I did it!!!! Last night I reserved tickets to me and my two friends, and we're off to Italy in August 15!!!!

I'M SO HAPPY!!!!

Are there any italian orgers around here? Or orgers who've been to Italy? Tips and such.. Which places should I visit? I'm staying at Viareggio for 4 day and in Pisa for 3 days..

I LOVE Italy.
Alas, it's been about 6 years since I was there. We did Milan, Florence and Rome. Florence was my faveorite, Rome was amazing also, Milan, eh, I could have skipped it.

One of these days, I'm going to do the same thing, but I want to stay a month and see everything


I don't want to die before I see this place....

http://www.capri.net/sals...tour6.html

Been to Verona , beautiful

i went to Itlay 4 years ago...

i had an amazing time. the one and only trip that i didn't PLAN. my friend and i just hopped on a plane with our backpacks and winged it!!

we flew into Nice, France and stayed in a hostel there for 1 night. Then took the train to Monaco...we stayed there for 2 nights. Then train to Pisa (an unexpected stop...we were supposed to go straight to Florence but we were tired and decided to get off the train)...do not....DO NOT stay in the hostel in Pisa...its beside a sewer system and is on the outskirts of the town....gross. the next day we took the train to Florence and stayed for 2 nights...we were going to then go to Rome but we were harrassed and followed in Florence and with approx 2 million MORE people in Rome we decided to go to Sorrento on the Almalfi coast....FAN-FRICKIN-TASTIC!!! my absolutely favorite part of Italy. if you get the opportunity to go...GO!!!

maybe i'll scan some pics and try to post em later...

jerseykrs said:

we did...it was awesome. you can take a boat from Sorrento...i have to dig out the pics!!

lillith said:

Oh, PLEASE DO lillith, I would LOVE to see them. Was it beautiful?

jerseykrs said:

stunning.

i'm scanning all my 'Italy Trip' pics now....it may take awhile

look at http://toscane06.blogspot.com/

It's a blog of our stay in Toscane this spring, but it's in Dutch.
You can always use babelfish to translate but I'm not responsable for the result

Anyway you'll see the pics and recognise some of the city's and restaurants ...

sorry Mushanga, i am about to jack this thread for a moment or two!!!


whew. all uploaded.


ok.


so we started in Nice, France


out budget hostel...it was around $17 Canadian a night




view from the window of our room




shopping in Nice




the beach




eating on the boardwalk

then we took the train to Monaco



a small church outside the station




down the coastline




downtown Monaco




me and Jenn in Monaco




the market




view from the marina




shopping





[Edited 6/11/06 11:09am]

on to Pisa...we didn't get there until dusk so the pictures didn't turn out great

The Duomo



The Cathedral (if you look to the far right you can see the Tower)

then to Florence...I studied art history in University so it has been my dream to go to Florence to See Michaelangelo's David at the Uffizi Galley

me and 'David'




my favorite parts






the 'Duomo'




the Saints carved into the side of the Cathedral




Santa Maria Novella

I wanna go back!

Now you're gonna make me pull out my pictures. I did Nice too.

Too bad I don't have a scanner.

Sorrento...the best little town in Italy


me leaving the cafe (our hostel was above the cafe)




the town




having a 4 course meal outside on the piazza (with bottle(s) of wine about $14 Canadian each!!!)




shopping

Italy!!! Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice!!! beautiful country!


Take plenty of coinage and toilet rolls. Public toilets you put change in a basket and sometimes there is no toilet paper.

Watch out for the gypsies, they work in groups whether adult and/or children.

See as many things as you can, lots of history.

for you Jersey....


side trip from Sorrento to the island of Capri to see La Grotto Azzura (the Blue Grotto)

1st boat from Sorrento




2nd boat (after we arrived to Capri)




after reaching the Grotto...3rd boat (little rowboats)




to get into the Grotto you have to lay down in the rowboat and they pull you in on a chain...oooh scary!!!




but its worth it...the view from inside!!!




the walls beside the boat




outside the Grotto




sunning myself in Capri




taking the boat back to Sorrento




hope you enjoyed the pics!!


and Mushanga>>> hope you have a great trip...i am jealous...wish i was going too!!!



