Italy…..and most of Europe….just amazes me. After all these years so many of the same hotels, restaurants and cafes still exist, most with the same owners and menus! Over the years somethings have changed of course (usually prices!) but in reality almost 20 years later and many trips since our first I can still rely on some favorite spots still being around.
Sept 16 Sat
Woke up to not such a nice morning. Not quite rain but very misty.
Rae and Glen left by 6:30. We packed up the rest of the food and ourselves and were on the road by 9. According to ViaMichelin it should take us just over 5 hours of straight driving to get to Sorrento. We will definitely be stopping along the way so can add at least an hour to that.
No issues getting on the autostrada. Weather was a bit better. Quite a pleasant drive really. So many hill towns along the way. Would have been nice to stop and do a bit of a side trip or head up to one for lunch but was not happening today. A bit of a rest break and lunch at an autogrille just past Rome.
Once past Rome the landscape changed quite dramatically. More mountainous, very rocky looking mountains. Much more industrial on the autostrada and the towns along the road were not as picturesque, mostly large apartments and a newer mishmash of commercial, industrial and residential, not unlike highways connecting all big cities everywhere I guess.
We did very well until just past Naples where we had to take the exit for the A3 then onto SS145, which we did but must have missed the sign for our exit. We finally exited just past Pompeii at a place called Scafati. Drove around in circles for a while until we found a gas station with a big map painted on the side. It had a “you are here” star which was really quite helpful. A guy came over and asked if we were looking for something so explained that we’d missed our turn off for Sorrento. He said if we could wait 5 minutes he was just closing up and would lead us back on to the highway and off in the right direction. B was a little concerned that we were going to get taken down some dark alley etc. etc. Fair enough I guess but just decided that if it looked like something a bit shady we’d just keep driving. All was for nothing as the guy got us back on the freeway, even slowing down and waving for people to pass him because he was going so slow. Came to the very clearly signed exit for Sorrento, which he was pointing at, even pulling over to make sure we’d actually taken it! Cannot thank that man enough!
Arrived in Sorrento around 4:30 so only a little behind schedule. Found the rental office and followed the agent to meet the owner of Villa Cinzia in Massa Lubrense. Had started rain a bit on and off.
Met Cinzia, a lovely lady, on a corner and she led us down our little alley with the car as far as we could go. It was just barely wide enough. Showed us where to park then unloaded all our stuff into her teeny weeny car for the final few meters. We just followed her on foot. You could touch the walls with your arms stretched straight out, seriously! If another weeny car came along you had to pin yourself up against the wall and hope your toes didn’t get run over and of course if another car came along someone had to back up. All this through wonderfully fragrant lemon groves. It smelled amazing especially after the rain. Very lush and quite tropical here. Through a gate and down a pathway down sort of dirt/mud path to the house. Knew immediately after we walked in that it was NOT the house advertised on Sorrento Holidays website. She told us that was the place next door which had been rented since June. Ah well. It was clean but had no sitting area, just the two bedrooms and a very little kitchen, the saving grace was the balcony that ran all along the front and around the side with the most spectacular view out towards Capri and up to Naples and Mt Vesuvius. Called Antonio at the rental agency and told him we weren’t too happy. He did offer to refund us completely and we could find something else but too late to do that and figured we could live with it for a couple days. Not impressed though.
Got the rooms sorted out and unpacked what food stuffs we had and headed back down the path and alley to Pasquales Pizzeria! Had great pizza, wine, a couple of other drinks and some cafe americanos. Started to pour, absolutely torrential rain for a few minutes. The people sitting by the railing were getting soaked so told them to join us at our table. Great fun chatting using the Italian phrase book. Her sister came along and offered to take us on a tour of the area tomorrow afternoon, which was a lovely thing to do, but we’d already made plans to head off early and go to Positano. Thanked them for a great time chatting and headed off while the rain had stopped. It was almost 11. Luckily we’d taken a flashlight because it was pitch black. The rain brings out the citrus smell, which is just unbelievable. Sat out on our deck for the bit. The skies had cleared up so stars were coming out and could see all the lights across the bay in Naples. Supposed to be lovely here so would be nice to have some time to explore.
OK day today. Glad we didn’t have too many long travel days. Just seem to take everything out of you and I wasn’t even driving. Getting lost didn’t help and of course the place not quite what it was supposed to be but now that we’re here, had a great dinner along with some good company and beautiful views, all is good.
