive prices.

There is canalside setting at this restaurant, but there are only 4 tables and you have to make reservations for them.  It was cool at night when we were there, so we were ok sitting inside.

I decided on the tourist menu (17 Euros) here and decided to try cuttlefish with ink.  It seemed to be a popular dish in Venice and I wanted to try the local food.  I didn't like it so much and wouldn't order it again, but it was a fun experience.  Mike had the lasagna, it was just ok.  We spent 42 Euros on our meal and that included wine.

One downside to this restaurant was the moldy smell during our meal, but we were in a corner.  Venice is known for this smell due to all the water.

Trattoria alla Rivetta – Eat Where Gondoliers Eat

We wanted to experience this place as it was popular with gondoliers at lunch.  If they like it, it must be good!  It is a very small place and gets crowded when it's busy.  The restaurant has long tables and they  mix parties at each table.  We were sat with another group of young girls.  They try to give one basket of bread for the whole table, but we politely asked for our own.

Venice is very popular with the seafood dishes!  It's hard to find entrees without fish sometimes.  We decided to go with the spaghetti and clams and the fish lasagna.  Both dishes were very good!  We also had wine and spent 27 Euros for our meal.

It was fun watching the gondoliers eat their lunch.  They eat a lot of food!

Enoteca e Trattoria la Bitta – No Fish Served!

It says "No Fish" on their business cards.  I've mentioned that Venice is popular with seafood and it's hard to find entrees without fish.  I wasn't too impressed with the seafood in Venice, maybe because we have great seafood in San Diego?

I was amazed at how easily we found this restaurant walking from our hotel shuttle stop at Zattere.  We tried to follow a map in Rick Steves book, but could never find the names of the streets we were on.  We just kept walking, turned a corner, and there it was!

The restaurant is very dark inside, but it's a nice and cozy little restaurant.  We decided on a bottle of wine, the gnocchi and this green pasta with sausage and peppers.  Both dishes were absolutely amazing!  The best food in Venice and possibly our whole trip.  The service was pretty good here as well.  We asked the server for recommendations and she was very helpful.

This restaurant only accepts cash (most places in Venice prefer cash) and our bill was 52 Euros.

Continue reading our trip:

3 Nights in Rome

3 Nights in Sorrento

3 Nights in Florence

3 Nights in Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre (Vernazza) - November 2008

3 Nights in Vernazza – Sun, Sea, and Wine

From Florence, we visited the Cinque Terre, an area of 5 little towns connected by trails. This area was Mike's favorite from a previous visit, so I was pretty excited to get there. After we arrived and checked into our hotel, we decided to grab some lunch at a little outdoor restaurant by the breakwater in Vernazza. While we were eating, we met a couple from Australia. They'd just come off one of the trails and started telling us about the storm that came through the night before. This storm caused a mudslide on one of the trails and it was closed. We were hoping by the next day, the trail would be back open. Swimming and hiking are the popular things to do when visiting this area, but swimming wasn't really an option.

After lunch, we decided to walk the trail between Vernazza and Monterosso. It was supposed to be the hardest and one of the longest. We took a lot of pictures while we were on the trails, because it was so pretty. The next day, we walked the trails between the remaining 3 towns. The trail that was closed from the mudslide the day before was still closed, but there were lots of people climbing over the gates...so we did too. We were lucky to have 2 perfect days, weather-wise, to walk the trails as it rained our final day in Vernazza. Having a rainy day allowed us to do some laundry, check our email, and sort of experience being a local in town.

During our trip, I tried several things for the first time...things like espresso, mussels, anchovies, cuttlefish, and spaghetti with clams. One of the specialties of Cinque Terre is anchovies. I always remembered anchovies as being smelly and that turned me off instantly. At dinner one night, we had the pasta and entree courses. Mike ordered pasta with mussels and I really liked it. We, both, also ordered the white fish entree. The dish ended up being fresh anchovies, potatoes, and marinara sauce. I was surprised that I liked them, Mike liked them too.

Cinque Terre also produces pesto and a dessert wine, called Sciacchetra. We didn't try any Sciacchetra while we were there, but we brought some home with us. We went to lunch one day and I was criticized by the server for not ordering a pesto dish!

