Category Archives: hotel

Back to Rome for a few days

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On Saturday we moved from the Amalfi Coast to Rome. An hour and a half from Positano to Naples by car and 60 mins from there by high speed train to Rome.

Rome is still busy but the temperature has dropped from seven weeks ago from mid/late 30s to around 30 so life is much easier. Everyone seems more relaxed but the place is still packed with tourists.

It was great to get back to Hotel Barocco and to catch up with Fabio who runs reception with style and efficiency. This is a boutique hotel but the quality and friendliness of staff makes it stand out. If you are visiting Rome, please try it.

Our room also makes things special as we booked one of their junior suites with a view across Piazza Barberini. It’s decorated in shades of white and cream so Jean was delighted. it was her kind of room – hence both the photos and the movie.

We now have 3 days before our flight home which will be spent exploring the city, catching up on those last minute presents, as well as eating out. We have booked two restaurants for dinner – Aroma next to the colosseum and La Pergola in Hotel Cavalieri which is, I believe, the only 3 star Michelin restaurant in the city.

Updates to follow.

Jean in her private carriage
Our cream room at Barocco
More cream room
My view of Jean when she’s shopping
Via Tritone full of people
The movie of the room

The last breakfast

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Today we had our last breakfast at Eden Roc before we leave tomorrow hosted by the lovely Tony. It involved everything from Prosecco to poached eggs with Tiramisu and sweet treats added in there as well.

What a great way to start the day.

Dinner at Eden Roc Hotel

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Saturday night we dined at the hotel. They have made major improvements to the restaurant in the last few years and it’s paying dividends as the patronage has increased considerably.

One new addition to the facilities is Terrazza Paradiso, a terrace sitting above the rest of the restaurant, open to the air and with a spectacular view of the village and sea below. The lovely Carlo, who runs the Adamo ed Eva restaurant at the hotel, managed to get us a table on the Terrazza for a magical dinner which ended with two drunk kiwis being driven home afterwards.

This meal was also the debut of one the dresses Jean bought in Sorrento when we visited on Friday.

A day at the beach

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Yesterday we visited Fornillo Beach and the Pupetto Beach Club. Fornillo Beach is one bay around from the main Positano beach and, as a result, a lot quieter. It’s quite a hike to get there as you walk around the coast on a path that rises and falls with the terrain and in today’s 39 degrees it tested our stamina but we made it and settled in for the day.

Beach clubs are common in Italy – a relaxed restaurant at the back of the beach and rows of umbrellas and loungers in front going right to the waters edge. There are staff constantly patrolling the loungers taking orders for drink and food – or lunch can be had in the restaurant if desired.

The Pupetto Beach Club is part of the Pupetto Hotel which is partly set in the cliff and partly hanging off the cliff above Fornillo Beach. The hotel looks great – we got an unofficial tour as we walked through it to get to the beach club looking at bit out of place in our beach attire.

Lunch was the least Italian meal we have had – cheeseburger and fries and a chicken salad. It tasted great and we needed that.

Walking home

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Casetta Arienzo is about 800m from Eden Roc hotel and the intersection where the road through Positano village meets the main road to Amalfi. From here we can walk down to the village or stop at the hotel for breakfast, a day by the pool or dinner – or all three.

We do this walk pretty much every day so we forget how spectacular it is – with cliffs on both sides, the ones above us reaching skyward and the ones on the other side falling down to the sea. This afternoon I grabbed a shot of the cliff above the road as we walked back to Casetta Arienzo. Behind Jean the view to the ocean is equally spectacular.

Walking home this evening
The view behind Jean

Misting to keep cool

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The temperature here is around 32-34 degrees at present – which is quite warm. To counter this, some restaurants and cafes have fan systems which spray mist into the atmosphere to make customers more comfortable.

La Zagara, about half way between the beach and our place, is one such cafe. We stopped there yesterday afternoon to break the long and hot uphill walk, and to partake of a cold beverage or two.

Not sure if it was the misting or the drinks, but we felt much better after our stop.

Famous friends

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At this time of year, you never know who is staying in and around Positano. Ben and Jennifer are saying at Villa TreVille on the point below our casetta – it’s his birthday this month so they are celebrating locally. Rooms and suites at the villa start at E3,000 a night, up to E15,000 a night.

And when we were having lunch earlier this week guests at the next table included Jemima Goldsmith (Khan) and her current partner. You never know who will pop up in Positano.

Villa TreVille – taken from our terrace
Lunch with Jemima

Friends

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This week we have been out and about in Tuscany with friends. We have known Dani and Olga for many years. We got to know them when Olga helped us find villas to stay in and our friendship has grown since then. It has been 4 years since we last saw them so it was great to reconnect.

We have been spoilt this last week with dinners and days out. Tina, our friend from back hom who has spent the last few weeks holidaying in Positano. She came north for a few days so we could all catch up.

We have visited some great restaurants and eaten so well. But the most special meal was at Dani and Olga’s place – a kiwi barbecue – with friends Matteo and Francesca who own Pornanino Olive Oil farm which produces some of the finest olive oil we have ever tasted.

Olga and Dani, thank you so much for making our visit so memorable.

Frescobaldi Restaurant
Frescobaldi Restaurant
Frescobaldi Restaurant
Boys around a barbecue
Francesca’s apple pie for dessert

Footnote: The barbecue we used is a Lotus Grill charcoal barbecue. It’s a very clever design that burns charcoal but is pretty much smokeless. It’s a really clever piece of kit designed in Germany. Fathers Day isn’t far away …

A wander around San Felice

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San Felice is a luxury hotel complex located in the heart of Chianti. It is an old village that has been bought and developed as a hotel, while still retaining the feel of a typical Tuscan village.

