Photo gallery from our Italian Trip

Here are links to photos we took during our Italian vacation.

Alberobello                                            

Almalfi Coast                                         

Assisi                           

Burano                                                             

Cassino                         

Cinque Terre                 

Classe                           

Cortina                           

Falzarego Pass               

Florence

Isle of Capri

La Spezia

Lecce 

Milan

Mirabella

Pavia

Piedmont

Pompeii

Portofino                            
                                                                                                                                             
Portoverene

Positano

Rome

Santa Margherita

Sienna

Sorrento

Tivoli

Torre Canne

Venice

October 16 - Port Stanley

Home sweet home.  We got up at 6am Rome time and got home at 8pm Port Stanley time.  That's twenty hours in total.  Thanks Donna & Ron for picking us up.

We'll never fly Lufthansa again.  We flew from Rome to Frankfurt and from there to Toronto.  On the eight hour transAtlantic flight we were crowded in like cattle at a slaughter house.  They took was is supposed to hold a 2 - 3- 2 seat configuration and made it a 2 - 4 -2 configuration.  There was no room to move, the air circulation was poor and the food was pathetic.

I was never so glad to see Toronto, and I detest all things Toronto!

October 15 - Rome

For lunch we decided to try to find the restaurant where we had our first lunch 18 days ago.  After walking two blocks we found a flea market.  It was as good as the Campo de Fiori and a lot closer than the 30 minute walk we took yesterday to get there.  We never did find the restaurant, but the restaurant we did eat at was very good.

You know the expression “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”, well sometimes it just seems wrong.  Today at the restaurant we watched as one of the diners mixed a Coke with their wine.  No way is that going to happen.

We just watched the news and saw that Venice has been flooded because of a high tide and heavy rain.  St. Marks Square is under 10 centimeters of water.

Flood in San Marco, Venice (Newspaper Picture)

Things we’ve learned about Italy

1. You can’t find a bad bottle of wine
2. There is no such thing as too much food at an Italian restaurant
3. Italy measures its history in centuries not decades
4. Driving in Italy is both an art form and a daily suicide mission
5. Don’t blink in Italy as you will miss some masterpiece of art or an important historical building
6. There are more restaurants than churches, but churches occupy more land
7. Street vendors come out at night and are more plentiful than mosquitoes
8. There are good buskers and bad buskers and you are subjected to both at outdoor cafes
9. Graffiti is an urban blight for which there doesn’t seem to be answer
10. There is no such thing as too high heels or too short shorts
11. Trafalgar is not the tour company for those who like to sleep in past sunrise
12. Olive oil is used for cooking everything
13. Despite your best attempt to speak Italian, it will always elicit an English response
14. When crossing the street at a cross walk, stick out your chest and act like you own the road
15. Never trust a travel director on your last day to tell you where you can catch a taxi
16. In a restaurant don’t expect to have a bread and butter plate
17. Be prepared to get lost  when using a city map of Rome, because half the streets are not on the map or street names are not on the streets
18. They have the best sidewalk cafes ever
19. When using the rest rooms be prepared for a new experience every time.  You will find really clean rest rooms to filthy dirty WCs with a hole in the floor and remember to always carry money because for the clean wash rooms you can pay up to €1.50 or $1.95
20. Here they do their laundry every day and hang it on their balconies
21. Italy has beautiful scenery along their coasts
22. It is definitely the country to see mega amount of Roman ruins
23. These are the worst cobblestone streets ever to walk on
24. You will find the best pizza and pasta ever
25. Each four star hotel is different, ranging from the very elegant to the very worn.
26. You can see many couple kissing every where
27. There are lots of weddings everyday of the week
28. Italy is noted for beautiful leather and Morano glass
29. Venice is a wonderful city of water ways
30. Rome is a very busy tourist city, even at the end of the tourist season
31. You can get the best hot chocolate in Italy
32. Some people are very rude and actually push you or bang right into you
33. Never get in a cab in Rome, when the initial conversation is about Formula 1 Racing
34. English language TV is usually CNN International and BBC World Services

Q:        Would we take another Trafalgar tour? 

A:        A big yes!  I can’t imagine that we would have seen as much, learned as much and meet as many people had we planned this trip on our own.  The benefits far outweigh the early mornings, exhausting itineraries and the multiple stops at the “Autogrill”.  I guess that is the difference between an adventure and a vacation.

Q:        Highlights of the trip

A:        Brian - Sorrento, Almalfi Coast and Capri

           Marg - Venice

October 14 - Rome

Today was supposed to be a down day, where we did nothing but sit back and enjoy the good life here in Rome.  But after a six hour walking marathon, I’m ready to down several bottles of wine until I fall into a coma.