LODGING

Albergo Barbara (TA Review)

Our room was right along the harborfront or breakwater.  The room is on the top floor and we had a small window with a view of the water.  There is no breakfast served with your room.  This is a very basic place to stay in a good location.

ATTRACTIONS

Walk from Vernazza to Monterosso – 2 Hour Walk, Lots of Stairs

The first day we arrived in Cinque Terre, we decided to walk the trail between Vernazza (where we were staying) and Monterosso.  It's considered the hardest trail.  We started out in the afternoon and made the walk in 2 hours.  We stopped a lot to enjoy the scenery.  There are a lot of stairs and narrow paths on this part of the trail.  The stairs down to Monterosso would be more challenging for those coming from Monterosso to Vernazza.

We arrived in Monterosso right before sunset.  We got out our Rick Steves' book and followed his walking guide through Monterosso.  There is the Church of St. John the Baptist to visit and the Oratory of the Dead next to it.  After checking these places out, we stopped in a little store to buy some water.  I'm not sure the name of it, but they had samples of liquor and jam available for everyone to try.

Next, we walked up the hill along the breakwater to the top to find the cemetery.  Most of the cemeteries in the Cinque Terre are located outside of town with great sea views.

After our little tour through town, we found a table outside along the water and had a glass of wine.

Walk from Vernazza to Corniglia – 90 Minute Walk, Lots of Olive Trees

We started our hike to Corniglia from Vernazza after breakfast, so about 10am.  It was still a little muddy in places from rain 2 nights prior.  We saw lots of olive groves and nets that are put down to catch the olives when they fall off the trees.

Once in Corniglia, we toured the town using Rick Steves' walking guide.  This town is the only one of the 5 not on the water, but it still had a lot of charm.  We tried to walk down Via alla Marina to the non-beach where people usually sun on the rocks, but the waves were too intense to get down all the way.  We were there in November and storms had been churning up the water.

On the way out of town heading towards Manarola, you have to go down a zigzag path of 400 stairs.  Those that are taking the trails in the opposite direction have to go up these stairs!  For some reason, there were more people going up than down.

Walk from Corniglia to Manarola – 45 Minute Walk

This part of the trails had been closed 2 days prior due to a mudslide from a rain storm, it was still closed the day we tried to make the walk.  Once we got to the closed gate, we saw others climbing over it in both directions.  We decided we'd climb over and turn around if it was too bad, but everyone was saying it was ok.  When we came to where the mudslide had occurred, we walked around it and was ok to get through to the next town.

Once in Manarola, we had lunch at Trattoria Il Porticciolo.  Afterwards, we visited the Sciacchetra Museum, which is just a little room on the local wine industry with a little film that you can watch about the making of Sciacchetra.  The guy manning the museum was very happy for the company.  They probably don't have as many visitors in the fall.

Next, we walked up the hill to the top of Manarola to find a church, oratory, and a bell tower.  20 yards below the church, there is a wood railing that starts a path along a vineyard high above town.  This walk is definitely worth a walk when in Manarola.  At the end of the walk, you can visit their cemetery.

Walk from Manarola to Riomaggiore – 20 Minute Walk, Easiest Stroll

The hike between Manarola and Riomaggiore is really easy, it's a wide paved path.  Lots of people stroll between these two towns after dinner or during sunset since it's so easy.

Once in Riomaggiore, our guided walk through town took us up an elevator located at the railway tunnel entrance.  We went up to the top of town and walked back down to the breakwater.  Along the way, we stopped for homemade gelato at a place along Via Colombo next to Bar Centrale.  It was probably the best gelato we had during our trip.

We watched the sunset from the harbor before taking the train back to Vernazza to have a siesta followed by dinner.

Hang Out in Vernazza – Spend a Day as a Local

Our final day in the Cinque Terre was spent just hanging out in Vernazza.  It rained almost all day and we'd already walked the trails.  We had an Italian breakfast that included cappuccino and croissants, at a bar by our room.  Afterwards, we went to the Blue Marlin to check our email and do a little internet surfing.

