First Trip to Italy...not in Love
3 nights in Levanto (Cinque Terra adjacent)
3 nights in Sovana, Tuscany (for a wedding)
2 nights in Rome, near Piazza di Spagna
Flight: Alitalia, direct from LAX to FCO
Rental Car: Dollar/Enterprise (Fiat Panda Manual)
I studied. I researched. I put together a travel wardrobe for my husband and I that followed Rick Steves' every direction and suggestion. Packed light. Planned well.
Didn't love it.
We planned the trip around a dear friend's wedding in Tuscany. We booked the tickets prior to deciding on time in Cinque Terre, so that long drive after the flight was my fault, but the drive wasn't actually that bad, even though it was 3.5 hours or so. We saw Italy, that's for sure!
To start, I had a bad feeling getting on the Alitalia flight. I adopted an attitude of persistent politeness and forced myself into a "no worries" attitude. I was determined to roll with anything that happened and enjoy Italy. I completely took to heart Rick's advice to become a "temporary local." As soon as I hit the plane I knew it was going to be tough.
Patricia
Burbank, CA USA 7/10/12
Send Private Message
‹ Previous Page:3
Patricia,
Loved reading your adventure - very entertaining!
Yes, my husband & my memory of the Sistine Chapel is also, "guards would just yell "NO PHOTO. NO PHOTO" over and over again, ruining the space. People were so loud, there was a constant hiss of "shushing" of them, making it worse." Luckily, one of our favorite Italian restaurants near Seattle has part of the S. Chapel painting, so we can enjoy it without the sound effects. : )
I agree with others on airlines. We've always used Air France or Delta with excellent results. And, we only use trains, so we've missed the other car rental stories.
Hope your next vacation is relaxing...or, write a book, and we'll all buy it!
Hi Patricia,
I just loved your report and could relate to a number of things. I think that the Romans will just keep offering the level of service they see as adequate for travelers as long as we keep going!
First observation: I don't think it is a stretch to think that Rome is run by the tourist organizations and guides. It is so hard to find your way around by yourself and it is obvious they want it that way in order to force the insecure to use guides!
Agree: American "Italian" food is every bit as good as you can find in Rome. My pizzelle is so much lighter and I'm 0% Italian. Same goes for the main dishes.
Second observation: I can't believe the number of folks who do NO research. Why would a tour guide make her group leave through the main exit from the Sistene to get in another long line for the Basilica? Is it just that RS readers are more intelligent? Why don't the masses get their tickets online for the Vatican? I couldn't believe that just this relatively inexpensive step allowed me to pass the hoardes of folks in the ticket line. The Vatican website was easy to navigate. Just don't get it.
Thanks again for your honest assessment.
Italian food in Calfornia same as in Italy? I find it hard to believe. However, I am sorry that you were not found good in our peninsula, we are a people full of flaws and some merit.
Born adventurer, just not where there are other people! I've never been a big one for crowds. Backpacking for days through the back-country...I'm totally happy.
Next up on my list will be something like that. An inn to inn horseback ride in Ireland, perhaps, or a trek through New Zealand.
I'm sure I'll be back to Italy eventually, and it will be an amazing trip - because now I know better. I'm thinking hiking in the alps in the off season, or one of the adventure bike tours that REI puts on.
Next up for me is just Hawaii, the Big Island this time, for my birthday in February. 7 days of hiking remote areas, mountains, lava flows...I can't wait!
Claudio, I love the food in Italy, thought it was amazing. And Americans are also full of flaws and some merit as well. Americans are not better than Italians.
Patricia, your future trips sound wonderful. Enjoy Hawaii! :)
Big Island- one of the most awesome landscapes I've seen anywhere in the world. Enjoy!
I understand you, Patricia, unfortunately, in August the tourist areas such as Tuscany, Rome and the Cinque Terre are overcrowded, and maybe you've had an unfortunate series of experiences, probably you would have found better to go hiking in Trentino Dolomites or in the beautiful Piedmont Langhe or little known Montefeltro, area of central Italy that rivals the Tuscan, but not its prices and its crowds of tourists. You do not forget, however, that Italy is a small country (one-thirtieth of the USA) with sixty million people, where everyone is convinced that he is the most important person on earth!
Americans are still one of the people who most loves Italy and to my countrymen who are rude to them I say that I am ashamed to have their same nationality. To the Americans who find that everything in America is better, I suggest them to stay at home, they will be happier.
Amen, Claudio.
thanks, it's nice to have a fan!
Claudio and others,
Didn't mean to offend about the food, but I learned to cook some Italian dishes from an immigrant from Rome and I watch and follow Italian Americans on the FoodTV network. I grow my own herbs, buy quality and imported ingredients, follow directions and my risotto, lasagna, chicken piccata, pizzelle, etc. are to die for! I'm not a professional chef but people love my Italian cooking. You would swear you were in Italy at my holiday meals. BTW- what happened to my Polish and Swedish heritage?
Donna
Donna
I'm convinced that you prepare great Italian dishes, moreover, Italian cuisine was born from Italian mothers and grandmothers in home kitchens, it was not born as the cuisine of great chefs, (those are the French). I had to search on google the Pizzelle, I do not know it and I was born here. in Italy there are more food than one will ever learn.
Claudio,
I learned to make pizelle over a gas flame with the patterned iron skillet from this Italian mother. I am not that brave and so own three different electric pizelle makers. I bought pizelle from a lovely bakery in Rome and their's was not crisp and light. You need to keep those stored so that air does not destroy their texture. Their other pastries were wonderful though. So, I know that you can find this cookie in Rome!
My best friend (Incoranata Ella) growing up was Italian, so I was exposed to a lot of good Italian cooking and was smart enough to ask to learn and that served me well.
Donna
Donna
I hope you will accompany your chicken piccata with a little polenta, here in the north Italy, we do not ever do without it.
Especially here in the Veneto, the people here are derisively referred to as "polenta eaters" by the rest of the country. I personally love polenta, it can be very tasty.
All northern Italians are called by the rest of Italy "polentoni" polenta eaters, also because in the past was the dominant food of the Lombardo-Veneto folk cuisine. In Lombardy before the war, the pasta was eaten only by the southern italians, same thing for olive oil. I think the same in Veneto.
And here, the Vicentini are called cat eaters...
I think it was probably rabbit!
Patricia, I'm just getting around to exploring these trip reports. I loved your report! I'm not in a hot hurry to visit Italy, although I know people who've gone there time and again. And I know now to avoid Alitalia completely - so, thanks!
I thought your report showed you'd prepared very well for your trip - for pete's sake, you even know the language - and made the best of it. Love your writing style.
I can't criticize a single thing about your behavior or your report.
Now, as for your idea of visiting Australia or NZ. First, just do it! I was there 5 years ago and hope to return, especially to see more of Australia. Second, based on my experience 5 years ago, I highly recommend flying there on Qantas if at all possible. The service even in steerage was superior to that of United, which I flew to Thailand a couple of years later (and in United I was in Economy Plus, a half-step up from total steerage). Although on neither airline was I treated rudely or awakened from sleep by the flight attendants.
‹ Previous Page:3