Sept 17 Sun
Slept like a log until the storm hit around 4AM. Just spectacular! Lightening coming from every direction, thunder clap after thunder clap. Sat outside watching it for quite a while before going back to bed.
Was beautiful again when we got up and the smell from the lemon groves was crazy. Out by 9 hoping to catch the 10:00 bus to Sorrento. Stopped at a great little pasticceria around the corner from the TI office, where we got the bus tickets, for cappuccinos and croissants. Smelled wonderful in there.
Bus was late, which is apparently normal, and it was packed but he still let everyone on that was waiting at the stop. It was about a 15 minute bus ride hugging the coastline, so very scenic. Got off at the second stop in Sorrento, which turned out to be perfect, just a short walk to Piazza Tasso. Wasn’t terribly busy so we walked around a bit, in and out of some shops etc. Then the tour buses arrived!!
S & B had decided they were just going to explore Sorrento for the day and we’d catch up later so off we went to find where the buses to Positano were and got a schedule. None of the buses said Positano so asked some of the transit people and they said “all of them”??? A bit confusing but they don’t put their signs on until they are just about ready to leave. Not the easiest bus schedule to follow in any language! People started lining up so we got in line too, hoping it was for the right bus. Asked others in the line and they too were hoping it was for Positano. Ken stayed in line while I ran over to the guys at the taxi stand asking how much would it be to Positano. He said 60E return for the van……he told me go and find four more friends because he could take six. So I went back and asked the two couples behind us if there were interested in sharing a taxi for 60E and they were! More expensive than the bus but worth it.
Driver was a great guy. Gave us a bit of a tour along the way, pointing out this and that and telling us a bit of the history of the area. The drive was quite something! Part of it was OK and we could have probably driven it by ourselves but the nail biting part was around some of the tight corners especially when you were face to face with a bus. The road itself was an engineering feat built in 1800’s and I can see why. In some places the road is cantelivered out over cliffs that go down hundreds and hundreds of feet straight into the water. Just amazing and unbelievable views. Incredibly there are vendors selling stuff along the side of the road too…looked like fruit and veg maybe.
We made arrangements for him to pick us up at 5:30 at the farmacia. It cost another 5E for him to come right down into town but well worth it. He dropped us at the top of town so we strolled down the very narrow, windy road, some places having to step onto doorways when a car came by.
Positano is very different from Sorrento. It’s pretty much straight up the mountainside. Crazy really the number of places further up the side of the mountain. Have no idea how you’d even get up there other than walking/hiking. The views though are great, you can see Praiano hanging off it’s mountainside a bit further along.
Carried on downhill and found the place we were going to book here but would have had to pay for 5 days instead of 3. It looked lovely from the outside so a bit choked but parking would have been an issue and getting to Pompeii is easier from Sorrento.
Stopped for lunch part way down road, ON the road, at Caffe Positano. Table right along the railing. Probably very touristy and certainly not cheap but the food was excellent and worth it for the view. Ken had the gnocchi with clams, I had the special pasta with mussels, clams, fresh tomatoes and lots of garlic. All was delicious. Sat for a while after enjoying a glass of wine and the entertainment, which was the cars coming up and down and around the corner where the cafe was. A couple times, depending on the size of the car or type of vehicle, they had to stop until some of the chairs in front of the restaurant got pushed in so they could get around them. Wine, water, meals and coffees 50E.
After lunch we carried on down. So many nice shops, lots of very expensive stuff! Quite a few rather eclectic clothing shops, tons of ceramic places…..gorgeous dishes, huge pasta bowls and pretty tiles. Picked up a couple of cute limoncello cups that look like ceramic shot glasses. Just about to the bottom there is a very pretty walkway with a pergola covered in wisteria. The church was open but we didn’t go in. Walked down on the beach, checked out the ferries to Capri….will save that for another trip. It was just 4 and we’d seen pretty much everything so stopped at one of the beach front bars for a drink and to admire the great view back up the hill. Tons of people on the beach. You rent chairs for the day, from the various bars I think.
Taxi driver picked us up right at 5:30 on the dot as planned. Great drive back the other way. The road was little busier so a bit slower so could take in a bit more. Dropped us back at the train/bus depot around 6:30.
Managed to catch the 7PM bus back to Massa. Had started to rain on and off and was getting dark pretty fast, and no flashlight, so we hustled it down the alley with very little daylight left.
