There is no better way to celebrate a 10 year wedding anniversary than with 9 friends on the Amalfi Coast of Italy with a couple days in Rome tossed into the mix. This is the tale of my trip to the Amalfi Coast at the end of April, 2009.
The background story goes like this…
My friends Sandy and Alan would be celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary in May 2009. For their 5th anniversary we did a trip to Tuscany for a week. Back in the spring of 2008 Sandy sent out an email to all 20 of us who went on the Tuscany trip to see who would be interested in a 10 year “event”. At that time there were lots of positive…”yes I’m coming” responses from the 20 of us who were on the 5 year anniversary Tuscany trip. After several months the numbers dwindled and the final count for the 10th anniversary trip was 9 from the “original” 20.
The original plan for this 10 year trip was to go back to Tuscany, and me being the travel junkie/researcher/planner that I am, I offered to help Sandy research villas in Tuscany. Plus Sandy was 7 months pregnant at the time and I thought she might like a little help.
As I scoured the internet for the perfect villa I had been reading several posts on Fodors about the Amalfi coast, especially Ekscrunchy’s fabulous trip report. This area really started to pique my interest, so you can imagine my absolute delight when I got an email from Sandy saying she had been considering changing the location from Tuscany to Amalfi and would the “gang of 9” mind? Heck NO…I will go anywhere in Italy.
Our course had changed and I started looking for villas in the Amalfi coast. The villa gods were shining down on us and with absolute good fortune Sandy had a friend who visited the Amalfi coast several years earlier with a group of friends and stayed at a villa in Piano di Sorrento, about half way between Sorrento and Positano. Sandy contacted the owner and Presto! We were booked into La Grotta dei Fichi (www.grottadeifichi.it) for April 25 – May 2, 2009.
You can imagine what the logistics might be for a group of 9, but throw into the mix the fact that Sandy and Alan live in Hong Kong, Alastair lives in London, Julia, Regi, and Scott live in Atlanta, Patrick and Michelle live in Raleigh, NC and I live on Hilton Head Island, SC. But, fortunately we are all seasoned travelers and the plan was to just be at the villa on April 25th. Some of us traveled together, others met along the way.
I choose to fly on my own to Paris where I would meet Regi and Scott and then fly to Naples, the closest airport to the villa. Others in the group chose to arrive in Rome, rent a car and drive to the villa.
My logic behind purchasing my airfare….when Regi, Scott and I decided to “band together” for the rental car I suggested that we fly into Naples since it was only one hour from the villa and after having the experience of flying into Rome and immediately driving 3 hours to Tuscany I didn’t want to put Scott, (who is the designated driver, since I don’t drive a stick shift car), through a long drive after a trans-Atlantic flight. Believe me one hour was enough!
Prior to purchasing airfare I pitched the idea to Regi and Scott of extending our trip after Amalfi and going to Rome for a few days at the end of the trip (I can’t help not going to Rome…one of my favorite cities…they liked the idea, so we got open jaw flights arriving into Naples and departing from Rome. This actually worked out because unbeknownst to me the remaining members of the gang decided to spend their last few days in Rome too and we all were in Rome before returning home…good thing we all like each other!
I am all about getting to my destination with the least amount of aggravation (aka…as few connections as possible) and with lots of “cushion” time…if I have to wait 3 hours for a connection, I will wait 3 hours. I purchased my flight on Delta which left Savannah, connected through Atlanta, then Paris and finally arriving in Naples. I typically try to avoid connections at CDG because of horror stories I have heard, but at the time I booked the flight I had no choice and I was given a 3 hour connection…I was good with that.
Scott and Regi on the other hand, booked airfare that took them to airports of the east coast! However, they were booked on the same Paris to Naples flight that I was booked on. The clincher for them was that their arrival time at CDG was only 1 hour prior to the departure of the Naples flight…too risky for me…but they were OK with it and that is where the rest of the story begins….
Friday, April 24, 2009
I was able to check in on-line the night before my departure, except I couldn’t print the boarding pass for the flight to Naples. This didn’t surprise me since it was an Air France operated flight and it was departing on Saturday, so I asked at the Savannah airport to get a boarding pass for that flight and the agent was able to print one for me without any trouble.
The flight to Savannah was 30 minutes late, but that didn’t cause any trouble and the subsequent flight to Paris was uneventful and I was able to snag the coveted exit row/aisle seat.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Landed at CDG at 6:30am and it felt like an eternity before we arrived at the gate, it took a few minutes to get the jetway in place and then I was off the plane and following the signs for connections. Thanks to all the fodorites for the helpful tips about connecting through CDG…it was a breeze, but then again, I had 3 hours!