[Edited 6/11/06 11:42am]

jerseykrs said:

It's incredibly beautiful. I used to live in Italy for my job and it was one of the richest and most amazing experiences of my life. One of the mistakes that people make when approaching Italy is thinking that Rome is the most important thing to see-----not true at all-----as I'm a foolish girl who's never taken picures of my travels prior to last year, we'll have to keep begging lillith to try and post those photos....and even the photos don't do the real beauty of the place justice....I'll orgnote you with some of my favorite tips on spots throught the country based on your itenerary....it's a correct assertion that you can avoid Milano (that's where I was based for my job), as it's so urban and gritty that most Milanese themselves actually leave the city on the weekends to go to the more picturesque parts of the country for relaxation.


....you are going to have SOOOO MUCH FRIGGIN' FUN

lillith said:

OH MY LORD, You are TOTALLY beringing back some of the best memories from my lifetime

Ottensen said:

i completely agree...we went to Florence...which was a dream of mine...and supposed to continue on to Rome. After dealing with the harrassment and Gypsies in Florence (with approx 2.5 mil people) we couldn't deal with twice as many people in Rome so we went to Sorrento instead. Best decision ever made.

Ottensen said:

so glad to help. mine too. as you may see from the smile on my face in every picture!!! (and i HATE having my pic taken!)


we went when it was still lira (before changing to Euros) and our 10 day trip was about $1000 canadian. a friend of mine went about 2 years later (when it was euros) and she did almost the exact same itinerary for double!!! i would LOVE to go back but there are other places i want to go first.

lillith said:

Oh no!! Are you sure it'll be the same one? We've already reserved it... It's B&B Arcobaleno.. It's about 15min. from the center.. The address is Via Fabio Filzi 19,.

http://www.hostelworld.co...Pisa-15655

I sure hope it isn't the one you mentioned...

I love Italy Ive been a few times, and id love to go back

Alas, one day

Have fun!

lillith said:

You're pics are so gorgeous....!!!! I'm drooling over italy.. Now you made me sooooo excited..! Thankyou so much for sharing them!! I hope I can take great pics like that..

And I'll have fun for sure, no sewers can stop me!!!

Mushanga said:

honestly i do not remember the name. it used to be an old monestary and they converted it into a youth hostel. i am very sorry if it is the same place...unless they have improved it over the years since i was there. first you check in with a scary looking man (the nite we checked in he was in head to toe military combat clothing and looked like Khadafi)...then you are led to a room with approx 12 rickety bunk beds...the one and only communal washroom is down a set of narrow dark stairs and while in there i counted the ants climbing the wall beside me. i really hope its not the same place. i swore if i ever went back i would stay in a HOTEL not the HOSTEL.


best of luck...

checked out the link and there is NO WAY it was the place i stayed in. where we stayed the public transport doesn't even go out that far. after leaving the Tower we took the bus as far as they would take us and then walked the rest of the way...it took us at LEAST 1/2 hour to get back to the hostel. the pics on the link confirmed that you are staying in a MUCH nicer hostel. its funny cause we stayed in hostels throughout our trip and the only one we had trouble with was Pisa.


HAVE FUN!!!

lillith said:

What a relief..!!! You had me worried for a minute there... It does seem like a very nice hostel although they naturally show THE BEST room in those pics... But we have a 3-bed room, so we'll have our privacy and as long as my luggage won't disapear and the bed is sleepable I won't complain...

I hope you'll get to visit Italy back soon and I hope I'll take as gorgeous pic as you so that I can share them here later on...

Any tips on where to go in Pisa? What to see..? (Except the tower - da-a!! ) Restaurants, cafes, markets, vineries, etc..

jerseykrs said:

A friend of mine, who'll travel with me and my other friend, is staying in Italy for a whole month!!! I'm so yealous.... She'll stay at first in Forli with an italian friend of her god-mothers and then move on to the west-coast... She'll visit Florence, probably Nice and she'll most likely stand in line to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus at Uffizi... I adore that woman...

Ottensen said:

Please orgnote me.. That'd be great!!

OH MY GOD!!

The pix are incredible. That's it I'm going with.....


M