It is a magical place with 30 suites and 29 rooms plus two churches, a range of shops, a spa, a winery as well as two restaurants, one of which has just received their first Michelin star.

Our friends Dani and Olga showed us around and we spent a hour or so wandering through the Borgo and tasting wine in the cellar room which was lovely.

This could well be a stop on our next trip.

Return to Tuscany

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On Monday we arrived in Radda in Chianti, our home for the next few days. Radda is a hill top village located between Firenze and Siena in the Chianti hills.

We have stayed at Relais Vignale before and it’s a great base to discover the Chanti region and all it has to offer. The hotel spans several buildings, all in a style which is called “toscana rustica” – the same style as the stone villas and cottages we all see in photos of Tuscany.

We were lucky enough to have our room upgraded to a junior suite so we now have an enormous room and a courtyard outside where we can sit in the evenings.

The style of food has also changed – from the seafood of Venice and Liguria to the meat and poultry of Tuscany. On Monday night we ate chicken and steak, expertly prepared in the hotel restaurant – all washed down with a fine bottle of local chianti.

The next few days will see us catch up with our dear friends who live here as well as explore some of the local towns and villages.

Our room with courtyard in front
Relaxing
Moretti Beer – tutte bene
Breakfast view – typical Chianti – grape and olive tree covered slopes
Relais Vignale
Relais Vignale
Courtyard view
View from the terrace

Colazione – “breakfast” doesn’t do it justice in Italy

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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day – well it certainly is in Italy.

In most hotels it consists of a massive buffet featuring everything from pastries through to fruits, fruit juices, cheeses, cold meats, multiple types of bread, eggs whatever way you want – including cold hard boiled eggs, bacon, did I mention cold meats, and all washed down with multiple cups of cappuccino.

There is a massive staff that constantly keep things replenished and who can also cater to special requests – like “cappuccino decafinato con latte di Mandorla” – which is Jeans current coffee of choice.

Our favourite hotel in Camogli is no different with a room that seats around 100 people serving breakfast from 7am to the very civilised time of 11am.

We are well acclimatised to Italian time now as we barely make it in before 11am and today we were the last in the room with everyone very politely packing up around us.

Elegant, even at breakfast
The ubiquitous breakfast buffet
Jean’s breakfast hit – cold hard boiled eggs

An evening at the terrazzo bar

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This post is a blatant attempt to justify sitting at the terrace bar at our hotel in Camogli for a couple of hours drinking and nibbling on bar snacks – by saying it was all an excuse to take this series of sunset pictures as the afternoon transformed into evening.

Yes, we have reached that point. There was no locked off tripod or set exposure – just me waving my phone above my head every so often and taking a picture. Half of the shots were out of focus the rest wobbled around to the point where Photoshop was the only way to vaguely line them up.

But we really need no excuse to sit there – we love the terrace bar, it’s excellent staff, perfect drinks, the tasty bar snacks that arrived unprompted, and it’s ever changing view.

A little more of Venice

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Having already published some Venice pictures, here are some more that we think might be interesting.

The torre in Piazza San Marco
Heron on a boat watching us arrive – a good omen according to Alaria
Aperol Spritz in the afternoon
Trying to pass as a local
Jean liked the glass sculpture in the hotel lobby – but they would probably miss it
An evening in Piazza San Marco

Out and about in Venice

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Venice is a magical place. Over 4 days we have walked the narrow streets and alleyways, climbed more bridges across canals than you can count, and sat and people-watched in piazza’s ranging from the grand Piazza San Marco through to postage stamp sized ones tucked into the tiny spaces away from the crowds that define Venice.

We have eaten, yes, we have eaten. Whether it’s a simple sandwich and a coffee in one of the cafes in Piazza San Marco or dinner at our favourite restaurant Ristorante Da Ivo tucked away in a little back street which takes a bit of finding, the food has been exceptional.

But now we are leaving, with bags a little heavier from shopping and our wallets a little lighter from prices that can seem extreme.

And Venice is expensive. We remembered that from 24 years ago and it has not changed. But remember this is a truly unique place. For example, everything on the island is delivered by boat and then by handcart through the crowded alleys to shops and restaurants. That is an expensive process.

When we left, the hotel kindly arranged a luxury water taxi for our trip to Santa Lucia station – which was a fantastic way to say good bye. After arriving at the station we negotiated our way past the many porters offering to take our bags to the train for 20 Euro (about $NZ35 – no grazie) and we rolled out of Venice to our next stop – a week by the sea, on the Ligurian Coast.

An evening in Venice
Drinks at Cafe Florian
Piazza San Marco
Our favourite restaurant
From our hotel room
Gondolas near the Grand Canal
Crowds as far as the eye can see
Canals in Venice
A glimpse of Ponte Rialto
Lunch in Piazza San Marco
Jean loitering at the front of the hotel
On our trip to the train station
Ahhhh, Venice
Piazza San Marco from the water
Gondoli
Farewell Londra Palace
Negotiating the canals

Arriving in Venice

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After a 4 hour train trip from Rome, we arrived in Venice. The only train station I’m aware of with a canal running past its front. There to greet us was Alaria. She had organised a water taxi which took us and our bags through the canals of Venice, eventually reaching the Londra Palace. Our home for the next 4 days.

It’s a lovely hotel which has, in one guise or another, been receiving guests since 1857. It has both a bar and restaurant with terraces that look over the water.

If you are planning a trip to Venice then this could well be the relaxing retreat from the summer madness you are looking for.

Arriving at the hotel and our room with a view