Belated (Very!) Italy Trip Report

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!

When I initially planned the trip, I was planning to do Italy cum
Greece, and as a result of the numerous and helpful feedbacks, I
decided to do Italy for now.

The trip ended up being 1 day in Bologn (instead of 2), 4 days in
Florence, and 3 days in Rome, and a daytrip to Pompeii from Rome
through Vastours.

Getting to Bologna was so hellish it was funny. The 12 hour flight
ended up being aboutr 22 hours. The problem was the Heathrow to
Gatwick connection, and the delayed departure from Gatwick to Bologna.
I don't want to elaborate too much, but let's say everything that
could have gone wrong DID go wrong. But somehow we managed to get to
our hotel in Bologna without being kidnapped or extorted... :-)

Loved Bologna--wish I had alloted more time to it! I was shocked at
how cold it was and how smoky and smoggy it was. Liked the hotel we
stayed in--Albergo Al Cappello Ross. A bit small, old heating system,
and most of the clientele appears to be the business traveller, but
had pretty decent food for breakfast and great central location. The
best food we had in Italy was in Bologna.

Stayed 4 days in Florence. Liked the architecture in Bologna better,
although the Duomo area and the Piazza Signoria area were pretty
impressive. The Ponte Vecchio and the Piazza SS Annunciata were a tad
over-rated, as was the Academia. I do love the small narrow streets
(dirty, and in need of pet laws!), and it's #2 in the 3 cities we
stayed in. Loved the Hotel Orto de Medici--very cute and charming.

Rome was my least favorite city that we stayed in. I might be a tad
biased, but it's got too many hustlers and panhandlers--we got shaken
down by a rogue cabbie. The Trevi Fountain was a bit
over-rated--found the Camidoglia and the Victor Emmanuel monument a
bit more impressive. Loved the Vatican and St. Peter's--the Pieta
while beautiful was amazingly small, and the Sistine Chapel, the
Raphael Rooms, and the Map Gallery were too marvellous for words.

The daytrip to Pompeii was pretty nice--got a chance to get a glimpse
of Naples, Pompeii and Sorrento. Pompeii is worth a second visit,
this time self-guided. Sorrento was amazingly beautiful--very
tropical, full of citrus, and had marvellous views of the Bay of
Naples. My next trip will be to explore more of Emilia Romagna and
the areas around the Bay of Naples.

This is a very brief summary of the trip we took to Italy about a
month ago.

Thought I would thank you all and let you all know that I WAS helped
by all the feedback I got to my previous posts.

Lil

I was only at Bolgogna trains tation in transit but wondering why you
would have picked Bologna
Sorrento is nice and Amalfi better

"Lil" wrote in message
om...
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions!

When I initially planned the trip, I was planning to do Italy cum
Greece, and as a result of the numerous and helpful feedbacks, I
decided to do Italy for now.

The trip ended up being 1 day in Bologn (instead of 2), 4 days in
Florence, and 3 days in Rome, and a daytrip to Pompeii from Rome
through Vastours.

Getting to Bologna was so hellish it was funny. The 12 hour flight
ended up being aboutr 22 hours. The problem was the Heathrow to
Gatwick connection, and the delayed departure from Gatwick to Bologna.
I don't want to elaborate too much, but let's say everything that
could have gone wrong DID go wrong. But somehow we managed to get to
our hotel in Bologna without being kidnapped or extorted... :-)

Loved Bologna--wish I had alloted more time to it! I was shocked at
how cold it was and how smoky and smoggy it was. Liked the hotel we
stayed in--Albergo Al Cappello Ross. A bit small, old heating system,
and most of the clientele appears to be the business traveller, but
had pretty decent food for breakfast and great central location. The
best food we had in Italy was in Bologna.

Stayed 4 days in Florence. Liked the architecture in Bologna better,
although the Duomo area and the Piazza Signoria area were pretty
impressive. The Ponte Vecchio and the Piazza SS Annunciata were a tad
over-rated, as was the Academia. I do love the small narrow streets
(dirty, and in need of pet laws!), and it's #2 in the 3 cities we
stayed in. Loved the Hotel Orto de Medici--very cute and charming.

Rome was my least favorite city that we stayed in. I might be a tad
biased, but it's got too many hustlers and panhandlers--we got shaken
down by a rogue cabbie. The Trevi Fountain was a bit
over-rated--found the Camidoglia and the Victor Emmanuel monument a
bit more impressive. Loved the Vatican and St. Peter's--the Pieta
while beautiful was amazingly small, and the Sistine Chapel, the
Raphael Rooms, and the Map Gallery were too marvellous for words.

The daytrip to Pompeii was pretty nice--got a chance to get a glimpse
of Naples, Pompeii and Sorrento. Pompeii is worth a second visit,
this time self-guided. Sorrento was amazingly beautiful--very
tropical, full of citrus, and had marvellous views of the Bay of
Naples. My next trip will be to explore more of Emilia Romagna and
the areas around the Bay of Naples.

This is a very brief summary of the trip we took to Italy about a
month ago.

Thought I would thank you all and let you all know that I WAS helped
by all the feedback I got to my previous posts.

Lil

Ian,

The Bologna train station is nothing special as you pointed out.
However, Bologna offered the cheapest fare near Florence--I didn't
realize WHY it was so cheap until I realized that it's because I have
to fly into Heathrow then fly out of Gatwick in a little over 3 hours.
On top of that, it seems like a more low key place--perfect place to
try to deal with jet-lag. Finally, several people had very nice
things to say about it.

Downtown Bologna is more interesting architecturally, and I love the
area around the Piazza Maggiore, where you have these small produce
and food shops in small little streets--residuals from the middle
ages? What I really liked was it didn't FEEL too touristy.

Lil

"Ian Phillips" wrote in message news:4Nw2c.702101$JQ1.120460@pd7tw1no...
I was only at Bolgogna trains tation in transit but wondering why you
would have picked Bologna
Sorrento is nice and Amalfi better