Melbourne, Australia January 2010

We went to Australia for 2 weeks.  We usually like to travel in October or November, but a job change forced us to wait until January.  January is summertime in Australia and we were expecting it to be quite warm.  

Our itinerary included:  3 nights in Melbourne, 5 nights in Cape Tribulation (visiting the Great Barrier Reef), and 6 nights in Sydney (visiting the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley).

We flew into Melbourne and out of Sydney on Qantas Airlines.  We also used Qantas for our domestic travel in Australia between Melbourne and Cape Trib and Cape Trib and Sydney.  We rented a car in Melbourne and Cairns using Avis.  We used Frommer's Australia guide book to help plan our trip. 

January is an expensive time to fly to Australia.  I checked airline prices almost daily for a year and the price never went down much.  We ended up booking 2 weeks in advance, as that is the required booking time for international flights, because I was hoping for a last minute deal that never came.  

3 Nights in Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne after a 14 hour flight from LA on a Saturday morning.  We went to pick up our rental car at Avis and the first thing I did was try to get in on the driver's side (since it's on the opposite side).  Mike was the designated driver and I was the navigator and the one constantly reminding him to KEEP LEFT.  We tried to go slow and it took a little time getting used to driving on the left, but eventually it started coming easier. I don't know that he ever got used to the turn signal being on the opposite side, however.  Most of the time when we made a turn, Mike turned on the windshield wipers.  We ended up with an Australian car, a Holden, that has their windshield wipers and turn signals on the opposite side than American cars.  Other European cars have them on the same side as American cars.  

After some backtracking, we finally made it to the St. Kilda area where our hotel was located.  I decided on St. Kilda and the Hotel Tolarno as I read that the area was beach-y and artsy and had great restaurants.  It wasn't as beach-y as I was expecting, but we liked staying there.  It was pretty quiet during the time we were there as Australians were still on holiday from Christmas and New Years and it wasn't as warm yet.  As soon as we left Melbourne, the temperatures started soring.  

LODGING

Hotel Tolerno (TA Review) - Lovely Hotel, Helpful Staff

This was a nice European type room.  The staff was very helpful when we needed directions or asked questions.  The tram also stops along the street in front of the hotel to take you downtown.

ACTIVITIES

Melbourne's CBD (downtown)

We hopped on the tram after arriving to Melbourne, checking into our room, and eating lunch to go visit the CBD.  The tram got us there in about 20 minutes.  We bought a ticket at the 7-11, but they have vending machines on the trams as well.  We got off at the Southern Cross stop and made our way to the free city tram.  We didn't really ride it but to get off a couple of stops down at Federation Square.  We checked out the area and then made our way to the Old Melbourne Gaol (jail).  We ended up getting there around 3:45pm and they tried to talk us into coming back the next day to do tours.  We opted to pay the concession fee to just check out the jail house.  This is where Ned Kelly was jailed and hanged.  After leaving the Gaol, we walked back to the Southern Cross stop to catch the tram back to our hotel.

The Great Ocean Road (GOR)

Our second day in Melbourne, we got up early, had some breakfast and left the hotel around 7:30am to drive the GOR.  Our plan was to get ahead of the tour buses that usually left the city between 8:30 and 9.  We were making good time, but missed an exit and had to back track a little.  We started on the GOR outside Torquay and made a couple of stops at Bells Beach and the Split Point Lighthouse.  As soon as we left the lighthouse and passed the GOR sign that goes over the road, we came to a stop in traffic.  People started turning their cars around and heading the other way, so we did also.  We stopped at a store to find out what happened and discovered there was an accident and the road was going to be closed for at least 4 hours. The GOR is a 2 lane road, so there was no way to go around that accident on that road. We decided to ask at the information centers to see what our options were to get around. 

The info desk in Anglesea gave us a map with a dirt road that went around and we got back on in Lorne. Driving on the dirt road was a little scary at first since: 1) we aren't used to driving on dirt roads; 2) it was the first full day Mike was driving on the opposite side of the car and road; and 3) cars coming from the other direction were flying past us.  We joked about our experience the whole way and finally made it back to the GOR.  It ended up being a 2 hour delay, but we continued on our trip.

