Everywhere we ate in Italy, our meals were accompanied by potatoes. Not just any potatoes. These were golden chunks of potatoes that were super crispy and flavorful on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Like nothing I’ve eaten at home. So of course I was on a mission to figure out how to make them myself!

First of all, buy organic potatoes. I’ve used conventional potatoes for years and recently switched to organic and they taste much better!

Peel 4 organic russet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Cut each slice into quarters. Parboil until cooked about halfway. Drain.

Place on a baking sheet and drizzle 1/4 cup olive oil on top. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs and 1/4 tsp garlic powder. Toss to coat. Bake at 400 for about 50 minutes, turning the pieces over about every 15 minutes.

Presto! Miraculous Italian potatoes. I’m thrilled to have this turn out! Next I’ve got to figure out the Sorrento lemon cake….

Everywhere we ate in Italy, our meals were accompanied by potatoes. Not just any potatoes. These were golden chunks of potatoes that were super crispy and flavorful on the outside and soft and tender on the inside. Like nothing I’ve eaten at home. So of course I was on a mission to figure out how … Read more →

Heading to Florence, I was looking forward to the area specialties, including bistecca (steak) and ribollita (bread soup). If you’ve been reading along, you know that Florence overall was a bit of a disappointment to me on our Italy trip, but how did the food measure up?

Day One

We arrived in Florence after the beautiful train trip from Venice. The scenery was to die for. We dined that night at Trattoria Pallottino, which was within walking distance of our hotel, kind of in the backstreets of the area. I didn’t really care for the feel of this area: sort of dirty, cramped, and just

nothing nice to look at. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to get back to the hotel afterwards because there was a big concert and many streets were blocked off unless you an entry ticket. Getting back was a bit tricky! I had the ribollita here and it just confirmed for me that I don’t like ribollita! It was tasty, but I just don’t like mushy bread in my soup. Other items on the table included lasagna, beef entrecote (which came with those magic potatoes I told you about in my Venice food

piece), gnocchi, and fusilloni with ricotta, basil and tomato. Everything was pretty good here.

Day Two

Our first full day in Florence was a busy one, with our tour and visit to the David. We ended up in Republicca Piazza for lunch at Gilli, an historic cafe right on the plaza. There are three restaurants right on the plaza, all over-priced. It was one of those moments where the entire family was in a meltdown over hunger, so we had to act fast. We sat inside in the blissful air

conditioning. There are many, many table outside on the piazza, but it was far too hot to even consider sitting outside. This felt a lot like the Caffe Florian in Venice – historic building, ancient restaurant, and serious, professional waiters. We shared a fusion salad (salumo, brie, apple, walnut) and French fries (it was one of those moments). My son also had spaghetti Bolognese.

For dinner that night we asked for a recommendation from the hotel and hit the jackpot. We went to Club Culinaria Toscana da Osvaldo (Piza dei Peruzzi 3r). This is a teeny, tiny little

place run by a very talented chef. It was comparable to our last meal in Venice, where we dined at an old family-owned restaurant. I think the owner was our waiter. He was so friendly and kind to us and made us laugh and feel at home.  It is one of those unforgettable meals. I began with a plate of salumi, cheeses, and marmalade (an amazing selection of local

flavors) which was to die for, and then had pici (like spaghetti but it is more tubular) with basil and pine nuts, tomato and garlic (this was simple and elegant). Our daughter had melon, ham, and dark chocolate to start. This was our first experience with the melon/proscuitto trend and we all loved it – and the dark chocolate was amazing with it. She then had tagliatelle with honey, almonds, basil and clams (this was a delightful mix of flavors). My husband had a carpaccio of sea bass (he loved it but I am just not a fan of raw seafood) then

fried sea bass with strawberry mashed potato and spinach (the strawberry mashed potatoes sound weird, but were really good).. Our son had sliced beef with rosemary, mushrooms, and you guessed it, those potatoes I still haven’t figured out how to make.

Don’t worry, there was dessert of course. I had the torta di nonna (grandmother’s cake, which was moist and had nuts in it). Husband had zuppa inglese

(trifle), daughter had almond biscotti (which came in a wooden bucket) and vin santo to dip in. Son had chocolate mille-feuille with saffron cream. Every bite was amazing. We could have stayed all night had there been room in our overstuffed

stomachs for more. It was a magnificent experience – personal, warm service in a homey, very Italian setting. This is the best of Italy.

Day Three

On our third day, we took the train to Pisa (where, if you’ve

been reading along, you know my husband sprained his ankle). So that was a bit of a disaster. We ended up grabbing lunch at a pizza place in an out of the way back alley on the way to the train station. It was a bit off the

beaten path and our server spoke no English, so communication was difficult! Our pizza was just ok, I would say. This was our first pizza in Italy and it was thinner and smaller than pizzas at home, but there are so many places in the US to get thin crust pizza

that it honestly was not any kind of revelation for us.

We took the train back to Florence and enjoyed our final meal in Florence that evening. Again, we asked for a recommendation from the hotel and again they were spot-on. This time they sent us to Buca San Giovanni, directly on the Duomo piazza. They had tables outside on the square, but they also had tables inside, down a flight of stairs in the basement

where it was cool and comfortable, even though those stairs were treacherous. Again, this was another family-owned restaurant that had been open for years. Dining in that basement felt so ancient and truly European, as if we should have been surrounded by casks of wine and catacombs. Instead, there were signed photos on the walls of Italian politicians and celebrities. My husband still thinks there was a

photo of an NHL player, but we voted him down on that one!

We knew we were in for a lovely meal and were not disappointed! I had risotto with artichoke and ewe’s cheese

then sliced filet with parmesan and rocket. The risotto was magnificent. The filet was tender and wonderful. My husband had Tuscan bread with fondue of rosemary and mushrooms on it, then filet rossini with foie gras and truffle in a Madeira sauce.

Our son had macaroni with meat sauce and porcini mushrooms then filet with the magic potatoes. The daughter had tagliono with porcini mushrooms and truffle cream sauce, then chicken turnover with fontina and raw ham.  There wasn’t a thing on

the table we didn’t thoroughly enjoy. We were stuffed, but managed to share two desserts, a bittersweet chocolate basket with cream and strawberries (beautiful to look at and to taste: simple and sweet) and a soft chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.

