Trip Report - London, Amalfi, Rome, Venice Sept 2014

Enjoying your report. I'm going to London for the second time next June and Italy in a couple years so I look forward to more.

...Part 2

We arrived to Naples around 10pm or so (that was the easiest passport check - they just looked at the passport and stamped it...no questions at all!). Took the Alibus from the airport to the train stn as our hotel (Grand Europa Hotel) was just around the corner from the stn. It took us a minute to get our bearings (with the construction going on at the train stn, it was hard to orient ourselves). The hotel was OK - we weren't even there for 12 hrs. Free buffet type breakfast, so that was nice. And quiet, for the area. And when we came out the next day to head for Pompeii, I was able to find the side entrance for the stn instead of walking all the way around. I don't have too many memories of the stn from our visit in 2008 (we took a day trip from Rome to do Herculaneam) but we had no issues at all, no feeling worried about our safety. We wrestled our bags onto the train to Pompeii. Had to stand about half the way before some seats freed up, and it was quite crowded (this was a Fri). At the Pompeii stn, we dropped our bags at the bag check, and unfortunately, I didn't research much about Pompeii (an oversight for me). I didn't realize that the main gates were only a few hundred feet away and thought we bought the tickets at the spots at the stn. Uh - no. First hubby mistakenly bought 3 tickets to go up Mt Vesuvius - someone pointed him to the kiosk and he said Pompeii, the lady said yes and proceeded to sell him 66 euro tickets and told us to wait for the bus. Of course, tix are in Italian (it is Italy) and I'm looking and thinking something was really wrong (I was pretty sure you didn't need to take a bus there, and the tix said Vesuvius on them). Hubby got his back all up about it saying...'No, I said Pompeii and she said yes'...so I ask the people waiting for the bus...yes, this bus goes up Vesu, not to Pompeii. So great, we thought we'd be stuck with the tix (the woman watching the booth was gone) - but one of the men rounding people up for tours exchanged them and gave us back the difference.

So, the moral of this story is, if you don't want a tour, bypass the train stn ticket sellers and head up the road. Anyways, we were in a bit of a hurry as we had to be in Amalfi by 4pm, so the 2 hr tour gave us a good oversight. Had we more time, we could've stayed after the tour and explored on our own. And Pompeii is vast - I can certainly see how, if you really want to do it right, you could spend the better part of the day there.

After Pompeii, we had to head for Sorrento to catch the bus to Amalfi. When we got there, we had just missed the 2pm bus and had to wait til 2:30. So we had 90 min to get to Amalfi - no prob, it's only an hour...if the traffic is good. We arrived (after quite a gut churning bus ride - not for the faint hearted!) at 4 on the dot (our airbnb host had to go away for a wedding for the weekend and needed to leave around 4). He juggled us and our luggage over to Atrani. We got settled, walked back over to Amalfi for supper (a spot right beside the Amalfi Cathedral) and after eating, explored Amalfi a bit.

The next day, I had booked a private tour with Sorrento Silver Star cars. Lorenzo was our driver. He took us to Ravello, had about an hour (I knew we were going back the next day) then thru the mtns/back way to Naples area (just a drive by). Then to Sorrento. We had about 90 min in Sorrento (had some lunch) then on to Positano for about an hour. We probably could have spent longer, but it was so hot, and the hills were killer. We already explored Amalfi, and since the tours can be 8-9 hrs, and ours had only been 8, he offered to show us something else, but we had just driven thru a fast and quick rainstorm and figured it would be wet, so we just ended the tour at Atrani. I'm a bit of a budget traveler, so it was hard to spend that much for a tour, but I felt it was worth it (esp with my mom - I couldn't see doing all that on a bus). Mom really enjoyed.

