Italy 2009 Itinerary

At last, here is my complete public itinerary for my first self-planned trip abroad. It owes its life and soul to Rick Steves' Italy 2009. It's not like me to seek only one opinion, but the book was so thorough and made me feel so comfortable that I've done practically no research outside of it. I plan to photocopy numerous pages (not included here) and travel around reading from them. That's what it means below if I say its a RS tour. In several cases he's even recorded audio tours you can load onto your ipod. Excellent.

Friday March 27 : Chicago -> In Travel

Leave work at 4p, be picked up at my apartment by dad at 5p, be driven to the O'Hare. 13 hours of travel including stop in Amsterdam.
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Flight details:

Friday, March 27, 2009
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines # 612

Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) to Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS)
Departure (ORD): March 27, 8:35 PM CDT (evening)
Arrival (AMS): March 28, 10:10 AM CET (morning)
Class: Economy

View real-time airport conditions and traveler updates at ORD
Saturday, March 28, 2009
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines # 3401
Operated by: NEW ALITALIA -- AZ 107 - Please check in with the operating carrier

Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS) to Rome Intercontinental Airport Leonardo da Vinci (FCO)
Departure (AMS): March 28, 12:25 PM CET (afternoon)
Arrival (FCO): March 28, 2:40 PM CET (afternoon)
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Saturday March 28 : Rome

"Rome is magnificent and brutal at the same time. It's a showcase of Western civilization, with astonishly ancient sights and a modern vibrancy. While Paris is an urban garden, Rome is a magnificent tangled forest." - Rich Steves' Italy 2009, p598.

Take taxi to hotel, Check in.

RS "Night walk across Rome" tour : Walk from Camp de' Fiori to Pantheon, to the Spanish Steps. Obtain gelato and stretch out legs.

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Rome Hotel Information:
Casa di Santa Brigida
Piazza Farnese 96
00186 Roma
TEL 0039 06 68892596
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Sunday March 29 : Rome

Arrive in Ancient Rome at 8.30. Use Roma pass to skip the line. RS Audio tour.

Lunch at Enoteca Cavour 313. Enotecas are "wine bars". They sound cool. More of them to come.

Metro from Colloseum to Termini Train Station

National Museum of Rome until close. (Im skipping that naked guy in Florence, but I'm seeing this, mkay?)

Dinner at La Gallina Bianca - known for pizza. I'm getting my Italian pizza curiosity out of the way quickly, so I can move on to finer cuisine.

Monday March 30 : Rome

Sleep in. I'm very much going to need it.

Brunch at Ristorante la Carbonara. Outdoor seating in the middle of the fun to slowly awaken from my sleepy start.

Be at the Vatican by 12.30. Vatican RS Audio Tour.

Dinner at Ristorante de Fortunato- this is apparently, as they say, fancy smancy.

Tuesday March 31 : Rome -> Siena
"Siena was medieval Florence's archrival... Siena's thriving historic center, with redbrick lanes cascading every which way, offers Italy's best medieval city experience... Sit at a cafe on the main square. Wander narrow streets lined with colorful flags and iron rings to tether horses." - RS, p455-456

Travel to Sienna, the bus comes at 10.30. Ordering this ticket was an adventure. The website had an English link that was broken. I had to copy/paste every page into Google Translator!

Check into Bed and Breakfast at 13.30 ... they required me to tell them when I'm arriving, and if Im later than 16.00, I am SOL!

Lunch at Trattoria Papei.

Wander through Siena old town and shop on Via Banchi di Sopra. Street food- panforte. Locals enjoy the ricciarelli flavor the most, evidently. (RS apparently is not only a traveller but a pollster...) End up in Il campo. Dinner on the square, Trattoria La Torre.

Return to hotel, grab laptop. Walk back to the square and climb a staircase to reach Key Largo Bar. Buy a drink, grab a table on the balconey, and update this blog!

