Summing Up - Part One

Me and my body guard at a prospect on the Amalfi coast. Photo by Kevan Macrow.

We really enjoyed our time in Italy. I've summarized some key points for your reading pleasure and to convey some of the essence of our journey, more or less in the order that they occurred to me. 

I've done this in two parts because otherwise it is too long.

On the way to the Sistine Chapel:
the Map Gallery with trompe l'eoil ceilings and massive crowds.

Money's worth

Bruce and I agree the tour was worth every dime we spent. The trip delivered everything promised. We had an incredible experience; saw things and went places we would never had dreamed of on our own. 

Through the bus window, the quintessential Rome:
umbrella pines, traffic, sunshine and ruins

Plumbing

Wherever I'm travelling, I always have an eye out for washrooms. Italy's added a dimension of adventure. Even the fixtures in the hotels provided puzzles to solve. I did eventually figure out how to get the shower to turn on in the Grand Hotel Dino in Baveno, but then could not get it to shut off.

What I could never be sure of in a public toilette: will the toilets have seats; will there be toilet paper; will it be obvious how to flush the toilet; will it be clean; will there be a way to dry my hands and if it's a blower, will it work; how do the sinks work (some had taps, some electric sensors; one operated by foot pedal).

What I could be absolutely sure of: there will be a line up for the ladies; if there is more than one stall, at least one stall will be out of service.

Bruce strikes a pose in Pompeii. I quickly got over trying to keep other people out of  my shots. The woman in the near background was a member of our group, a fellow Canadian,  and a frequent photo bomber.

Health care

Prescription drugs are affordable in Italy. As a precaution against a possible blood clot, I got loaded up with anti-biotics, anti-inflammatories and anti-coagulants. Total cost: about $60 CAD. 

In Italy, radiology and imaging clinics are like hotels. Once you register, you are put in the care of a beautiful hostess all dolled up in a stylish uniform and award-ceremony-ready hair and make-up. My hostess also acted as an interpreter for me and the doctor who did the ultrasound. My favourite line: "The doctor would like you to throw away your leggings."

The sad perished Pompeii dog we all read about in grade school.

The weather

Nice collection of tourists and umbrellas - from the windows by the Bramante staircase at the Vatican Museum.

We lucked out big time with the weather. We got rained on only once, in Venice. We had a near miss in Pisa, much to the chagrin of the guys aggressively selling umbrellas. Our first day in Rome was rainy in the morning, but we were indoors for most of the time so it did not matter. By the time we were doing our walking tour in the afternoon, the rain had stopped.

As wet as we could be on dry land: the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

Every other day was either intermittently overcast or bright and sunny. Despite the omnipresence of two-stroke and/or diesel engines, the air quality in Italy was mostly good. There was no humidity. The breeze was always fresh and cool, even when the sun was strong. 

Crystal blue skies over Pompeii

Hotels

Trafalgar Tours has buying power no single person can match, so we stayed in some great hotels.

In Rome the first time, we stayed at Hotel UNA - just a few blocks from the Colosseum. Our room overlooked a street lined with cafes where the noise of conversation and laughter did not stop until around 2 in the morning. If you stay at UNA, ask for a room facing the courtyard. 

Bruce demonstrates the life of Reilly on the Johanna Park Hotel patio.

In Sorrento, we stayed at the Johanna Park Hotel, a family-run estate-like hotel in the countryside. Our spacious ground floor room had oversized, old-fashioned furniture and a walk out patio with high walls. There was an outdoor pool but only Bruce remembered to bring his bathing suit; instead we spent the afternoon drinking prosecco on the sunny patio lined by olive trees and overlooking the gulf of Naples.

Gulf of Naples as seen zipping along in the bus.

In Assisi, we stayed at the Cenacolo Hotel - an erstwhile monastery in a beautiful setting - distinguished by its strong, reliable wifi.

Don't be fooled by the fancy facade.

In Venice, we spent two nights on Lido Island at the Hungaria Hotel. This hotel is beautiful on the outside but is also the one place I would never go back to. You can read about why on my TripAdvisor review.

On Lake Maggiore in Baveno, we stayed at the grandest of the hotels on our itinerary: the Grand Hotel Dino. The place made me feel like a movie star. There were thousands of people staying there, but nothing ever felt congested. The vast, luxurious dining rooms had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the lake. It was stunning. This is the place where I left our passports behind.

Look! A picture of Rob Ford at the Grand Hotel Dino!

In Florence we stayed at the Mediterraneo Hotel, just a five minute walk from the historic centre of the city. The rooms were great, the wifi strong and the breakfast room was like a zoo. See next post for details.

For our last night, we stayed in a Sheraton hotel close to the Rome airport. The room was great: best bathroom of the trip with both a bath and a shower. The breakfast room set a standard in zooishness to rival the Mediterraneo in Florence.

The crowds

I had no expectations about what the sightseeing experience in Italy would be. When I saw the crowds at the Vatican Museum - our first major stop - I assumed that, well, it's the Vatican. Of course it's going to be crowded. 

But then I saw the colosseum ...

And the Spanish Steps ...

And the Trevi Fountain ...

The size of the crowds at the famous sights we visited overwhelmed the experience. The fancy piazzas designed to hold mere hundreds of people were grotesque mob scenes where I could hardly move and could barely see the thing I was there to see. Travellers now arrive in such numbers that even the greatest of the grand spaces cannot hold its character in the face of zillions of selfie-taking tourists.

Bus tours are part of the problem. Ten busses at once can inject five hundred people into any given location.

But the biggest culprits - figuratively, literally - are the cruise ships.

The face of the beast: cruise ship coming into berth in Venice

Same ship: fellow travellers and Santa Maria del Salute added to show scale

Cruise ships ruin everything

Aida ships carry about 2,000 passengers;
there were six others like it docked in Venice that day

Cruise ships are designed to comfortably accommodate thousands of passengers (ranging from 1,500 to 6,000). But when multiple ships disgorge their human cargo onto a small European city, the effect is monstrous. The day we were in Venice and could not move for the crowds in St. Marks there were, reportedly, seven cruise ships in dock.

While the historic city centre once was home to a population of 250,000, all those thousands had their own washroom. When 70,000 people a day show up in Venice who don't live there, the city is overwhelmed.

My next post will review the fine points of bus travel and what makes Italy so great.

Thanks for reading!

Karen