Family Trip

MARILYN & BOB READER

The Reader Family Trip to Italy

Thank you very much!!!

The trip was wonderful. Every city was different and interesting, and having the cities interspersed with the two "vacation spots" worked out very well. This gave us a chance to "rest up" between cities, although we really were on the go in Rapallo and Positano. The food everywhere was terrific, although we did not get to eat in too many of the restaurants you recommended.

The train connections were good and the trains were almost always on time and efficient. All museum reservations went very smoothly.

Specific comments about each city and some suggestions to help you in planning other trips for customers:

Rome: Hotel Dei Consoli -- the staff was very hospitable -- very nice service.

Guide: Mr. Mauro Girella - Excellent. He is very knowledgeable, and has a great personality. We had a great day with him.

Positano:Buca di Bacco Hotel- Excellent- Large rooms with beautiful view of the Mediterranean, very warm and accommodating staff. Great location. Very nice beach.

Guide and trip to Pompeii: -- Excellent.He came with a driver and began the tour in the car, as we drove to Pompeii.

We went to Ravello which was beautiful and a terrific day -- great suggestion to eat at Cumpa Cosima. The food was very good and the "family" made you feel like you were old friends. We found a wonderful shop to buy cameos -- Camo. Mr. Camo carves the cameos himself. Also has coral sculptures he carved and other jewelry to sell.

Florence: Restaurant Cibreo -- terrific experience. Especially for an adventurous eater who will try Tuscan dishes such as tripe and calve's hoof. Even for those of us who are more timid, every dish was wonderfully prepared. Great, attentive service.

Rapallo: Excelsior Palace Hotel -- very nice and luxurious. Cinque Terra was very nice but not as beautiful as the Amalfi coast area. We did take a local train there and then the ferry to Monterosso. Then walked back one town. Not much time to do anything else that day.

Venice: Hotel Saturnia & International -- very good. Nice room. Staff very helpful and accommodating.

Guide: Night tour and Jewish Ghetto. She was excellent. Very knowledgeable about everything and she included much more than just the Jewish Ghetto on our morning tour.

Dinner at Cipriani: Though not at all what we expected, it was wonderful. It was unique having the whole restaurant to ourselves. The food was great, and having our own private wait staff is something we will likely never experience again. Torcello was certainly isolated, and felt quite deserted to us. We felt like we were the only people left on the island when it came time to take the ferry back to Venice.

Again, it was a wonderful trip and gave us many lifetime memories. Italy is a wonderful country and I am sure we will be returning in the future to see more of it.

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