Hotel Blumentag Paola

If you want a little extras during your vacations in Italy, you surely have to choose the right hotels. I’ve been a travel writer for many years, since I visited Las Vegas in 1998. I was so overwhelmed with this experience that I decided to travel the world in search for the best hotels.
Italy has no big hotels such as New York New York or Bellagio ...

... a road meant for people who have motion sickness which luckily neither of us do. It reminded me a lot of the roads in Kelowna, except here the roads are much narrower and they have guard rails. Staying in Carpineta was a nice relaxing week, but we were excited to move on to Rome. We said goodbye to the animals and Susan and took our chances on the train in hopes of getting to Rome without any problems.

... ground. We clocked 103 km that day, despite a slow, hilly road until lunch. We camped in a field (again, sheltered by ruins, although not so old) with the blessing of the aging couple that we hoeing the crops. Didn't realize until morning that we were across the road from a federal penitentiary. Had a great stay though, and this morning I repaired my badly blown out tire sidewall. Ahh...duct tape. Where would the world be without you?

... extreme and the whole region pretty much lives in fear on the 'ndranghetti', the Calabrian mafia which is extremely active. We probably even saw an example on the train where one guy got on with suitcases, got off an hour later leaving the suitcases on the train, then another guy got on to look after them... dodgy! About 10% of all the buildings are unfinished concrete frames. I don't know what the deal is there but some families seemed to be squatting in them anyway.

... love/hate relationship with Italy. It is such a beautiful country and has some of the finest ruins, art and scenery in the world-not to mention the wine and food. But I feel the Italians have a very cavalier attitude toward the things they possess. There is virtually no movement to protect some of the precious antiquities this country has and I am appalled at how little they seem to value their art treasures. Then, of course, there is this ...

... had some wonderful pasta with lobster and several "gifts" from the chef that I did not recognize, but were delicious. Then I boarded a local bus to Amalfi-around hairpin curves, hugging rugged cliffs, to see some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen. The towns are poised on cliffs; the sea is a crystalline blue; and the sky is a glorious blue. I drove ...

... lot merrier than it would normally have been. We stopped into the hotel to let the desk clerk know that we would like to check out at the unheard of hour of 2pm the next day ("Two?" "In the afternoon?" "Okaaaay. Sure.") and went out to the bar behind our hotel to get cappuccinos. The very cool bartender (who we refer to as "Amantea Tony," because we're not quite sure what his name actually was) spoke a bit of English, but preferred speaking Italian very ...

... amusing. Ridiculously amusing. We can't quite walk a straight path to the hotel. We must have been quite a sight. It seems the World Cup is tonight and the town is abuzz with activity. We go to the bar for a cappuccino (because we NEED to be more hyper) then back to our hotel where we convince the desk clerk to allow us to check out between 2 and 3 the following afternoon so that we can go to the beach tomorrow. Good boy.

... usual puzzled looks as I flew past. Then followed the busy coast road into the port town, Patra. I made my way to the ferry port and booked myself on a 17.30 sailing. When I was told the name of the boat, my heart sank as I was the one had previously noted as being the biggest rust bucket in port. It cost 41 Euro for a 15 hour crossing. An hour to spare I checked email and carried out necessary jobs until time to go ...

More black sand!!! It was a great drive from Sorrento to Amalfi... scenic cliffs that met turqoise blue water that was completely transparent. The ocean is dotted with sailboats and fishing boats. Between the cliffs are beaches full of people. This area is prime for growing lemons ...