I finally got to an internet and thought I would write a little about my trip. I am mostly enjoying my time so far with the exception that both my ATM cards are not working so I have to figure out how to obtain money. Hopefully Tony will be able to call the banks tomorrow and get things straightened out. The thing is I told all three banks that I would be in Italy so they know I would be using my cards. Well, enough of this.
I arrived in Florence on Thursday, missing my connecting flight in Paris. Why Air France put me on a flight that connected in 50 minutes, I just don't know. I sat at the airport for about 2 hours. Since I lost a little time waiting, I took a taxi to my hotel. I finally felt I was beginning my vacation with the taxi drive talking to me in Italian and zipping between cars to get me to my hotel. It was a thrilling ride!
My single room at Hotel La Residenza is very nice. The shower stall is very tiny and perfect for a kid, but I'm making do. The hotel has a nice little terrace to enjoy the air and a glass of wine.
Had a nice lunch at caffe Bigallo Enoteca, window shopped (tons of leather goods) at the market area. I was able to purchase a calling card for 5 euros so I've called Tony twice now. It's pretty easy to use. Florence is an exciting city and can be hectic with the traffic and noise.
My meals have been very good so far and after dinner I walk around for a bit. The other night the moon was out over the Ponte Vecchio, so hopefully my night shots will come out well.
On Friday I spent the morning visiting the Pitti Palace and Boboli gardens. I wasn't thrilled with the gardens, as the flowers were not in bloom except for the rose garden. After lunch, I visited a couple of churches and wandered through the Oltrano area of Florence.
Yesterday I took the bus to Greve in Chianti for their Saturday market day. Lots of goodies to buy - bought a lovely small purse for 20 euros, which would be 4 times the amount in Florence. Also found a beautiful ring but my credit card didn't work. I was so disappointed because it was 339 euros and one similar at the ponte vecchio (and a little smaller) was going for 680 euros.
After my morning at the market, I walked up to Montefioralle, which is located about 1/2 mile from Greve. It was more of a hike as it was a steep uphill climb. The country side views were beautiful with vineyards in the area. Lunch at La Castellana with a glass of red wine was well deserved after the hike.
Back in Florence I met up with my friend June and her daughter Jill, who had arrived the previous day. We had drinks and wonderful cheese on their private terrace of their hotel room and later had a great dinner at Ristorante Le Fontincine.
Today I took the train to Arezzo. It's been cloudy most of the day and rained for about 10 minutes, but overall, I've had good weather. Enjoyed watching the mass at the Cathedral, as well as the performance with the men with their colorful flags, all in costume. Toured a museum that had copies of Leonardo's works. What an amazing man he was!
This afternoon I visited the S. Croce. Tonight will enjoy dinner at Osteria del Cinghaile Bianco.
More in a few days. Off to Bologna tomorrow for 3 nights. June and Jill will be on my train on their way to Venice.
I am delighted to hear another fellow female solo traveler is having such a wonderful time in Italy! Brava!
You will love Bologna. It is a city filled with secrets. And enjoy the rest of your solo adventure wherever it leads you. Drink lots of wine, play like a child and allow yourself some guilty pleasures. Life is to be savored...
Hope you get those cards working soon! It sounds like you're having a great time. I was hoping you'd check in as I wanted to tell you I saw your reader write-in tip about using the small hangers in Budget Travel magazine (it's tip # 16 in the May issue if anyone wants to look for it!).
Enjoy the rest of your trip in Bologna, as I recall you were going to Parma and Ravenna too? Enjoy, enjoy!!
For what it's worth, I've used my ATM card in Italy for years with no problems, yet on this trip the first time I tried to use it in Naples I got a message that it was not approved for international withdrawals. I tried another bank and it worked fine. A few days later I tried the original bank and it worked fine there as well. The only difference was that I requested a smaller amount. The first time could have been a fluke, or it could have been that I was asking for more money than I was authorized to extract at once, but the ATM was only programmed to say "unauthorized." In any event, I had no other problems.
ellen
Posts: 3020 | Location: mahwah, new jersey, usa | Registered: 10 December 2003
Thanks for your comments. To start, I was able to get Bank of America off their ass and fix my credit card (which is also and ATM card, WHICH I have used many times in my European travels). Apparently the woman that said she would block my card never did it. I was able to take out euros last night so I could pay my hotel bill in cash. If I hadn't then it would have been an additional 80 euros! And at 1.30 to the euro...