We stopped in Lorne, a cool little town, to get some coffee and stretch our legs.  We also stopped and visited the Maits Rainforest Walk, The Twelve Apostles, and other stops along the way. We grabbed dinner in Colac at Cafe Nu-Deli and headed back to Melbourne. We didn't get back until 11:30pm to our hotel.
It ended up being a really long day due to the back tracking, the detour and all the stops, but the Great Ocean Road was beautiful. I'm glad we drove ourselves, so we could stop and go whenever we wanted.  I think it probably would have been a good idea to stop somewhere for the night and relax a little, soak in the scenery, and then drive back to Melbourne.  That's something we talked about doing different after our trip.

Phillip Island Penguin Parade

We slept in a little before making our way to Phillip Island to watch the penguin parade.  We weren't supposed to be there until about 7:30pm as that was about the time the sun would start setting and the penguins would come out of the ocean from hunting all day.  


We ended up leaving our hotel around 11am and made it close to the island's turn off about 12:30pm.  We hit traffic and thought, oh no, not again.  Well, there was another accident, unfortunately a fatal one involving a family, that closed the entrance to Phillip Island.  


At first, no one knew if or when it would open back up.  We found Kilcunda beach down the road and spent some time hanging out there.  We also drove into Wonthaggi to go to the visitor's center for ideas of what to do in the area and to get some lunch.  We were heading back to Kilcunda about 5pm when we hit traffic and thought the island must be open again.  We slowly moved towards the round about to Phillip Island and got to the Penguin Parade a little after 7:30pm.  We made it!  It was worth all that waiting, because watching these little fairy penguins get out of the ocean in little huddles and then waddle along the beach back to their burrows was absolutely amazing.  We wished we could have seen more of Phillip Island, we had planned on going to the Koala sanctuary as well, but I'm glad we made it to the penguin show!

After the show, we headed back to Melbourne and made it to our hotel after 12:30am.  

RESTAURANTS

Chinta Blues - Great Malaysian Food

Our first meal in Australia ended up being one of our favorites.  When we got to the restaurant it was completely empty and that made me a little nervous.  However, once we got our food and tasted it, I was not disappointed!  I ordered the Ayam Ria Chicken (diced chicken fillets, wok-tossed in a blend of spices, fresh ginger and dry red chilli, finished with crisp carrot slices and peanuts) based on Frommer's recommendation in his guide.  Mike ordered the Hokkian Char Fried Noodles (soft hokkien noodles gently simmered in a dark soya sauce with fishcake, bok choy, prawns and calamari).  This place was delicious.  Our meal was about $50 which included 2 beers.

Cacao 

This place was a couple of buildings down from our hotel and we went in one morning for coffee.  The lady working the counter was from the U.S. and was really friendly.  

The Angahook Cafe (in Anglesea on the GOR) 

We stopped in here for a quick bite before attempting the detour around the accident on the GOR.  I ended up with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich although I tried to order something that looked better in the display case.  I guess I didn't say the right thing.  Mike had a pastry filled with stuff that he saw someone else order.  We had a small lunch for about $10.

Cafe Nu-Deli (in Colac on Murray St.) - Good Local Meal 

We stopped here on our way back to Melbourne from the GOR.  We made it to Colac with less than 1/4 of a tank of gas and was really starting to wonder if we were going to make it to a station before running out.  The first gas station in Colac we came to had just closed and we were hoping it wasn't the only one in town.  We finally found one and asked the attendant for a recommendation for food.  We didn't really want to eat at McDonald's in Australia.  She recommended a pub down the street that we never found, but came across this place instead.  It looked like a nice casual place.  We walked in and immediately felt under dressed.  We had been in the car for about 12 hours and were tired and might have looked a little run down.  There were two older couples dressed up and having a nice evening out.  We almost missed dinner as our server had to check to see if the kitchen was still running.  We were in luck and ended up having a pretty decent meal here.  I ordered the special which was chicken and shrimp sauted in peanut sauce, which was pretty good.  However, it came with an Asian salad which was drenched in dressing.  Mike ordered a ribeye steak and it was very nice as well.  After such a long day of driving we were even more tired after our meal here, but had to drive another hour and a half to Melbourne.  Our dinner was about $50 which included 2 beers.

Leo's Spaghetti Bar - Quick Egg Breakfasts

We went here for breakfast the morning of our trip to Phillip Island.  It was across the street from our hotel.  They serve fried eggs over bread and it was pretty good.  I had fried eggs and ham on toast and Mike had Leo's breaky.  Yes, in Australia, they refer to breakfast as "breaky".  Mike's breaky came with some strange looking sausage, otherwise it was a good breakfast for about $20.

