This trip included myself, my husband, my mom and her boyfriend. We left for the airport bright and early (4:30am) on June 28th. We had no problems driving into Logan at that hour. We checked in, breezed through security and were on our way to our British Airways flight at 7:30am. The flight to London was uneventful, though we did get there a little later than anticipated and had a tight connection to Venice. We ran, only to find out that the next flight was a little delayed as well. We made it to Venice about 11:30pm local time. We had set up a driver and he was there waiting for us. Then it was off to our first destination…Oderzo. This is my mom’s hometown. It’s about 45 min north of the Marco Polo airport. It’s an extremely old town, like 10th century BC old. It’s very beautiful and there are many spots in the town where you can see the old city underneath the current. We came for my cousin’s wedding and apparently in Italy, when you have out of town guests, you pay for their hotel. Score! We went right to the hotel where she had got the keys previously and went to bed.
On our first full day we woke up and went downstairs for breakfast which was included in the price of the hotel. We stayed at Hotel Al Gallo (direct translation-hotel of the rooster). Thankfully we didn’t hear any roosters, though they were there in the back. The owners/staff were super nice. They asked us if we wanted any eggs. We said sure. They gave us scrambled eggs with ham. In addition, there were croissants, cake, yogurt, fruit, etc. I realized after the 3rd hotel of the trip that the Italians really like to start their day well. Sweets are definitely predominant. They made coffee for Matt and I had water and juice. Then we went for a walk around Oderzo. My mom tried to get a chip for her phone but it didn’t work. Matt and I’s phones worked thankfully. Thanks T-Mobile! We stopped for a beer…no it wasn’t noon yet but close enough. Then we walked to my grandma’s house to visit and have lunch. My cousin Sara made lunch for us. We started with home made salami from her brother in law who is a butcher. Then salad, a baked pasta, and a stuffed turkey roll which was excellent. I’m going to have to recreate that at home. There was a lot of Italian going on as my family doesn’t speak English. So I had to translate for Matt and Rene. I don’t catch everything, but I do okay. After lunch we rolled out of the house and walked back to the hotel to clean up. Later that night we went out to dinner with family at La Piramide. Lots of apps-chicken wings, prosciutto on bread, fried veggies, pizza and of course pitchers of beer. Then we went for a walk in town and had our first gelato of the trip. Yum! Then back to the hotel to bed.
Day 3-Erika’s wedding day!
We had breakfast at the hotel and then walked with Rene to the “fountain of youth” as Matt called it. A little back story, my grandma is 90. She’s very with it and still walks to town to get her groceries. Until very recently, she was also riding her bike into town. She fills up glass bottles all the time from this fountain around the corner from her house. Matt figures this is why she’s lived so long…that and all the vino I think. Anyway, we got to the fountain with our bottles and my husband tries some water. Which he promptly decides is disgusting and dumps his bottle out. Oh well. At least we got some exercise. We then walk to town and sit at a bar for a couple beers while we wait for my mom to get back from the beauty salon. Once she arrived we went for lunch at Al Gambero d’Oro. We started with a huge platter with seafood which had breaded shrimp, scallops, anchovies, sardines, salmon, bacalao, octopus, polenta and one other type of fish. My mom thought it was delicious. The rest of us thought it was okay. Then we got 2 garden salads and a margherita pizza which was very good. After lunch we walked back to the hotel to shower and get ready for the wedding.
Our ride picked us up and dropped us off at the church at 3:45. The church is beautiful (pic above) but unfortunately didn’t have AC and it was hot out. The service was 1.5 hours (it Italian obviously). It was long. Then we waited outside to throw rice on the bride and groom. This was interesting as I’ve never seen this in real life. I kept thinking about the poor birds trying to eat the uncooked rice afterwards. After a few pics with the bride and groom, we went for a quick beer with my uncle Antenello. Then our ride came to bring us to the reception which was just outside of town. The grounds were beautiful, a vineyard with a nice outdoor space complete with pool. We had cocktail hour with free beer and wine, and some hors d’oeuvres. Eventually we moved into a covered patio area with tables for dinner. My uncle Mauro encouraged us to go first when they started to put the food out as the Italians are like vultures! They just rush to the table, no structure, no line, no waiting for someone to say “go ahead, your table is next.” We first had sliced meats: prosciutto, bresaola, and cheeses. Then there was a pasta and rice course. Then a course with porchetta, french fries, and grilled veggies. Holy cow porchetta is amazing. If you haven’t eaten this you’re missing out. I’m not sure how I’m going to live without having this as a regular part of my diet. Of course there was a lot of wine along with dinner. Music was playing but no dancing. We left after having cake (as if we hadn’t eaten enough already) around midnight.
