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Author Archives: Kiki Maraschino
Italy: Parco de Principi Design Hotel in Sorrento
Remember when I said I had excellent luck with hotels? The hotel in Sorrento was a fantasy, like when you see those gorgeous pictures in magazines while at your desk job and think, “Someday…” My someday was now. First of … Continue reading
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Italy: Roving Around Venice
There were some things I had thought I might do in Venice — go the Peggy Gugganheim Museum of Modern Art or hit one of the tours to the smaller islands like Murano or Burano, but it isn’t the kind of … Continue reading
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Italy: Venetian Bucket List
I had two bucket list items for Italy. One of them was drinking a bellini at Harry’s Bar, where they invented bellinis. I’m not really drinking much these days, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I imagine none of you … Continue reading
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Italy: Gondola Gondola Gondola
you cross the bridges in Venice gondoliers lean against the rails and sing out “Gondola Gondola Gondola” like barkers. I was just kind of wandering around and found a little hole-in-the-wall tucked in beside a bridge called Trattoria alla Rivetta. … Continue reading
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Italy: Palazzo Vitturi
To find my hotel, first I had to find my square — Campo Santa Maria Formosa. (Do not forget the name of your square.) At last! I was home! Hotel rooms are available off season for as low as $50 … Continue reading
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Italy: Venice, an Enchanting Maze
When you look at a map of Venice and try to select your hotel and activities by proximity, it only screws you up. Because you are still thinking as the crow flies. Venice is a series of town squares connected … Continue reading
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Italy: Doing Fiorenze
Even though I spent most of my time in Florence laid up, my hotel was in between the Piazza del Duomo and a little sculpture museum among a row of shops. Three buildings in the plaza are a UNESCO World … Continue reading
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Italy: Fishing Lab in Florence
Sadly, the food near my hotel wasn’t very good. I guess I used up all of my luck in Rome. But I did have a few memorable meals. If you ever see something in Italy that looks like this, don’t bother asking … Continue reading
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Italy: Convalescing in Florence
At 4 in the morning on our last night in Rome, Bridin told me she couldn’t leave me alone in Italy with my terrible cough and she found an American hospital to take me to. I was sure it was just allergies and … Continue reading
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Italy: Near Death Experience
I was kind of burnt out from all of the walking, but Bridin encouraged me to go to some of the places on my to-do list. I love marble cemetery angels, and The Protestant/Non-Catholic Cemetery was highly recommended. It is … Continue reading
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Italy: How to Avoid Looking Like a Tourist
Before I went to Italy, I read a number of articles advising you on the do’s and don’ts of travel in Italy. Let’s talk about some of them. Italians serve their bread dry. Don’t ask for butter or olive oil. On … Continue reading
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Italy: The Vatican Museum
The secret to not waiting 3 hours in line for Italian museums is to cough up 30 bucks or so for the “skip-the-line” guided tours. At the Vatican Museum they start about two hours before the museum opens. The only … Continue reading
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Italy: Eat, Sightsee, Rock Out
I now know why Italians can eat so much pasta and gelato and still fit into their high fashion ensembles. They are so active I can’t keep up with them. Tuesday we thought we would catch the hop-on hop-off tour … Continue reading
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Italy: Back Alley Relics
One interesting thing about staying just outside the Vatican is that the tourist shops all sell Catholic merch. Usually Catholic stuff is made by religious orders but you could tell some of the manufacturers knew nothing about Catholicism. Proper rosaries … Continue reading
Italy: the Pope is Dope
Before coming to italy I had purchased several tours. One of them was to see the pope`s Wednesday afternoon talk. I certainly would not have bought a tour in order to get a ride if I had known our apartment … Continue reading
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