Mrs. Merica and I went on this trip for our honeymoon in May 2018. I have been wanting to post a review of it for sometime and finally have a free weekend to work on it.

We left from New Orleans on American Airlines and connected in ORD and from there flew to Venice on a 787-8. Upon Arriving in Venice we immediately trained to Florence. the first place we stayed was in an Air BNB on the 6th floor of an apartment building and it had a rooftop terrace that overlooked the Duomo. The bedroom window also opened to the view of the Duomo.

View of the Duomo from the terrace

We ate dinner the first night at a hole in the wall local restaurant called Zio GiGi's. I highly recommend. I noted at the end of my journal entry for the day that as I was writing I had the window open and could clearly hear choir music coming from the Duomo. It was an awesome experience.

The next morning we woke up early and made use of the espresso machine and watched the sun rise from the terrace. we then headed to the 'Mercato Centrale' or Central Market. Outside, There were tons of merchants selling mostly leather goods. Inside, there were merchants selling Meats, produce, and fish. We bought 3 bottles of wine here for 10 pounds. The Top floor of the Central Market was a food court where we ate lunch. It was normal Italian Fare. Following lunch we headed to our bike tour that we scheduled through Air BNB experiences. we had to take a public bus up to the town of Fiesol. I would highly suggest heading up to Fiesol and spending a few hours in this town. it overlooks Florence (See Below) and only cost about 7 pounds to get to via public bus.

View of Florence from Fiesol

In Fiesol, we met our tour guide Giovanni. From here we headed a little further into hill country and began our bike tour. Most of it was down hill and we passed beautiful small villas, Vineyards, and small towns. I have lots of gopro footage from the tour. The ride went all the way down back into the Florence City Center. The total tour was about 10 miles long. All in all a great experience and was well worth the time and money. We ended the night with a bottle of wine on the terrace and dinner at another local restaurant "Queens".

The next morning we went on a winery tour that we had booked. It was the most touristy thing we did on this trip but not having a car, I figured it was the best way to see the Tuscan countryside. the tour went to 2 wineries and San Gimignano. The Wineries were pretty good, and the views from each were awesome. San Gimignano was was nice, although very touristy, and we tried their world famous gelatto while there.

Tuscany

San Gimignano

The next day we took a train from Florence to Rome. for the rest of that afternoon we went to St. Peters Square and ate dinner at Al Gardino Del Galto E La Volpe which was very good.

The Following day we went to The Colosseum and Roman Forum. We did an Air BNB experience for a guided tour of each. Our tour guide was a local and was very proud of his heritage. I recommend getting a tour guide here because you get much more of the history that we would have otherwise missed. That night we did the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel. We were able to do these at night because Friday night is the only time they are open at night. We enjoyed both.

Roman Forum

We then took a train from Rome to Salerno, where we began our tour of the Amalfi Coast.

So this part of our trip was by far our favorite and the part that we splurged on. we chartered a private sail boat for 3 nights. It was just the captain, stewardess, Mrs. Merica, and I. The first day we met our captain, Giuliano, and boarded the Alba Futura. The First day we sailed from Salerno to Capri. The entire cruise there, the views were breathtaking. Once to Capri we did some shopping on the island and had a few drinks at Marina Piccola or "Little Port". We moored in Capri that night and Giuliano cooked us dinner and served us homemade limoncello that his wife had made.

underway along the Amalfi Coast

Capri

Marina Piccola

Dinner view from the ship

The Next day we started by sailing to the other side of Capri to see the "Faraglioni" or 3 rocks of Capri. We then sailed from Capri to Positano to spend the day. Positano does not have a port so we had to get a taxi boat to bring us to shore. Positano was our favorite city along the Amalfi Coast. We walked around the city for a while and did some shopping and sight seeing. We then renta a "prima" spot on the beach with covered chairs. we swam and enjoyed the afternoon in the sun.

Faraglioni

Beautiful view on the approach to Positano

Boutique shop on Positano

Swimming on the Positano beach

We finished the day by sailing from Positano to Amalfi to moore for the night. We had a few drinks at a bar near the marina and headed back to the boat to have dinner. Giuliano made eggplant Parmesan with homemade pasta and it was fantastic.

entering the port at Amalfi

The Next day, Giuliano highly suggested that we take a bus up to the town of Ravello. He gave us great instructions to get there. We took an open air bus up to the top of the mountain which offered awesome views the whole way up. Ravello is a small town with a beautiful church in the middle of town square. In Ravello is the famous Villa Rufolo where emperors of past had vacationed.

Church in Ravello

View from Villa Rufolo

View of Villa Rufolo courtyard

We returned to the boat to head back to Salerno. Giuliano anchored out for us for awhile so that we could swim in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

anchored for a swim

Giuliano waving from the Alba Futura

Mrs. Merica enjoying the view

Following our swim we sailed back to Salerno and moored there for the night. We stayed up late and had a few drinks and cigars with Giuliano and chatted about many things. He was very knowledgeable about American Politics and a very smart man overall. He had decided several years back to quit his job and follow his dream of owning his own sailboat and doing charters up and down his beloved Amalfi Coast.

Giuliano

This post was edited on 1/18/20 at 2:55 pm