S & B had a fun morning exploring Sorrento but ended up head back when the rain started in the afternoon. Lucky us in Positano, no rain at all! They just went back to Pasquales for dinner. We weren’t that hungry and it was just too wet to venture out again so whipped up a couple of grilled cheese with the last of our pecorino.
Cleared up nicely just in time to be treated to a spectacular fireworks show. First they were across the bay in Naples that lasted at least a half hour. Those had no sooner stopped then more started just around the point from us, assuming in Sorrento, also lasted for a long time. Just incredible. No wonder Italy wins so many firework competitions!! It was like the grand finale for our trip!
Great day.
Tomorrow Pompei…..hoping the weather cooperates.
Sept 18 Mon
Beautiful morning! Up and out early today. Walking thru the lemon grove just smelled heavenly.
Had cappuccinos and dolci at the little pasticceria then bought our bus and train tickets for today at the TI office. Very convenient being right there. There is also a travel agent there too so will buy our tickets for Rome on the way back today.
Had just missed the 8:30 bus, next one at 9 came at 9:30. Even fuller than the one yesterday, poor people probably trying to get to work and all us tourists taking up space. Very slow go into Sorrento this morning. Way more traffic and more people walking along the side of the road…..very brave souls!
Caught the Circumvesuviana, which took a little over a half hour to get to Pompeii. Got off pretty well right at the gate.
We didn’t do a tour and in hindsight that might have been a good idea. We did buy the guidebook and map, which did help some but was not the easiest thing to use. Often there were four or five of us standing around looking at something on the map and in the book trying to figure out where we were. Lots of things are not marked which would have been helpful. At one point a guy popped out from behind some ruins and started telling the group of us about the roads and why they had big boulders in the middle and the “parking spots” and other little bits of info as he was leading us along. A few others had joined the mini tour that lasted about 15-20 minutes. Everybody gave him 5E and off he went. How much of what he told us was correct who knows but it certainly sounded pretty good.
Pompeii is amazing. So much to see and so much more excavating going on, which was very interesting to watch. In the Garden of the Fugitives we heard a real tour guide telling his group that they had actually grown the grapevines there today from DNA (?) of the petrified ones they’d found…..which is why the grapes are so small. Incredible if true!! So many beautiful frescoes that were in pretty good shape along with many that had been restored. Entire homes and businesses, some still only foundations but enough to give you an idea of what they were like. The amphitheatre and Grand Palestra or Great Gymnasium was beautiful surrounded by the umbrella pines. Very impressive! Built in 70BC and still in surprisingly good condition with minimal restoration. Such a sophistocated and organized society! It’s truly a fascinating place. You could spend hours and hours there and never see everything.
Decided against going up to Vesuvius as the clouds had rolled in up top. It was pretty hot too we were done after 4+ hours. Grabbed a drink at a little bar just outside the gate and caught the train back to Sorrento.
Managed to catch the right bus back to Massa. Stopped in at the travel agency and bought our train tickets for Rome tomorrow. Salerno, where we drop the car, to Rome. A quick stop in Naples but we don’t have to change trains. Should arrive in Rome around 4:30 How exciting!
B was busy making a great dinner for us. Steak with a great salad, using the huge tomatoes that Cinzia had given us out of her garden, pasta with fresh basil, also from the garden and a sauce from the tomatoes. It was all delicious and quite the feat to put together considering the size of the kitchen and minimal utensils and equipment. Did the best we could finishing off the last of the wine.
Beautiful evening, just sat out on the deck, enjoying the view and beautiful sunset.
Just another great day.
Sept 19 Tues
Cinzia came with her little car at 8:30. Loaded it up and drove/walked to our parked rental. Had a quick breakfast at the pasticceria and left Massa Lubrense around 9:30 hoping it would only take about an hour, like the TA said, to get to Salerno. Not! Traffic was crazy and didn’t even make it out of Sorrento until almost 11.
The Salerno exit that we needed took us right through the middle of town. It’s actually quite a nice place from what we saw. Very scenic with the sea right there, some very nice old buildings and a lovely piazza. Managed to find the Europcar place with no problem, only a block from the train station. Had lots of time to kill before 1:30 so grabbed a bite to eat and waited around.
Pretty uneventful train ride. Nobody in the car except us so we sat in the handicapped seating, tons of room for luggage. Since we’d bough 1st class tickets they served drinks, which was great. Had a very strong espresso but still dozed off and on the entire way.
We finally arrived in Rome……how exciting! Stazione Termini Roma is like a big shopping mall. It’s huge! Out the door and across Piazza dei Cinquecento a couple of blocks right on to Via Viminale, down a couple more blocks and right to the hotel.