Day 4-Today is our 7th anniversary
We had our breakfast at the hotel and then packed up our suitcases. The hotel was really nice. Beds were firm. The place was clean and the AC worked. Our family came to say goodbye as we were departing for the next part of our journey. My mom and Rene were going on a cruise. Matt and I were going to Sicily. Originally we were supposed to go on the cruise as well but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to do it after the experience we had on our caribbean cruise. Our driver dropped us off at the airport and then bought my mom and Rene over to the cruise terminal. Our flight ended up being 2 hours late departing from Venice. This was definitely not how I envisioned our anniversary. By the time we got to Rome, they didn’t want to let us on the flight that they had delayed anyway. After some arguing they finally let us on the shuttle to the stairway up to the plane and we were off. We got to Palermo around 9pm. Thankfully we had a driver set up who waited 2.5 hours for us. It was $45 euros to our hotel, Mondello Palace Resort. It took about 25 minutes. What was supposed to be an hour and a half flight ended up being an all day affair. When we arrived at the hotel check in was simple. We put our stuff in the room and went out in search of dinner. Since it was so late we decided to have gelato for dinner. Matt had his gelato with brioche. This was recommended to him by his barber who frequently comes to Palermo. It was good. I had a regular gelato.
Day 5: Beach day
We had breakfast at the hotel which is included in the rate. It was very nice with lots of choices: cereal, meats with bread, eggs, some veggies-salad and some cooked, yogurt, fruit and pastries. They also served coffee, juice and water. After breakfast we spent the day at the beach and pool. There was an issue with the laundry so we brought our room towels to the beach. Normally when you check in there, they give you towels. Each day you need to get a pass for the beach from the checkin desk. The beach was beautiful with white sand and crystal clear water. The hotel provides sun loungers and umbrellas. It’s interesting that they have a fence separating the hotel beach from the public area of the beach. There’s a gate that you go through if you want to go in the water. After lounging at the beach, we went to lounge by the pool.
When we got kicked out of the pool at 6:30 we went to clean up for dinner. Our first real dinner in Sicily was at Poldo 2. The service left something to be desired but the food was good. Had my first (of four) dish of spaghetti con vongole. And a real Sicilian cannolo. Yum.
Then it was time for a walk along the water and back to the hotel for bed.
Day 6: Day trip to Palermo
Today we had breakfast at the hotel and then decided to take a taxi to Palermo. It was a waste of $35 euros as we discovered how easy the bus was afterwards. I asked the guy to drop us off at the mercato Ballero. He seemed hesitant and asked us if we wanted him to wait. I said no, it was fine. He said “Stai Attento!” Basically telling us to pay attention because of pick pockets. We were fine, although Matt was a little nervous and ran through the market. I wasn’t totally impressed though they had a lot of good looking fish like a whole swordfish and tasty looking fruit. There wasn’t much else. After that we did a walking tour of Palermo with an app pausing in front of the major attractions like Palazzo dei Normanni, Palermo Cathedral, and Quattro Canti.
Then we walked to the waterfront which had a playground for kids and went to a bar for a beer. Then we got tickets for the bus (number 806) to go back to Mondello. It’s only $1.40 euro per person and super easy to get at a tabbacheria. You can also use google maps to figure out the bus and all the stops. Our hotel was the last stop but the bus was pretty quick. I’d highly recommend getting around this way. When we got back, we went to the beach and pool. Then got cleaned up for dinner. Tonight’s dinner was at Nicolo e Figli. It was okay, nothing special. We had the grilled fish for two. Also had an app of bruschetta.
After dinner we stopped for a gelato at Renato Bar. Their gelato was delicious and there were many flavors. Each time we got one we’d get two flavors on one cone and it was only $2euro. After dinner we walked along the waterfront to go back to the hotel. It reminds me of the Jersey shore, though I’ve never been there. It’s what I envision with carnival rides, lots of people, ice cream and beach. There’s a ton of restaurants and beach bars as well.
Day 7: Another beach day
We had breakfast at the hotel and then spent the day at the beach and pool. Sense a theme here? We found it’s cheaper to buy beers at the local supermarket rather than buying them at the beach. Though I did get a kick out of the guys walking up and down the beach yelling “BIRRA! CORONA!” with an accent. They also had a guy selling corn on the cob on the beach. Who would’ve thought? They sell all kinds of stuff: donuts, fresh pieces of coconut, apples, sunglasses, beach floats, towels, etc. After a day in the sun we got cleaned up and then went out for drinks on the beach. Because you know, we really needed more beer. It was beautiful and I love how in Italy when you order drinks, they give you free snacks, peanuts, olives, chex mix type stuff. Dinner tonight was at Da Enzo. This was probably our best meal yet. The food was good and the waiter friendly. He did end up talking me into a $30 euro bottle of wine. My bad. After dinner we had another gelato and then it was back to the hotel for bed. I think those of you that know me would be proud that I was never in bed before 11pm in Italy. This is new for me. My bedtime is usually 9. lol.