Continue Reading About Our Trip:

5 Nights in Cape Tribulation

6 Nights in Sydney

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

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

Rome, Italy - October 2008

We went to Italy for 2 weeks for our 2nd Anniversary.  We originally planned this trip during May, but had to postpone it to Oct/Nov.  We knew it would be cooler and we'd possibly have more rain, but it turned out to be a perfect trip.  It wasn't very crowded for the most part and it wasn't hot and sweaty.

Our itinerary included:  3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Sorrento (visiting Naples and Pompeii), 2 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Cinque Terre (Vernazza), and 3 nights in Venice.

We flew into Rome and out of Venice.  We traveled by train in Italy.  We packed very lightly, each carrying an oversize backpack weighing approximately 20 lbs.

We used Rick Steves' website and Italy guidebook to plan our trip and to chose hotels and restaurants.  Our budget for hotels was less than 150 Euros a night.  We did splurge on food, however.  We spent 75 Euros a day on food, but we had a lot of wine.  We had wine every night with dinner and for most of our lunches.

3 Nights in Rome – City with lots of history

We arrived in Rome about noon the first day of our trip. We took the train from the airport to the city center, checked into our hotel, Hotel Italia (TA Review), and headed to the Colosseum.

It was only a 15 minute walk from our hotel. We were able to get a lot in that afternoon. After the Colosseum, we walked through the Forum to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

The first night, we had dinner at a family-run restaurant that seemed to be in an alleyway. The streets are very small and narrow, so it always seems that you are walking in an alley. When we first arrived, the server sat us at a table that was so close to another couple, it would seem as though we were there all together. Most of the other tables were empty, so we asked to move. The couple told us that it wouldn't matter where we moved to, but we didn't understand what they meant. Almost immediately, another couple was sat next to us as close as before. We quickly learned that all restaurants in Italy sit people this close.

The second day, we went to the Vatican.  There were no Pope sightings while we were there. We walked a lot in Rome (and everywhere else), but we did jump on the Metro subway when we got tired or wanted to go somewhere that was too far from our hotel. The Metro was pretty east to figure out. We also jumped on the bus one evening to go to dinner. The only thing I knew was which bus to get on, but I didn't know what stop to get off. We finally heard some other tourists going to the same place we were and jumped off when they did.

Our third day in Rome, we went to the Borghese Gallery.  The museum was really nice, but it was the park that it was located in that was really cool. After going through the museum, we wondered around the park watching all the locals enjoy their Sunday afternoon. I especially got a kick out of the children. There was something about little kids speaking Italian that just fascinated me.

The last night of our trip, we came across a small Jazz bar.  We went in and ordered a bottle of wine and listened to some live music. It was really cool when the singer sang songs in Italian, but she actually sang a lot of popular songs in English.

When talking about this trip, a lot of people were concerned about what sort of weather we'd have visiting Italy this time of year. It only rained once while we were in Rome and it was only an hour or so and we were taking a siesta. We took naps a lot, but we were walking at least 10 miles a day.

ATTRACTIONS:

Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps – All things you have to see!

Once we arrived to Rome and checked into our hotel, we walked down to the Colosseum and went inside to see it.  We stood in line for about 30 minutes and got the audio guide for our tour.

After the Colosseum, we walked through the Forum with our walking guide from Rick Steves.  We followed his guide and learned about most of the ruins that remain in the Forum.  It was very helpful and fun to have the guide.

We then walked down Capitol Hill and over to the Pantheon.  It was dark by this time, but we were still able to go inside the Pantheon.  It actually started sprinkling while we were in there and could feel it coming through the dome.  We stopped for a quick dinner before heading to see the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.

We only saw the Trevi Fountain at night, but it was a great night scene.  There were lots of people sitting on the steps enjoying the view.  We grabbed a beer from a shop nearby and sat to watch people take pictures and throw coins over their shoulders.

Our last stop were the Spanish Steps, another big hang out at night.  We jumped on the Metro stop here and headed back to our hotel.  It was a long day of walking, but we saw most of the major landmarks in one day!

Vatican City – St. Peter’s Basilica and Vatican Museum – Home of the Pope.

We went to visit the Vatican on a Saturday.  The last Sunday of the month is free, but we heard it gets really crowded, so we opted to go on Saturday.  We took the metro from our hotel and followed the crowd to St. Peter's Square.  I was amazed by the square.  We waited in line to get inside the Basilica for about 45 minutes.  You have to go through metal detectors before going inside.  We opted for the audio tour, but chose not to listen to every entry.  We would have been in there for hours.  The church is so beautiful and amazing, expect to look up A LOT!