We packed light for our trip and really needed to do some laundry, so we took advantage of the downtime and did a load of laundry at a place close to our room.  It's a very small place with only 2 washers and dryers.  We met another lady in there doing her laundry.  She told us she visited Italy frequently for months at a time.

We went back to the Blue Marlin and had lunch and drank lots of vino.  There was not much else to do with the rain, so we figured we'd hang out at the local bar/restaurant.

When the rain let up, we did go out and do a guided walk of Vernazza.  During our stroll, we stopped in the Enoteca Sotto l'Arco and bought a bunch of pesto and some local wine to have shipped back to our home in the U.S.

After a late afternoon siesta, we took the train to Monterosso for dinner.

RESTAURANTS

Ristorante Pizzeria Vulnetia – Tables Right on the Breakwater

When we arrived in Vernazza, we checked into our hotel and immediately looked for some food.  This restaurant had tables set up outside along the breakwater.  Normally it's a small pizza place with a couple of seating options inside.  A lot of people were coming through Vernazza off the trails and stopping for lunch here.  The restaurant only had outside dining the one day we were there, which was a Saturday.  I'm sure they probably have the outside dining set up throughout most of the summer and on weekends.

We ordered 2 beers and 2 pizzas and enjoyed the view and the coming and going of people off the trails.  There were lots of choices on the menu and lots of choices for pizza as well.  We had a couple from Australia sit down next to us after we'd  ordered and we started sharing stories of our travels with each other.  We had just come from Florence and they were on their way, so we shared our favorite restaurant (Sabatino) with them and gave them the page out of our guide book with directions.

We spent 26 Euros on our meal.

Trattoria del Capitano – Great Experience with Anchovies

This restaurant was in the building next to the building of our room.  We were in Vernazza during a time when a lot of restaurants are closed for the season.  We tried to eat at restaurants that had the most people.  This restaurant was one of them.

Our server, Giacomo, was very friendly.  One of the friendliest servers we had on our trip.  He gave his suggestions and left us to decide.  We decided to go with the tourist menu here.  A lot of restaurants in Italy put together a tourist menu that have a few different options for the different courses.  I ended up with the pesto lasagna (pesto was invented in the area), fresh anchovy pasta and the semifreddo dessert.  The dessert was made with strawberry and was so good!  Mike had a mussel pasta, the anchovy pasta, and strawberry dessert.  We also enjoyed a 1/2 liter of wine and 2 espressos afterward.

So, this was the first time I'd ever had mussels and anchovies.  Both ended up being very good.  I was surprised that I liked the anchovies.  The dish was pasta with almost whole anchovies and a red tomato sauce.  Yum!

We ended up spending 64 Euros on our meal.

The Blue Marlin Bar – Good Place to Eat, Check Email, or Hang Out

We had breakfast here one morning.  We just had focaccia with cheese and tomato and a piece of apple cake with our cappuccinos.  That meal was only 9 Euros.

We also came here to check our email.  They have 2 computers and charged us 5.50 Euros for both of us to use them for 30 minutes.

We also had lunch here one afternoon.  The day it rained all day, we sat and had lunch and then drank a liter of wine!  Mike had putanesca pasta.  I had a salad and a panini.  We spent 28.50 Euros for this meal.

The food overall wasn't bad, but the woman server there was super friendly.  They play music, sometimes a little loud.  The cook came out and turned up the music one time and started singing.  It was a very fun place to hang out.

Trattoria Il Porticciolo – Excellent Pesto Selections

While walking the trails, we stopped in Manarola for lunch.  We chose a place out of Rick Steves' book and sure enough they have a picture of Rick Steves outside their restaurant with a sign saying "Recommended by Rick Steves".  The place was packed!  We had to wait a few minutes for a table.  It was a Sunday and there were lots of large parties having lunch.  This place was popular with tourists and locals.

After being seated and looking through the menu, we decided we were ready to order.  Mike ordered the pesto lasagna.  I wasn't really in the mood for pesto or any fish, which was the majority of the menu.  I decided to just have pasta and tomato sauce.  The server could not hold back her shock of me not ordering something with pesto!  What do you do?  Order a pesto dish!

A couple from Washington was sat next to us and we started sharing our travel stories with them.  They were also traveling by Rick Steves guide book.