After dinner we emerged onto the piazza in the dark but the

outside of the Duomo and Baptistery were lit and there were vendors selling little toys that you could shoot up in the air and they would light up and make a noise. We stood around for a while and just soaked up the atmosphere there. It would have been lovely to dine on the piazza that night had it not been so very, very hot when we arrived!

Other Delights

Throughout our trip, we ate gelato almost every single day in the afternoon. Since dinner is later in Italy (no one serves before 7), we always needed a little something to get us from lunch to dinner without dying of hunger. I didn’t deviate from what worked – I had chocolate or dark chocolate almost every time but everyone else enjoyed other flavors. Gelato is displayed in shop windows in giant mounds. It is scooped from the back of the mound so as not to destroy the beautiful

display. In all the cities in Italy, the streets are filled with these shops with their tantalizing mountains of gelato (which is less creamy than ice cream but more deeply flavorful). When we came home, ice cream just didn’t taste good

to me anymore!

Heading to Florence, I was looking forward to the area specialties, including bistecca (steak) and ribollita (bread soup). If you’ve been reading along, you know that Florence overall was a bit of a disappointment to me on our Italy trip, but how did the food measure up? Day One We arrived in Florence after the … Read more →

I bought these polka dot mugs in Italy and they make my mornings so happy! I have a thing for polka dots; I have a whole board on Pinterest with polka dot items.  Polka dots make me so happy. They are round and bubbly and cheerful. I once had a white t-shirt that had tiny little polka dots around the bottom hem. I slaved over that t-shirt, to keep it clean and white looking so I could wear it over and over again!

I usually like to buy things while traveling that are unique to that region or that depict or bring to mind the area. This time though, I bought these mugs just because I HAD to have them. I passed them in a shop window near our hotel every day in Sorrento. On our last day, I decided I needed them. The shop was closed! I almost cried. Fortunately it was just closed for the afternoon and was open again that evening when we walked by.

I bought these polka dot mugs in Italy and they make my mornings so happy! I have a thing for polka dots; I have a whole board on Pinterest with polka dot items.  Polka dots make me so happy. They are round and bubbly and cheerful. I once had a white t-shirt that had tiny … Read more →

The final stop on our Italy trip was the Amalfi Coast. A driver picked us up in Pompeii and drove us to Sorrento. The drive to get there is stunning, along high cliffs, with sheer drops to the gorgeous Bay of Naples on the Mediterranean Sea. The road twists and turns a bit.

Sorrento

Sorrento is a very compact little town, also situated on the cliffs. The main section of town is the Piazza Tasso, around which shops and restaurants are clustered. You cannot see the water from the main part of town (except from one tiny viewing area). You can however walk to a park with a beautiful view.

Sorrento was a shopper’s heaven. Lots of interesting shops clustered in a small area. The

shopping area is pedestrian only on narrow cobblestone streets. They sell lemon products (including limoncello), custom-made sandals, lots of leather bags, and souvenirs. The town feels very quaint and comfortable. I felt very comfortable here. It’s nice to have everything within walking distance.

Teatro Tasso

One evening we went to see Teatro Tasso, a musical revue that highlights the songs and dances of the region. It ended up being rather bad community theater, but we thoroughly enjoyed watching one of the guitar players on stage who rolled his eyes, talked to his fellow musicians, laughed at

the dancers, and made faces at the tech crew. He was the highlight of the night.

I had Rick Steve’s book, which promised a discount if you showed the book when you bought tickets. The woman at the desk informed us they limited that discount to two people (the book did not say this). My husband was able to convince her to give us the discount for all four! They serve complimentary drinks on the terrace beforehand (and you can see the water from here, which is beautiful at night). It was something to do in the evening, but honestly it was a bit cheesy.

Swimming in the Mediterranean

The highlight of our stay in Sorrento was our morning at the beach. We took a taxi down the cliffs to Marina Grande (it wasn’t too far distance-wise, but the cliffs are very steep and it would have been many, many stairs), a tiny little harbor area with a miniscule sand beach. We rented chairs and umbrellas and swam in the Mediterranean, with Mount Vesuvius behind us. The water was warm, the sun was hot, and it was a wonderful interlude.

The Blue Grotto

We took a guided tour to the island of Capri. We were picked up by bus at our hotel and driven to the ferry station (which is again, down the cliffs at the edge of the water). We took the ferry to the island of Capri. Upon arriving on Capri, we spent a few brief moments in the harbor area (where there are a handful of fairly junky souvenir shops) before getting on a small boat with our group to go to the Blue Grotto.

The Blue Grotto was on my list of top sights in Italy, so we were thrilled to go. Our boat drove us around the coast of the beautiful island with its soaring cliffs. Even more stunning though was the water. It was an incredible deep, sapphire blue and very, very clear. I later read that there are no phytoplantkton in the Mediterranean, giving it this color and clarity.

Our boat took us to a grouping of boats just waiting offshore. Through the crowd of boats, you could see a tiny little opening in the rock. This was the entrance to the Blue Grotto. You wait your turn (we waited about half an hour) and a rowboat comes next to your boat. 4 people climb in and you sit on the bottom of the boat. You are rowed over to the opening and then you all lie down or at least bend forward with your head down. The driver waits in front of the opening until there is a break between waves and he grabs hold of some chains that are strung along the top of the opening and pulls the boat through the incredibly tiny hole.

It is absolutely terrifying for a couple of seconds. As you are waiting to go in,you think the

boat can never fit through the hole, you will surely be decapitated, and I was also getting a bit claustrophobic, thinking about going through that tiny hole into a cave.

Let me assure you, it is absolutely worth it and if you are there, you must go. The opening is not deep (width-wise) at all and you are through it in a second. The boat is pulled through and you enter this magical circular cave with a high roof and magical, glowing blue water. I have never seen water this color in my entire life. The boat captain told us it is because of the minerals in the rocks under the water.

You are rowed around the cave twice, and the rowers are singing the entire time (we were treated to “Volare”). There is a little staircase carved into the rocks on one side, made by the Romans apparently, which is no longer used. The moments you are inside are like something on another planet. The cave glows, the water is alive, and you are a part of it.

Exiting is not nearly as scary as entering since you know you will fit and before you know it,you are back on your boat. But first, your row boat captain will hit you up for a huge tip. Our tour had already paid our boat fare and our guide warned us they would ask for a tip. My husband gave him 5 Euros and he complained it was not enough for a bottle of wine. We heard other people having the same problem. They are pushy and rude, so be prepared to deal with this if you go.