I did go through passport control at CDG and my passport was stamped. Fortunately there is a separate line for connections…make sure to look for the signs; otherwise you may get shifted to the other line for passengers terminating their trip in Paris. I had a wait of less then 5 minutes at passport control, it could also have been because it was 7am…and not as many planes had landed yet.
Once through passport control I followed the signs for Terminal 2F where my Air France flight would depart from. There was very clear signage and after a stop at the ATM I was riding up on the escalator to the departures area.
I did have to go through a security check point and ran into a bit of a line there, but from touchdown to arriving at the Naples flight departure gate, it took approximately 45 minutes. If Regi and Scott’s flight arrives at CDG on time and they are as lucky as I at passport control and security they should (just barely) make the Naples flight.
I sat for a few hours reading, having coffee and checking the Delta website to see if “the guys” flight had arrived.
As the Naples flight started to board I was still the only one in my “little band” that was there. I got up to board when my seat row was called and like a desert mirage there walking down the terminal was Regi and Scott…a bit sweaty and out of breath, but they made the flight!
The Air France flight was full but it was a relatively short 2.5 hour flight. They did serve breakfast…croissants and yogurt. We arrived in Naples right on time (12:30) and by some miraculous act Regi and Scott’s bags were the first to appear on the baggage carousel (I’m an advocate of carry-on only, and didn’t have any checked bags). We were out the door and on the rental car shuttle bus in no time and within minutes at the rental car lot and packing our bags into the 4 door Fiat Punto. Scott was able to get some kind of discount on the Hertz rental car through his work and for 10 days was paid $330 for the car.
It was a beautiful day, sunshine and blue skies. Traffic was heavy along some portions of the road, but we took our time and made a stop at the side of the road near Sorrento to get some lemon granita…welcome to the Sorrentine Peninsula!
We finally found the villa after passing the turn for it. I knew something was amiss as we were driving along the Amalfi Coast Drive and I said to Scott…”I believe if we come to Positano we have gone too far”…not 5 minutes later…there is the sign…”Welcome to Positano”…we find a place to turn around (not an easy feat on the Amalfi Drive!) and we find our way back to where we missed a turn…the villa is definitely “off the beaten path”! By now it’s about 2:30, but no one is at the villa yet. We decide to take a little drive and find a small place selling gelato…we stop for our first of the trip. This becomes Scott’s rule...at least one gelato a day (and why stop at one, when you can have 2 or 3!)
At 4:30 we decide to give the villa another try and this time the owner (well, actually the owner’s son, Vincenzo, who manages the villa) is there and let’s us in.
Oh My Gosh! Is the collective response upon opening the front door! This place is spectacular. It literally runs parallel along the cliff face, there is even a cage and pulley system to get the luggage from the entrance to the house.
The house includes 2 bedrooms downstairs, a twin and a double. The main level has a living/dining area, kitchen, and ½ bath. Upstairs has a study with 2 twin beds and a double bedroom and the top floor has a spiral staircase to a fitness room with 2 beds and a sauna.
There is an outdoor kitchen, outdoor dining area, pool with jacuzzi (although it was too chilly during our week there to use either the pool or Jacuzzi) and an outdoor grotto bar. All of this is overlooking the sea…it is truly breathtaking.
Within half an hour the rest of our group arrives and it’s terrific to see everyone, some of us haven’t seen each other in 5 years.
After getting freshened up and chatting with everyone we decide to all go to dinner together to a place Vincenzo (aka…the owner) recommends. The restaurant’s name is Il Panorama and it is a quick 10 minute or so drive from the villa.
The food was excellent and we ordered a lot for everyone to share. The vegetable anti pasti was good the squid on the seafood anti pasti was fabulous. There was so much being passed about the table, but my choice of the eggplant parmigiana was a winner. The homemade pasta dishes were out of this world good and the arancini were gigantic, but only so-so tasting. The house wine was really good, but the crowning touch of our first meal together was the limoncello. My gut told me this stuff was homemade too…it was so smooth and I caught a glimpse of the bottle, more like jug, it was poured from and there was no label on it…another reason I think it was homemade.
After dinner we all made our way back to the villa to relax and chat…and yes, I was still awake after a long travel day…but when I did finally go to sleep I slept like a log!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
We had a very leisurely morning and we had a lovely breakfast at the villa. Vincenzo had left fresh eggs, bread, tomatoes and cheese for us and with a quick trip to the market we were set for a fun way to start the day with a delicious breakfast prepared by Alan…who knew he could cook eggs and slice bread so well!