Our meal with a 0.375 L of wine was 24 Euros.

Continue reading our trip:

3 Nights in Rome

3 Nights in Sorrento

2 Nights in Florence

3 Nights in Venice

Florence, Italy - October 2008

2 Nights in Florence – Home of the Renaissance and David

After our 3 nights in Sorrento, we headed north for Florence. The second snag in our train travel experience came when we arrived in Naples from Sorrento. We got off at the wrong station this time, but were quickly guided to the correct station as soon as we asked for help at the information counter. We weren't that far off. The train from Naples to Florence was a Eurostar, the best of the passenger trains in Europe. It is smooth, fast, and quiet. However, don't order cappuccino in the cafe car. It's cold and weak!

All of our hotel selections (besides Venice) were from Rick Steves' book. He chose places that weren't too expensive and were a reasonable distance from the train station. Our hotel in Florence, had a spectacular view. It was also the hotel that brought our breakfast to our room every morning. About 8am, the host would bring a tray to our room with pastries, hard boiled eggs, juice, and coffee. It was a treat to have spice muffins both mornings.

When choosing restaurants, we also referred to Rick Steves' book. A lot of times we were at restaurants filled with mostly Rick Steves' readers. It made for great conversation starters when we had our book laying on the table. One restaurant gave us free limoncello for having the book.

One of our favorite restaurants on our trip was in Florence. We chose a place that was off the tourist path. We asked for a table for two by holding up 2 fingers and saying due (doo-eh) and were sat at one end of a long table with a couple and their daughter at the other. We ordered a mezzo liter of wine and some water, no gas. Italians drink mineral water, so the easy way to order non-carbonated water is to ask for it with no gas. You can also say natural or still, which we learned later.

The menu was in Italian, but our server ended up speaking English, as well as French we heard when he was at the table next to us. It seemed the thing to do was to have the full course meal at this place, so that's what we did. We ordered pasta, an entree, and dessert. We ordered one course at a time, the server came back in between courses and asked what we wanted next. The portions weren't that big here, so it worked out great. The food, we thought, was fabulous. We liked it so much that we ripped out the page in our Rick Steves' book and gave it to another couple we visited with in Vernazza.

We did see Michelangelo's David statue while in Florence, but they don't let you take pictures of him.

LODGING

Soggiorno Battistero (TA Review)

The view from the room was of the Baptistery and Duomo.

Breakfast was served to our room on a tray in the morning. Compared to our last 2 hotels in Italy, we thought the breakfast was great. We had coffee (hot and enough for at least 2 cups each!), juice, spice muffins, croissants, boiled eggs and packaged toast. Breakfast was usually pretty skimpy in Italy, but we made up for it with lunch and dinner and plenty of gelato!

  

ATTRACTIONS

Climb the Duomo and Visit Nuovo Market

The first thing we did after arriving in Florence and having lunch was climb the Duomo's dome to see the views of Florence.  The artwork in the dome of the cathedral was completed by Brunelleschi.  There are about 450 steps to the top of the dome.

After climbing the dome, we walked through the Nuovo Market.  It's several blocks of vendors selling souvenirs such as scarfs, leather products, etc.  We bought several scarfs for friends and family back home.

The Accademia (David) and Uffizi Gallery

These are the 2 most popular places to visit in Florence, and we visted both in one day.  We didn't originally plan to do both in one day, but the company we made online reservations with recommended changing one of our reservations as there was a possibility of a strike one of the days.  We were only in Florence for 2 days, so we had to go to both in one day.

We had a reservation for the Accademia to see David for about 9am.  We were allowed to go in early as we arrived about 45 minutes before our time.  We got the audio guide and it was helpful for a few things in the museum.

Our reservation for the Uffizi Gallery was about 4pm.  There are lots of rooms with art in this gallery.  We pretty much rushed through this museum as we were getting a little burned out at this point.  It is a beautiful museum, however, and worth a visit.

RESTAURANTS

Trattoria la Burrasca – Lots of Rick Steves Readers

 I was attracted to this restaurant by Rick Steves' mention of cheap wine.  We love our wine and had some with most of our meals.  The restaurant is very small (10 tables) and when we walked in, everyone turned to look at us.  We soon realized everyone in there was American and had their Rick Steves' book with them.  It was a little interesting hearing about everyone's travels, but I would have preferred a little less tourists.  The longer we sat there, the more the atmosphere changed as locals waited until later to come in for dinner.

