For our honeymoon, we're traveling to Italy!
The weekend of the wedding we'll be getting away to New York, but we'll take a more extended trip to Italy late in the summer of 2015.
It is unfortunately still too far out to plan the trip to Italy fully, so there are still a lot of details yet to be decided. For example, many airlines and hotels do not book sufficiently far in advance for the basic dates and locations to be finalized.
That said, here are some details about the trip. It will be around three to four weeks long and is expected to start in late August or early September of 2015. We'll certainly be visiting the cities listed below in the darker font, most likely in the order shown and for approximately the number of days indicated. We'll probably visit some, but not all, of the cities in light gray pending further planning efforts:
- Venice (2 days)
- Padua (0.5 days)
- Verona (1 day)
- Milan (1.5 days)
- Lake Como (0.5 days)
- Pisa (0.5 days)
- Florence (5 days)
- Siena (1 day)
- Rome (4 days)
- Polignano a Mare (1 day)
- Naples (2 days)
- Mt. Vesuvius & Pompeii (1 day)
- Amalfi Coast (1 day)
- Sicily (3 days)
We expect to spend around 2 days on air travel, as well as a total of about 2 days on trains traveling between cities. We can comfortably add 3-4 days to what we have on our certain list, and maybe even 5-7 days, so we'll have to decide exactly how much time to add and how to distribute that between the uncertain destinations. We may also want to add some of that time to places we already know we want to go like Florence. Polignano a Mare and the Amalfi Coast are high on our priority list out of those we're undecided on.
Even though we've figured out the things we're most excited about doing in Italy, we still have a lot of flexibility. To our friends and family who have traveled to Italy: we're happy to hear your thoughts on what we should be sure not to miss!
Here are some of the highlights of things we plan on doing on our trip. Those in light gray, again, are those we're considering but not committed to spending time on yet.
Venice (2 days)
Rather than flying into and out of Rome, we'd like to fly into Venice so we can work our way down Italy and fly out of the South to reduce time spent on trains.
We're hoping to start our trip out with a nice romantic couple of days in Venice. Aside from one night on Lake Como, this is probably the one place we'll go out of our way to find a nice place to stay. We'll make sure to leave plenty of time to relax on this part of the trip.
We'll do the regular tourist stuff including going to St. Mark's Basilica, St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace, and the top of the Campanile (bell tower).
We're also excited to get a private half-day kayaking tour of the city, going down side canals and seeing the city from the water.
Padua (0.5 days)
If we go to Padua, it will be to see the University of Padua. It's one of the five oldest universities in the world.
This is one of the universities that Galileo taught at. It was while teaching here that he developed his telescope, discovered the first satellites of of a distant heavenly object (four moons of Jupiter), and in kinematics discovered both the acceleration of a falling body and parabolic trajectory of a projectile. And it was here that he performed his famous inclined plane experiment, one of The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments ever.
The university is also home to the world's first anatomical theater where William Harvey studied medicine and Copernicus studied as well.
If we make it to Padua, it's for the history. There isn't much to do beyond the univerity, though, and travel there poses some logistical challenges so this is one of the places that is less likely for us to visit.
Verona (1 day)
If we go to Verona, we'll certainly go to Juliet's house to look at the recently-added balcony and rub Juliet's breast for good luck.
But we'll really go to Verona for a play or opera in the roman arena. They have an opera schedule that runs through summer so we may be able to catch one near the end of their season at the beginning of our trip.
Milan (1.5 days)
Chad has promised Ginger he'll go to at least one opera with her at some point, and La bohème at the famous La Scala opera house may be a good opportunity for that.
Ginger is most excited for experiencing the fashion in Milan. Chad, on the other hand, would really like to catch an AC Milan home game, though the soccer schedule is released late enough that it probably won't happen.
Of course, we will certainly visit The Last Supper while we're there. Apparently access is limited and there are a series of airlocks to get in as well as a 15-minute time limit for viewing, so we will have to make sure to get our tickets early.
