Italia 2009!

So, it's that time of year again. I've been suited up with anti-anxiety meds (aka the equivilent of a horse tranquilizer) and we'll soon be taking flight! This time we'll be in Rome and the Costeria Amalfitana! With side trips to Pompeii, Paestum and the Isle of Capri!

The first few days of our adventure will be spent in Rome where we'll be calling the Inn at the Spanish Steps home. We've already booked our Vatican tickets, so here's to hoping we'll be able to avoid the lines. On Monday (when things in Rome tend to be closed...) We'll be driving down to Amalfi. Originally we had reserved a Mercedes A180 for the trip, but after seeing some bitingly realistic reviews of said car, its luggage capacity and exactly what Avis Italia may consider an "intermediate" sized vehicle we "upgraded" to a Passat wagon. I'm sure we'll end up getting the wagon wedged between a stone wall and a vespa or passenger bus somewhere along the coast drive, but that's what the collision damage waiver is all about!

Once in Amalfi we'll be at the Hotel Santa Caterina. Sadly, it appeared that neither the le Sirenuse or the Il San Pietro would permit children Miss B's age, so we'll have to leave those for another visit (sad as that may be since Town and Country Travel had said it was a fave of Hugh Grant!) While in Amalfi we're planning to visit Pompeii, take a boat to Capri and make the drive to Paestum, past Salerno. I'm hoping that we'll also get to stop in at Vietri (home of Vietri pottery) as nothing says "Italian vacation" like bringing home breakable ceramics in your carry on bags!

Then it will be back to Rome, where we'll have moved to accomodations at the Villa Spalleti Trivelli. Free minibar, people! It will be all the $5.00 jars of nuts and bottled water we can consume! While in Rome, we've booked a private tour of the Collesseum and Roman forum through Context Tours. They've confirmed that our guide will be an actual archeologist... How cool is that? I'll only be happy, however, if I can call him "Dr. Jones" in a German accent!

On our last Saturday we haven't finalized our plans, leaving it open to take the high speed train to Florence, if we're feeling adventurous.