The service was ok at this restaurant and I would have maybe liked it more if I'd ordered the right thing.  We both ordered red meat, but mine was like a prime rib.  I don't like prime rib, so I didn't eat much of it.  I tried to eat what I could, because Italians tend to get a little insulted when you don't eat ALL of your food.  Mike's was more like a filet which was much better.  I tried to stay away from red meat after this experience.

I would go back to this restaurant, but go later in the evening when more locals are there and I would definitely order something different.  We spent 54 Euros on our meal here and that included us both having a primi, secondi, espresso, and a liter of wine.

Picnic on the Ultimate Renaissance Square – Grocery Store Lunch and People Watching

After visiting the Accademia (David), we walked across the street to the Il Centro Supermarcati to grab some food for a picnic.  We ended up standing by the deli for a while trying to figure out what and how to order since we didn't know much Italian.

We ended up buying sandwiches already made, some olives from the deli, some fruit, and 2 cokes.  We spent 12 Euros on our meal and took it to Piazza S.S. Annunziata to eat and people watch.  It seems to be a popular place to picnic as there were plenty of others sitting around eating food.

Self-Service Ristorante Leonardo – Fast, Cheap, Good Lunch

After arriving in Florence and checking into our B&B, we wanted to grab a quick bite for lunch and be on our way to do some sight seeing.  We had one less day in Florence than we had in all our other stops.

This self-service cafeteria has salads, hot entrees, pasta, desserts, etc.  You get a tray and pick out what you want, pay, and enjoy.  The cafeteria has a fairly large seating area.  I had a pasta dish and a salad, Mike had lasagne and a side of roasted red pepper.  We thought the food was very good for being a cafeteria.  We rarely had food we didn't like though during our trip.

Our bill was 13 Euros and that included a bottle of water.  They do have tap water available as well that I didn't find out until after we sat down.

Trattoria Sabatino – Good Food with Authentic Experience

We chose this restaurant out of our Rick Steves' book, because it was a little off the beaten path of tourists.  We were looking for a little more of an authentic Italian experience.  To get to this restaurant, we followed the street along the river on the south side of the Ponte Vecchio bridge.  After going under the large arch, it's on the right.

We went in and were sat at a table with a couple and their daughter.  Our server did speak English, but the menu is in Italian only.  I heard the little girl at the end of the table repeat over and over that she wanted Spaghetti al sugo, so that's what I ordered.  It's just spaghetti with meat sauce, but it was sooo good.

We decided to experience the full, Italian meal and have pasta, an entree, and dessert.  The server came back in between courses to take our order.  The food was delicious and the portions were enough that we were able to eat all the food and still have dessert.  We also had a mezzo liter of wine and spent 32 Euros for the whole meal.  It was probably our favorite restaurant from our trip.

Continue reading our trip:

3 Nights in Rome

3 Nights in Sorrento

3 Nights in Cinque Terre

3 Nights in Venice

Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi, Pompeii - October 2008

3 Nights in Sorrento - Home of Olive and Lemon Groves

Our first experience on a passenger train was when we left Rome and headed for Sorrento. We left early in the morning and were in Naples in 2 hours. We got off there and explored Naples for half the day before heading on to Sorrento. Naples is the home of organized crime as well as pizza. It was a Monday and the main street of Naples was crowded with people. Naples ended up being a crowded, noisy city (3rd largest in Italy), but we rewarded our survival by having pizza at the end of our walk. Some of the restaurants we went to had the menu in Italian and English, some places were just in Italian. This pizza place, supposedly one of the best in town, had the menu in Italian, so we didn't really know what to order. We knew ham (prosciutto) and mushrooms (funghi), so that's what we ordered. It was pretty good, but I didn't think it was the best.