After having our al fresco breakfast we all split up in a few groups to venture out and explore. Regi, Scott and I decided to climb in the car and drive down the Amalfi Coast Drive with our destination being Ravello.
What a stunning drive. We stopped along the way to take lots of photos and arrived in Ravello at about 3pm.
I decided to go into the Villa Rufolo and had a great time taking pictures. The guys decided to do their own thing and explore the town. The villa gardens overlook the sea and are lovely and there were some terrific views.
Lucky for me, there was a photo exhibit at the villa so after walking about the grounds I poked around the exhibit. The theme of the exhibit was courage and it was courage in lots of different forms. Some of the photo themes were sports, religion, and war…mostly contemporary photos. I really enjoyed it.
I met back up with the guys and we went into the church in the main square. I was a bit surprised at the simplicity of this church. In the basement there was a small museum that had some interesting mosaic pieces (which made me think of fodorite LaArtista!).
We headed back to the public parking lot where we had parked the car and used the ticket machine to pay the parking fee (€7.50). We drove back down the mountain to Amalfi and stopped for an apperitivo…after all a girl needs to have a glass of prosecco!
At 7:30pm we were back on the Amalfi Coast Drive, supposedly heading back to the villa. A wrong turn detoured us through Positano, as the sun was setting and the lights of the town were coming on, it looked picture post card perfect and wasn’t such a bad detour in the end!
Instead of coming back to the villa, once we got back on the right path, we drove right to Risortante Zio Sam, just a few minutes drive from the villa. To our surprise and good fortune the rest of our gang was there!
We joined them and had more seafood anti pasti (good, but the night before at Il Panorama was better), and a variety of pastas, and pizzas. The pizza here was fantastic. With wine and espresso to end the meal we were a very happy group.
We all returned to the villa for another great evening of conversation.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Today the weather took a turn for the worse and it was overcast with grey skies all day that turned into rain in the afternoon.
We decided not to venture to far and after another leisurely morning at the villa Regi, Scott and I jumped in the car and headed to Sorrento to have lunch and explore. The drive to Sorrento didn’t take more then 15 or 20 minutes and we found a parking garage a block or so from Piazza Tasso.
After parking or I should really say wedging the car into a spot we were off to walk about and poked in several of the shops in the Piazza Tasso area.
Because the guys were hungry and unlike me they never really care where they eat, I agreed to stop at the first place they liked, which was a non-descript English pub along the main road through town. I don’t even remember the name of the place, and the only memory I do have of it was that I think I ate the absolute worst pizza in Italy there…I know…what was I thinking ordering pizza at an English pub…I won’t make that mistake again!
After lunch, we explored more of Sorrento walking to the Marina Grande, there wasn’t much going on there in the late afternoon. And we wandered into a church or two. Unlike most of my other trips, I decided on the this trip to pretty much just “go with the flow” so although I did do some prior research, I did not have my usual lengthy list of information, just a basic guidebook that I pulled out every once in a while, so there were probably some places I missed, but that just means a return trip will be on my travel “agenda”!
Before leaving Sorrento I stopped in a shop to buy some prosecco to bring back to the villa and then we were headed home…or so I thought.
Scott likes to take different routes so instead of retracing our “steps” to get back to the villa we decide to try and take another route. Unfortunately I didn’t have a very good map, just the general one of the area in my guidebook and after a while I wasn’t recognizing the names of towns on the road signs…however I did know that the big island to our right, then our left, then our right again looked suspiciously like Capri. Looking back know, we were at the very tip of the Sorrentine Peninusula and if we kept driving we probably would have eventually found our way back to the villa using a different route, but after about 2 hours, we gave up and started following the signs back to Sorrento and ultimately retraced our original steps from the morning ride into Sorrento…ahhhh…it’s always an adventure with the guys.
Honestly, I felt so frustrated because I knew there had to be a way to get back to the villa from where we were but I got so turned around and no, we did not have a GPS…Scott forgot to pack his!
We arrived back at the villa at about 6pm and the weather was really starting to turn nasty. Not just rain and grey clouds, but very windy, hard rain, white caps on the sea and very little visibility. It was the perfect night to stay in. We all decided that getting pizza from Ristorante Zio Sam’s was a great solution to the question of dinner, so we sent some of the guys out to get the pizzas and of course more wine!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The weather situation improved slightly today…it wasn’t as windy, but most of the day we had off and on showers between bouts of sunshine. And today was the day Sandy and Alan had booked a private guide for Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The guide, Franco, was booked through the villa owner, Vincenzo and for the whole day was €200.