Anacapri

Our tour then took us back to the harbor then by van up to the town of Anacapri at the top of the island. You go up terrifyingly winding roads on the very edge of the cliff, certain that you are inches away from falling all the way down (our guide told us this is called the Mama Mia Parkway).There are buses coming up and going down and they pass within millimeters of each other on this incredibly narrow road. At some points, they cannot pass, so one bus must back up.

Anacapri has a small shopping area and a beautiful sccenic viewing area (unfortunately it was a bit misty when we were there). There was not a lot to do and I’m told the town of Capri (farther down the island) is much better for shopping. There is a chair lift from Anacapri that will take you up to the

very top of the island, but we didn’t do that. Other members of our group did and reported that it was very, very hot on the unshaded chair lift, but once you got to the top, the view was spectacular. There is also an old church in town which can be toured.

I would have loved to have seen more of the Amalfi Coast, but enjoyed the parts we did see very much.

The final stop on our Italy trip was the Amalfi Coast. A driver picked us up in Pompeii and drove us to Sorrento. The drive to get there is stunning, along high cliffs, with sheer drops to the gorgeous Bay of Naples on the Mediterranean Sea. The road twists and turns a bit. Sorrento Sorrento … Read more →

I’ve been telling you all about the amazing things we ate and did in Italy. Now it’s time that I come clean and tell you about the things I didn’t like.

Water

Italian cities are filled with beautiful fountains that dispense clean, fresh, cool, drinking water. You carry a water bottle with you and fill it up as you go through the city. This is a lovely benefit. But if water is so fresh, clean, and accessible why couldn’t we get a glass of tap water in a single restaurant? They claim not to have any available. Which is a lie. They just plan on your $3 bottle of mineral water as part of the meal. And we always had to order 2-3 per meal.

When you do order water, they will pour no more than 2 inches in each glass. I think they assume you’ll be hydrating with wine.

Ice

Water and drinks are served without ice. There are no ice buckets or ice machines in hotels. I was so tired of drinking lukewarm beverages. Even the water sold in stores is not cold. One day we bought a bottle of water from a street vendor before heading into the Roman Forum and it had been frozen, so it was blissfully cold. I have never tasted anything so delicious in my life. This was the only cold beverage we had.

The Heat

Yes, we went in late July-early August. We didn’t have a choice with our kids’ school and activity schedules, so we ended up there in the hottest time of the year. It was 99 degrees. The coolest it got was 92 I think. It was uncomfortably hot every single day. There was never a cloud in the sky. There was not a drop of rain. There was no wind, but a few breezes when we were lucky.  I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in my life. When we got to Sorrento, it was 86% humidity.

The Air Conditioning

I insisted on hotels with air conditioning. We were able to get the rooms just about comfortable by putting the AC on high all day, every day. The AC in stores and restaurants was a joke. Many places had signs up saying they had it, but they leave the doors open! So even if you dined or shopped somewhere that was air conditioned, you were always in a light sweat. I wore a money belt and when I took it off at the end of the day, the Euros in it were sopping wet.

The Pushiness

While the people in Italy were overwhelmingly friendly and kind to us, once we got south of Rome, it changed. Here everyone was trying to upsell us. My daughter ordered a glass of wine and the waiter wanted her to buy a half bottle. We took a cab to a nearby beach and the driver wanted to take us to a town half an hour away then on a tour down the coast. I ordered a fish dish and the waiter wanted me to order it for two people. I picked out a few things in a shop and the saleswoman took me downstairs and tried to sell me $3000 pieces of furniture. It was constant and unrelenting and tiring.

When we went to the Blue Grotto, we knew the rowboat man would expect a tip, so we gave him one and then he told us it was not enough and demanded more.

Bathrooms

Once you figure out that you can walk into any bar (which is really a cafe) and use their bathroom, you aren’t so reliant on public bathrooms, which are few and far between. Most public bathrooms are not free and some even require exact change. There were some very unpleasant bathrooms. One restaurant on Murano had what was really a hole in the ground with a very low bowl over it. If you needed to sit, you squatted with your knees in your face. None of the toilets had the same flushing mechanism. Many had a push button on the wall. One had a foot pedal. I was always hunting around, looking for the button and it was always in a different shape or location.

It also seemed that the bathrooms in museums and other attractions were always in the basement!

Airports

We did not enjoy our airport experiences! At the Naples airport, after going through security I still had to show a boarding pass to be allowed to buy a pack of gum. When it was time to board our plane, they had us get on a standing only bus which literally drove 20 feet to the steps to the plane. Then they told half of us to board from the back, but didn’t do so by seating assignment, so the aisles were full of people trying to get past each other. The Rome airport was insanity. There was a holding area for our gate with 8 seats and 300 people. They roped everyone inside the area, then told them to come out and line up. There was no line, just people pushing. It took an hour to board the plane and they did so in no order at all.

Seating

There’s nowhere to sit in Italy. I kid you not. They do not have benches in piazzas, museums, churches, towns, at train stations, in airports, at ferry stations or ANYWHERE.  If you spend the day walking around the city, you end up sitting on tiny little shop window sills or dirty curbs because you are so completely desperate to get off your feet.

Getting the Bill

I understand that meals are very different in Italy, but we got so tired of trying to get the bill every night. You have to ask for it because it is never brought to you. And then you wait and wait and wait for it to come. Most restaurants in Italy have handheld credit card swipe machines they bring to the table, so that makes paying easier, however tipping is another issue. Many places, particularly in the north, add a service charge to the bill, so tip is included. In the south though, they do not. And you cannot add a tip to the bill when you charge. So you have to plan to be able to tip in cash.

Bread

Here at home, we think of Italian bread as quite delicious. We found that each city we went to seemed to serve one kind of bread with dinner no matter where we ate. In Venice, it was rolls. Elsewhere it was sliced bread. None of it excited me – the bread I’ve had at home is much better. And none of it was served with butter or olive oil. Once only we had a bottle of olive oil and a plate for dipping come with it, but that was it.

