Navigating With Bob & Ed in Southern Italy (1 of 3)

It was my seventh sojourn into Italy and my sixteenth into various venues of southern Europe, but this trip was conceived with a different set of objectives. The first was to fill in some of the glaring voids in my trip planning resume – I had never been south of the Amalfi coast and there was a clear need to expand my personal experience.

And then there was the guy thing. The biggest planning challenge was convincing our charming brides that they really did not want to spend their time exploring small fishing villages in Sicily or Puglia. Plus, two guys can share the expenses, travel off-season, and not have to be too discerning about the plumbing. It seemed to make good sense to the two Susans, and so we were off.

Picking the perfect travel partner is a critical part of good trip planning. Ed is a good friend of twenty years and shares my love of Italia. They had lived in Milan for two years and he speaks the language well, loves to drive fast, and lives to find interesting villages on isolated country roads. What more could you ask? And, he had just retired from a stressful career and needed some time to try and forget those #@&*+$@ former colleagues.

It was a perfect match, so we left my Susan to further validate her role as the reigning Queen of Amelia Island and EdÂ’s Susan to help the builder make crucial decisions on the building of their wonderful new home on Hilton Head. It just all seemed right.

The Itinerary
We were only able to sell a two week itinerary and set our budget at less than $5000. The lira exchange rate at more than 2000 to 1 was a major asset and we were able to find an excellent airfare on USAIR from Philly to Rome – we arrived on 22 March and headed south.

Gaeta – 2 Nights (Gajeta Hotel) four hour drive from Puglia to coast north of Naples

All of the hotels were three star accommodations with the exception of the Villa Cheta Elite. We only had reservations at three destinations (Positano, Taormina, Lecce), but were able to find adequate digs in the more remote locations easily and at truly off-season rates.

Overall, we averaged less than $90/nite for a double room in spite of the “boutique” hotels we booked in the more popular resort locations. But, it was off-season and we did negotiate. We managed to stay on schedule and under budget for the entire trip, and only got lost one time. Naturally, I blamed that on Ed since I was driving at the time and have a reputation to maintain. The car was a Mercedes A-class city car from Auto Europe at a 30% discount.

Please do not ask me where we ate. After all, this is Italy and you have to try real hard not to find a good meal. Our eating strategy was really quite simple. You merely ask the locals where is the best trattoria serving local specialties and leave it to them. I never really understood planning an itinerary from one Michelin rated ristorante to the next.

We were able to eat well for about $25/day/person and managed to drink fifteen diverse brands of beer from Italy, Germany, Belgium, and Austria and our share of the local vino. Of course, we had our favorite gelato at least once per day as it is a national treasure and should be required daily. Gelato, cappuccino, vino, pasta, Moretti – ahhh, life was good.

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