Hotel Lirico is in a great location. The hotel is a little dated but nice enough. The rooms are really busy….the wallpaper is fabric and matches the bedspread, floral drapes and a sofa. Clean and nice that it’s a bit bigger than I was expecting. There is a safe in the closet that isn’t attached to anything, so rather useless.
A half hour rest, cleaned up a bit and out we went. Too early for dinner (6ish) but we were pretty hungry so went in search of somewhere to eat. Wandered around the area a bit. Piazza dei Viminale was quite pretty but they’re in the process of doing some repairs/reconstruction but very nice later when it was all lit up.
Had dinner at a place called the Gran Caffe, very touristy I think but the food was good. Chatted with some ladies that had just come from Venice……rain and acqua alta!! Lucky us that we had great weather a few weeks ago.
B & S wanted to just go back to the hotel but it wasn’t even 8 yet so we made them come with us for a walk around. Walked to the Quattro Fontane, then down to Piazza Barberini and the Fontana dei Tritone and of course the Trevi Fountain. Very pretty at night, tons of people still milling about. Threw our coins in so we’d return!
Kept walking and ended up not far from Trajan’s Market…..I knew the Colosseum wasn’t too far. Stopped for a gelato and S & B decided they’d had enough and went back to the hotel. Ken and I walked a bit further and there is was in all it’s glory lit up! Our first look at the Colosseum….Wow! Walked down to it and found a bench to sit and just take it all in. It’s really quite grand, especially lit up.
Walked back to the hotel along Via Cavour. Very busy place Rome is even late at night. So far it’s everything we thought it was going to be and we’ve hardly made a dent in all there is to see. Passed Santa Maria Maggiore, which looked very nice and interesting…..maybe tomorrow. Everything, monuments, churches, ruins all lit up makes wandering around even better.
Found a little cafe for a nightcap and finally back to the hotel.
Busy day tomorrow….the Colosseum and the Forum and whatever else we can manage to get in.
Another great day!
Sept 20 Wed
Woke up early, 6ish. Another beautiful day. Was fun hanging out the window watching the city waking up…..including the poor people that sleep in the doorways down the street. Lots of activity…..garbage being collected, tons of vespas, motorcycles and little cars, I guess people arriving to work. Seems like they just park anywhere they fit, which includes blocking crosswalks and on the sidewalks.
Standard type breakfast at the hotel but with great drip coffee!
There was a market down Via Napoli so wandered around there a bit. The usual market stuff….but lots of purses and really nice bags. Fruit and veg, household goods and some clothes, lots of shoes! Thought the prices were pretty good too….definitely cheaper than the markets we went to in Tuscany.
Off to the Colosseum. Only about a 15 minute walk but took a bit longer because we just kind of dawdled along….so much to look at. It looks just as good in the daylight, what an amazing structure! Not nearly as many people around as I thought there would be. Found a tour for 21E each, which included admission and an afternoon tour of Palatine Hill, so a pretty good deal. Wasn’t too sure about it at first but saw about 15 – 20 people hanging around with the green dots on their shirts so decided it must be legit, if not at least we weren’t the only ones getting ripped off! In the end I think it had to be one of the best tours in Rome!
Our guide was a local lady, a retired teacher turned tour guide. She was great. Tons of info, very informative and lots of fun. So much history in that building. We went through the whole building, except for the tunnels, stopping often while she went into great detail explaining this and that. The tour lasted about an hour and then we wandered around on our own.
Had an hour or so to kill before the afternoon Palatine Hill tour so went to take a look at Circus Maximus. Not much left in the way of original ruins other than some of the stands at the south end. It’s basically just a big park now where they hold concerts and plays etc. but you can sort of envision what it must have been like in the days of chariot races.
We regrouped with Hannah, a very nice gal from Australia who is a student and has been living in Rome for about a year. She works part-time as a tour guide so she can stay because she’s “totally hooked on Rome”! Over to Palatine Hill we went. Up and up and up….it is a hill, the centremost hill of Rome! Hannah was really good, and fun too. Lots of ruined emperors palaces (Domitian, Nero etc.) and other buildings including another stadium or hippodrome, which is now a lovely garden. Still a lot of excavating happening today. Apparently a scene from Tea with Mussolini was filmed there and this is where Romulus and Remus were found in a cave! The views in every direction are great, can see St. Peter’s from there. The best view though was the view of the Roman Forum…..was so good to see it from there to get an overview of the whole thing. I don’t think we would have appreciated it without seeing it from there. The tour lasted almost two hours. What a deal it was!! Gave her a nice big tip because she was really good and enjoyable.