The Wardrobe

Before we went, I read everything and talked to a lot of people. EVERYONE told me women do not wear shorts in Italy. NEVER EVER EVER. Men don’t either, I was told. Everyone told me to bring capri pants and skirts, and pants for the men. This advice was completely 100% wrong. Most of our female guides wore shorts. Most of the people (Italians and tourists I saw on the streets were wearing shorts. We were so, so HOT and knowing we could have been in shorts made us very cranky! Yes, there is a requirement that shoulders and knees be covered in churches, but honestly, I found it was not enforced most of the time and certainly not at all for men! There were men in shorts in the Vatican, the Duomo, and San Marco. No one cared. Women in tank tops were told to buy scarves to cover their shoulders, but I saw many women in short skirts in churches and no one had a problem with this. Next time, I would bring shorts and only wear capris for the churches to be safe. I can certainly believe that when it is not 99 degrees Italian women are not wearing shorts, but at the height of the summer, we were the ones sticking out like sore thumbs in our long clothing. Next time, I will pack what makes me comfortable and not worry about trying to fit in.

No Tourism Info

Anywhere you go in the US or Canada, you will find tons of tourism brochures, maps, and flyers in restaurants, shops, hotels, airports, etc. And you will frequently find tourism booths in busy areas. Italy has none of this. The only map we got for free was the one our hotel gave us in each city. If you didn’t know what you wanted to see and do before you got there, there were no helpful brochures to give you ideas. I think you could literally drop out of the sky into any major US area without a lick of planning and be able to get your hands on all the info you needed within 10 minutes. Maybe the Italians assume people are using the internet for info? I don’t know, but I missed having all those great suggestions. I almost always find something I didn’t know about when I pick up free brochures.

Now that you’ve read my list of complaints, I have to tell you they are minor ones and although the heat made the trip difficult and some of the way things were done are not what we are accustomed to, we really had the time of our lives!

I’ve been telling you all about the amazing things we ate and did in Italy. Now it’s time that I come clean and tell you about the things I didn’t like. Water Italian cities are filled with beautiful fountains that dispense clean, fresh, cool, drinking water. You carry a water bottle with you and fill … Read more →

During our trip to Italy, we spent a few hours in Pompeii. If you’re in Italy, this is a must-see. I took Latin in high school, so I knew a lot about Pompeii, but this is definitely one of those places that must be seen to be understood and appreciated. Pompeii was a Roman city that was buried when Mount Vesuvius exploded in 79 AD. The city was completely taken by surprise and the citizens died from the poison gas. The city was literally buried in ash, which completely preserved it in an intact state in the middle of daily life. Excavations are still taking place and there is still much of the city that has not been uncovered.

You will not believe the size of the city. This was a large, independent,

metropolis. It is a huge area. We were there for two hours and saw only a fraction of it.

The Highlights

I was blown away by how real this made the Romans feel to me. You walk their streets, peer into their shops and walk through their homes. We had a private guide for our visit, who was able to point things out and show us details we would have missed. You are walking through a city that is just missing most of its roofs. For me, there were three highlights:

• The Baths. We visited a carefully preserved spa that had men’s and women’s locker
  

  Inside the baths

  rooms, baths, and steam rooms. The women’s side is preserved intact, so you can see the mosaics and finish work. The men’s side is taken apart so that you can see the clever duct work that moved the hot water and created steam. The baths were an important part of Roman life and until you walk through them and feel how carefully designed they were, you don’t really understand the lifestyle.

• The whorehouse. This was completely legal and considered necessary.
  

  The menu

  Pompeii was a seaport so many sailors came into town seeking company. The whorehouse has stone beds and the walls have frescoes that are a menu of sorts, depicting the different acts available so that sailors could select their services even if there was a language barrier. Along the streets, there are carvings of male genitalia pointing the way so sailors could easily find their way to the house. This was one of the busiest spots on the tour and our private guide was able to get us in past the crowds. Before we went, she took me aside and asked if I was ok with going there, since our 14 year old son was along. I appreciated her asking, but had no problem with it.

• The villa. In recent years a beautiful villa has been excavated and left open to the public so you can walk through the home and see the frescoes and mosaics and really feel what it is like to be inside a Roman home, which is very different from our homes. This made the Romans come to life and was an experience of a lifetime.

Other Sights

We also enjoyed seeing the gladiator training school. The gladiators lived in dorms and practiced on a practice field and in a small arena here before being sent to the Colosseum in Rome. It was fascinating to see the Colosseum in Rome then come here and see where they learned their skills.

I also loved the streets themselves. There is something amazing about walking down a street where Roman carts went before you. They also have stepping stones across the street to allow pedestrians to cross without getting wet or muddy. It was all very thought out and the streets were laid out like a grid.

We were also struck by the suburban strip mall feel to the main streets, where shop after

shop is lined up. Our guide told us they had pocket doors on the shops, since the city was so tight. Those clever Romans.

I wish we had had time to go to the museum in Naples where most of the artifacts have been taken. Unfortunately, Pompeii is mostly just empty shells of buildings. We did see a few casts of people (my son was fascinated, I found them slightly horrifying). The actual body was essentially vaporized, leaving a cast behind.

Preparing for Your Visit

If you go:

• Wear sneakers. The streets are cobblestone and there are hills.
• Bring water. There are fountains throughout the city, but when we were there, they were not functioning.
• Wear a hat. There is NO shade anywhere inside Pompeii.
• Plan out your walk. If you are on your own, get a map and choose the highlights you want to see. You cannot see it all without dropping dead from exhaustion, so choose the highlights.
• Allow lots of time. We were there for 2 hours and I wish we had had more time.

A Shopping Tip

I have one last tip for you about the area. Outside the gates of Pompeii there are tons of

tacky souvenir stalls (and they are really bad), but our guide steered us into a cameo shop. I would never have seen it.  If you are facing the entrance gate, it is on your right hand side in the building behind the outdoor restaurants. They claim to be a place where cameos are handmade and you are walked past an old man who is working, but it’s hard to believe he alone produces all the product they have there (I’m not questioning the handmade nature of the cameos, just that it is unlikely that one older man is making them all when they are selling many every day). There is a short video you can watch about how cameos are made (they are carved from shell commonly today, but used to be from stone and glass) if you’d like some history. Downstairs is the actual shop, with cases and cases of cameos. If you select a cameo they will not only size rings on the spot, but the artisan will sign the back of it and inscribe your initials onto the back. I thought the prices were reasonable and the quality was excellent.

During our trip to Italy, we spent a few hours in Pompeii. If you’re in Italy, this is a must-see. I took Latin in high school, so I knew a lot about Pompeii, but this is definitely one of those places that must be seen to be understood and appreciated. Pompeii was a Roman city … Read more →

I’ve titled this post SPQR, which stands for Senātus Populusque Que Rōmānus (the Senate and people of Rome), and is an abbreviation you see on manholes all over Rome and which was used in ancient Rome. My husband and kids all bought t-shirts that say this. Rome was really about history for us and we really enjoyed this city immensely.

