Italy: Pizza and Gelato Paradise

In 2010 we decided to take a family vacation to Italy during the kids’ spring break. As always, I wanted to make sure we planned a trip that was memorable and exciting for both of our kids. I also wanted to make sure we had a unique experience in Italy.

About three months before our trip, I decided to reach out to the Vatican. You see, every Wednesday, the Pope has a public event where one can go visit the Pope. This is known as the Papal audience. In those days, the Vatican was still not up to speed with internet technology. One had to request tickets to this event via fax! I sent a request for us to get tickets for the Papal audience and received a faxed confirmation within a couple of weeks. Exciting!

We flew from Denver to Rome via Frankfurt. We reached Rome at around 7 am and reached our hotel by 9 am. I had requested an early check-in with the hotel, and they were very accommodating. We were staying a block or so from the Rome central train station (heart of Rome).

Hold on to your passport

Many foreign hotels would ask to keep your passport while you stay there. Never agree to that. As soon as we reached our hotel, our front desk person asked to keep our passports. I told them they were welcome to keep a copy of our passports but having them keep our physical passport was not an option. He had to get approval from his managers. I guess he never had a guest refuse that before.

As many of you may know, rooms tend to be smaller in Europe. Since our kids were young at the time (12 and 8), we wanted to make sure that all of us were in the same room. The room they provided was really small and once they added a rollaway bed, there was hardly any room to move around. My wife and kids were tired, so they immediately went to sleep. I always avoid sleeping during the sunlight hours when I first arrive in a country. It is the fastest way to get over jet lag.

Currency Exchange

I decided to get the currency exchanged. As a rule, always avoid exchanging currency at an airport. They tend to be very expensive. Nowadays, most credit cards provide no foreign currency transaction fees, so you may not need to have currency. However, I am a fan of using cash so I always get local currency. The best place to get a good price for currency is usually small currency exchange shops or local banks.

I picked up my passport and decided to walk outside to find a currency exchange location. It was a nice sunny morning. After walking a block or so, I saw a series of currency exchange locations and got some local currency. When I was walking back towards the hotel, it was just about lunchtime. I was in a small alley and saw a big line outside of a small store. Just out of curiosity, I took a peek and noticed that it was a pizza shop. I figured if there were 20 people in line outside of a small 10 foot by 10 foot shop, it must be good. So, I also got in the line. When my turn came the lady at the counter asked me what I wanted (she asked me in Italian, and I don’t understand Italian). I pointed to a margarita pizza (being a vegetarian, it was the safest bet). It was a big rectangular pizza about 30 inches by 18 inches. She asked me a question that I did not understand. She then showed me the pizza (I think she was trying to ask me how big of a piece I wanted). I showed her a small 4 inch by 4 inch square. She cut the slice and weighed the pizza. I had never seen pizza sold by weight before! That was a different experience. You get a pizza on a paper pocket and one eats the slice as they go on their way— similar to a McDonald’s burger I guess. I swear to date, this was the best pizza I ever had—bar none.

Once everyone was up and refreshed, we started our sightseeing adventures in Rome. We were staying in Rome for three nights. On the first day, we went to the Trevi Fountain and a few other places. The Trevi Fountain is an awesome hangout. There are coffee shops all around the area—just sitting there and watching people is an amazement in itself. One thing that both my wife and I were impressed by was their public water system. They built reservoirs on high elevations and as a result, the water had a very high force. To keep pipes from bursting they have these release taps all over the city where water constantly is coming out. Romans did know engineering thousands of years ago!

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The next day, we went to the Colosseum. My son liked that as he equated it to a football stadium. We also went to many other places including the Forum and the Pantheon.

Gelato Anyone?

One thing I should point out is that as young as these kids were, we walked for miles every day in Rome. Anytime they would complain, we would eat gelato! So, we ate more gelato in those three days than ever before. I think the kids figured out that every time they complained about walking, they would get to eat gelato!

On the last day, we went to the Vatican. After the morning audience, we continued visiting the Vatican. The Vatican museum is huge. One could walk for hours inside and it keeps going on and on. The only other bigger museums I have visited are in St. Petersburg and Paris. Of course, the kids had no interest in the museums, so we took a shortcut out.

On the final day out of Rome, something interesting happened. We checked out of the hotel and walked a block to the train station to pick up our rental car. We were renting a car from the train station for our next stop to the Amalfi Coast. We were on the lower level of the station and the Hertz rental car counter was on the second level. There was this two-story escalator. I went on the escalator and my son followed me. My wife and daughter were about to get on the escalator and it just stopped. My son and I decided to just walk the steps with our luggage. There were some young people at the bottom of the escalator who told my wife that the elevator was nearby. My wife and daughter took the elevator. As soon as my wife came out of the elevator, she realized that her purse was lifted from her bag! Apparently, this was an elaborate scheme. These young people pushed the escalator kill switch, encouraged my wife and daughter to get in the elevator, and picked my wife’s pocket during the elevator ride. We could not believe it. Anyway, after a few phone calls to cancel the credit cards, we were all set to get our rental car.

We started driving towards Amalfi Coast. I did not realize that roads were going to be small, so it was interesting driving a big car. I had heard that Naples was a rough town. Since we had our recent experience with purse thieves, when we stopped at a toll booth, I had everyone roll up their windows in the car! We were staying at the Hilton Sorrento Palace in Sorrento. After three days in a tiny room in Rome, this was a welcome change. The rooms were nice and big—the place was immaculate. The property is certainly worth a visit. We had an amazing view of the Amalfi Coast from our room. Because we were there at a time close to a Jewish holiday, there were so many Jewish people at the hotel. Just an observation.

Cover Charge

That evening, we went to a fancy place for dinner. This restaurant was right in the center of the town. We had a nice table with a view. My wife thought olive oil at the restaurant was probably the best she had ever tasted. We asked if they would sell us a bottle or two but no luck☹ After the dinner bill came, and my son took the bill to make sure it was accurate. He noticed an €18 charge for four items. He said, “Dad, we did not order four same items.” So, we asked our waiter. It turns out they charge €4.50 per person as a cover charge—the privilege to sit in their restaurant. Who knew?

The next day, we went for a drive to another small town called Positano. Positano is a small town with nice beaches. The center of the town is an old church. Roads are so small you would think you would scratch the car coming from the other side. Anyway, Amalfi Coast is famous for what is known as Sorrento Lemons. We went into this small shop in Positano called “Sapori e profumi di Positano” where everything in the shop was made out of lemons or had a lemon theme. They had lemon lotions, perfume, soaps, candy, chocolates, cakes, tablecloths, bath towels, and so on. It was different, to say the least.

On our last day on the Amalfi Coast, we were visiting Capri Island. It is a small 25-minute ferry ride away from Sorrento. As soon as you dock in Capri, you realize the majestic nature of this place. It has hills and beautiful buildings. It is certainly a charming place. We took a tramway from sea level to get to the top and decided to walk our way down, slowly visiting shops and restaurants. It was a nice breezy day. We enjoyed a late lunch in an outdoor restaurant before taking the ferry back to Sorrento.

By the time we returned home, we probably added a few pounds on our waistline. This was certainly a foody trip. Where did you have some of the best food? Please do participate with your comments. Arrivederci.