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….