We started the day by walking to the Campo de Fiori, one of Rome’s favorite flea markets. Mckenna would love it there with all the jewelry and purses.   I can’t say I was impressed though,  as it was very small and there was not a lot of variety in the stalls.  I guess the redeeming feature is that there are a lot of restaurants and cafes in the square, so it is a trendy place to meet on a Sunday. As a side note, I found out that the square was histotrically used for public executions.

Marg shopping at Compo de Fiori

We then went to Trevi Fountain, so that we could throw a coin into the water.  Tradition has it, that if you throw a coin into the fountain then you assured that you will return to Rome.

Brian throws a coin into Trevi Fountain

We decided then go to Borghese Gardens.  This is a green space in Rome that is similar to Central Park in New York City, or Stanley Park in Vancouver.  We didn’t realize it from the map, but it was a good hike and mostly up hill.  The park was very nice and restful, and we took in a demonstration of rollerblading, which was quite impressive.

Roller Blading in Borghese Gardens

The return trip to the hotel took us down the famous Via Venito, this is where all the exclusive hotels are found in Rome.

Via Venito

I love the Italian dinning habits.  Again we had a long supper at an outdoor cafe, complete with sidewalk entertainment.  We finished eating at 10:00pm.  That’s living.

We have to admit that we all “touristed” out.  I don’t care if we see another church, museum, painting, spectacularly designed building or collection of rubble that used to be someone’s friggin' house 2000 years ago.  We're longing for Mackies fries and Orange drink.  I can honestly say that after 16 days we're ready to come home.

October 13 - Rome

Today we started the last leg of trip to Italy.  We went to our home base for the next 3 days,IQ Hotel in downtown Rome.  It is a modern hotel within walking distance of many of the attractions. It is next to the Rome Opera House. As with most hotel rooms in Italy, it is small but arranged so that you don’t feel cramped.

Breakfasts at the hotels are very much the same.  According to our guide from Trafalgar, most Italians do not have a big breakfast, instead they stop at cafeterias and have a cup of coffee and a pastry.  The hotel breakfasts resemble more what we would see at a Sunday brunch.  They have eggs and bacon, cereals, fresh fruit, pastries, cold cuts, cheese, various yogurts, juice and coffee.  I've grown to like the blood red orange juice.

At noon there was a heavy rain, which the Italians welcomed as they have had a severe drought this summer.  It cleared up around 15:00 and we took a walk to the Roman Forum. On our way passed the impressive monument to Victor Emmuanual. Victor Emmuanual was instrumental in uniting all the city states into the modern country of Italy.

The Forum was the center of the city for the ancient Romans. Here the Romans had their legislative buildings, judicial offices, religious temples and the homes of the Emperors could be found on the adjacent Palantine Hill.

Marg had bought me a guide book authored by Rick Steves. It was informative and came in very handy in preparing to go here.

Arch of Septimius Severus

Temple of Saturn

Temple of the Vestile Virgins

Roman Forum

Argentina at night

We spent about 2.5hrs walking about the ruins and just made it out before it closed.  This could have been disastrous as I had left my credit card with the ticket office as a security deposit for the audio guides.

We then walked to a restaurant called Hostaria Costanza. Here we meet two of Marg’s friends who are also having a vacation in Italy.  Liz was from California and Ruth was from Ottawa.  What should have been a 15 minute walk, turned into an hour walk as we could not find the Piazza and ended walking up and down Corso Vittorio Emanuelle II from the Roman ruins to the entrance of the Vatican. The map we had was not very helpful and a couple of people tried to help us but their directions we not exactly clear, given the language barrier.

Liz, Marg and Ruth at Costanza's

Hostaria Costanza is an interesting restaurant.  The inside of the restaurant is a grotto that was part of the Pompeo Theatre, a huge theatre from ancient Rome that could hold an audience of 20,000 people.  According to legend, it was at this spot that Julius Caesar was first told to beware of the Ides of March and later murdered by Brutus when he disregarded the warning.

October 12 - Sienna & Rome

Well as strange as it seems, the Trafalgar portion of our trip is coming to a close.  Tonight we arrived back in Rome and had our farewell party with the group and said our goodbyes.  It seems exotic to hear people talking about flying to Singapore, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi, Auckland and taking cross Atlantic cruises.  It was wonderful that a group of 35 adults could get along so well for 16 days.

We travelled about 4,000Km on our trip.  Although the trip was very hectic and we are very tired, we must admit that we would take another bus tour with Trafalgar, should we find an itinerary that was interesting.  Our guide, Barbara, and our driver, Carlos, were top notch.  We would still prefer a holiday where we aren’t packing and unpacking ever day, but how else could you see as much as we did in the past two weeks?