Spanish Steps

We started our visit by walking to the Spanish Steps. They’re interesting, but really, it’s just a big bunch of steps (if you go, plan so that you emerge at the TOP of the steps and can walk down them. You will definitely enjoy your visit here more: this is what we did in a burst of genius because there are a LOT of steps). There is a lovely fountain in a piazza at the bottom of the steps that is a big tourist gathering place. If you go at night, beware of the aggressive vendors trying to sell roses. They were literally hitting my daughter with roses saying, “You are so special to me,” trying to get her to take one so we would have to pay for it. This is a lovely area though and a nice photo op. The streets surrounding this area had some shops and we stumbled upon one of the best restaurants of our entire trip in this area (coming soon in a post about the food on the trip!).

Trevi Fountain

We also visited the Trevi Fountain, which is within walking distance of the steps. This is a

mob scene, particularly at the height of summer when we were there, but if you are patient, you can get a spot on the edge of the fountain where you can toss two coins in and take a nice picture. People tend to move in and out of this area pretty quickly, so even though it looked really crowded, we didn’t wait very long. While we were there, some star (athlete, movie star, we don’t know!), walked through the piazza, followed by screaming girls. It was quite a site!

Pantheon

While we were on our own, we went to the Pantheon, which is a beautiful round temple, originally Roman, and converted to Catholicism. The architecture was stunning, as was the scale of the building (we also found some great shopping nearby).

Capuchin Crypt

Beneath a church in Rome, there is a museum of artwork made of human bones. Can you tell I have a teenaged son? This was a must-see on our list. (photos were not allowed, so you can watch this video if you’d like to see it). This little unassuming church has a museum you pay to get into, filled with religious artifacts and some religious history. Underneath the church are rooms where the bones of monks are used to create designs and art. Each little “room” used a specific type of bone, so there was a femur room and a skull room, etc. The idea was to remind us all that we will all be reduced to bones one day. I found it to be quite creepy, but the rest of my family thought it was fascinating.

Bus Tour

We had not planned to take a bus tour of the city, but after we arrived and were blown away by the architecture we were driving past (not knowing what any of it was), we decided to pay for a hop-on-hop-off bus tour with a recorded message telling you what everything was. It helped us get our bearings in the city and it identified a few buildings, but overall, it was a waste of time and I wouldn’t recommend it. The headsets did not work sometimes and it seemed they spent a lot of time giving too many details about some buildings and then not identifying other places we were passing by. So, I don’t recommend the Trambus for this, unfortunately.

Le Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini

Another bit of the trip that was lacking was this new museum that seems to be run by the tourism department for this region of the country. It wasn’t in any of my guidebooks and I happened upon a mention of it on TripAdvisor.  The web site is a bit deceiving. The general idea was supposed to be this: they found an actual Roman villa (home) underneath another building and it was pretty well preserved. They excavated it and you get to go in and using virtual technology, they show you how the rooms used to look, so you can experience a real Roman home. That’s what it was supposed to be. In actuality, they built glass floors over some ruins. They shine lights on them and use lighting to complete some mosaics that are partially destroyed. It did not bring it to life for us very well at all. The tour lasted an hour and a half and we simply stood on glass floors the entire time (not a bench or chair in site at this place), until 15 minutes before the end, when we were shown a movie about a nearby monument that seemed completely unrelated. The tour didn’t make a lot of sense. If they had shown us a map or given us information about the layout of the home it would have made more sense. At this point, I just don’t recommend this museum.

The Vatican

We took two guided tours that we greatly enjoyed. The first was of the Vatican Museums. We decided to go with this tour because it allowed us to skip the line to get into the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. It also took us to see some of the art in the Vatican, which frankly, we weren’t that interested in. I did enjoy having someone tell me what to look for when I was looking at the Sistine Chapel and in the Basilica.  Of all the art we saw, I enjoyed the tapestries and maps the most. A lot of it is a blur: it was incredibly hot and crowded in the museums and just keeping up with the guide was a challenge.

The Sistine Chapel was impressive, but was somehow smaller than we thought it would be. The room was packed with people. There were no signs directing people to be quiet, yet there were guards who would say “shhhh” and “silence!” occasionally – then the noise level would slowly build again until they would say it again. It seemed a bit silly. We were pleased to be able to see this important work of art. The Basilica was beautiful and I thought the Pieta was moving.

We did walk around the Vatican area and shopped and had lunch nearby. We saw lots of nuns, but only one priest in a cassock. The grounds of the Vatican looked gorgeous from what I saw of them and St. Peter’s Square was fun to see in person.

Ancient Rome

Our other guided tour was of ancient Rome. We started at the Collosseum. It may have been one of the most impressive things on the entire trip. It was fascinating to stand inside it, gaze down at the stage, and imagine the stadium filled with Romans, an emperor, and gladiators. To be in such a place with such a deep history was really a moment I won’t forget. And our guide allowed us to skip the line to get in, which was also terrific (he said people wait 2-3 hours often just to get inside). This was a not-to-be-missed stop in our trip.

The tour then took us into the Roman Forum, which is not as well-preserved at all. To walk

down roads that the ancient Romans walked on was quite a feeling! We saw the tomb of Julius Caesar (which gave me chills, because he has always seemed like such a fictional person, but to feel his humanity was really something), the Arch of Constantine, and the remains of many buildings. It was a remarkable place to walk through. I took 4 years of Latin in high school and so did my daughter, and my son will also. Being able to walk through an ancient place that you learned about in school makes it so much more real and important.

Rome Overall

We really loved Rome. It had this great quality of delivering the unexpected. You would turn a corner and there would be ancient Roman ruins next to (and in some places actually built around) modern buildings. It had the feel of a very cosmopolitan city, yet it felt completely accessible (we felt this way about London too, perhaps because it is not filled with skyscrapers like American cities?). We found the people to be friendly and the streets to be very walkable. We loved the sense of history, coupled with the feeling of a very modern and with-it city.  I would have loved to see the Appian Way and to find more shopping, but we used our time well here. It was a beautiful city with a deep history that spoke to me.

Still to come: posts about Pompeii, Capri, Sorrento, FOOD, and hotels in Italy.

