| Israel
Alitalia flight Miami-Milan is about
9 hours. Very bumpy and my camera got banged up; don’t be cheap and purchase
a $20 box camera; your photos will look it. Either rent a digital camera
or purchase one if you want good photos (and you’ve spent so much anyway
this far, right?) Malpensa airport can get fogged in; they are not the
greatest at making connections (ie: they don’t use jetways often) and they
do nothing special to expedite a business-class traveler. It is raining
and just above freezing; lucky we made our connection. Not allowed to bring
your own DVD players on board with Alitalia. Good amount of space on board.
At Rome airport, the security people can be fussy with carry-on luggage
and Alitalia says they are powerless about it. Milan-Tel Aviv flight is
another 3.5 hours. We stayed at King David Hotel with a beautiful suite
overlooking the old city walls. My business partner and his wife, also
at the hotel, sent us a beautiful bouquet of flowers; flowers in Israel
are very colorful. Food there was very good and reasonable; we had a 23%
discount on food & beverage and so Friday dinner and Saturday lunch
were each $55 per person. Even though it was Passover, the quality was
extremely high. A lovely property with gardens for evening strolls. Saturday
morning walk to the Western Wall, and visit to relatives in the afternoon.
Evening meet and greet for anyone in the Jerusalem area who wanted to visit
us. Sunday walk around town to buy Karen a hat, and lunch on the patio
at the King David which is quite elegant – I don’t care what anyone says;
terrorists have won because people are afraid to go into town. Monday service
at the Great Synagogue and visit to old haunts and Mr. Sharf in the afternoon
– we both walked to the apartments we lived in when we lived in Jerusalem
in 1995 – we could have waved to each other from each other’s balconies
but we never knew of each other, and we both this day walked out each other’s
front doors and then headed down the street into the glowing sunset. Just
like in the books. Tuesday a visit to a local orphanage, walked into a
few galleries and went back to the Wall for some prayer and photos. Then
a drive to Tel Aviv; Dan Hotel with another beautiful seaside room. Watched
the sunset and snacked and then received more people in the lobby. Afterward,
a snack at my favorite “Yotveta” on the beachfront but I am sitting in
the back with a close eye on the front door. Wednesday morning a restful
doze by the pool and then afternoon flight to Rome.
Practical Notes re Jerusalem – manager
at King David Hotel is Benny Olearchik telephone 620.8888 fax 620.8723.
At Eldan Hotel it is Bertha Botbol telephone 567.9777 fax 624.9525; room
514 is a nice double overlooking King David Street and the Jaffa Gate.
The Delek gas station is prominently featured. Rate is about $100, or about
$150 per night during holidays. Anything in the 14-19 line is considered
nice.
Notes on the country’s political
situation are in the May 2004 issue of Global Thoughts.
Rome
Flight from Israel was rather bumpy
and upon arrival in Rome we went to the “official taxi line.” Just outside
the airport, the driver stopped the car, took our bags out and transferred
us to a waiting taxi which he said was necessary because his car was broken.
Turned out to be the truth, but I was a bit scared of a mafia-kind of operation
going on. Stayed Grand Hotel Minerva on piazza Minerva right behind the
Pantheon. Stayed there 6 months ago and still like it. Had a great dinner
to get things started and when you ask for a glass of wine they just bring
you a bottle of it. Details below. Thursday a heavy shopping and walking
day – breakfast with those great little Italian sandwiches, blood orange
juice and coffee. Rinascente department stores; the one on Piazza Fiume
has better selection but sometimes there are items at the one on Via del
Corso. I recommend going to the Corso first, then to the Fiume and then
back to Corso to get whatever you wanted that is not at the Fiume store.
Trevi fountain, Spanish steps and nearby shopping street (looked at linens
at Frette; bought eyeglasses at Efrati); Via Nazionale (Jacques Simenon
is still a great store and Regal was good for pocket books and a wallet);
gelateria near the hotel is also a great standby. Also a good handbag store
near the Pantheon called Di Fabris Gabrielle on via D. Orfani 87. The wooden
toy store in the area is also cute; I have bought there several times before
and it has been referred to in notes from Florence (2001). Rome has been
covered in detail many times before. Pratical Notes are at the end.
Amalfi Coast
Friday transfer to Naples. At airport
they told me that the reservation in the computer was for a later flight;
my ticket said the earlier flight and I had reconfirmed it before leaving
New York. They bumped me and others; when we protested, the supervisor
just winked at the other Alitalia people and told us there was nothing
he could do, and we were holding business class tickets. Another bumpee
was given a boarding pass when he started his trip in Frankfurt and then
they told him they had no seat for him. Probably a tour group that needed
to be together. We saw people take seats in business class who were obviously
friends of the crew; they just moved them around when we sat in our seats
(that they were already sitting in). We could have taken the train to Naples
faster than this. Anyway, spent a few hours in the airport, shopped for
cute looking socks and they put us up in the airline lounge. I had a helicopter
waiting on the pad in Naples to fly us around the Amalfi coast and this
was a real bummer except for the fact that it was raining all over, so
I could at least get the helicopter company to accept the cancellation.