On Sunday I had a great dinner at Osteria Cinghalie Bianco, where I dined 2 years ago wi th cousin Reenie. I remembered the two owners who flirted with me like the last time. Dinner was exceptional with a starter dish of mixed meats, including wild boar, salami , other types, cheese, and marinate eggplant that was infused in garlic and hot pepper flakes. Then I had the paparadelle pasta with wild boar meat - their specialty. With 1\2 liter of red wine, di n ner came to 26 euros. (pardon this stupid keyboard).
After dinner I called Tony who gave me the b ank information, called them and everything is fixed.
Today I got up at 8am to another perfect day. Temps have been in the mid to high 70s, slightly cool at night where one may need a light sweater. After breakfast at the hotel, I packed and took a taxi to the train station for my 10.30am ride to Bologna. I met June and Jill, who were on the same train. We all had first class seats. I've been splurging a little going first class or taking a taxi. The hell with lugging my luggage down the streets and sweating. Tony start making more money with your projects. I'm ready for business class flights!!
Bologna is beautiful with many porticos and narrow streets. Many of the buildings are in different color hues, or as they say "Siena" colors. This afternoon was a little more relaxing then usual: unpacked a little (nice hotel - Hotel Paradise)had pizza for lunch, and walked to the main piazza and surrounding areas, including the university quarter. I visited a small church that is under restoration (well, aren't they all?) with fabulous frescos.
Next to my hotel are 3 little restaurants so will have the chance to enjoy them all. Tomorrow will be the big sightseeing day, including a climb up one of the towers (498 steps - may have to go early and go back to the hotel for a shower after the climb). At 3pm I'll go on a 2 hour walking tour that the tourist office conducts. For 13 Euros it's a very good price.
Dinner with two couples tomorrow who I met via Fodors and Slowtalk. Wednesday will be a day trip with one couple to Ravenna.
Well, that's it for now. I need to head out and find a cafe for a glass of vino.
Monica -- I'm enjoying reading about your trip and anxiously await your reports from Bologna as we're hoping to take a day trip from Florence in September.
Those of you who have climbed the tower in Bologna..the tradition says that students in Bologna who climb it will not finish university. Its ok for visitors though. Enjoy the food and ambiance. Its such a lively city .
I earned my pasta Bolognese and 1/4 liter of red house wine today fro lunch after my 498 step (YES 498 steps) to the top of the tower. This tower is the highest in all of Italy. I've climbed other towers, including the one in San Gimignano and Florence, but these beats them all. I had to sit for almost 1/2 hour just to cool down. I'm not fond of heights so the climb was a little scary for me. I just didn't look down the well of the tower. The tower next to the one I climbed is much small and no one can climb it, as it tilts quite a bit - maybe more so than the one in Pisa.
Spent the rest of the morning visiting a few churches and also returned to the market area where fresh fish, fruits, vegetables are sold. Fabulous little streets.
Last night's dinner was frustrating. I went to the first restaurant near my hotel, where I was told a private party took up the whole restaurant. Fine, so I made reservations for Wednesday at 8pm. The man said, "no, 7:30pm" and I said I would prefer 8pm. He said if I wanted 8pm I could sit at this table and pointed to this tiny table at the entrance of the entrance, away from the main dining room. No thanks!!! I moved onto the next restaurant where 5 tables were empty. I asked to sit outside and the man stated they were booked. Now, it's only 7.45pm and all the restaurants are pretty much empty at this time. So I walked away. Third restaurant, yes, welcome. I read the menu and started to drool over the "tortellini with gorgonzola; Eggplant Parmesan." When I ordered the first dish, "...we have no tortellini..." This is Bologna!!!!! Everyone has tortellini!!!!!! So I ordered something else. Then I asked for the eggplan Parm. and he says the same thing, "no, we don't have it." I slammed the menu closed, got up and walked out. He said something to me in Italian and I just said, "Strike three." I went back to Il Portico where I had the delicious pizza for lunch and had a wonderful dinner of tortellini with gorgonzola and walnuts followed by a breaded cutlet Milanese style. With 1/2 liter of wine, my meal came to only 22 Euros. I told my waiter that I may return on Wednesday. He gave me a big smile when I entered the restaurant and although already packed iwth people, he made room for me.
While dining, I chatted with a fellow from London who was in town on Business as a translator.
