10pm: Sitting in the room after another long day. Didn't sleep that well but then slept til after 9am. WTF?!? Rushed out and instead of having breakfast at the bar included with my B&B I walked a few minutes to famous St. Eustachio, supposedly with the best coffee in the city. It's pretty delicious and so was the chocolate croissant.
Walked over to trastevere and found the Villa Farnesina, which is a Renaissance villa that has a lot of paintings and frescoes from Raphael. Walked through Trastevere through where I was last night for dinner. Still a very lively place even in the morning! Found Piazza St. Cecilia, where I wanted to see the church and also have lunch. Yesterday in the catacombs, I saw St. Cecilia's tomb and a replica of a statue of her. Today I saw the church build on top of her house. She was a 12 year old Christian killed for her faith so they built a church in her honor. She's the patron saint of music. For 2.50 you can go downstairs and see the ancient excavations of her house. Pretty cool.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Day 2 pictures: 5-9-11
Pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626692862122/
Also I got up the video from the Spanish steps of the opera practice. It's only 4 seconds and high-pitched: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/5707886355/in/photostream
Also I got up the video from the Spanish steps of the opera practice. It's only 4 seconds and high-pitched: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/5707886355/in/photostream
Day 3: Aventino, Testaccio, & a Lot of OLD STUFF
6:15 pm: Holy long day. Slept well again and woke up to my alarm at 7:45. Had brekfast and set out for the Aventine hill. I knew I could take bus 30 there, but somehow I kept walking around Largo Argentina in circles so I decided to hop on the (not-so-)Express bus 40 to the station, then the metro to Circo Maximo. Still a big empty oval. Set out to find the Aventine Hill - on a day like today I had to find the Knights of Malta Keyhole - famous for perfectly framing St. Peters's dome. Pretty amazing stuff. Also wandered through this lovely orange garden (with equally lovely views) and saw the peaceful Saint Sabina church. Descended the Aventine in the direction of Testaccio to find the famous covered market. Yummy food wonderland full of fresh fruits and veggies from all over as well as lots of meat and fish and bread (and pet food and toilet paper?) stands. I found the one thing at which California beats Italy - the strawberries.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Day 1 Pictures
Finally uploaded here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/debstah1/sets/72157626563382329/
I'll tag and title them later but most of them are pretty recognizable anyway ;)
I'll tag and title them later but most of them are pretty recognizable anyway ;)
Day 2: Orvieto, San Pietro, and More
Phew, what a long day! I actually slept better last night than I have in a long time - take that, jetlag! Woke up with my alarm at 7:10 and got ready quickly because I had an 8:22 Intercity train to Orvieto that I had already booked (at half price by booking in advance). Got breakfast at the cafe my B&B associates with. Nutella croissant never a bad way to start the day. Bought bus tickets (following my Italian victory of asking a newsstand if they sold them - in Italian!) and took the bus to the station. I never realized how massive Termini is. It's basically a shopping mall combined with a train station that has more than 30 tracks. Anyway, after a short delay, the train set off and arrived in Orvieto a little over an hour later.
Orvieto is lovely, but, really, not all that much different from the other hilltop towns I've seen. The duomo is ridiculous, however. And it has this amazing system of over 1200 underground caves. Now they offer a tour so I took the English one at 11:15 for 6 euros. Orvieto was originally settled by the Etruscans, so you have ancient olive oil mills/presses, quarries, and ... pigeon homes. Wandered around a bit more and grabbed a quick focaccia lunch at a bakery, followed by a delicious gelato. One shop had gorgeous olive wood stuff, reminding me of my favorite shop in Siena, however, the owner greeted everyone in English and there was a sign outside saying "$ accepted here" - I refused to buy anything just on principle. Made my way back to the duomo and took the bus to the funiculaire to the station and bought a 2pm ticket back, arriving in Rome a little after 3pm.
Orvieto is lovely, but, really, not all that much different from the other hilltop towns I've seen. The duomo is ridiculous, however. And it has this amazing system of over 1200 underground caves. Now they offer a tour so I took the English one at 11:15 for 6 euros. Orvieto was originally settled by the Etruscans, so you have ancient olive oil mills/presses, quarries, and ... pigeon homes. Wandered around a bit more and grabbed a quick focaccia lunch at a bakery, followed by a delicious gelato. One shop had gorgeous olive wood stuff, reminding me of my favorite shop in Siena, however, the owner greeted everyone in English and there was a sign outside saying "$ accepted here" - I refused to buy anything just on principle. Made my way back to the duomo and took the bus to the funiculaire to the station and bought a 2pm ticket back, arriving in Rome a little after 3pm.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Day 1 Cont.: Ciao Roma!