 

I’ve titled this post SPQR, which stands for Senātus Populusque Que Rōmānus (the Senate and people of Rome), and is an abbreviation you see on manholes all over Rome and which was used in ancient Rome. My husband and kids all bought t-shirts that say this. Rome was really about history for us and we really … Read more →

I’m halfway through my posts about all of our stops in Italy, so let’s take a rest stop and talk about shopping (don’t worry, there will be lengthy foodie posts to come as well!)

Pre-Shopping

Before I leave on a trip, I try to find out what the specialty items of the area are. For Italy, I determined that I should look for handmade glass and lace (and locally made lace is hard to find and expensive since most of it is just made in factories in Asia now) in Venice, handcrafted paper and leather in Florence, and lemon products and custom-made sandals in Sorrento. Cameos are another specialty in Italy. I also read about glass or stone mosaics throughout the country.

I have several specific collections I am always looking to add to: bookmarks and magnets are the cheapest, although bookmarks can be hard to find. I always am looking for Christmas ornaments, Easter eggs and cups, handmade baskets, locally made soap, fun food items to bring home, and watercolor paintings depicting the area. It helps to have specific things to look for.

Venice

The shopping in Venice was fantastic. There were so many stores, it was hard to focus. This was also our first city, so we were jet lagged and trying to adjust to the terrible heat! We took a vaporetto to the island of Murano which was

an amazing place to visit, but they had so much glass that is made there on the island that it was hard to choose! Some of the glass is very expensive. One shop had a few glass mosaic pieces, but none were right.

I found two great bookmarks in Venice, one with a tassel (which they sell many of in Venice) and one with Murano glass.

We bought our Venice painting from an artist in the campo right in front of our hotel, next to a canal. It was one of those perfect settings.

Florence

There was a lovely shopping section in Florence on the far side of the Arno, just past the Ponte

Vecchio, but I wish it had been bigger. This area had some terrific artisan shops where we bought leather items and a beautiful painted tray. My husband bought a wallet and we got the leather trays I photographed. I found bookmarks here and little books of paintings from each city which will hang on my book tree in my office.

I bought my painting in Florence (the long narrow on in the front of the photo below) in a small courtyard outside the Uffizi where artists were selling their work. Artists were also selling things in the Plaza Repubblica at night. I find that areas where

tourists gather in the evenings are good places to find local paintings that are inexpensive. I rarely pay more than $20 for paintings like these.

I looked at gorgeous stone mosaics in Florence, but could not bring myself to spend a minimum of 250 Euros for one. So those have now taken up residence in the museum in my mind (all the things I wished I had bought and didn’t on all of my trips!).

Rome

Rome was a challenge for shopping, but we did find a nice little grouping of shops near the Pantheon. Everything else was junky souvenir shops or expensive designer shopping. There were several shops with nice pottery in Rome.

I bought a painting in Rome, but it’s a print that I saw lots of street vendors selling. I could not find any artists selling original paintings.

I saw a gorgeous handpainted leather purse I came very close to buying, but the back of it had some scratches. They didn’t have any others. Another item added to the museum of my mind.

Pompeii

We took a tour of Pompeii and I did not expect to buy anything there other than my fun little cheap magnet (I buy one every place we go and they decorate the file cabinet in my office). However, our guide took us into a cameo store, where an elderly man sits hand-making cameos.  They were beautiful and my daughter and I each bought one (ok, I bought two). The artist signed them on the back and also wrote our

initials on the back. I really wanted a blue cameo, but they told us those are always made in factories. The ones we bought are handmade from shells.

Sorrento

Sorrento had a wonderful shopping section, very quaint with narrow

alleys and cobblestone streets, just off the Tasso piazza. It was a shopper’s paradise. There were so many shops selling leather purses that I was dizzy!

My daughter had sandals handmade for her here (you go in and pick out the elements you want on them and they have it ready the next day: they do not actually hand-make the sole however – they just put together the pieces you select). Limoncello is a big product here, but I bought lemon soap and honey since we don’t care for alcohol.  My husband bought a beautiful leather bag and a belt here.

We had dinner one night down in Marina Grande, a tiny little beach area. There was an old woman selling lace just behind the beach. She was sitting and doing lacework, so there is a chance the lace I bought did not come from Asia, so I bought one lace doily.

We also stumbled upon a truly fantastic HUGE store called Gargiulio and Januzzi. They sold inlaid wood boxes and plaques, some glass jewelry and a big room of amazing Italian pottery and linens. Downstairs was a big room with marquetry inlay furniture which was gorgeous. I had to get out of that room or I would have had the entire thing shipped home. I bought some pottery and a table runner, as well as an inlay wood box (all still being shipped home, so no photos). Very high quality items and very good customer service. The shipping was free which was a nice bonus.

Capri

We visited the island of Capri on a tour, but only went to the town of Anacapri where the shopping was rather limited. I had high hopes for Capri, but didn’t buy much, other than the beautiful hydrangea glass plate I’ve photographed with my Murano glass. My daughter and I bought the lace bracelets I photographed with the lace doily here.

I could not find a painting on Capri (there was one shop in Anacapri with paintings and the owner was so aggressive, I could not even really look at his work. We ended up buying one in Sorrento of Capri the next day, so that worked out ok.

Not pictured are t-shirts and sweatshirts other members of the family brought home, as well as a couple pairs of earrings my daughter bought and promptly put into use!

We also had to make an emergency suitcase purchase at a train station! My daughter’s suitcase zipper broke. The train station in Rome had a big suitcase shop and we got a nice one for about 50 Euro, which was a nice bargain. We tried to throw out the broken suitcase, but everyone we asked told us to just set it outside the main doors of the station and someone would take it!

Overall, it was a successful trip in terms of shopping and now I am trying to figure out where to put it all! I have to get the paintings framed, which is always a challenge. I can often find frames and mattes at Michael’s but sometimes they are not standard sizes and I have to have them framed.

I always feel as though I am buying a ton, then I get it all home and it really isn’t a lot. It’s always so nice to have lovely little items to remind me of our trips!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m halfway through my posts about all of our stops in Italy, so let’s take a rest stop and talk about shopping (don’t worry, there will be lengthy foodie posts to come as well!) Pre-Shopping Before I leave on a trip, I try to find out what the specialty items of the area are. For … Read more →

The second leg of our Italy trip was three days in Florence. I was looking forward to this since I had heard the city was very walkable and friends had loved it.

I’ll be doing a separate post about Italy hotels (coming soon!) so I’ll hold off on talking about that here, but let me say the hotel was not as close as we had hoped to the city center.