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Siena Hotel Information:
B&B Palazzo Bruchi di Camilla Masignani
Via Pantaneto 105
43100 Siena
TEL 39 0577 287342
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Wednesday April 1: Siena

Every Wednesday morning Siena has a huge market with stalls and stuff! I wish I could tell you that I planned it so I'd be in town this day, but no, I am just lucky. (Hearing me say this, Im sure it will be raining or something...)

Visit the Duomo Cathedral and Museum. More art.

Lunch... somewhere.

Dinner- Antica Osteria Da Divo. It's supposed to be most pleasant.

Thursday April 2: Siena -> Monterosso (Cinque Terre)

"The Cinque Terre, a remote chunk of the Italian Riviera, is the traffic-free, lowbrow, underappreciated alternative to the French Rivieria. There's not a museum in sight." (FINALLY ;) ) "Just sun, sea, sand, wine... villages, hiking. For a home base, choose among five villages, each of which fills a ravine with a lazy ive of human activity." - RS p278.
This is the part of my vacation whose function is an escape from work. I'm trying to keep the photos that I don't take to a mininum on this blog, but I think that to really understand why Im coming here, one is necessary.

Yeah. That's no helicopter shot. That's what you see FROM THE HIKING TRAIL. Get it, now? :)

Travel to Monterosso via train.
Check in.

Lunch - La Cantina.

Monterosso RS Tour

Dinner - Ristorante Tortuga, table on balconey...

After- "Fast Bar", nightlife, supposedly. Beers.

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Monterosso Hotel Info:
Hotel Pasquale
Via Fegina 4
19016 Monterosso al mare
TEL 0039 0187 817550 - 817477 (?)
www.hotelpasquale.com
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Friday April 3 : Cinque Terre

Take train from town#5 to town #1, and then hike back to town#5!!! Restaurants are on the way, consider Ristorante La Torre.

Dinner - L'Alta Marea, known for RABBIT!

Saturday April 4 : Cinque Terre

Needs to be fleshed out. Tons of really cool things to do in this area including a castle villagers used to hide in from PIRATES, churches, and local wineries. No need to do the hiking again, take train from village to village (it's much cheaper than it sounds).

Sunday April 5 : Cinque Terre -> Venice
"Soak all day in this puddle of elegant decay. This car-free urban wonderland of 400 bridges and 2000 alleys survives on the artificial respirator of tourism." -RS, p30.
Oh yeah, and they have canals instead of roads.

Travel to Venice first thing.

Upon arrival, take water-bus #1 to cruise slowly from train station to the town center. RS tour :) Be introduced to the city via the water!

Check in. Lunch.

Free entrance with RS book to a glassblowing tour/sales pitch. See if they make glass shot glasses :)

Dinner... (I got tired of choosing restaurants, so sue me. I'll choose em on the plane or something.)

Evening- pay an outrageous sum to drink wine on the square at the famous Caffe Florian to the "dueling orchestras." Why not?

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Venice Hotel Info - this one sounds awesome
Hotel la Residenza
Campo Bandiera e Moro
Casstello 3608
30122 Venezia
TEL 39 0415285315
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Monday April 6: Venice

St Mark's Square : St Mark's Basillica. Doge's Palace.

Water bus #2 to Rialto stop.

Lunch.

Rialto Bridge Market.

Dinner - Alessandro Schezzini leads Classic Venice Bar Tours @ 18.00. Visit multiple bacaris to eat cicchetti!

Tuesday April 7 : Venice -> In Travel

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Flight Info:
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines # 1650

Venice Marco Polo (VCE) to Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS)
Departure: (VCE): April 7, 6:25 AM CEST (morning)
Arrival: (AMS): April 7, 8:30 AM CEST (morning)
Class: Economy


Tuesday, April 7, 2009
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines # 611

Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS) to Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)
Departure: (AMS): April 7, 10:30 AM CEST (morning)
Arrival: (ORD): April 7, 11:55 AM CDT (morning)
Class: Economy
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Wednesday April 8 : Buffalo Grove

Zzzzzz....

Dinner- Passover!