One of the hardest parts of our train travel was getting from Naples to Sorrento. There is a separate train that runs between these cities. Once we got back to the main station, we followed signs to the separate train station, bought tickets from a window, and made our way to the tracks. The tracks didn't seem to be marked as well as they were in Rome, so we ended up jumping on the wrong train. Luckily, we discovered our mistake and jumped off a few stations down and waited for the correct train to come. Mike always says things will work out, but I was a little stressed. I think the train stations caused most of my stressing out moments, but it all worked out!

Sorrento is a nice little town that sort of reminded me of La Jolla, CA. There are lots of little boutique clothing stores and limoncello everywhere (it's made in this area). A lot of visitors to the town are from England, so a lot of people spoke English.

We spent a day taking a bus from Sorrento down the Amalfi Coast.  It was gorgeous. We got off in Amalfi and walked around and had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants from our trip. Meals in Italy usually consist of bread, wine, primi (pasta), and secondi (entree of meat or fish). Of course, there are appetizers and dessert as well. Most of the time, we ordered pasta, but a few times, we had the full on meal with entree and dessert. We always had wine. You could order by liter or mezzo liter (half liter). After meals, most Italians have espresso, which we got into the habit of doing as well. And, we had gelato, usually in between meals.

Breakfast in Italy is different as well. The usual breakfast consists of espresso or cappuccino and a croissant. Most Italians drink their coffee standing at a bar. It costs extra in some places if you want to sit down, or in train stations, you can stand at a table. Most of our hotels included breakfast, but each place did it different. Our hotel in Rome had a spread of pastries, cereal and some yogurt. Our hotel in Sorrento gave us coupons to take to a bar for cappuccino and a croissant. Our hotel in Cinque Terre did not have breakfast. Our hotel in Florence brought breakfast to our room. Our hotel in Venice was the most extravagant,  because it was a Hilton.

Another day, we went to Pompeii.  It is a town that was destroyed by a volcano and the ruins are still standing. It's a very touristy place to visit, but it is worth the visit. We opted for an Audioguide to explain some of the things we were looking at. The place is huge, we spent about 2 and 1/2 hours there only to explore 1/3 of the place. You could probably see more if you weren't listening to the Audioguide though.

The weather these 3 days of our trip were mixed. It rained at night while we were at dinner once and a little when we were coming back from Amalfi on the bus. Our warmest day was in Pompeii and I was wearing long sleeves.

LODGING:

Palazzo Starace (TA Review) – Great Location, Friendly Owners

The owners live on the top floor and have a phone on the floor with the rooms in case you need them for anything. They were all super-friendly. One of the owners spoke the most English, the other just a little.

The location of the hotel was great, right on the main street of Corso Italia.

The hotel gave us coupons for breakfast, which was available at Bar Danielle during our stay. The coupon was for a croissant and a coffee (we always had cappuccino). There was a fruit stand next to the bar, where we bought fruit to supplement our breakfast. We usually spent 2 Euros for 3 or 4 pieces of fruit. The bar had 4 small tables outside to sit at (for free) if you wanted.

ATTRACTIONS:

The Amalfi Coast and Amalfi Town – Dramatic Coastline

We took the 930am bus out of Sorrento to tour the Amalfi Coast.  Rick Steves mentions the buses get crowded after 10am, so we were trying to beat the rush.  The tickets for the bus were 6 Eu per person for all day passes.  It takes awhile to drive to the other side of the coast, but once you do get there, you will have amazing views!  Try to sit on the right side of the bus when going there.

We decided not to stop in Positano and just visit Amalfi.  I've been reading lately about a lot of people planning their weddings in Positano, so I guess we need to go back and visit there someday.

In Amalfi, we tried to go on a hike, but found it to be an actual hike that we weren't prepared for.  So, we ended up having a nice lunch and some gelato before heading back to Sorrento.

The bus ride back to Sorrento was a little crowded, people were having to stand up in the aisle and the bus couldn't pick people up in Positano on the way back.  So, try to visit Positano first to avoid getting stuck there for a while.

Pompeii – Town Destroyed By Volcano

We got on the regional train from Sorrento and got off at the Pompeii stop to visit the ruins of Pompeii.  We were able to do this day trip in 4 hours.  We opted for the audio tour here and followed the recommended 2 hour tour on the guide they provided.  There were also 1 hour, 3 hour, 4 hour, etc tours listed.  The guide listed which places in the town to visit and the audio guide would explain how it was living in Pompeii before it was destroyed.  For example, we visited the Forum, the bath room, homes, the bakery, the theatre, and the brothel.