Tuscany

The train ride from Venice to Florence was stunning. Tuscany really is all it’s cracked up to be. It was green, gold, and blue and the country villas with the fields were just beautiful. I would have loved to get off the train and drive through that countryside!

Shopping

On our first day, we walked to the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that spans the Arno River and is made up entirely of jewelry shops. This is the only bridge in Florence that Hitler spared and it has a long and rich history. The Medicis built a passageway on top of the shops on the bridge, so that they could cross the river in private. The shops are really overwhelming. There’s just too many, with too much merchandise. I didn’t even go in one – too confusing! We did window shop though.

The shopping on the far side of the bridge (the side where the Pitti Palace is) was excellent however. Lots of artisans selling wonderful things like paper, leather, jewelry, and ceramics. The shopping on the city side of the bridge is mostly designer stuff I wasn’t interested in very much.

There were some artists set up outside the Uffizi and I bought a painting there (my shopping post will be coming soon).

We visited the marketplace where there is a boar statue you are supposed to pet if you want to return to Florence. The boar was cute, but the market was run of the mill street vendors with cheap stuff.

The View

On our second day in  Florence we took a tour. They took us by bus to the Piazzelle

Michaelangelo. There’s a huge parking lot up in the hills where you can stand and see not only the entire city, but the entire countryside. It was simply stunning and made me wish I could get out into the countryside even more! There is a replica of the David in this parking lot as well.

Duomo and Baptistery

The Duomo and the Baptistery are the famous church buildings in the center of the city. Unfortunately, our tour did not take us into these buildings. That was not made clear to us when we signed up at all, so once the tour was over, we backtracked and went into the Duomo, which is a beautiful church with a dome created by Brunelleschi, at a time when the technology for making domes like this had been lost, so it is quite impressive. There was a long line to go up to the top of the dome, but we weren’t interested in doing that. The outside of the church is prettier than the inside, however, with its gold outer dome. The Baptistery is famous for its bronze doors, which are no longer original. We didn’t go inside, but we looked at the doors.

The David

Our tour next took us to the Accademia. We were able to skip the line to get in (and it was a LONG one!), but we still had to wait for our group to be let in. It was extremely crowded inside. We ditched the tour and just went to see the David on our own. It was much bigger than expected and his hands and feet looked

huge and out of scale. It was beautiful though and I’m glad we got to see it. We looked around a little bit, but really we just wanted to see the David and be done. Not to mention we were given no chance to use a bathroom on the 3 hour tour. It turns out the bathrooms in the Accademia are downstairs and you have to leave the ticketed area to get there, so we just left once we were done. Also, their gift shop was just awful!

Republicca Plaza

The tour had taken us through this plaza in the center of the city, but there isn’t much to

see. It’s just an open square that used to be the Roman forum in the city. There is a carousel there now and at night there were artists selling their work.

Pitti Palace

We went to see the Pitti Palace on our own (no tour) later on the second day. This was a palace the Medici family took over and built out. It honestly is pretty ugly from outside and the entire front lawn is paved or brick, so it was not pretty or welcoming. The pricing was complicated. You had to choose one group of galleries/rooms to see. We didn’t want to pay for both, so we missed out on the gardens, which I understand are gorgeous (my kids would have rioted if we made them walk through a garden though). The rooms were beautiful and ornate, but I think I am desensitized to palaces after our trip England where we saw so many! It was worth seeing though, so I’m glad we went. I would have liked some background info on the place and the Medicis, but we just couldn’t handle another long tour.

Pisa

The last day in Florence we took a train to Pisa (about a one hour trip and there are trains running every 20 minutes). This is a really cute little city and I wish we had had time to explore it. We took a cab from the train station to the Campo dei Miracoli, which is the complex where the Leaning Tower stands. It’s basically a baptistery and a church and the tower on a giant open square. We had tickets to climb the tower a couple of hours after our arrival, so we spent some time walking around. The immediate area is really junky souvenir shops (yet, as my husband complained, not one had a t-shirt that said “I climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa”). It was pretty horrible. Finally it was our turn to go in the tower. We were stopped because my daughter had a purse. No one told us you couldn’t bring a purse in. There are no signs. It says nothing on the tickets and when we picked up the tickets no one said a word about it. So my husband had to run across the campo, rent a locker and leave it.

Then we started our ascent. It is a LONG way and it winds around and around. One of our group has trouble with heights and that person was not enjoying it at all. I did not like the pressure of trying to go fast enough to keep the people behind me happy. It is a little bit claustrophobic in there, particularly when people decide to go down past you.

We made it to the top and there is a nice view of the countryside from the top. It is nice to be able to say I climbed to the top of that!

The descent was easier than the ascent, however my husband managed to sprain his ankle coming down (he was trying to be careful of his knee and ended up hurting something else!). We got to the bottom and asked the people who worked there for medical attention and they were unhelpful. He hopped all the way to the ticket office where we were given one of those instant bags of ice (you smack it to activate it). Since it was about 99 degrees, it didn’t last long. We asked for another and got it, but were told it was the last one they had. Great. We saw an ambulance parked on the other side of the campo and he hobbled over there, hoping to get an Ace bandage. It turned out not to be an ambulance, but a police van, with no police anywhere to help us. Really, really frustrating.

We waited and waited for a cab, which took us to a restaurant I had read about. It turned out to be closed so we ate at a pizza place in an alleyway where they spoke no English. We got back to the train station and that was the end of our day. On the way to the train station, we saw where some decent shops were, but were unable to stop. So Pisa was a bit of a bust for us.

Florence at Night

We did have a nice dinner near the Duomo one night and came out to find lots of people wandering around the piazza. There were people selling toys that shoot up in the air and light up (we bought one for my son). We wandered a bit and on a street just off the Republicca  Plaza, came upon a street performer we watched for a bit. It was nice to walk around the city at night and see other people out and about. It was a relaxed feeling.

Florence Overall

Overall, I was not in love with Florence. The city felt dirty and cramped to me. There wasn’t a lot to see or do compared to Rome and Venice. Tuscany is a place I could fall in love with, but Florence itself did not thrill me. I did like the vibe the city had of being a home to artists and creative people.  I’m glad we went, but I don’t think I would plan to return to the city itself.

