Hello,

My wife and I are about to do a trip through Italy. I'd love your suggestions. Currently on the list is Cinque Terra, Portofino, Genoa, Tuscany, and maybe Rome. It looks like I am more interested in the last one than she is.

May do this:

http://www.fattorialavacchio.com/agriturismo_en.asp

I've rented a Mercedes C class for the trip and would like to focus on having a cultured week. We'll have some nice evening clothes with us, so unless it is black tie only, we should have what we need.

We have already done Venice and Florence on a previous trip to italy.

I'd love to add in a car thing or two and my wife is fine with that. At this point, she just expects it.



Thanks guys,

 

I love Roma. Maranello is definitely worth a drive, Ferrari is great. Bologna is beautiful also.


John

 

Is there anything at Ferrari that a non-owner can do?

 

Ferrari has the most glamarous factory tour of ANY car company I ever went to. Lamborghini was actually pretty lame.



John

 

Yes, you can eat at Ristorante Montana by the racetrack. They have excellent desserts!! Michael Schumacher loved to eat here or at Ristorante Cavalino right across the street from the factory. I'd highly recommend visiting Galleria Ferrari, a very cool museum dedicated to Ferrari.

 

Definitely go to Rome, it is an amazing city.
Yup the trip to Maranello is definitely worth it.

 

I was just there back in May. Highly recommend Tuscany. I stayed in San Gimignano for a couple days and then in Rome for a couple days. If you go to San Gimignano I would definitely recommend Agriturismo Santa Croce. its not the fanciest place to stay but the views are great and Cristiano will take great care of you.

Be sure to check out a Grom Gelateria. They have an incredible dark triple chocolate flavor.

here's some other notes:
San Gimignano

Agriturismo Santa Croce
www.agriturismosantacroce.it

Great wine shop - go to the right of the church, all the way to the back to the wine shop with Internet cafe next door. Massimo runs both - sample some wine at his shop, and if you want to buy a bottle to bring home he can help you. His English is OK.

We also picked up some biscuits from Bar Pasticceria Cioccolateria Armando e Marcella (via San Giovanni, 88), a bakery we remembered from our last trip.
We got the same things as last year: Ossi di Morto (gruesome name, fabulous
cookie) and Stinchi di Santo (also fabulous). Worth visiting if you're in San Gimignano.

Do a drive to Volterra, make sure you get gelato at Chic and Shock. Get lost in the countryside.

Driving trip
Take SR2 south of Siena down to Montalcino, then head to Bagno Vignoni, San Quirico d'Orcia, Pienza, Monticchiello and Montepulciano. Take back roads wherever possible.

Rome top picks:
San Crispino
Palatium (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
Da Buffeta
Cul de Sac
Trevi Fountain
Spanish Steps
Pantheon
Colosseum
Vatican
Pizza Navona
Piazza Campo di Fiori
Piazza Farnese (at night)
Most important: Forno al Campo di Fiori

 

I was just in Italy last month. Great country Love it! Check out San Marino if you get a chance too awsome place. Rome was great as well, Driving in that city is quite the experience!

 

Well guys and girl, I just got back last night from our trip. It was tremendous. As I mentioned before, Cecilia and I had already been to Venice and Florence so we skipped those this time.

I rented a BMW 3 series and I am now a big fan! Great car. I swooped down to the Airport (i love the nav system in the car too) and picked up Cecilia in Swiss German style, complete with a Swiss greeting.

Then we were off to the Cinque Terre. We spent two days and did the entire hike, local train ride and local food. I love pesto and this was the birth place of pesto. yumm. The roads were just and more and the curves went on forever. The Italian drivers are also very aggressive and fast, so I felt right at home. My wife however....


After the Cinque Terre went went down to Tuscany. We spent the day and night in Volterra and had some great food. It is a small walled city with some interesting history.

The following day we headed farther south to Siena and the east to Gubbio. If you have the time, make Gubbio a stop. Wonderful town, great food, and very scenic. We have friends from there so that made the trip a bit more special for us.

After Gubbio we moved south yet again, but this time to Rome. We spent a day at the Vatican and took in the sights there. We also managed to squeeze in a Rick Steve's walk (you do know he is from Edmonds right?) around town.

I'll say this about the Vatican. I was very sad to learn about the "restoration" and the fact that you can no longer take pictures of the Sistine Ceiling. Some of my favorite work is there and I would have loved to had a picture on my den wall that I took at THE place. Oh well.

The second day we did the Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Fiori, and many others. Rome was a great treat. We had some rain and driving in a city like Rome can be a challenge, but otherwise, it was fantastic.

After Rome we headed north to Pisa. We did the leaning tower and a walk through town. Not much else.

After Pisa, we made the long slog through the Alps to Salzburg. We were able to visit W.A. Mozart's birth place and his home. It was a great tour and I recommend any art fans to check it out. We also had some very good sausage, a great snow ball, and picked up some local art.

After Salzburg, we headed home to Zürich. Looking back we picked up some good art. A painting, an alabaster piece and some Christmas ornaments. Great food, great roads, a wonderful car and some fond memories that both of us will cherish.

Happy Holidays everyone,

Trevor