Next day, we went up to Ravello in the morning, did the beautiful gardens (Villa Cimbrone) and got that classic Amalfi coast shot with the trees and the church spire - you know the one. Went into the town and wandered a bit, had some lunch, saw a wedding come out of the church and got lost trying to find the way to the Ravello walk down to Atrani. Luckily, we found the tourist info and she pointed us in the right direction. And, she said the walk took 30 min. She forgot to mention - if you are in good shape and your legs like you. The bad thing was, we lingered too long in the town and were making our way during the hottest part of the day. But it was beautiful. I think we took maybe 50 min - but we did have to stop for breaks. Make sure you take water. And there are lots (LOTS) of stairs. My ankles were trembling when we got to the bottom...and I think I can honestly say I've never experienced my legs trembling like that either ever, or in a very long time. Wear good shoes, and prob best to do it early morning or late afternoon if you are there when it's hot.

I had hoped to take the bus to one of the other little towns, but lingering too long in Ravello pared with the walk, we were bushed, so basically relaxed, then wandered back to Amalfi.

I can say that our tour has def whetted my appetite to return to Amalfi coast for maybe 5-6 nights (as opposed to 3) and spend a day in Sorrento, a day in Positano, a day and night (or two) in Capri (Lorenzo said it is best to spend the night so you can experience it without the day trippers - kinda like Venice).

So next day (Monday) we had to head for Rome - it was back to Amalfi, bus to Sorrento (word of warning - if you are prone to motion sickness - take some ginger or Gravol - some poor soul on the bus was retching...bleech), train to Naples - oh, we did the Archaelogical Museum in Naples. Unfortunately, the time and money involved in getting there we didn't think was worth it. We had to leave our bags at the train stn (4 bags, 4 or 5 euro a bag) then tix for the metro - a bit of a wait for the metro (there and back prob 45 min total between waiting and moving). Paying for the museum. (There are lockers there where you can leave say a personal size bag - I'm fairly sure a carry on would never fit - it was free). I did enjoy the museum, and if you are going to Naples and have the time to see it, it's certainly worth it, but by the time we paid the 16-20euro for the bag check and the time getting in and out, we were underwhelmed. But I'm sure had we no bags to check and not feeling rushed to get to Rome, we would have enjoyed it much more.

Got tix for the fast train to Rome, arriving around 4-5pm (again, in both Rome and Naples - I think they have really cleaned up the train stns - at no time did we feel like we were going to fall prey to pickpockets or purse snatchers). Made our way to our airbnb and settled in. Did a night walk around the area after cooking supper (I have left reviews for our airbnb's on the Italy review section). This place was within spitting distance of the Colosseum (you could look out the window and see it)..so we just went over there in the evening and walked down to Vittorio E monument.

to be cont'd...

Rome day 2-5 (we first visited Rome in 2008 - our first city we've ever went to in Europe - yes...we started with Rome...lol).

Most mornings, my mom and I got up early (7am) and went for a little walk over to the Colosseum or around the surrounding areas, so that was nice. Once hubby was up, walked to Emmanuel monument, poked our heads into Santa Maria basilica at the top, and went into the 'war museum' (sorry - I don't know the proper name) that was there. Then walked over to Piazza Navona to see the Fountain of the Four Rivers in all it's glory (it was being restored when we visited in 08). It did not disappoint. I got my tartufo at Tre Scalini - it did not disappoint. Another neat store nearby - Ai Monasteri - nice place to pick up unique gifts - everything they sell is made in monasteries thru Italy (not sure if other countries as well) http://www.spottedbylocals.com/rome/ai-monasteri/ We picked up a few soaps, but they sell lots of creams, honey and spreads, even some liquor. Very cool. After Navona was the Pantheon, where we lingered inside out of the heat for a good 20 min or more. From there to the Trevi Ftn - we knew it was being restored but still went by. Mostly under wraps of course, but you can walk out on the walk way and see what is uncovered closer then when it is running. After eating, we headed for Piazza del Popolo - very lively in the evening!

