Have you seen the old man...

One of the most posh hotels I've ever stayed in, was the Hotel Arts in Barcelona. Uhm... actually - it was THE most post hotel I've ever stayed in. It really was exquisite. A perfect place to stay in such a very special city. If ever you want to witness the works of what I believe must  be one of the most non-conformist artists I can imagine (I would have to warn that I'm not the regular art-fundi though!), then Barcelona is the place to be. Gaudi's creations in the form of the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, and other abstract buildings, are astonishingly fascinating.

There was however one thing I failed to get to see in Barcelona. The real people. I remember my fascination with this man in a small park in Santiago, Chile. It's what I love doing. Watching the real people. And to see this, it's best you get out of the bigger cities, and out into the country. Some of our best times are when we go for the odd weekend to the Robertson wine valley. The local people there have the biggest hearts, and the biggest smiles. And they are always so very proud of their piece of heaven on earth.

So, where to go in Italy? Where to stay? It was a simple decision for me. As little as possible time spent in the cities. As much time as possible spent in the country. I want to see the Robertson of Italy. I want to stay in a guesthouse run by a true Italian family.

Rome and Venice are two musts though, and after initially considering staying on the outskirts of these two cities, and commuting in by train, we eventually settled for small hotels that were fairly inexpensive, but fairly close to the attractions. And we knew that we would want to be in these cities for at least 3 nights. The accommodation then:

Rome:   Hotelier Montecitorio - http://www.montecitorioroma.it/
Venice: Ca' Zora - http://www.ca-zora.it/

Sure, I know it's not exactly the Hotel Arts. But in Rome, we will be fairly close to Piazza di Spagna, and we actually plan to spend very little time at the hotel. ;o) And in Venice, we're also fairly centrally situated. Well - for the novice, at least. And I'm not about to start breaking the bank either.

That then takes care of the start and the end of the trip. So what about the bits in the middle?

Hmmm - in a week's time we will be on our way. I could either write a very long bit, revealing all the plans, or do it bit by bit. And judging by the number of e-mails in my Inbox, and the size of the To-Do list, I'll go for the latter.

Seven Days. :)