Flying into Naples is one of the most beautiful landings out there; sit
on the right side for a view of the city, port and bay. Car and driver
met us and transferred us to Positano and the Hotel San Pietro. Allow 1.5
hours for the drive and it is very scenic and our driver gave good commentary
(much better than just taking a taxi). Because of the rain, there were
probably cancellations and we got one of their nicest suites. You can’t
book these, even a year in advance. They are sold out and in any event
they give the rooms to those people that they decide they want to give
them to. Italy runs on a different frequency, you know. Ate in the hotel
dining room; it is a Relais Chateaux property but the dining room is not
that fantastic. We have this beautiful room with a wrap-a-round terrace
and ceiling to floor windows in the bathroom and the view is of the sea,
cliffs and the cloud-misted city of Positano in the background. There are
only about 5 rooms out of this 60 room hotel with such views and it is
worth upgrading to the better rooms if you are going to pay to stay here
in the first place. The hotel features a gorgeous patio with pretty benches,
an expansive lobby and a 300 foot elevator that goes down to its private
beach in a grotto. I visited several area hotels – the Sirenuse which is
in central city, very boutique hotel-like, but not a hideaway like the
San Pietro which is built into the side of a cliff and is a perfect property
for a honeymoon. Also viewed the Hotel Santa Caterina in Amalfi and the
Palazzo Sasso in Ravello; they are all beautiful hotels but the San Pietro
is something special and I feel we had the best rooms in the best hotels
both for the price and the occasion. The weather was lousy for Saturday
but we enjoyed the property and didn’t feel the need to go anywhere. The
hotel runs a shuttle which takes you about 2 miles to the town entrance.
Saturday night to Donna Rosa restaurant (details below); Sunday the sun
popped out for a few hours (the weather was cloudy and rainy almost the
whole 4 days we were there; don’t come here till May 1st unless you want
to gamble on the weather. For instance, Pompei is no good if it is muddy
out and the ferry to the Island of Capri doesn't run if the weather is
lousy (and it's a chilly place to chill out; we are told that if you go
there for a day it's touristic and shopping; but that it is a nice place
to stay for a few days and there is much to do beyond the simple touristic
stuff such as cable cars, grottos and pretty quiet places). We were told
that Sorrento is just a big city and nothing worth seeing. Took a car and
driver for 5 hours and drove to Ravello and Amalfi, two pretty towns in
this region. At Ravello saw the two gardens (Villa Rufolo; Villa Cimbrone
-- they are both different and have beautiful views) that everyone sees,
visited the local hotels and ate very good lunch (details below). Then
to Amalfi for a short visit to the local cathedral and a walk around the
center of town. It is a bit more touristic here. Ended up with a walk around
Positano; the shops all seem to sell resort wear and most of it seems cheap.
Town fills up with day-trippers and is deserted after dark. Next morning
another walk around town and then back to Naples airport (we forgot about
the helicopter; it was foggy and rainy all the time) where it was pouring
rain. Having a crisis of faith with Alitalia, we decided to fly back to
Rome a day early due to a scheduled tight connection for the next day and
stayed at the airport Hilton. They fussed over us, sent champagne to the
suite upgrade they gave us (I guess they felt sorry for anyone honeymooning
at an airport Hilton). Next morning we managed to get past the long passport
control line and the mean people at security who wouldn’t let us take our
carry-ons. Italy is infuriating for many reasons (I come back for the shopping,
eating and natural beauty but keep vowing that I could very well live without
this country's people) but as I kept reminding Karen -- they lost 2 world
wars this century. 9 hours later we were back in New York.
Updated Practical Details Italy:
Mostly About Good Food. What Else?
Amalfi – Pansa bakery in the main
square is very good. I brought home several “bambini” (my affectionate
term for little pastries).
Positano – da Vicenzo is a decent
eatery with friendly staff and a humorous owner. Viale Pasitea 172, about
100 meters from the Hotel Poseidon. Hotel Palazzo Murat is a 4 star
hotel in the pedestrian shopping zone in the heart of the city built around
some nice interior gardens. Donna Rosa is an excellent restaurant, about
15 minutes drive away on the top of a mountain. Excellent cuisine recommended
to us by a local chef. Karen said the fish was one of the best she’s ever
had. The lemon sorbette was also excellent. Hotel Covo dei Saraceni is
on the beach and has a good café; run by a very good chain of hotels.
Ravello – Cumpa Cosimo on via Roma
44-46, excellent pasta and deserts. Chocolate cake is in the top-10 Pantheon.
Hotel Palazzo Sasso is a very good 5 star hotel. There is another one just
50 meters away with similar views (Hotel Palumbo) but the hotel is older
and not to the same standard.
Rome – Great restaurant: Sabatini
on St. Ignatius square, about 5 minutes walk from the Pantheon. We ate
there 2 nights in a row. Real Italian food. Coin on San Giovanni supposedly
sells Medina Milano Blush #12 which is what my mother wants me to purchase.
What I learned on my honeymoon
– Think Less, Tickle More....
For Photos, click here.
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