Day 8: Segesta
So we decided to rent a car today, spur of the moment. We had breakfast at the hotel and then hopped the bus to Palermo. There was a police officer on the bus today making sure everyone validated their ticket. He actually wouldn’t let an old lady on the bus as she didn’t have a ticket. This is one very important thing to know about riding the bus or train in Italy. You buy your ticket at a store which you can use any time. But as soon as you get on the bus or train, you need to stick the ticket in the machine to validate it. If you don’t do this, you can get fined. We made it to downtown but then couldn’t find the car rental place with google maps. After doing a few loops around the neighborhood of where it was supposed to be, I finally asked someone. He pointed us in the general direction and we found it. YEAH! We rented from Avis. It was super easy and the guy was super nice. We got all the protection on the car so it was a bit expensive, but worth the piece of mind. Especially with the way the Italians drive and how narrow the streets are. It was just under $250 for 2.5 days of a rental, picking up down town and then dropping off at the airport. We got our car and we were off back to the hotel. After collecting our stuff that we needed for the day we decided to go to Segesta. It was about 45min to an hour, I forget exactly.
Segesta was a really cool place. Not cool weather wise. Weather was super hot. But there are some ancient ruins there, a partially completed temple and a greek theater. In addition to those, there are a few other ruins, but you can’t really tell what they are without reading the signs. So how this works is you park in a designated lot and then buy your parking ticket for $5 euros. They have a bar with bathrooms there and then some souvenir shops. The bus comes every 15 minutes and takes you up to where the temple is. Once there, you have to buy a ticket to see the temple ($6 euros per person). There’s another bar there and more bathrooms. It’s a short walk uphill to the temple. After viewing the temple you can take another shuttle up the mountain to the greek theater. This runs every 30 minutes and is an extra $1.50 euro per person. OF course we didn’t know that the bus was every 30 minutes and watched one leave right as we got there. We asked the dude if we could walk up it. He said yes, 20 minutes. So we walked. In the sweltering heat. My face was literally pouring sweat. I’ve never been so hot in my life. Thankfully we had water with us. It’s very dry and desolate. There’s no shade. But once we got there, the views were amazing. We missed the bus again going down but that was a much easier walk. Luckily we made the shuttle back to the car. While we were there, we tried an arancini. It had ragu with peas inside. It was okay, something different.
Then we drove back to the hotel. We tried to go to the pool but it was closed as it was after 6. Then we went to the beach but got kicked out at 6:30. We cleaned up and decided to have dinner in Palermo since we had the car. We went to Villa Costanza. It’s on the side of a mountain. Pretty cool place with a beautiful view of Palermo. When we got out of the car there was a guy there who said he’d watch our car. I wasn’t sure if he worked for the restaurant or what but said thanks. We were seated right away which was lucky as they had a lot of tables reserved. We got a bottle of red wine for $15 euros, a bottle of water, the insalata fusion (arugula, avocado, some sort of raw fish sliced thinly and a mustard dressing), a prosciutto pizza and spaghetti with clams. Then tiramisu for dessert. Bill was $62 euros and the service was excellent. And the best part…our car was still there when we returned. I gave the guy 2 euros. Then google maps decided to take Matt up the mountain instead of down to go back to the hotel. We finally turned around as it didn’t seem right and we were going really really high. Once back at the hotel we went for a walk and had our nightly gelato.
Day 9-Long drive for nothing
We got up and had breakfast at the hotel. Ended up talking to a couple from Canada and left later than planned. We were going to go to the nature preserve near San Vito Lo Capo but Matt wanted to go to the beach instead. We drove there 1.5 hours only to have to turn around as we literally couldn’t find any where to park. We drove around and around the narrow streets, but nothing. It was about 12:30 by that time and a complete nightmare. So we ended up coming back to the hotel and went to the beach until 6:30 when they kicked us out. We got cleaned up and went to dinner. I think the restaurant was Calgaro. I didn’t take a picture of the menu as usual. I had my spaghetti with clams again (number 3) and Matt had spaghetti with mussels and clams. Then back to the hotel for a drink before bed.