Florence from Piazza Michelangelo

This morning we left Florence and headed to the medieval city of Siena.  Siena was a rival of Florence for commerce during the medieval times.  Unfortunately the power lay with Florence because of the wealth of the di Medici family.  Siena is currently known for the Il Palio,  a horse race that takes place in the town square.  Each of the neighbourhoods in Siena have a horse that is trained specifically for this race.  The town is decked out in colourful flags that represent each of these neighbourhoods and the rivalries are quite evident. The Palio has taken place each year for 500+ years.

Siena - Piazza del Campo

Siena and Il Palio are featured in the 2008 James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace.

Marg had a hot chocolate with lunch today.  It was a cup of melted dark chocolate that she had to eat with a spoon. She loved it!

We then took the main highway south to Rome, through the lovely Tuscan countryside.  It is amazing to see the villas and old villages perched on top the these gentle hills.

We finally saw our first Italian golf course.  We are staying in the Sheraton Golf Resort in Rome.  I have to admit that the course looks in very bad shape.  The fairways don’t seem to be in very good shape.  It costs €72 or $95 for round of golf.

   

October 11 - Florence Part 2

Today we travelled to the center of the Renaissance movement, Florence.  Florence is famous for its history and its art.  It was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time.  In the 15^th century, the di Medici family financed the arts and science as a way of exerting their power and influence in Europe.  Among those who received support were Michelangelo and Galileo. Most of the major Italian masters studied in Florence.

Florence is in the Tuscany region of northern Italy.  Tuscany is known worldwide for its fine food, olive oil, and Chianti wine.   It is also known for its leather goods and gold jewellery.

We had a walking tour of the old city, starting in Santa Croce Square, where Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are all buried. We then walked along the banks of the Arno River, where we had a good view of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.  It has always hosted shops and merchants who displayed their goods on tables located on the side of the bridge.  Originally it was full of butcher shops but the Bargello's, a sort of a combination of  mayor, judge and a police, outlawed them when his wife complained of the smell.

Rumour has it that when the German army retreated from Florence at the end of the Second World War they blew up all the bridges except the Ponte Vecchio on the direct order of Hitler.

The Arno River has flooded many times and damaged priceless paintings and books.  A flood in 1966 left a high water mark that was at least 3 meters above the ground level. 

Arno River

We then walked to the Piazza della Signoria where there are numerous statues from the 15^th century, many by Renaissance masters.  This was followed by a stroll over to the Duomo, Florence’s most import church.

Perseus Holding Medusa Head - Cellini

Judith and Holofernes - Donatello

Fountain of Neptune -  Bartolomeo Ammannati

During the walk we came across an electric car recharging station.  Here electric cars can recharge their batteries free of charge.  This has been sponsored by the city.

We finished the tour by visiting Galleria dell’Accademia.  Here we saw the famous Michelangelo statue of the “David”.  Our guide gave us a 15 minute lecture on the artistic merits of the statue.  It was a bit long but quite interesting.

Michelangelo statue of the “David”

Our hotel, Hotel Croce di Malta, was an old Florentine palace.  Our suite had a living room overlooking the garden and the swimming pool.  The bedroom was upstairs and the bathroom was another step up.  The entrance to each room was through a grand arch.

In the evening we went for rural Tuscan dinner at a restaurant known as Tre Pini or the Three Pines.  Ken would have loved this dinner.  It started with an antipasti buffet with 25 items.  This was followed by Ravioli with truffles and a white sauce.  Then we had another serving of Ravioli with a meat and tomato sauce. As a main course we then had prime rib and potatoes.  This was followed by a salad.  To top it off we then had some cake for dessert.  This was served with as much Chianti as we could drink.  There was also some sweet sparkling fruit wine.

We had two soprano singers, who entertained us all evening.  They were very good and had excellent voices.

Getting here was lots of fun.  Carlos drove the bus through the city to get to the highway which would take us to the restaurant but when he got to the entrance it was closed.  He then crossed over the highway and proceeded up into the hills for ten minutes before he decided that this was the wrong route.  He then backed the bus into a narrow country lane that bordered on a steep cliff in a blinding rain storm and returned to Florence.  It then seemed that every road he wanted to take was closed or was full of traffic.  What should have been a thirty minute drive ended up being ninety minutes. He was one frustrated bus driver by then end of the evening.

Note to Jase:  Next time you don’t want to go to school, just remember that Italian children go to school Monday through Saturday.  They only have Sunday as a day off.