Lake Como (0.5 days)
Lake Como looks beautiful, relaxing, and we'd like to spend a little time there. This is currently intended as a place to stay near Milan while we're visiting that city, but this is one of a couple places where we may change our plan to allow a little more time there.
Our main motivation for this visit is the image of the gate to the right.
Some years we visit a local art show on the Bellevue Arts Festival Weekend. Given our interest in visiting Italy and the quality of their Italian photography, we love the Scanlan booth at that art show each year. They have some amazing pictures of Italy, especially several of Florence, the Tuscan countryside, and the aforementioned gate.
Ginger was mesmerized by the gate and how inviting it is. We talked to the photographer at the show who told us about it, including how he saw the gate and had to come back at a particular time of day to get the lighting just right.
We decided we needed to see Lake Como on our first visit to Italy, and the photographer passed along the location of the gate: Villa Cipresi. We'll be staying there one night while we're in Milan (it's only about 1.5 hours away). So, not only will we get to see Lake Como but we'll also get to see the gate as well.
Pisa (0.5 days)
We only have a couple of things we want to do in Pisa. In addition to seeing the leaning tower, while we're in Galileo's hometown we'll check out the Pisa Cathedral where Galileo gained his insights into pendulums observing a rocking lamp. We'll also visit the Monumental Cemetary where that famous lamp is now housed.
Florence (5 days)
Florence will be the heart of our trip and the place where we'll spend the most time (at least 5 days). As the center of the Renaissance, it has some of the best art as well as some of the best history.
When we went to The Met in New York we ended up underestimating how much time we'd want to spend there and had to come back the next day. While they're smaller, we'll make sure to leave plenty of time to see the Uffizi and Galleria dell'Accademia. Hopefully we'll have time left over to visit the Bargello sculpture museum.
We'll also see the final resting places of famous artists and Galileo at Santa Croce, as well as those of Cosimo and Lorenzo de'Medici at the Basilica of San Lorenzo. We might make it to the Medici Chapels as well, designed by Michaelangelo but housing only minor Medici figures.
Visiting the famous piazzas and Duomo are also are on our list of important things to do. We will be sure to get a great picture of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo, and we'll certainly eat lots of gelato along the way!
There are many other interesting things to do in Florence, but how much we see will depend on how long these essentials take. We'll probably be able to make the Palazzo Vecchio and Ponte Vecchio, as well as the Museum of the History of Science.
It's hard to estimate how much time things in Florence will take since looking at art can take a highly variable amount of time. If we happen to have some extra time, we may rent a car to take in the Tuscan countryside, perhaps including a trip to the da Vinci museum in nearby Vinci, Italy.
This is the one leg of the trip where we would be most likely to extend our stay beyond the amount of time planned. This is the place we're expecting to love most!
Siena (1 day)
If we go to Siena, it will be to see a medieval village. We don't have a well-defined agenda for the trip as the main point would be to get into the inner portion of the city inside the old city walls and experience an ancient village like this.
Aside from wandering around, we'll do the typical activities: visit the Duomo museum, climb the city hall's tower, and check out the gothic art in the Pinacoteca Nazionale. There are a number of other options, and this may vary significantly if it's right after Florence. We may not want to taint our beautiful experience in Florence with the Gothic art in Siena, for example.
Siena, if we go there, will likely be a day trip from Florence so we'd stay in Florence one additional night but without seeing much more of the city.
Rome (4 days)
Rome will be our second-longest stay in a single city in Italy, with four days dedicated to it. We'll spend one full day on the main ancient monuments: The Coliseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and Pantheon. We're excited to absorb history in the center of the ancient world. Florence has the best history from the Renaissance, and Rome will complement that nicely with its ancient history.
A tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica will take another full day. Seeing the Sistine Chapel will be amazing. We've heard that there's an enormous quantity of art in Vatican City and that it's a good idea to take a tour both to avoid missing anything important and to skip the incredibly long lines.