We left the villa and followed Vincenzo in his car to Sorrento where we picked up Franco and drove (we had 2 cars) to Pompeii. The ride there was quick and easy. The fee for the guide did not include our admission into Pompeii, we each paid the €11 entry fee. Franco was a good and interesting guide. This was my second time to Pompeii, my first was more then 20 years ago and I’m very glad I went again and Franco was very knowledgeable. He can tailor a tour to group interests, we just asked for his basic Pompeii tour. We must have spent a couple, maybe 3 hours seeing the major sites in Pompeii.
Even with the on again off again rain I thought this day was a good one to visit the site. We were not sweltering in the sun and although there were other visitors, I would say there really weren’t any big crowds to speak of.
We left Pompeii right around lunch time and decided to stop at one of the restauranst/sandwich places at the site’s entrance. I was really pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food at this place. I had a caprese panino and it was delicious. After lunch we all piled back into the cars and were off to see Herculaneum.
Fortunately the rain in the morning was not a steady downpour and we got to see Pompeii in relative dryness…the story was different at Herculaneum. As we drove to Herculaneum the rain started coming down harder. We got to the site and paid our entry fee, another €11, in retrospect we could have purchased a pass that would have allowed us entry into both Pompeii and Herculaneum, but I don’t remember the price of the pass or if it would have saved us any money. It’s something to look into though for future trips.
In spite of the rain I really enjoyed seeing Herculaneum. In fact, I liked it more then Pompeii. It has an interesting history and the site, although smaller then Pompeii seems well preserved.
We spent about an hour and a half at Herculaneum and it did seem a bit more crowded then Pompeii, maybe because it is smaller, but there seemed to be many more school groups there than at Pompeii. And wouldn’t you know as we were finishing the tour and getting ready to leave the sun came out!
After dropping Franco off back in Sorrento we all headed back to the villa where Patrick and Alan took to the kitchen and whipped up a fabulous pasta dinner for all of us. Great food, good wine and lots of laughs that evening…it couldn’t get much better…OR, could it?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
We got a late start today but the only “plan” was to go to Positano for a the day, so there wasn’t a big sense of urgency. The rain had finally stopped, but it was still a little chilly.
All 9 of decided to go to Positano, so we piled into 2 cars (one was an Alfa Romeo that fit 5) and off we went. We found a parking garage, parked the cars and walked down into the town. Once in the town we all meandered about making our way eventually to the beach area and going to lunch at one of the cafes along the beach. I don’t recall the name of the restaurant and being 9 of us, we ordered a few pizzas and appetizers for the table along with some beer, wine and water. It was such a beautifully sunny day and after a few days of rain the sun was welcomed with open arms!
After several hours of wandering the narrow lanes and having lunch and of course gelato for Scott and a few of his gelato accomplices we headed back to the villa for a very special dinner.
Vincenzo, not only manages the villa but according to Sandy he is a “budding gourmand” and as a gift to Sandy and Alan for their anniversary he offered to take a few of us to the market, buy the ingredients and cook dinner for us this evening.
Earlier in the morning Vincenzo met Regi and Michelle and took them shopping…for 3 hours! But the reward was definitely worth the effort. Vincenzo had spent most of the day prepping for this dinner…including an incredible amount of stuffed zucchini flowers that he would fry and yes, he even made the batter from scratch! Vincenzo arrived at the villa around 6pm to start the cooking and what a meal it was!
He made a fantastic “deconstructed” eggplant parmigiana. It was 2 pieces of grilled eggplant and he placed fresh tomato, mozzarella and basil between the grilled eggplant slices…my idea of heaven on a plate it was so good…even me, the non-cook (but very appreciative eater!) could make this dish at home!
He then prepared 2 types of bruschetta, a tomato and basil variety and a mushroom, rocket, and parmigiana cheese variety…I loved the mushroom one…I can even taste it now as I write this!
Then came 2 pasta dishes, one with zucchini & spaghetti the other with clams and rigatoni. And as if that wasn’t enough to satisfy our appetites, we ended the meal with fresh strawberries. This was a quintessential Italian meal…we sat down to eat at about 9pm and when all was said and done it was past midnight…another night of great food and company. And we really didn’t think it would get any better…until the next day came along!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Just when we thought Vincenzo’s generosity couldn’t get any better he asked us if we would be interested in taking a tour of a small winery and having lunch there. This was a no-brainer for us, since we do like our wine! We all replied with a resounding yes and Vincenzo set up the tour for Thursday.
Vincenzo had told us he has a friend who is friends with the son of the winery owner and this particular winery had won some kind of award for it’s white wine…my foggy memory is telling me that it was the best white in Italy in 2007, but I don’t have any other recollection of the award particulars.
