Day 8 – Train to Venice and first half day (all pics here)

Water Taxi from the train station to Hotel American provided some photo ops.

We did some walking to give Lethy a general feel of the city before lunch at a “hole in the wall” restaurant with some interesting art.

Afternoon I spent working and taking a nap before some risotto for dinner. Not sure that the risotto lived up to the hype this time. It was good, but not quite as heavenly somehow. Wine was nice:

Day 9 – The long day in Venice (all pics here)

As it seemed with Rome and Florence, we tried to pack all the “must sees” into one long day again.

First up was St Mark’s Basilica. Still lots of construction in the square, but the actual Basilica was 95% open.

After going through the Basilica and its museums, we settled down in the square for some extremely overpriced coffees and live music.

From there into the Doge’s Palace. It is far more expansive than the last time I was there.

Not as stunning or full of famous art as other places, but some interesting stories in how Venice was run in the renaissance.

We had lunch at one of the floating cafes in the channel. Late afternoon was a short walk, but mostly resting. Later we went to dinner at Antica Locanda Montin. We had a pakistani or indian waiter who was rather pushy. The food was good, but the wine list was poor. The walk there was very nice though.

Day 10 – Murano (all pics here)

We packed up before breakfast and then took a water taxi to the airport and a shuttle to the airport hotel, settled in, took a shuttle to another marina, and a water taxi to Murano glass factory…

The island itself is much like Venice, except it is completely dominated by glassware shops and glass factories. After some lunch and quite a bit of shopping, we took a vaporetto to the airport marina and walked the 1km to the hotel.

Dinner at the Courtyard was actually quite spectacular. Dad has the picture of the wine, which was also good.

The next morning we were up and out by 5:30 for a flight to Paris, a taxi across it, and a second flight on to NY.

A wonderful trip.

Allora!

Day 6 (all pics here)

After the lengthy drive up from Pompeii we checked in to Hotel Tornabuoni and hit the streets. Il duomo was already closed to non-Catholics so Lethy peeked inside and then we climbed the tower next door which had great views of the whole city.

On the way back through the city we saw some amazing street art:

Over to Palazzo Vecchio

Dinner across Ponte Vecchio at Bibo. Not the way it used to be.

Day 7 was museum day. (all pics here)

Uffizi and Academia. Neither allow photos. Lots of amazing art in both. Seeing the David is always impressive. It feels like he may step off the pedestal at any moment.

Dinner rooftop at the hotel…. great views, great steaks, great wines. Especially the Greppone.

Next morning would be a 9:30 AM train to Venice.

 

Day 4 (all pics here)
Between Rome and Pompeii we stopped in Herculaneum, a smaller site, but less over run with tourists and perhaps a bit better preserved. Frescoes, Mosaics, etc in very good shape.

From there we drove on to Pompeii and checked into the Hotel Forum. Definitely appears to be the nicest hotel in the tourist part of Pompeii… with fruit gardens full of grafted orange/melon/whoknowswhat trees to sit under and enjoy a drink.

A very nice dinner at La Bettola Del Gusto. Good wine:

Day 5 (all pics here)

Having a full day available in Pompeii was a wise choice. Getting started early before the heat came on and the crowds arrived was an even better one. We started from the back end of the site by their amphitheater and picked up a private guide, Antonio, who was very knowledgeable about history and kept us on pace.

Red light district building fresco:

The main judicial building:

After 3 hours in the sun and having covered all the major spots in Pompeii ruins, we jumped in the car and without lunch (just some Biscotti) we decided to hike Vesuvius. Yes, hike the volcano, that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum.

There is still steam seeping out of the rocks inside the crater in places, but it has not erupted since 1942.

Dinner at “Ristorante President” with very charismatic waiter “Paulo”. Food good, wine (Gemma) better:

The next day we would take the long drive up to Florence.

What better way to start off in Italy than with dinner. We went to a place around the corner from the hotel the night we arrived and enjoyed a nice family style Tuscan meal. Wine: Chianti Classico Ruffino de Oro. Good thing we had a hearty meal, because Day 1 would bring lots of walking…

Day 1 (all pics here)

First stop Spanish Steps… which apparently I have no good pictures of.

Then via a detour to palazzo Poppoli we went to Castel Sant’Angelo and did the full tour:

Next off to Piazza Navono for lunch. Interesting street vendors.

From there we went to the Pantheon:

Lastly we ended up at Trevi Fountain:

Dinner at Il Pomodorino with Osfaldo. Wine unknown.

Day 2 (all pics here)

First we did a 3 hours walking tour of the Vatican – the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s basilica.

Inside St. Pete’s:

Outside in the square:

From there we hopped a cab to our 2nd 3 hour walking tour of the day…

Colosseo:

Pallatine hill + Forum:

After a long day we took a cab back. Dinner at a more modern styled place with ok food.

Day 3 (all pictures here)

We took a nice long breakfast to read and enjoy the view:

We went to the National monument:

And then over to the Capital hill which has a view overlooking the Forum again:

After a quick lunch and a short breather, we went on a private tour of Villa Borghese… did you think we would escape Rome without ART?

Dinner at Il Pomodorino again. Mushroom caps and Wine:

The next morning we would have to pack up and head to Ercolano.