The New York trip has been a memory for quite a while - Colm and I have done plenty of travel, mostly back and forth between Dublin and Munich, although he’s gotten as far afield as San Diego. And now it’s time to start planning the next big adventure :)
We’re planning a trip through Italy, topped off with a Biggish Train Adventure (I refuse to call it a Great Train Adventure however - I have one of those planned, and it’s truly a behemoth. Ask me if you’re curious). Colm’s gotten the time off work, which makes the dates relatively set at this point, and we’ll start booking stuff Real Soon Now.
Those of you who’ve noticed the new theme for the blog may (not?) be surprised to hear that it’s actually done by the same guy who did last year’s theme :) I was quite impressed anyway - it wasn’t intentional, and in fact, I only noticed after I’d installed the theme! Consistency in a world gone mad, huh? :D
So far, the itinerary is almost two weeks long, whirling up through Italy from Naples, finishing with a sleeper-train from Rome to Paris, and then the Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel to London, before a much less exciting flight home.
On our list for Italy are Naples, Pompeii, Pisa, Florence, Venice and Rome. The inital research is well underway - we’ve chosen accommodation for all the Italian stops, but have yet to book it. The only hiccup is, that we’ll have two or three nights in Paris at the end of it all, and have thus far been unable to find somewhere nice - mainly due to not really knowing Paris - so if you have any suggestions on a place to stay there, we’d be most grateful!
Look out for more life in this blog, coming soon :)
In Naples you should try and see Herculaneum as well as Pompeii. There is usually some sort of offer for double tickets. It’ll complete the experience for you. If you are going in the height of summer bring a large water bottle with you to the sites to refill from fountains, it’s not easy to find water once inside, herculaneum has a much smaller geographical area and you will be able to see all of it, whereas with Pompeii you will have to pick and choose which areas you see.
Also I got to go up Vesuvius once which was very impressive indeed. I’m not sure how jmuch fun it would be in the summer though but I know you can get guides to drive you to the bottom from the ercolano train station.
In Rome, if you’ve been bitten by the archaeology bug, try and get to Ostia Antica. It’s also very impressive, will be practically deserted compared to Pompeii and was actually important in ancient times.
Oh dear I have actually far too much advice to give here and probably should just shut up and let ye enjoy your holiday. If you do want any ideas or anything, drop me a line and I’ll give you my thoughts on the subject. I’ve been to all the places except Venice so I’ll be no help in that department.
Comment by mary — May 15, 2006 @ 1:16 pm