So, here we are thinking we are going to tour a little “mom and pop” winery out in the middle of no-where…well, we were partly correct.
We left the villa at about 11:30, with Vincenzo, since he would need to be our translator and he wanted to meet the winery owner too! We headed along the Amalfi Coast Drive toward Furore and we kept driving and driving and driving, up, up, up the mountain. After about an hour Vincenzo realized we missed the place (he hadn’t been there before) after a quick turn around and a stop for directions we were on the right track and found the Marisa Cuomo Winery, quite literally clinging to the side of the mountain. The website is
http://www.granfuror.it/ 
This is a private (very small) winery that also has a B&B (maybe 8 rooms) and trattoria with an unbelievable view of the coast. The name of the trattoria/B&B is Albergo Ristorante Bacco the website is
http://www.baccofurore.it/ The owner, Andrea and his wife Marisa could not have been more wonderful.
Our little group was the first EVER tour they have done at the winery. We were shown the very sleek and modern processing machines and then went into the cave/storage area that is attached to the large modern processing/bottling room. It was really such a treat to have such a personalized experience.
During the entire tour Andrea, the owner, was taking photographs of our group with what I can only say looked like a “mega-professional” camera (who knew...winemaker and photographer!). My intuition was telling me that we maybe the first group to do a tour of this winery, but not the last…the thought occurred to me that our faces might be gracing a future brochure for this winery! But there were also other motives for the photos.
After we toured the winery building it was off to the vineyard. Now the land here is not the rolling hills of Tuscany, the land here is steep and rocky…how the vines grow I have no idea but the vineyard is thriving and is on several, what I would call, terraces carved into the mountain and smack up against the 2 lane road…we walked through the vineyard, very careful not to damage any of the vines while Andrea kept snapping away with his camera!
At about 2pm the tour portion of the day was over and Andrea invited us to sit down in the trattoria for lunch. The minute I walked into this trattoria I knew we were going to be in for a treat. The décor was bright and inviting the far wall was floor to ceiling windows that led out to a patio area that is also used for dining. The view of the azure water and the entire coast was breathtaking.
There was another party in the dining room, a group of about 12. It clearly looked like they were celebrating something. Sandy leaned over to me and asked what I thought the occasion was. Once I saw a priest in the group I said it’s either a wedding or funeral. Boy…am I good or what…we asked our host, Andrea and I was right…it was a wedding celebration, the bride and groom had just had their town hall wedding and I scored points with Andrea knowing that there was a town hall wedding before the big church extravaganza!
We proceeded to have a remarkable 7 course lunch with white wine pairings at each course. And since Andrea found out there were several red wine lovers in our group he also opened a bottle of his red. I don’t profess to be any kind of wine expert, I basically just try different wines and which ones I like, I like…I have no education or professional knowledge of wines…but let me say I LOVED all the wines we tasted at lunch! The wines we had were: Costa d’Amalfi Furore Bianco, Costa d’Amalfi Ravello Bianco and the Costa d’Amalfi Furore Bianco Fiorduva, which I believe was the award winning one. We also had their rose which was quite good as well and the red we had was the Costa d’Amalfi Ravello Rosso Riserva.
We started with a frito misto plate that included fried zucchini, calamari, arancini, little local shrimp and crayfish. There were then 2 pasta courses, one with large thick tubular shaped pasta. The other with a shape of pasta I had never seen before, it looked like two “S’s” interlocking together…this was Andrea’s personal favorite!
Once the pasta courses were finished then there was the fish course. Now, here is where hospitality shines…Sandy is a vegetarian, so Andrea had his chef prepare her a vegetable dish instead of the fish…and Scott does not eat fish at all, and he wasn’t making a big deal about it, but someone else at the table mentioned this to Andrea. Andrea immediately had his waiter tell the chef to prepare a steak for Scott! Oh My God…out of the kitchen comes this incredible looking piece of steak for Scott…talk about making your guests happy!
As if all this wasn’t enough, next we are served a beautiful fruit plate, kiwi, pineapple, oranges, currents, blueberries, raspberries, all dusted with lemon powdered sugar. But, it doesn’t even end there! To our astonishment out come plates with 2 types of cake, one is a lemony-custard/cream cheese pie and the other a chocolate gooey confection (not quite cake, but more a soft fudge-like consistency) made with layers of eggplant with candied citrus fruit on top. I never would have thought to pair eggplant and chocolate, but it was fantastic! To top it all off we had espresso, but declined the limoncello Andrea offered us!