The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain are also on our list, but we have more planning to do. We may see the Cappuchin Crypt, take an Angels & Demons tour of Rome, or just spend more time taking in the city and its history.
Polignano a Mare (1 day)
Out of all the places we aren't sure we'll visit, this is one of the most enticing and yet the one we know the least about. We saw a picture of this amazing cave restaurant online as one of the most beautiful places in the world and wanted to add it to our Italy list. We've also read that the food is not that good, so we're likely to just go there for a dessert to soak in the views along with the delicious flavors.
As for other things we may do while we're there, we're not sure yet. We may take a boat tour of some nearby caves. We also had the idea of going down to Monopoli and taking pictures of a bunch of Monopoli businesses.
This will actually be quite a bit out of our way, so we have a little more planning to do but this is one of the uncertain places we're most excited to add to our itinerary.
Naples (3 days)
L'Antica Pizzeria Port'Alba is the first pizzeria, and we'll be sure to eat there and at other pizzerias in Naples.
Most of the artifacts taken from Pompeii are in the the National Archeological Museum of Naples, so we'll be sure to check that out—probably after our trip to Pompeii which will conveniently be a day trip from Naples.
We'll also check out at least one of the castles in the town (Chad has never seen one). We may also check out the Cathedral, Theater, Underground, and Duomo.
Mt. Vesuvius & Pompeii (1 day)
Many wonders of science, like living organisms surviving at 266°F, are difficult to observe firsthand. Pompeii, fortunately, represents one of those crazy scientific wonders that is quite easy to observe. We're happy to have the opportunity to see what daily life was really like in an ancient Roman town.
This will be a day-trip from Naples, so we'll actually be spending one more night there without actually exploring the city much. We'll take one of the tours that allow us to make the easy hike up Mt. Vesuvius and see the volcano responsible for the ruins we'll see in Pompeii.
Amalfi Coast (1 day)
The Amalfi Coast is supposed to be beautiful, and many travel guides recommend spending as many as four days there for a trip to Italy that's at least three weeks long. We don't intend on spending nearly that much time there but would like to see it.
We may visit a beach there, but the most exciting thing we've heard about is the beautiful windy road along the coast with sheer cliffs on one side. Apparently, riding along with a local driver on a trip up the coast can be both beautiful and scary. That sounds exciting, and if we're able to combine that with a trip to the beach it may just be the perfect day-trip down the Amalfi Coast.
Sicily (3 days)
If we visit Sicily, the main thing we'll likely do is explore Greek ruins. The opportunity to see key pieces of Renaissance history, key pieces of Ancient Roman history, and some elements of Ancient Greek history all in the same trip may make Sicily hard to pass up.
Most likely, if we go to Sicily we'll fly from Naples to Catania. We may or may not find time to visit the Greek ruins in Syracuse, but we'll make sure to take the long train ride to Agrigento to see the Valley of the Temples. We'll then hop on a train to Sicily's capital of Palermo and fly home from there.
There are logistical challenges in visiting Sicily. We'd need to take a plane to fit this into our trip, and trains will take up significant amounts of time while we're there. To make Sicily work, we'd probably need to spend even more than three days there or cut out some of the planned activities; we may need to leave it for a future trip.
Conclusion
We still have a lot of work left in planning the trip, most of which will happen after the wedding.
For example, it was one of our goals to fit at least one beach visit into our trip, but the only one in our itinerary so far is in one of the uncertain legs of our trip (Amalfi Coast). We'll need to make some minor revisions and adjustments, particularly to the uncertain parts of our trip, to make sure we get all the most important experiences into the trip.
Fortunately, we have a good idea about what we'll be doing and it shouldn't be too hard to work out the remaining details. We've been talking about going to Italy since soon after we started dating, we've taken a couple informal Italian classes together, and we're very excited to finally be going to Italy!