We visited the Archaeological Museum in Naples, which has a collection of things from Pompeii.  Things we saw in Pompeii were referenced by other things we'd seen at the Museum.  I'm glad we went to the Museum first, although I don't think it's necessary.

RESTAURANTS:

Pizzeria Trianon –  A Traditional Pizzeria in Naples

After our walk through Naples, we stopped to have pizza before heading to the train station to go to Sorrento.  With Naples being the home of pizza, we had high expectations of the pizza.  We arrived during a lunch rush and it was very busy and noisy when we got there.  We found 2 seats across from each other at the end of the table and looked around to see what everyone was eating.  I noticed how large the pizzas were and I also noticed the message in the menu saying you couldn't share.  Yikes!

The menu was in Italian and we didn't know many of the words for the different vegetables, so we ordered one pizza with ham and one with ham and mushrooms.  I wish we'd been a little more adventurous, but we were starving and ready to be done with Naples.

The pizza arrived and I was able to eat most of it, but I felt so bad leaving some that I covered it up with a napkin and hurried out.  I didn't see anyone else leaving any behind!  I really didn't like the pizza very much, but I guess I'm used to our American version with plenty of sauce!  I did like the thin crust though!

We spent 20 Euros here for 2 pizzas and 2 cokes.

Pizzeria Aurora – Many, Many Choices of Pizza

This restaurant is located in a popular area of town of Sorrento.  There are many restaurants on Piazzo Tasso and I wished we had chose a different place.  It was raining the evening we ate here, but the outdoor seating was pretty well covered.  The menu is in a few different languages, which is usually a sign of a place that may not be the greatest, but it was recommended by Rick Steves.

There are several different kinds of pizza on the menu.  We had Aurora #1(ham, mushrooms, and tomatoes) and the Napoli (anchovies).  The pizza was just ok.  They didn't have a house wine like most places we ate did, but a large selection of bottled wines.  We ended up going with the server's recommendation, but we didn't really like it.  Overall, I wasn't really impressed with this restaurant.  We spent 51 Euros here that also included 2 espressos.

Trattoria Il Mulino – Family Run Restaurant

After attempting a hike in Amalfi that turned out to be more strenuous than expected, we came across this restaurant as we made our way back to the main area of town.  It was a restaurant that had an outdoor seating area that poured out onto the town's main road.  We looked at the menu and decided to give it a try.  I had gnocchi and Mike had putanesca.  It was a delightful meal and we really enjoyed the quietness of the area.  It was a little ways from the shopping and tourist area.  We were the only ones eating there at first, but by the time we left, there were several other parties.

We spent 18 Euros here for lunch and that included a 1.50 Euro coperto

Ristorante Delfino – Fresh Fish and Awesome Service

With the dim light throughout the streets in Italy, it was a little erie walking to this restaurant from Sorrento.  It took us about 30 minutes to walk here from our hotel.  Supposedly the harbor, Marina Grande, is a separate town from Sorrento.  This restaurant only serves fish caught in the harbor.

We arrived a little before dinner service was to officially start, but they sat us anyway and others were already seated as well.  Italians like to eat dinner later than what we are used to in the U.S.  A lot of the places we ate at during our trip had mostly tourists in the early dinner hours and locals in the later hours.  We tried to wait to eat later when we could for the ambiance.

The servers and owners of this restaurant are so nice and very outgoing.  Most of the time, the service in Italy is slow and not very personable.  The slow service was not really a problem for us, but it was very nice to have someone check on us during our meal to make sure it was ok.  I ordered the swordfish and Mike had the fresh catch, which was sea bass.  They brought the bass out whole and filleted it at the table.  The fresh catch is definitely the way to go here.

Because we had our Rick Steves book with us, we each received free limoncello!  Our meal here was one of the most expensive on our trip, but well worth it for the fresh fish.  We spent 60 Euros.

Continue reading our trip:

3 Nights in Rome

2 Nights in Florence

3 Nights in Cinque Terre

3 Nights in Venice