As we were finishing our meal and getting ready to leave we asked Andrea for the check. To our absolute astonishment Andrea reply, “You were my guests, there is no charge”!!!!! In my experience this meal for 9 (actually 10 including Vincenzo) would have easily been in the range of €80 per person…we were all floored. In a show of our appreciation after lunch we followed Marisa (Andrea’s wife, who he named the winery after! And she appeared to be the “numbers” person of the couple!) to her office and happily purchased 3 cases of wine plus a couple extra bottles of their “Reserve” variety. We all were able to take a couple bottles home with us and the rest we had for the next couple days at the villa.
Now we thought the day was ending here, but Andrea had one more surprise for us. All the “pro” photos he was snapping away while we were touring the winery and a few at lunch he had burned to a CD for us! The CD also had a variety of other promo shots of the winery and it was a wonderful souvenir of our spectacular day at the winery!
At about 5pm we all piled back into our cars and headed back to the villa, very full and very happy! Since we had such a marvelous and hearty lunch a full dinner was not in the cards for this night and we all just lazed about the villa this evening having snacks and the delicious wine we had purchased…it couldn’t have been a better day and it was one of (if not my most) favorite day of the trip!
Friday, May 1, 2009
Today was a perfect weather day…bright and sunny… the perfect day for a trip to the Isle of Capri. Five of us decided we were up for the jaunt to Capri and somehow managed to wake ourselves in time to get the 9:40 fast ferry from Sorrento to Capri. Although I will admit we did drive at break-neck speed to make it the ferry in time. Patrick dropped us off at the ferry dock we purchased our tickets and made the ferry with time to spare.
The ride to Capri was quick, but the ferry was packed…it was the Friday of the May Day holiday weekend and we knew the ferry and Capri in general was going to be crowded. We were in Capri by about 10:30am and since we didn’t have time to get a cappuccino and coronetti before we left the first order of the day was to stop for a little bit of morning sustenance. We just picked a café a little away from the ferry dock and had cappuccino and a little snack. I was happily satisfied with the cappuccino, since I wasn’t sure how it would taste given the touristy location of the café, but I think even the worst cappuccino I’ve had in Italy surpasses the best I’ve had at home!
Once we were all pleasantly caffeinated we decided to splurge on a taxi to take us to Anacapri. All the taxis on Capri seem to be convertible, but no matter how may times we asked the driver he wouldn’t put the top down on our taxi…he probably was hoping we wanted a full tour of the island, but we just wanted to get to Anacapri. The ride was €25 which is a bit steep, but there were 5 of us to split the cost.
When we arrived in the center of Anacapri we decided the first thing we wanted to do was ride the chairlift up to the top of Mt. Solaro. This was one of the things that was on my “really want to do this” list, and I’m very happy that we did. It was such a beautiful day…clear blue sky, sun shining, sharing the experience with great friends, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect setting. After lots of picture taking we climbed back onto the chairlift for the ride down. We stopped for some gelato and then took a wander through the streets doing a bit of window shopping.
We had become savvy by this time and instead of hiring another taxi we hopped on the very convenient public bus and went to Capri Town (one ride was €1.40). The crowds in Capri Town were enormous, the streets were packed, and the line for the funicular was lengthy. We took a pass on the funicular and walked about ogling the windows of the shops…Wow! A bit more then I usually like to spend! Having experienced Capri as a day tripper, if (or when!) I return I would definitely like to spend a night or 2 on the island to experience it when the day trippers leave.
By 3pm we hoped on another public bus and went back to the Marina Grande to have lunch at a waterside café. Again. I was really pleasantly surprised by not only the quality of the food served (I had a Caprese salad…of course!) but also the speed of the service. But that may be because at that location the staff are used to dealing with tourist who are in a hurry…however we did not feel rushed at all and we still made it to the dock for our 4:15pm ferry back to Sorrento.
When we disembarked in Sorrento the guys were waiting for us and we all went back to the villa for our last night and another fantastic meal!
Tonight Sandy and Alan had pre-arranged with Vincenzo for a pizza tasting dinner tonight at the villa. Vincenzo, his sister and her boyfriend arrived at about 6pm to start making the dough…yes from scratch and to start the pizza oven…what a fire! It was fun watching Vincenzo making the dough…who would have thought those simple ingredients would make such tasty pizza!
The pizzas were out of this world good. Vincenzo made 12 different kinds! He started with a basic rosemary foccaccio and each one after that kept getting better and better. I can’t even remember all the varieties. I know we had some that were all vegetarian some with meat, some with just cheese. By number 10 we were all bursting at the seams…we said, “Vincenzo, enough…basta!” He replied, “I have 2 more to make…I can’t let the dough go to waste”…well, who could argue with that logic and 2 more were made.