Next day was Ostia Antica. I think we got there around 10am or so. Easy to get to using the metro/trains, bigger than I thought, a little dusty. Lots of places to fill water so take your bottles, you will need them. There is a cafeteria as well to get something to eat. I guess in my ripe old age of 41, heat gets to me a little more so about 2/3rds of the way thru, I was ready to go. But there were some neat spots to see, lovely mosaics...I think we spent about 3 hours there (including about 20 min to eat). If you really wanted to get into it, probably 4 hours would cover everything. I had hoped to go to Appia Antica as well on this trip (we did it in 08 and I really enjoyed it) but we weren't able to fit it in. Back to Rome and the room for a rest, then Spanish Steps (we missed seeing the ftn uncovered - they unveiled it the week after we left). Supper and the Triton Ftn.

Next day was the Forum ruins and the Colosseum underground tour. I did not buy tickets in advance for the underground/3rd tier. I went over first thing that morning with my mom when it opened (note - you cannot buy underground tour tickets at the Forum ticket office - I tried there first) and asked if they had any spots left. I was prepared for disappointment, and would have been fine with a regular visit, but they had slots for 12:40. If you don't want to have to do the overseas phone call and won't be crushed if you can't do the tour then you could give this a try. If you are going to be in Rome a few days, go to the Colosseum on your first day and see if they can get you in that day or later in the week. Went back to the room and got hubby, did our Rick Steves audio tour of the Forum (nice), grabbed a quick snack at the metro stn and went over to the Col. The only time it rained on us - rained quite hard, but it stopped and cleared up by the time we did the underground tour. I would recommend the underground tour - quite interesting to see it from that perspective, and the views from the 3rd tier were amazing. There is a really SLOOOOOW elevator to get anyone with mobility issues or baby strollers to the underground, but I'm sure 3rd tier you had no option. Our guide didn't have the best English in the world (let's say an 80% grasp) - you had to listen very closely to get the gist, and I was more interested in taking photos, but hubby enjoyed the commentary. Back to the room (and got some gelato on the way_. Mom took a rest, hubby and I walked down to San Giovanni in Laterno and went in - small, but lovely. cont'd.....

Did the abridged RS night walk. Took a bus to Piazza Navona (that wasn't fun trying to figure out which bus would get us there - then having to wait while 2 packed to the rafters buses stopped and we couldn't squeeze on. but we finally made it - Campo de Fiori was lively (I really wanted to see it in the morning but never made it) as was Navona. Got some lovely shots at the Pantheon and back to the room.

Our last day, I had an after hours tour booked with Walks of Italy for the Vatican, so we knew in the afternoon that we wanted to visit St Peters, so we figured we had til about 3pm to kill. Back over to Popolo and popped into Santa Maria de Popolo, then over to Santa Maria dei Miracoli. Up to the Borghese Gardens for a stroll. Decided to go to the Zoo - which was OK - it needs some better animal habitats (it looks like they are making improvements), but my mom got to see animals she hasn't seen before. They had lots of things you could rent to get around the gardens - segways (which looked really cool - and if I knew how to use one, I would've been all over that)...4 person 'bike-cars', golf carts...it would have been nice to have something as the park is quite vast. There was a little train going thru the park as well.

After the park, we headed in to St Peter's. Decided to stop for supper before heading into St P on the off chance that we'd get caught in a big supper crowd afterwards - we didn't want to be late for our appointed meet time for the tour. Ate at Ris Café - very good hamburger, pizza and Caesar salad. Did the walk about St P. Met up for our tour at 7:30 and off we went. I guess I didn't realize how many people would still be in there 'after hours' but I'm guessing from what I've heard people say about thru the day, that the crowds were way smaller. I would guess that the lighting would be better thru the day with natural light coming in the windows. Lots of groups going thru. The only thing that bothered me a little (tho I understand why she did it) was that when we went in, the tour guide had us all sitting on benches before even going into the museum and spent (what felt like forever) about 20 min explaining the paintings in the Sistine. She wanted to do it before getting there so we wouldn't have to stand outside in a crowd of other groups explaining it to us outside the chapel. I understand, but the explanation seemed to go on so long (and after a tiring day, I had a hard time keeping my eyes open...lol). Raphael rooms were a bit crowded, but still quite manageable. Beautiful mosaics, sculptures, paintings - and I'm guessing we only scratched the surface. But it was a nice overview.