The second leg of our Italy trip was three days in Florence. I was looking forward to this since I had heard the city was very walkable and friends had loved it. I’ll be doing a separate post about Italy hotels (coming soon!) so I’ll hold off on talking about that here, but let me … Read more →

Our two week trip to Italy began in Venice. It was love at first sight for me. This is hands-down the most romantic city I’ve ever visited. Venice is like something out of a fairy tale. It’s like a mystical kingdom: an island set off the shore where there are no cars, buses, taxis, or scooters. The only way to get around the city is by boat or on foot. What this means is that Venice is supremely quiet. There are no engines, horns, or tires squealing. When you are facing a canal, boats go by, but they are quiet (the Grand Canal is the exception – there is a lot of traffic there). The rest of the city is made up of quiet alleyways and calm squares (called campos, which mean fields in Italian).  It was this beautiful silence that first struck me. And all the streets are very, very narrow, not more than 4 people across.

Architecture

The second thing that captivated me was the architecture. Venice was most definitely

Italian, but because of its unique historical position as a gateway between the east and west, it has architecture that reflects French and Turkish styles. It’s an incredible combination of the most beautiful styles from all over Europe and it made the city feel very welcoming and inclusive. The buildings lining the Grand Canal were all originally palaces and the Grand Canal was their Main Street, so their elegant facades face this canal. All buildings situated on canals have doors that open (or once opened) to the canal. This was the front door. You can transport yourself to another time when you look at these palazzos. The buildings have many window boxes with flowers and this is the only greenery you will see in the city. There are no parks, no trees, no grass (except in some private courtyards). You also see a lot of laundry hung out the upper windows of buildings, which felt very Italian to me. And

then there are the doors. The city is filled with unique and wonderful doors. I took photos of many of them. I was hoping to find a poster of them, but didn’t see one.

The Bridge

The top tourist attractions in Venice are the Rialto Bridge, the biggest and most beautiful bridge spanning the Grand Canal. It is filled with souvenir shops. Climbing to the top of the bridge allows an excellent viewpoint of the Grand Canal. Either end of the canal is also filled with street stalls selling souvenirs. The bridge is pretty to look at, but is choked with junky stores and tourists.

Piazza San Marco

The other big attraction is Piazza San Marco, home to a huge open piazza. It is surrounded on 4 sides by buildings. There are hundreds of pigeons in this square. One end of the square is dominated by the stunning San Marco cathedral. We took a tour inside this beautiful church. The inside of the domes and many of the walls are covered with intricate stone mosaics. The amount of work that went into this art is mindblowing. The church also has a beautiful exterior with many statues. The marble pillars around the front of the building were fascinating because each is different – and

each was stolen from somewhere else in the world. The view from the balcony  is remarkable because it allows you to look out over the lagoon to the Adriatic Sea. You also have a stunning view of the piazza.

Next door to the church is the Doge’s Palace. The doge was the ruler of Venice, but he was not like a king. Our guide told us much about the forward-thinking government of Venice which was a republic ruled by nobles. The palace itself is not very exciting, although the maps painted on the walls were of interest because of how wrong they were, but also because they showed the travels of Marco Polo, native son of Venice and the man credited with opening China to trade with Europe.

We walked over the famous Bridge of Sighs which connected the prisons to the government rooms. Our tour allowed us to skip the lines to get into the church and palace and I highly recommend doing so (the lines were long and stood in the hot sun). I also think it is a good idea to take an actual tour so you can learn what you are looking at and why it is important. Our tour began with a little walking tour of Venice that included the area where Marco Polo was believed to have lived and our guide provided us with much background information that helped me understand the city.

We had lunch in the piazza, at the oldest cafe in Venice, called The Florian Cafe. You sit at a table in the open piazza and an orchestra plays. You, of course, pay through the nose for this experience, since there is a seating fee added to your bill and the food (which was absolutely fine but not amazing) is grotesquely overpriced. It is a once in a lifetime thing though, so we did it.

Shops

The shopping in Venice was overwhelming. I have never been in a place with so many shops. There was simply hours of shopping on the main pathways to the bridge and to the piazza. There’s lots of Murano glass to be bought and I did buy some here, but tried to wait for our trip out to Murano itself (an island a short boat ride away).

Transportation

There are several types of boat transport in Venice which I carefully read up on in advance. We took water taxis to and from the train station and airport. These are small wooden boats that reminded me a lot of the classic wooden boats you see on American lakes. They have an enclosed portion with benches. They can hold up to about 8-10 people it seemed, but our guides always took us alone in them. When we left the airport, our water taxi traveled on what was essentially a road through the water. It was a specific channel tightly enclosed by wooden pillars, that led the way from the airport to the city.

The rest of the time we were in the city and were not walking, we used vaporettos, which are like water buses or subway lines. You buy a ticket from an automated machine and get on when the boat comes to your stop. There is a specific line with stops listed so it is relatively easy to manage. We heard about, but did not ride in traghettos, small rowed boats that will take you across a canal. We had no need for them since there were plenty of bridges.

We also took a private gondola ride. Our gondolier did not sing (fine by me!) and we

traveled over part of the Grand Canal and many smaller canals. When we were on the smaller canals, it was a quiet, serene ride and was something to check off my bucket list!

Wandering

All the guidebooks warned me that it is very easy to get lost in Venice. If you are going to the main tourist sites, they are signs on the corners of buildings with arrows and you just follow them without issue. If, however, you are trying to find a specific restaurant, good luck. We had both a paper map and a digital map that tracked our location in real time and couldn’t find anything, ever. We saw a lot of interesting little alleys and campos this way (and as an aside, I have to say I never felt unsafe, even though most of the alleys and campos off the beaten track are as empty as ghost towns).

Overall Impression

My overall feeling about Venice was that it is a very European city and not a typical Italian city, particularly when I compare it to the other places we went in Italy. It made me want to see more of Europe, however. The people were all very friendly and spoke very good English, making it easy for us ignorant Americans to communicate. I felt very welcomed and comfortable in this city. Venice is the perfect city to wander in. Go see the top tourist sites, then allow yourself time to just explore.  Venice is now on my list of my all-time favorite places (the list also includes Maine, Savannah, Scotland, Hawaii, Sedona AZ, and the Bahamas). Someday I hope to go back to this mesmerizing city.

Our two week trip to Italy began in Venice. It was love at first sight for me. This is hands-down the most romantic city I’ve ever visited. Venice is like something out of a fairy tale. It’s like a mystical kingdom: an island set off the shore where there are no cars, buses, taxis, or … Read more →