Then as we all sat at the table in a “food coma” Vincenzo brings out the gift from his mother for Sandy and Alan’s anniversary…the best lemon, cream and cheese pie I have ever had…homemade and oh so smooth and creamy…yes, of course we all had to have a piece…we would all be rolling to Rome the next day! With the wine we had from the winery to wash down this fantastic meal it was the perfect finishing touch to a fabulous week on the Amalfi Coast!
Saturday, May 2, 2009Today came all too soon, it was another ideal weather day and it was hard to say good-bye to our perfect vacation villa. We were all up and ready to go by about 10am and we were on the road by 10:30am on our way to Rome.
It was an easy drive; however the traffic coming to the Amalfi Coast was bumper to bumper. Once off the Amalfi Coast Drive it was a smooth ride on a modern highway. I suggested we stop at an AutoGrill so Regi and Scott could experience highway food at its finest and it did not disappoint.
This is where Regi, Scott and I had decided to diverge in our hotel accommodations. Regi was able to get a discount through work at the Crowne Plaza St. Peter’s, which is about 3 miles from St. Peter’s. It’s a perfectly lovely modern hotel, and they have a shuttle bus with regular service to the Centro Storico of Rome. And this is where Scott and Regi stayed.
When I’m in Rome I really like to stay in (or within easy walking distance of) the Centro Storico. I was able to get a deal (through my credit card) for a single room at the Hosianum Palace Hotel at Via dei Polacchi,23 (
http://www.hosianum.com/) just a few blocks from Largo Argentina.
It’s a small (28 rooms) hotel with an interesting history and I would not hesitate to stay at this hotel again, I highly recommend it. It was very clean and the single room I had was more spacious then I thought it would be. The location was great, just on a side street off Via D. Botteghe Oscure. I will mention that I got a terrific rate because of my credit card deal, but prior to my trip I checked their website. Rack rates for singles were listed at about €245 per night, however at the time I was there they were running a website booking special of &euro:120 per night for a single (I think it was around &euro150 for a double)…so they sometimes have deals. In fact, I inquired at the front desk about booking a room for my trip to Rome this coming October (see, I really do love Rome!) and the desk clerk advised me to wait until closer to October when she thought the rates would come down.
After freshening up and getting settled into my room I met Regi and Scott at the Crowne Plaza shuttle stop, fortunately for me, it was right around the corner from my hotel! We then walked over to Gusto (near Piazza del Popolo…ok, so it wasn’t a short walk…about 20 minutes!), I picked this place because when I was there last December they had a great aperitivo buffet. We were to meet Sandy, Alan, Julia and Alastair there. It was about 8:30pm by the time we arrived and the rest of our group was already there. Unfortunately the buffet was very picked over and looked nothing like I remembered from December…probably because 1.) it was later in the evening this time and 2.) not as many people were there in December as in May! Note to anyone going there…get to aperitivo at Gusto early rather then late to have prime choices of the buffet!
After a glass of prosecco and some snacks we headed out for a late evening passegiatta (forgive my misspelling!) and ended the night with drinks at a café in Piazza Navona…how much more Roman could we possibly get…a perfect ending to our arrival day in Rome!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Today was the last day in Italy and I was in Rome and going to make it a fantastic day. I started with a great breakfast at the hotel (included in the room rate). The breakfast room was in the basement and was actually 2 large rooms and the breakfast selection was large. In the warmer months the breakfast is served in the rooftop garden, which is quite lovely and in the evenings cocktails are served there. The breakfast included eggs, bacon, and sausage as well as the more traditional Italian fare of coronetti (really soft and fresh!), fresh fruit, yogurt, ham and cheeses. And you can ask the attendant for cappuccino, which was very good…so good I had 2 with my coronetti!
Just after 9am I was out the door and roaming the streets near Campo dei Fiori snapping pictures, because the weather could not have been better. Note here…my last 2 trips to Rome were for the Christmas/New Years holiday (2007 and 2008) so it was fabulous to have early morning blue sky with fluffy white clouds and sunshine! (Plus it was great finally having daylight until 8pm on this trip!).
At 10am I walked over to St. Ivo because I have decided this is my favorite church in Rome…although I still have a lot more to see! I went to mass and just spent time inside the church soaking in the beautiful interior. I never get tired of sitting in this church. And a point of information, I’ve been told this church is only open on Sundays from 10am-12noon…and in my humble opinion it is so worth the effort to get there and have a look around.