Headed down to the Roman Forum. Wow, it was awesome really. To think that we could have been touching things that Casear or whoever else may have touched it centuries ago is amazing. Even after seeing pictures of what it probably looked like in it’s heyday, it’s hard to fathom really. No cats? Heard there were lots of cats roaming around but saw none. The map we had was very good for identifying the buildings and ruins. Walked up the stairs at the end which took us to the Capitolini museum and then to the Vittorio Emanuale II “wedding cake”. What a massive building!! Quite impressive really just for the sheer size of it.
Thought we’d go to Campo de Fiori for a quick late lunch but got totally sidetracked at the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina, which besides the ruins is now a sanctuary for cats……tons of them! A couple women feeding them. They were all just lounging around under the trees and in some of the ruins.
Ended up at Piazza Navona. Stopped at one of the cafes right on the piazza for a drink and a snack and just to be entertained! What a busy place. You could sit there for hours. The Bernini fountain are beautiful, lots of detail, and the the palazzo behind them. Lots of people selling junkie things that you throw up in the air….weird why anyone would want one. A lot of artists selling paintings, some doing portraits. I bought a nice little black and white ink drawing of the Colosseum for 5E.
Walked to the Pantheon….an absolutely massive, spectacular building! Outside is very impressive, the sheer size of it is mind blowing, even the doors! Inside is just as fantastic……the sun shining down through the oculus was quite breathtaking really! Sadly half of it was blocked off because of restoration work being doing but you still get the idea of just how big it is and what a phenomenal bit of architecture it is from 2000 years ago! There was a big group from the Notre Dame Church of New Guinea visiting, all in tropical dress. They’d just had a special mass that one of them said was wonderfully moving for them, some were wiping away tears and thanking the priest. There are small holes strategically placed in the beautiful floor for drainage when it rains. Just the most amazing building!!
Stopped at Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which I think wins for the best church yet! It was a bit stark at first but once you start walking around there are some beautiful paintings, St Catherine’s tomb (less the bits in Siena!), Michelangelos “Christ bearing the Cross” (draped for modesty), the ceiling, the chapels…..I could have spent hours inside and of course outside is Bernini’s elephant obelisk. Rome is just full of these wonders.
Back to the hotel for a bit of a rest and off to dinner. S & B had found this place earlier and wanted to give it a try. Just around the corner across from the Opera so was hoping it would be good. I think it was called Estrella something or other. It was just OK, mostly because of the service. Food was good, I had the ossobucco, Susan had the cannelloni and Ken and Blake had their chicken special. Salads and antipasti to start. It seemed to be a family run place. Most of the people that worked there were busy at the bar looking at a computer with what appeared to be someone’s birthday celebration pictures. Everyone in there was constantly trying to get the waiters attention but to no avail. Very minimal service, not like we needed a lot of attention but a second glass of wine would have been nice…..ah well. Lucky they added the service into the bill because I may not have left one. The first and only disappointing restaurant so far…not bad for 5 weeks I guess.
Walked around a bit, stopped for gelato and coffee and back and to bed! What a long day……and way too much to absorb. I truly don’t think a week in Rome would be long enough. It’s a great walking city if you are good with hills, stairs and cobblestones. So much to see no matter where you are.
St. Peter’s tomorrow!
Sept 21 Thurs
Up a little too early today for breakfast (6:30) so popped down to the market at the end of the street again. Got a really cute skirt and tee shirt. Back to put my new outfit on, off to breakfast and off to St. Peter’s by 9. Blake and Susan too!
Took a bit of a long way around to the Spanish Steps. Scaffolding on Trinita del Monti so didn’t see it. The steps are nice but at this time of year without all the rhodos and other flowers they are just a lot of steps. Down Via Condotti and did a lot of window shopping at all the designer shops. 32,000E for a nice coat, 1500E for a pretty purse and another 1200E if you want matching shoes. Armani was close for changing their windows for the fall season but had a rack of dresses on clearance in the doorway, all were 99E!! Here was my chance to own a Girorgio Armani but sadly I’m not a size 2!! Passed Hermes…….every girl should own an Hermes scarf right? Can’t say I’ve ever seen one that I just had to have at their prices.