Venice...

Last section! Venice. This is our 4th visit to Venice (can you tell I love it) but my mom's first. We didn't have any huge plans, other than some areas to explore. Took the train from Rome arriving in Venice around 3pm (I booked the tix in advance to take advantage of the lower prices). By the time we got our 3 day vaporetto pass (deep breath - 40 euro...each!!! But worth it for the amnt of trips we took) and made it to San Silvestro stop to meet our airbnb host, it was 4pm. Decided to chill a bit, and did an evening walk. Next morning mom and I were up with the birds (7am or so) - if I've said it once I've said it 100 times - get up early and go to St Marks - so crowd free, it is amazing. We shared the square with maybe a few dozen people, as opposed to around 10 am when it is packed. Hubby was not moving very fast this morning. We decided to head to Burano, and had planned to do Torcello and Murano as well. We visited Burano in 2012, but got rained on so didn't have much chance to look around. This time was glorious and sunny. We actually spent so long on Burano (combined with the heat and having to stand on the ferry over from Murano we were pretty tired) that we decided to skip Torcello (which we saw quickly last time) and Murano - where I tend to just look in the shops for something I can get in Venice proper anyways. Burano is absolutely gorgeous - it supplanted Murano as my fav outlying island! So colourful - it is a photographers dream (even an amateur like me). Basically just wandered around and had lunch, and took pictures.

Back to Venice for some back alley wanderings, supper and getting some night shots of the city.

Next day was up early again for me and mom. Went to the same places (Rialto/St Marks), but on the way back to the room we scoped out the food/veggie market at Rialto Mercata - but we were actually a little early - things were just setting up. I can see how gorgeous it is, and if you were staying in Venice any length of time and doing your own cooking - you can't go wrong getting your fruit and veggies here! Today was our visit to St Marks - (Hubby was so slow, we decided to go back out again and met him at SM Square at 10:30). Mom and I popped our heads into a few other churches and checked out the artists selling their wares along the water. The line for St Marks looked huge - it was halfway across the Sq, but it took only 15 min to get to the door. And 15 min to look around inside and done. (We've already been in it every trip, so this was for my mom). We debated getting in the line for the campanile/bell tower (we did this in '08 or '10), but I had been wanting to go over to San Giorgio. So off we went. No line at all for that bell tower. 6 euro cost. My mom didn't go up (not sure if it was the height thing, or she didn't realize there was an elevator...who knows). There were maybe 8-10 other people up there. And we heard one whole ding of the bell (at 1pm - LOUD!). But what lovely views - across to St Marks, really a different perspective. I'm glad we went up there instead of waiting for probably a half hour and being sardined with other people at St Marks Campanile. After that is was back to the 'mainland' - hubby overheard someone talking about a naval museum over by Arsenale, but it closed early on the Monday (we stopped for late lunch, and I think it was only open til 2opm or so - it was around 3 by now - disappointed....not. OK, hubby was, but the womenfolk weren't). Wandered the back alleys again. Over to Accademia to explore there a little, had a lovely late meal at All Amarone wine bar (I reviewed it under Italy reviews). Even after 4 trips now to Venice - it still holds a special place in my heart, and I still have so many unexplored areas!

Next day was the flight back to London, we popped into the Brit Museum and made our way to our airport hotel!

Fini!

Thanks, Nicole!

Nice report Nicole. I am off to Italy & Paris next week myself and plan on visiting San Giorgio Maggiore. I have a friend that works and live in Aviano that told me of the view you get from there. Looking forward to it.

Great report. :) enjoyed the section on Rome since I am planning a trip there