This afternoon I'll take the 2 hour walking tour the tourist office provides.
Tonight is dinner with some travel friends. Tomorrow, off to Ravenna.
I am off today to Parma to spend two nights with Tony's cousin Ernesto. I will be taking the 12:30pm train. After this email I will head to the market area and pick up some picnic foods for the train ride.
My Bologna walking tour on Tuesday was wonderful. Simone was very informative and provide a lot of history about Bologna. I met up with Colleen and her husband Jim, who came along for the tour. The tour lasted 2 hours. In addition to seeing the main sights, which are very close to each other, we visited the University area, the original University. Bologna's University is the oldest! This city has a population of 400K plus 100K of students. As I'm sure you remember my hike up the tower, Simone told us that if any student climbs the Torre, they will not graduate!
After our tour, Colleen, Jim and I went to a wine bar for a couple of drinks. Most of these wine bars (enotecas) serve complimentary foods. We had wonderful olives, salami, and sweet pickled onions.
Back at my hotel, we sat in the lobby for about half an hour waiting for the rest of the gang, Pam and Gary, to arrive for our 8pm dinner at Mariposa. This restaurant is literally 30 feet from my hotel. Only about 12 tables, the place filled up quickly, so I was glad to make reservations through my hotel.
Dinner was fabulous and only 18 Euros per person. This included appetizers (Jim and I both had the mortadella, thinly sliced, along with some wonderful chunks of parmesan cheese), for my entree I had the lasagna, which traditionally served in Bologna is with green pasta. The meat is their typical Bolognese sauce (or ragu). I could have gone back another night for that dish!! Others has rabbit with potatoes, another had tortellini with butter and sage, and I don't remember the rest of the dishes. We had a nice amount of wine, coffee, etc. So this place was a wonderful deal for the quality of the food.
Wednesday was spent in Ravenna, where there are some beautiful mosaics in the churches. I went to Pam and Gary's hotel and we took the train to Ravenna. I had printed out the various schedules back home and apparently there was a mistake. Our connecting train in Faenza was actually a bus! We had to wait almost an hour for the bus, and then it was about at 45 minute ride. The area is quite lovely with lots of many beautiful homes. I saw a few I wouldn't mind living in. Although we arrived in Ravenna later than planned, we were able to see all the sights in Ravenna, and have a great lunch at Ristorante Garadela. I had the tortellini which was stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach and seved with a creamy tomato sauce. We all ordered a primi and secondo. Big mistake as this place serves huges portions! Both Pam and I ordered the mixed fried calamari, shrimp and zucchini slices. Excellent and again, a large portion. Gary had grilled salmon. I will be posting these food photos when I return. With a liter of wine and also water, our meal came to 20 euros each.
The moasics are incredible! My book guided us to various sights. However, we went into Santo Francesco and saw an area where a crypt is, which is under water! It is permanetly submerged. In the clear water are goldfish! I am surprised this place was not in my book, nor in the Frommers guide.
Ravenna is lovely with small pedestrian streets. Our feet did ache after a while because of the cobbled stones. We took the 5.35 train back to Bologna and parted.
Back in the room I packed a little, had some of my wine, and then had dinner at Il Portico. Good dinner: I had the best bufalo mozzarela in the world! It must have been made that every afternoon. My entree was good: Bucatini alla' Amatriciana, which has onions bacon in a red sauce.
Well, I better go. I hope that you have been enjoying my journals. I'm glad to be in touch with everyone.
Monica, I was looking forward to hearing about your day in Ravenna, as I have that in mind for my next trip to Italy. I've made a note to look for the goldfish in Santo Francesco. Sounds lovely. How long did the trip take to and from Bologna?
Posts: 695 | Location: Toronto | Registered: 18 February 2006
Originally posted by MargM: Monica, I was looking forward to hearing about your day in Ravenna, as I have that in mind for my next trip to Italy. I've made a note to look for the goldfish in Santo Francesco. Sounds lovely. How long did the trip take to and from Bologna?
MargM, the train ride should have been just an hour, butwe ended up having to transfer in Faenza on the bus. We caught the 8.40 train and the 10.15 bus,arriving in Ravenna about 11am. There are direct trains, which is only an hour. Try not to do the bus route, although the trenaitalia web site stated the Regionale trains. It didn't show thebus.
