We just returned Tuesday night from 2 weeks in Italy and we loved it. My wife and I flew into Rome where we stayed 3 nights. We stayed at Hotel Montreal which was two blocks from the train station. It turnes out to be a great place to stay rooms were very nice. The Metro was just a few minutes away. We loved Rome, saw all the sights. We rode the Metro most places and it worked great for us. The only negative about Rome is we could not find a really good place for dinner. We took the train to Venice next for 3 days. What a great city to explore we walked all over. We stayed at Pensione Guerrato and it was a great place to stay. We took the train next to Vernazza ( one of the 5 towns of the Cinque Terre). What a great time we had hiking and relaxing by the water. We loved these 5 towns. We were there for 5 nights. While there we found the restaurant Il Pirata delle Cinque Terre and it was great we had dinner and breakfast there every day. There pastry's in the morning were fantastic. We just loved our first trip to Italy and can't wait to go back.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Glad you had a good time, "....could not find a really good place for dinner.,,,," is kind of an odd statement about Rome. You must have been looking for something unusual. Rome must have a couple hundred thousand restaurants and we only found one that was so/so. Tell me what you prefer in the US?
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15784 posts
Hi Ron,
I'll be in CT in a couple of weeks. Where is Il Pirata? Expensive? What did you eat there for dinner that you especially recommend?
Welcome home!
Posted by
Land of La
9223 posts
Thanks for the post. Wish I could have posted this place before you left for Rome:
http://www.latavernadegliamici.com/eng/aboutus.asp
I still dream of the fabulous meal I had here: Prawn and Apple salad, Zucchini Flowers, Gonnochi and Beef with Rosemary....WOW! Pricey yes but oh so worth every bite. Found it by getting lost walking back to my apartment from the Victor Emanuel Monument.
Glad you enjoyed Italy. Fabulous country to explore.
Ciao
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Ron, glad you had a wonderful time in Italy, it is a wonderful country, but I too had a hard time finding any wonderful food in either Rome or Venice, I didn't have enough time( only 3 nights in Rome and 2 in Venice) so I assume it would be different if I had more time, or went to smaller cities. Frankly, I don't think Venice is partiucularily known for good food anyways. Rome being so large has good food somewhere I am sure.
Someone always get hot on this topic, but, remember, I did say the country was lovely,, but the food, well, we just didn't have much luck. ( did have one great rosemary roasted chicken though)
Posted by
Daytona Beach, FL
223 posts
Ron,
Welcome to the Italiaphile club!
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Ron, loved your post. Thanks so much, I felt like I was back there again for a little bit. I wish there were more posts like this...Thanks :)
Posted by
Glenwood Springs, CO, USA
12 posts
We returned on the 18th from two weeks in Italy and we can't wait to go back either. There's just something about it. I can't stop thinking about it. The Italians know how to live that's for sure!!
Posted by
Beautiful Austin TX
582 posts
My Italy trip is coming up two days after the election! I'll know who our president will be when I leave for Italy, and I sure hope I'll be happy about it! But, no matter what happens with that, I'll still be very happy about going off to Italy where my roots are. I just may want to move there!!
Posted by
victoria, Canada
11507 posts
Lisa, I am sure you will love your trip no matter who is elected,, and I am sure it will be interesting to hear how your family in Italy feels about who ever is elected, you will certainly find out some interesting things.. LOL
Posted by
TX
515 posts
At least, we hope we know within two days after Election Day.
Posted by
OP
Fremont, Mi, USA
74 posts
Norma the name of the restaurant in Venice was Osteria Tratttoria " Al Nono Risorto" it was in the S Croce area of Venice just a short walk from the Realto bridge. The menu is in Italian but they do speak a little english. We ate there all 3 nights we stayed in Venice.
Posted by
OP
Fremont, Mi, USA
74 posts
Thanks everybody for the posts. We just loved Italy. There was just something so special and relaxing about it. We can't wait till we can visit again. I forgot to mention that we found a fantastic restaurant in Venice that the locals loved. When we got away from the tourist area in Venice we fell in love with the city.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Ron, did you make a note of the restaurant name in Venice? I'll be there next month and would appreciate knowing the name and where it is. Thanks.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Thank you so much, Ron.
Posted by
TX
515 posts
Ron, thanks for stirring the memories. While lost in Venice, we stumbled upon the wonderful Trattoria Al Nono Risorto, too! We were apart from our RS tour group, and finding this super restaurant was so much fun. We really had to practice our Italian there. I am glad to know it is still there...one of the best meals we had in Italy. I'm curious...did they have a Stop the War peace sign poster still hanging on the back brick wall?
Posted by
OP
Fremont, Mi, USA
74 posts
Sharon, I do not remember that sign but they did have many other different signs hahging around. We just loved this place. I had a different item every night and they were all excellent. The atmosphere and food were what we were hopeing to find in Italy.
Posted by
OP
Fremont, Mi, USA
74 posts
Norma, One thing I forgot to mention is the Al Nono Risorto does not open till 7:00. They get very busy quick so I would try and show up right at 7:00. They also take reservations so see if your hotel can make one for you.
Posted by
Cleveland
93 posts
Great post Ron! We'll be in Venice in 2 weeks and will definitely check out Osteria Trattoria. Do you know if they're kid-friendly? My daughter's 6.
Posted by
OP
Fremont, Mi, USA
74 posts
Hello NC. I would say that they are kid friendly. They have a whole menu of just pizzas if your daughter would like that. There pizzas are all red sauce but if you just want cheese or chesse and mushroom etc. they will make one for you. Just thinking about it while posting this makes me want to eat there again. If you have trouble finding it just pop into and shop and they can derict you to it.