Sitting in the room at the lovely B&B (lying in bed more accurately) after a long day that really feels like two. After the plane arrived a few minutes late, I coasted through passport control. An aside - WTF does a girl have to do to get a frigging Italy passport stamp because apparently going through an Italian passport control with a US passport is not enough!
Anyway, luggage took some time so it was nearly two before I went through customs and found my trusty Rome Cabs driver waiting for me. And thanks to him he provided the first epic memory of the trip. As he was pulling out of the airport, he didnt let this girl cross the street (Pedestrians do NOT get the right of way here - in fact i think there is no such thing as Right of Way here). she gave him a look, then he drove on for about 2 seconds. stopped. backed up. got out of the car, and totally told her off. Holy crap, have I ever mentioned how much I love this place?!??
Anyway, luggage took some time so it was nearly two before I went through customs and found my trusty Rome Cabs driver waiting for me. And thanks to him he provided the first epic memory of the trip. As he was pulling out of the airport, he didnt let this girl cross the street (Pedestrians do NOT get the right of way here - in fact i think there is no such thing as Right of Way here). she gave him a look, then he drove on for about 2 seconds. stopped. backed up. got out of the car, and totally told her off. Holy crap, have I ever mentioned how much I love this place?!??
Day 1: The Plane
4:10 pm Pacific: Sitting on the plane, finally in flight after a short delay. The boarding process reminded me of that Italy vs the rest of Europe Youtube video - in other words, a total cluster. I would have thought most people on this flight were tourists, but there are a significant number of Italian-speakers on board. I'm sitting in front of a priest, so I feel safe.
I would have to say that this Alitalia plane is as nice or nicer than other planes I have taken to Europe. A personal in-seat entertainment system, relatively wide seats (emphasis on relatively) and perhaps the best feature for a short person like me, a kick stand foot rest that pops down. nice!
I would have to say that this Alitalia plane is as nice or nicer than other planes I have taken to Europe. A personal in-seat entertainment system, relatively wide seats (emphasis on relatively) and perhaps the best feature for a short person like me, a kick stand foot rest that pops down. nice!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Holy Crap Where Has the Time Gone!?!
Sarò in Italia in tre settimane!!!
It seems like just yesterday I was formulating the plans for this trip in my head. Now it's only 3 weeks away and after a few potential road bumps, it's all steams ahead. I readjusted my itinerary a bit from the last time I posted - it's now 5 nights in Rome and 4 in Naples. After starting to read about all the things to see in Naples, I just had to add a day. To compensate, I decided against the cooking class in Rome. That freed up a day and I think I'll be able to fit everything in to Rome that I wanted to see, and more. In the interest of maximizing my time and sights, i'll stop in Pompeii on the way from Sorrento to Naples and check out Bari for a few hours before meeting up with my tour guide.
In Rome interesting things have opened up recently and I've made plans to take advantage: namely the Domus Romane at the Palazzo Valentini and the underground/3rd level of the Colosseum. I prepaid for both of those tours, as well as reserving a time to see the Galleria Borghese, finally. I wonder how things like this got around before the internet - these sights are too new to be in any guidebook, thank god for TripAdvisor! I also pre-purchased a few train tickets to take advantage of the "MINI" fares and saved several euros.
It seems like just yesterday I was formulating the plans for this trip in my head. Now it's only 3 weeks away and after a few potential road bumps, it's all steams ahead. I readjusted my itinerary a bit from the last time I posted - it's now 5 nights in Rome and 4 in Naples. After starting to read about all the things to see in Naples, I just had to add a day. To compensate, I decided against the cooking class in Rome. That freed up a day and I think I'll be able to fit everything in to Rome that I wanted to see, and more. In the interest of maximizing my time and sights, i'll stop in Pompeii on the way from Sorrento to Naples and check out Bari for a few hours before meeting up with my tour guide.
In Rome interesting things have opened up recently and I've made plans to take advantage: namely the Domus Romane at the Palazzo Valentini and the underground/3rd level of the Colosseum. I prepaid for both of those tours, as well as reserving a time to see the Galleria Borghese, finally. I wonder how things like this got around before the internet - these sights are too new to be in any guidebook, thank god for TripAdvisor! I also pre-purchased a few train tickets to take advantage of the "MINI" fares and saved several euros.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Watch Out Southern Italy, Here I Come!
Oops, I should probably have posted here before now. By this point, everything is pretty much official. I've put down a deposit on a tour, booked 2 other hotels, and got travel insurance worked out. I'm going to southern italy for 3 weeks in May 2011!!!
Here is the plan:
Rome - 6 nights
Sorrento - 4 nights
Naples - 3 nights
Lecce - 2 nights
Puglia tour with Experience Puglia - 6 nights.
Here is the plan:
Rome - 6 nights
Sorrento - 4 nights
Naples - 3 nights
Lecce - 2 nights
Puglia tour with Experience Puglia - 6 nights.
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