To continue my journal:
Ciao everyone,
It is quite hot today. I arrived in Parma yesterday to a hazy and hot day. My alergies kicked in, the first time on this trip.
I arrived in Parma at 12:23pm from Bologna taking the Regionale train. It was only an hour ride from Bologna. I waited for Ernesto to show up but... I ended up calling him about 45 minutes after I arrived. He forgot about me! He arrived quickly with many apologies. He had been home for lunch -their usual 2 hour siesta.
After dropping the luggage off at his place and meeting Santy his fiance, we drove into the city. He lives just on the outskirts of the center of town, but only a20-25 minute walk. He dropped me off so I could do my touring while he went back to work.
Parma is a beautiful city wtih many small streets. It is very clean too. As I walked to the center of town, I bought some pistachio gelato and it was wonderful. That happened to be my lunch since it was in the late afternoon.
I toured the baptistery (fabulous), the Duomo, and a museum next door. I enjoyed a glass of wine and wrote a few postcards at a cafe. Ernesto had me walk to one area of town to pick me up. We met up and walked to a cafe for drinks. He was nice to take a few hours off from work to spend time wtih me. He normally works till 8-9pm. They eat every late and get up very early. He also works 1/2 days on Saturday
Dinner was great last night and of course, I couldn't pay. I tried! Even when Ernesto and I were having our drinks, he wouldn't let me pay. I was getting up to go to the restroom and he said "Don't pay." He said that to me again today at lunch. For dinner we went to a tiny trattoria. He didn't ask for menus but ordered his favorites. We started with a large platter of mixed meats: proscuitto, salami,and other meats. Then for my entree I had a type of tortellini stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a butter sauce. The pasta must have been made that morning. Santy and I had cookies for dessert. I will have to ask her for the name of them.
This morning after Ernesto and Santy went to work (she on a bike as most people do in Parma), I walked out to the market in the center area. I saw lots of neat things and some wonderful meats and cheese.
I spent the rest of the morning visiting the archeological museum (2euros) and the teatre Farnese, a beautiful theatre built of wood. Apparently it was used only 8 times.
I met up wtih Ernesto and Santy for lunch and later walked around the Park Ducale, which is quite large.
I am now off to the house to shower and relax. I think this is the hottest day yet. I hope that Venice will be cooler,as it is on the water.
I am off to Venice tomorrow and hope to write one more time of my trip.
I have internet capabilities here at La Calcina, however, I have to stand up. I suppose they do not want me to be on it for a while. So, this will be short.
I am here in Venice, arrived on Saturday morning. Nice Euro Star train ride from Parma via Bologna. My last eveing with Ernesto and Santy was very nice - wonderful seafood dinner in Parma (will provide restaurant information when I get home). Ernesto drove me to the train station, which took only 15 minutes. Saturday's traffic was light.
I met a nice couple on board the train to Venice, who were day tripping from Florence (Jim and Carey). I gave them some information so they could try to enjoy as much of Venice in their 5 hour timeframe.
I took the 82 vaporetto to the Academia stop, taking lots of photos along the way. I think I have taken close to 1000 altogether.
I love being back in Venice!! I will give details later (Tony, my wireless keyboard is NOT working even after trying with the extra batteries I have - so much for computer technology in Europe. Will buy a journal if I find one).
I have spent my time so far visiting various areas of Venice, especially areas that are more residental. Yesterday, I enjoyed Dorsoduro, with very few tourists. I did my own walking tour from my hotel all the way to the train station.
I met up with Beth twice now for dinner and today after my 2 hour walking tour with one company I found, we will do a boat tour which should last about 1.5 hours, along with a nice glass of Prosecco! Maybe 2.
Well, I am off now, so this might be my last email...it's not fun standing here in this closet.
Ciao,
Monica
PS: Yes, I will post all restaurant information when I return. There is a fabulous seafood and pizza restaurant in Parma that I highly recommend. Prices were great!
Today was great, although my feet are killing me. Because of the hot sun, I do feel more worn out than the other days. Plus, I took the vaporetto 4 times plus my boat tour and when I stand still I feel like the floor is rocking.
Met up with a few people on the walking tour and boat tour (from fodors and slowtalk). Very informative, although we sat at the back of the boat (a taxi) and had a hard time hearing the woman give her lecture. Make a note of that and stay to the front of the boat.
