I will be travelling in Italy from 5/18 - 5/30/08. Accompanying me will be my Albania friend, Erion, whom I met during my last Italy trip. He has lived in Italy for the past 10 years and prior to that Albania. Luckly, he knows a fair amount of English (more English than I know of Italian), however, he recently announced that "When you are here we talk only Italian". And later, as if to clarify, "You will be in Italy". It makes sense to me. I'll soon find out if the concept of learning a language through immersion works.
It seems unreal that I'm returning back so soon. I was just in Rome for 4 glorious days last September.
My tentative plans are as follows:
Rome (Roma): 1 day
Fly into Rome early on the 18th. Erion will pick me up from the airport. We'll hang out, do a little sight-seeing, eat some gelato from a gelateria, eat lunch at a trattoria or ristorante, and I'll recooperate from the 13 hours of travel to get to Roma. I'm sure for a number of hours after arrival I'll be so psyched to be in Italy that I'll be running around on adrenalin. However, I usually have no problems sleeping during a flight, so that will help with the jet lag, I think.
While in Rome, to satiate my slightly macabre side, an option is to visit the Catacombs of San Callisto, if which Pope John XXIII call them: "The most venerable and most renowned of Rome". Some nine popes were buried there and half a million early christians. Another potential crypt is the Capuchin Crypt. In a couple rooms under a church there are the bones of 4,000 Cappuchin monks that have been artfully arranged to decorate ceilings/walls.
Venice (Venezia): 2 days
Doges Palace...was the residence of 120 doges who ruled venice from 697 to 1797. Prisons...there are a maze of cells..one of which house the famous Casanova, Armoury, Paradise..the world's largest oil painting (1588)..contains 800 figures.
Gondolas...watch the out the gondolas glide through the channels and listen to the gondoliers operatic voices.
Bridges...There is actually top 10 lists of bridges. Each have their own history and story...and great views.
Markets...Go to a produce/seafood market in the morning at watch the Venitians set up their stands..hear the loud chorus of voices..see food being tossed around.
Cinque Terre: 2 days
The Cinque Terre is a remote part of the Italian Riviera. Five villages sit on the coast of the Ligurian Sea and trails connect them. The idea is to hike to each village and enjoy the views..and vino..along the way. The trail from Vernazza to Monterosso is considered very narrow and even dangerous as there is nothing to stop you from careening into the sea if you should mis-step. Should be exciting!
If you are looking at the map above, the Cinque Terre is between Genoa and La Spezia.
Civita/Lucca/Pisa/Parma/Siena/Volterra: 2 days?
I could go on and on with the list of great old towns/cities to visit. The list will have to be narrowed down.
Pompeii/Herculaneum/Vesuvious: 1 days
It's a lot to fit into one day, but at this point in the trip I'll be running out of days. Many people have done this Pompeii/Vesuvious jaunt as a day trip from their home base of Rome. It's a couple hour train ride away.
Rome...Ostia Antica: final day
For the final day I was thinking of the 45 min bus ride to the ancient Roman port of Ostia Antica. I had researched Ostia for my last trip and was excited to see it, but it didn't pan out. There was just too much I wanted to see in downtown Rome.
Perhaps the second time will be the charm? Ostia is a very well preserved port town. Half of a day can be spent walking around it this once thriving town of 60,000 people. Wandering the streets you'll see the remains of docks, warehouses, apartments, mansions, shopping arcades, theatre, baths, and see amazing floor mosiacs.
And not to be weird, but I want to see for myself, and get a photo of the public, co-ed latrines. These are some of best preserved in the Roman World.