After mass I walked over to Piazza del Popolo taking pictures the whole way. I stopped into the church of Santa Maria del Popolo because I missed seeing the interior of this church last December and really wanted to poke around instead. When I got there mass was being said, so I took a seat and gazed all around. I’ve observed in Rome that the exterior of churches can be very deceiving, the outside can look like nothing terrific and when you step inside your breath can be taken away!
When I left Santa Maria del Popolo I headed in the direction of the Trevi Fountain, because even though I know I am returning to Rome in October, I have to toss my coin in the fountain for good measure and to ensure a return even after October’s trip!
Once the coin tossing was complete I wandered over to the Pantheon and realized I was just around the corner from San Crispino…one of the famous gelato shops in Rome. In my last 2 visits to the Eternal City, I did not have any (not once!) gelato…maybe because it was winter and I wasn’t in the mood for the frosty treat that is gelato. But, this time I was ready for a treat and it was around lunch time. I had a small cup of the coffee flavor and it did not disappoint…delicious and creamy!
I continued my walk and meandered over to Piazza Farnese and stopped at Bar Farnese to rest my tired feet and have a glass of prosecco…is it ever too early for prosecco?! By 3pm I still hadn’t heard from the rest of the “gang” so I decided to go back to the hotel for a little rest and start packing my bag and I was to meet my Roman friend Francesca at 6pm. By 5:30pm I heard from the “gang” and they gave me the address of the bar they were at, near Piazza Navona.
Francesca arrived at my hotel right at 6pm on the dot and she was agreeable to meet up with my other friends. We had a lovely walk to Piazza Navona and had time to catch up on what was new in each of our lives. We miraculously found my friends at a bar on one of the small streets off Piazza Navona and spent the next hour enjoying each others company. All to soon Francesca had to leave and the rest of us made our way to Ristorante Maccheroni at Piazza delle Coppelle, 44 (
http://www.ristorantemaccheroni.com/) .
This restaurant was a great choice for our “last meal” together. It’s much larger then it looks. When you enter the dining room is fairly small but there is a lower level down a spiral staircase with several more dining rooms. We were seated down stairs in an empty dining room, but within minutes every table was full. I was very happy with the meal at this restaurant. I started with a breasola, rocket and parmesan cheese anti pasti…it was delicious. All of us choose different pasta dishes, and I had the pasta alla amertriciana and it was excellent, as a matter of fact all the pasta dishes were fantastic. I was really surprised at the portion size…very generous…maybe another result of many tourist dining here…I’m not sure. But I did make sure I took their business card when I left. When we were leaving I noticed they also have a fairly good size outdoor dining area along the front of the restaurant. I would not hesitate to go back to this restaurant; we had a great experience there.
After dinner we all walked over to the Pantheon stopping at San Crispino for a final gelato of the trip. It was a great way to end our Italian adventure.
Monday, May 4, 2009My flight from FCO was scheduled to leave at about 10am, so I had arranged for Rome Cabs to pick me up at the hotel at 6:30am…remember…I’m always the early one to the airport! As usual they were there right on time, actually 10 minutes early! I was at Terminal 5 by 7am and there was absolutely no one in the check in line. I was through security and on the bus to the departure terminal in no time at all. Of course I had my ritual last cappuccino and coronetti at Tazzo d’Oro and then settled in for the wait to board the flight.
The flight to Atlanta was actually a Northwest plane and crew (but a Delta codeshare) and the plane was nowhere near full. There were people spread out in the 4 seat across center rows all by themselves! The flight was uneventful, and we landed a little late due to some weather conditions, but I had more then enough time to get my bag (yes, I checked my bag on the return because of the wine), go through passport control, re-check my bag and go through security again before getting to the gate for my Savannah flight with about an hour to spare.
It was a fabulous trip with great friends and I would do it all over again in a minute!
Our server was absolutely terrific...the best of any of the restaurants we ate at all weekend. He even brought us a round of drinks on the house! That was nice...have no idea why...maybe my alluring smile!
After a terrific meal we had some time so we stopped in a little shop near the restaurant to browse. The shop (Pylones) is a French chain (we saw them in Paris last fall) with some interestingly bright colored stuff...all kinds of things....plates, cutlery, kids toys. I purchased a cute little change purse for my travels and a matching luggage tag. Then we hopped back on the subway and headed uptown to the Barrymore Theater to see Exit The King.
Monday morning rolled around all to quickly and we were up early enough to pop up to Maison at Broadway and 53rd for breakfast. Our Carmel Car picked us up at the hotel at 11:30am and we were at LaGuardia by noon for our flight home.