After touring the church, we climbed the dome (Michelangelo's last work).  It's a 300+ stair climb to the top and there are some very narrow passages.  I get a little claustrophobic and had to slow down when there were people in front of me.  Once you get to the top, you get some pretty awesome views of Rome.  The one thing that really upset me was all the graffiti on the walls.  This defacing was everywhere we went in Italy.  How could people write on buildings and structures that were 100s of years old?  I could never quite understand that.

After climbing the dome, we went to the Vatican Museum.  We had seen signs giving the hours of the Museum for the end of Oct and it seemed that the Museum closed early.  However, we decided to go and make sure and luckily it was still open.  We headed straight for the Sistine Chapel.  There really isn't a direct route to the Chapel, however, so you walk through the Museum a ways and see a lot of paintings before you finally get to the Chapel.  You aren't allowed to take any pictures in the Chapel (not even without the flash), however, we didn't see the sign and snapped a couple before getting yelled at by security.

We spent one day in Vatican City and there is no way you can see everything, but that gives a good reason to go back again someday!

Borghese Gallery – Museum of sculptures and paintings.

This museum recommends reservations.  We booked for a Sunday morning.  The park, Villa Borghese, that it is located in is like a big "Central Park".  It was a cool park with trails, ponds, row boats, museums, a zoo and lots of people watching.

Your reservation to the museum gives you 2 hours to view the 2 level museum.  The sculptures are on the bottom floor and the paintings are on the top floor.  We got the audio guide and it was very helpful to explain what you were looking at.  This was one of our favorite museums from our trip.

Charity Café Jazz Club – Wine and Jazz Bar.

On the way from our hotel to the Colosseum, we came across this little Jazz bar.  I saw a sign that they were having a performance that night with a buffet .  We came back and went in and sat in a booth in the back.  The place is very small with about 6 booths and a few seating options by the bar.

We ordered a bottle of red wine for 24 Euros and stayed to listen to the performer.  The performance was "Aperitivo Jazz con Marta Berni Duo".  It was a female singer and a pianist.  They were pretty decent.  We really enjoyed the Italian songs, it added to the ambiance.  However, she did sing a lot of popular songs in English.

According to the brochure we picked up and their myspace page, they have performers quite often, Wed thru Sun nights.  Their myspace page is myspace.com/charityjazz.

RESTAURANTS:

Osteria da Mario –  Little Mom and Pop Joint.

This restaurant is about 2 blocks away from the Pantheon.  You can sit inside or outside.  The restaurant is next to a couple of wine bars.  We had our first experience with sitting very close to other people, which is common in restaurants in Italy.

The service was what we expected.  It's not like in the U.S. where servers go out of their way to be friendly or check on you all the time.  You'll get plenty of time to decide what you want and to get the check.  Usually you have to ask for things, like the check.

We ordered Ravioli and Carbonara, both were very good.  We also had a liter of house red wine.  Our meal was 31 Euros.

Ristorante la Carbonara –  Nice place on Campo de’ Fiori.

The restaurant is located on Campo de' Fiori.  We usually tried to eat away from the tourist areas, but Rick Steves recommended eating on the square here.  The service was ok, a little stuffy.

We ordered Cannelloni and Oso Bucco and a liter of house red wine.  The cannelloni is oven baked and comes out really hot.  It was very good.  Our meal was a little more expensive here, we spent 58 Euros.

Oppio Caffe –  Nice view of the Colosseum.

By our third day of walking all over Rome, my legs were pretty sore.  We had an afternoon where we wanted to relax, but not sit in our hotel.  The Colosseum was the closest site to our hotel, so we walked to it and found this bar that had patio seating facing the Colosseum.  We decided to sit and have some drinks and soak in the atmosphere.

We ended up having a few beers and then ordering pizza.  The pizzas in Italy are pretty big, we could have shared one (although some places don't let you do that).  We ended up spending 43 Euros for our beer and pizza.  We knew it would be a little more expensive due to the view, but it was a great place to just hang out and look at the Colosseum for a while.  A lot of people were coming and going just having a cocktail or coffee and appetizer.

The decor on the inside is very modern and the bathroom in located in a small hallway of mirrors.

Continue reading our trip:

3 Nights in Sorrento

2 Nights in Florence

3 Nights in Cinque Terre

3 Nights in Venice