Dinner with Beth was good, although they forgot my order. Fortunately I was full after eating caprese. It was quite filling. Beth ordered the pasta carbonara and she got full quickly so I had a few bites of her pasta. We took the "1 vaporetto back to our hotels.
Well, I better get to my room so I can shower and have a few sips of limoncello. Tomorrow I will have a tour of the Veneto hill towns, visiting Bassano del Grappa, Maristoca, Asolo and visit a vinyard for some prosecco.
I am sure I will be able to send one more message on Wednesday, my last full day in Venice.
I just finished a FABULOUS dinner at my hotel. I am tempted to dine here tomorrow but they did make reservations for La Zucca, so I will go there. Beth and I met a couple who stated La Zucca was wonderful. My hotel serves two fixed menus (choosing two courses, dessert and a glass of wine) either 22 or 32 Euros. Of course, the more expensive menu has the better choices. I had a wonderful tagliatelle pasta (orange color - was it pumpkin?) with salmon in a light butter sauce and string beans. For my entree I had duck medallions and a stuffed tomato (breadcrumbs) topped with gorgonzola sauce. Dessert was vanilla gelato topped with sliced pears and amaretto. I could only eat half of it but it was unbelievable. With a glass of wine and bottled water, the 32 euros was well worth it.
Today I spent the day in the Veneto region on a tour with 7 others. We had a great time visiting the towns of Maristoca (where they play the game of chess with people and horses in the piazza), Bassano del Grappa, famous for its grappa - had 2 tastes and boy, did it warm me up. The town is absolutely beautiful with its famous bridge. Next was the wonderful town of Asolo where we had lunch. I had pasta with fresh white asparagus. We had the opportunity to walk around each town for a short while. Next was a Padillion villa (can't think of the name right now) and lastly to the area where Prosecco is made. We had the opportunity to try a variety and I bought a bottle for just 4.8 euros.
It took 1.5 hours to get back. Traffic to and from Venice is terrible via car. The train is the way to go.
Tonight it is raining so I will miss my evening walk. That's okay since I have had some long days. I called Tony and my Mom last night and got to bed by 11pm.
Tomorrow is my last day in Venice/Italy and Thursday I fly home.
This has been a great trip for me. Even though I am traveling alone, I have met up with friends and family along the way.
Somehow I kept missing your posts, as they must have slid off the first page by the time I checked in here. Sounds like a wonderful experience, and I too look forward to restaurant addresses, etc., when you have time.
Well, I spent my last full day in Venice starting wtih a visit to the Rialto bridge and market. Such wonderful fresh seafood, fruits, vegetables, etc, including fish I cannot recognize.
It's been rainy all day and right now there is thunder and lightning. I had reservations for La Zucca tonight, but with the thunderstorm, I cancelled it and booked Taverna San Trovaso, which is just about an 8 minute walk from the hotel, rather than a 40 minute boat ride to the north end of town. It's about 58 degrees right now. I hope the rain will stop in the next hour so I can get to the restaurant mostly dry. I have dined at Taverna S.T. twice before, which was very good. I hope it's still good!
I spent the midday on the island of Burano, which is a 40 minute vaporetto ride from the Fond. Novo. Although the sun wasn't out, Burano is still a sight to see with its many colorful buildings and small canals. I had a simple lunch of fried calamari and a 1/4 liter of house white wine. My guide book recommended a restaurant, but it is closed on Wednesdays.
Since the weather this afternoon has been bad, I spent the last few hours packing and watching CNN...and sipping some of my red wine.
Well folks, this is my last email, unless something fabulous happens between now and my bed time. I have to get up at 6am and will take the 7.13 am vaporetto to the bus area and then the bus to the airport at 7.50am. I should land at Dulles at 3.50pm.
I will post my hotel and restaurant information this weekend.
The Washington Post Travel section has run a series of letters about the problems with the short connection times allowed by Air France. It sounds like a problem that AF customers should be very aware of.
Also a note on credit cards...friends of ours had their Captial One cards blocked by use after they arrived in Italy last year and had a lot of difficulty getting the cards opened up again. They had prepaid their Italy hotels and air fare using the same card, but the company looked at foreign activity as a potential fraudulent use.
I used a Visa card to pay for concert tickets for the Lucca Summer Festival and also got a call from my bank questioning the validity of the charge, so appears to be some heightened scrutiny of foreign use of credit cards?
Posts: 554 | Location: Northern Virginia | Registered: 22 May 2006
Topic Closed