Day 10-Check out day
We got up and had our last breakfast at the hotel. Then we sat by the pool and went for one last swim of the trip. Took a shower and checked out of the hotel. Only had to pay $55 euros for city tax, plus the bar tab. We got gas for the car and then took off for the Palermo airport. It was a surprisingly super easy drop off. The airport is very small and there are a lot of signs. Of course the flight wasn’t on time as usual. Alitalia is slowly trying to crush my spirit. We left an hour late and missed our connection in Rome. They rebooked us (and about 40 other people) on the next flight which left 2 hours later. We didn’t get to the Venice airport until after 7pm. Then we got the bus to piazalle Roma. The ticket machine was a little challenging to figure out but I did it. Once outside the terminal there was a very helpful woman helping with the tickets, validating them, etc. The bus was really nice. It was actually a coach with AC. We put our luggage underneath and sat down. We didn’t have to wait long to leave and it was a 20 min ride into Venice. After that we walked to our hotel, Locanda Ca Lucrezia. Since it was passed the normal check in time, we had to push the bell and then give our name. They opened the door remotely and had left our keys at the front desk. We put our stuff down and went out to dinner at Trattoria Le Lance. The food was really good. We shared a bottle of wine, bottle of water, a pizza and a huge Greek salad. Then we went for a walk along the streets of Venice. Matt had to get a gelato and was shocked at the $4 euro price tag when we’ve been paying $2 euros for every other one of the trip. Then back to the hotel and to bed. We got in right before the rain started at midnight.
Day 11-Final full day in Italy
We had breakfast at the hotel and finished check in. The staff was so friendly and asked us if we needed any recommendations. They gave us a map and off we went. I’ve been to Venice many times, but this was Matt’s first time. He wasn’t super impressed with the crowds. We took off on foot in search of a kayak rental place, Venice by Water. As we walked, we admired the canals and took some pics. We found the kayak place and in order for them to do a tour, they require 2 people. I wasn’t really sure about doing it so we got some info and left. We walked to San Marco Square where Matt looked down and found $170 euros. We stood there for a few minutes waving the money around to see if anyone was looking for it. No one was. What a score for us. Though I do feel bad for the person that lost that much money. We decided then to do the kayak trip as it was $100 euros for the two of us to do an hour tour with a guide. We took some more pics and then walked back to make our reservation for 3pm. As we walked back to our hotel to change we ran into my mom and Rene who were back from their cruise. We stopped to chat and then sat down for a birra. Once back at the hotel we changed into our bathing suits, relaxed for a bit and then went back to kayak. Wow. What an experience. I’d highly recommend doing this. It’s an amazing way to see Venice. We rode through various canals, dodging speed boats and gondolas. Our guide, Edward was amazing. Very patient, cautious and friendly. He along with the rest of the staff spoke perfect English which was great as Matt doesn’t speak Italian. They could not have been any nicer. The shop is great too, they have lockers so you can leave any valuables. Plus, they have clothes you can wear instead of your own since you get pretty wet on the ride. They’re sit on top kayaks. Seriously, do it.
After our kayak voyage we went back to the hotel. We sat outside on the back patio at the hotel to have a couple drinks before getting cleaned up for dinner. At 7pm we met up with mom and Rene to go back to Trattoria Alle Lance. Unfortunately it wasn’t as good as the night before. Matt had a different pizza, we got the greek salad again and the rest of us each had the spaghetti with clams (#4 for me). They were just kind of flavorless tonight. Bummer. After dinner we went for a stroll and stopped for a drink at a hotel bar when it started to rain. When the rain stopped we went for our last gelato of the trip and then back to the hotel to bed.
Day 12-Back to reality
We got up at 4:30am and left the hotel for the bus at 5:15. The bus came at 5:40 and we were back at the airport by 6am. We checked in with Iberia which was pretty simple and then went through security which was a little busy but moving. We were on a small plane to Madrid. The airport there is huge. I have to say that the signage is great. They even tell you how long it takes to get from one terminal to the other. I think we were in H when we landed and had to get to S. It’s 25 minutes from one to the other. We took a few escalators up and down, walked a lot and then had to take a ride on a subway train. We went through some sort of customs where we showed our passport and got a stamp. The woman was very friendly and asked us how we liked Spain. lol. Well, we’re just passing through and have only seen the airport, but it’s very nice. We made our flight home with time to spare. The flight from Madrid to Boston was great. I’m really impressed with Iberia and would definitely fly them again. The seats had screens in them with a big selection of movies and games. They gave us a nice lunch (food was actually edible) and a huge snack later (yogurt, sandwich, kit kat). Drink service and then tea and coffee. They give you a nice blanket, pillow and head phones. We got to Boston 30 minutes early. Apparently this airline is #1 for on time arrivals. Going through customs in Boston took for-ev-er (read like that kid in the Sandlot movie). I’m so glad we had a driver waiting for us.
All in all, it was a good trip. My husband won’t go back to Venice even though I think it’s the most beautiful city in the world. That’s okay, he doesn’t like crowds. We’d go back to Sicily again, but if I would definitely do more places and move around hotels. 6 nights in one spot was a lot. All the Italians we encountered were very nice. We didn’t have any issues at all. I think it helps when you attempt to speak Italian. Everyone was very kind to say that I speak well when I know that’s not the case. lol. I can get by.