A couple of years ago I had this idea that I wanted to go an a walking tour of the Amalf Coast, and then life got in the way. So I bought the books and dreamed. Joan Marble's "Notes from an Italian Garden"is a fave. Then one day I got sick of hearing my self say "when I go to Italy"and decided to do something about it. But where to start? Trawling the web was good, travelling vicariously. But all this did was to confirm in my mind that I didn't want to do the package 'three cities in 24 hours' type trip. And then I discovered Slow Travel. Here was an idea! And now I am off to Italy in March 07 with my 15 year old and my best friend. Now I have the airline tickets, an apartment in Rome for a week and one in Florence also for a week, plus somewhere to stay in Venice for a couple of nights. I have Trenitalia Passes and maps. But what about what happens when the plane lands? This is my first major trip overseas (does New Zealand count). Dear Slow Lifers over the next couple of months I look forward to learning from your experiences. For instance, I have the train pass, but I believe that this doesn't necessarily mean I have a seat? What happens if I get us on the wrong train? Travelling by train what advice is there for type of bag and packing etc. Are there such a thing as porters?
Next question (I'm full off them), the Rome apartment is close to the Campo De'Fiori in Via San Salvatore are there any suggestions for a cheap and cheerful place to eat for jet lagged Australians on their first night in Rome. That's enough for a start. Cheers, Bronween.
p.s I love the Sorrento web cam

Hello Bronween and welcome to Slow Travel.

I have a 15 year old too - yours is lucky to be going with you!

Have you got the second Joan Marble book? It's just as good as her first.

You are going to have a great time next March and it's good that you found this site. Now you can go to the Italy post section and post your Italy travel questions there. Just do one at a time, or two if they are related.

I'll look forward to seeing you on the Italy board - I'm there daily. I just got back from my latest Italy trip on Sunday.

Good luck,
Leslie.

P.S. Another Australian. I live in Canberra.

Hi Bronween and welcome from another Australian. Where do you live?

We travelled throughout Italy (5 of us) for five weeks earlier this year and did it all by train.

I got plenty of advice from Alice Twain and nothing went wrong. Just keep asking questions, no matter how inane they may seem and you will get plenty of advice to ponder over. Everyone has their opinion of places (positive and negative) so you will always get a balanced viewpoint.

Elly

Hi Leslie - thanks for the welcome - don't know if the 15 year old thinks she is lucky or not every time I tell her she can have something (clothes swimmer make up etc) because we're saving for Italy. Anyhow thanks for recommending the second Joan Marble, I don't have it.b

quote:

Originally posted by LeslieS:
Hello Bronween and welcome to Slow Travel.

I have a 15 year old too - yours is lucky to be going with you!

Have you got the second Joan Marble book? It's just as good as her first.

You are going to have a great time next March and it's good that you found this site. Now you can go to the Italy post section and post your Italy travel questions there. Just do one at a time, or two if they are related.

I'll look forward to seeing you on the Italy board - I'm there daily. I just got back from my latest Italy trip on Sunday.

Good luck,
Leslie.

P.S. Another Australian. I live in Canberra.

Thanks Elly, I'm in Newcastle - Alice Twain's advice was some of the first I found. I've been pouring the site and want to print out just about everything to take with me.

quote:

Originally posted by Elly:
Hi Bronween and welcome from another Australian. Where do you live?

We travelled throughout Italy (5 of us) for five weeks earlier this year and did it all by train.

I got plenty of advice from Alice Twain and nothing went wrong. Just keep asking questions, no matter how inane they may seem and you will get plenty of advice to ponder over. Everyone has their opinion of places (positive and negative) so you will always get a balanced viewpoint.

Elly

Bronween,
your post made me think of the banner I've seen on Joanne's blog:


Salut!