Carried on and passed by Castel Sant’Angelo….another time. St. Peter’s Basilica and the square are quite impressive as you are walking down Via della Conciliazione. It’s too big to get a picture of it. Found a “free tour”, done by Jim, who is and Irishman that came to Rome in the 90’s to study theology. He told us right away that he does the free tours in the morning to drum up business for his afternoon paid tour of the Vatican Museum….sounded good.
About 20 people in our group. Pretty crowded inside….lots of other tour groups. Excellent tour!! He provided headphones. Jim was very knowledgeable and entertaining. One of the first things he told us was to get closer to him……he had learned very early that in Rome, or all of Italy for that matter, that there was no such thing as personal space…hahaha. The sheer size of St. Peter’s is beyond comprehension really…..the baldacchino is over 60ft tall! Apparently it can hold 90,000 people (??!) Michelangelo’s Pieta was beautiful, so many other incredible pieces of artwork and scuptures, the dome with the sun shining in, the floor, the doors! Having the headphones was great, it was easy to hear him and follow along. The tour lasted about an hour. He gave lots of information and had great little stories to tell. We decided we’d do the afternoon tour with him for 42E. S and B weren’t interested so they went off to explore.
Met up with Jim again at the American Cafe around the corner from the museum. Had a great little lunch, coffee and paninis for around 3E each before we got started. About the same size tour group as this morning. Was supposed to last about 2 hours but was well after 4 when we left and there was still the tombs to see. Wow! That’s all I can say about the museum. There was so much to see. We started out in the garden and then moved inside going room to room. The Gallery of Maps is one of my favorites…..the maps were painted from the perspective of Vatican being the centre of the universe. Quite detailed and definitely not to scale…..little villages with BIG churches, sea monsters as big as islands. Could have spent hours in there. In another room was Nero’s bathtub, made with rose coloured marble from Egypt and big enough for a party. Also as impressive as the map room was the Gallery of Tapestries. So much artwork, scuptures, busts of every emperor and biblical people….the detail was amazing. The Raphael rooms are filled as well but another favorite is his School of Athens…..absolutely loved it. On to the papal apartments where the ceiling was painted to look like a mosaic, just unbelievable. It was very crowded in some of the rooms which made it hard to get a really good look sometimes….just can’t imagine the $$’s they pull in every day. It would be nice if they limited the number of people somehow, I’m sure they’ve filled their coffers quite nicely by now so could really do something about it.
Finally on to the Sistine Chapel. Talk about crowded! We almost had to walk with our arms straight up….just crazy. Poor Jim was trying to keep all of us together but pretty hard to do. Was a bit hard to appreciate it. The walls and ceiling are spectacular. Luckily we’d stayed close enough to Jim for the earphones to work so got a lot of the information/details. The big tour groups were starting to leave so that gave us a bit of space to find a bench to sit on and just take it all in. The tombs were next but we decided to bid farewell to Jim as it was already 4 and we still had more to see, have dinner and get organized for leaving tomorrow. Gave back the earphones and thanked him profusely for a very good, informative and fun tour!
Walked to Campo de Fiori, very pretty piazza with no market, other than a couple flower stands, at that time of day unfortunately. Too early for dinner so stopped for a drink and decided to pass on Trastavere…..will have to save that for another time.
Back through Piazza Navona which was getting warmed up for the evening. Lots of entertainment happening and lots of fun so we just ended up having dinner at one of the touristy cafes, had front row centre seats for everything that was going on. We had violins, cellos, accordion players, singers, painters. One little boy looked to be about 5 playing the violin….he was the star of the evening. Dinner was good too, so was the wine so was almost 9 by the time we left.
Walked back to the hotel up and down and in and out of some of the smaller streets and alley trying to avoid the crowds. Found a nice little cafe for our final nightcap in Italy.
Another beautiful day. Definitely brain overload.
Home tomorrow. I honestly could do another couple of weeks…..with some clean clothes. I’m just not ready to go home, there is still so much I want to see. I think we covered many of the main touristy things, which I’m glad we did and think you should do on your first trip, but so much more to see and would like to get off the tourist path and explore this fantastic country…….experience some “slow travel” next time
Sept 22 Fri
Breakfast and off we went to the airport. Driver showed up as scheduled, flights all on time. Left Rome at 1:35 with a connection in London and home the save day at 6:35PM.
I can’t believe the 5 weeks went by so quickly. I think it was a good “sampler” trip. And I’m so glad we decided to spend all our time in Italy.
My Travel Journals 