posted 02-03-2005 11:56               

THANKS!!

posted 02-03-2005 19:33               

After Assisi, we spend a week at Carpe Dia Roma. We used the car to get to the subway station closest to us, parked it for the day and took the subway into Rome. We also took the train to Sorrento and spent two nights there. On the way to Sorrento, we stopped at Pompii. We took the public bus down the Amalfi coast--cheap and no different from a tour bus. There's only one road, and there really isn't much to say about it; it's just one magnificient vista after another.

We drove to Venice and spent three days there; we stayed on the Lido because we could park the car there for nothing and use the car to get to the airport. Our hotel (La Merediana, or something very close to that name) was great. Quiet location, easy walk to catch the morning vaporetto to the main island. The hotel included breakfast (which included meat--a true rarity in Italy) in the rate, and it was inexpensive for a very nice room.

We booked several hotels with www.venere.com The site is easy to use and includes ratings. We needed to change accomodations while we were there and accomplished it easily from an internet cafe. If you indicate that you're interested, when you inquire about one hotel, others will send you bids also.

Altogether, that trip was definitely one of our most memorable.

posted 02-04-2005 09:59               

I would then spend some time in Tuscany/Umbria since that is the direction you are heading. The Chianti region is magnificent and the hill towns are facinating. You should definitely make time for Siena and Assissi (not close to one another) Other great visits are San Gimangano, Orvieto. Perugia.

You should also try to spend several days in Florence. Again, a week would not be too long but you don't have the time and you can see the city in less.

As you head to Venice, you can stop in Milan(I have not been there) or Bologna (where they say the best food is).

As to Venice-haven't been there in 30 years but will be on March 18. Please let me know.

posted 02-04-2005 21:00               

2 weeks was not enough. 3 weeks will be much better. We rented a car after our stay in Venice. We stayed in a hotel just outside Florence and took the train in. We also stayed at Carpediem Roma and took the train into Rome. It was nice having a car.

posted 02-04-2005 22:33               

Because of the type of volcanic ash, most of the building were preserved intact and they have uncovered a part of the ancient city with intact 2-story buildings including the original furnishings. You will be able to walk down the orig cobbled streets just as someone did in 79AD and look into the same buildings as did someone living there. There is a totally whole presevered bath and its awesome.

I have been to both Herculanium and Pompeii and if you, like me, like seeing, not just imagining at Pompeii, you will truly have a great experience. The site is small and can be done under 2 hours and, IMHO, put the time aside to do it and you won't regret it.

You can then, get on the train, and continue on to Pompeii. When there make sure you see the "Villa of the Brothers" and make sure you ask to see the "special Room" which is only shown if you request it.

Dave

posted 02-05-2005 09:08               

In addition to being a famous Benedictine abbey, its strategic location led it to being the site of fierce fighting during the Italian Campaign in WW II. Brief history of the battles

Has anyone been there?

posted 02-05-2005 13:12               

I also noticed the recognition of the Polish Corps during the D-Day commemoration ceremonies at Arromanches in Normandy last June 6.

posted 02-05-2005 15:54               

quote:

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Originally posted by MikeS:
Indeed, the original monastery of Monte Cassino, founded by St. Benedict in 529, was well known for centuries for its unique focus on combining intellectual studies with manual labour. Over its long history the original abbey has been destroyed several times, the last being in May 1944 when it served as one of key German strongholds blocking approaches to Rome. It was the Polish Corps, fighting as part of the British Army against fierce SS resistance, that suffered the highest casualties. If you visit a large World War II cemetery at the foot of the main access road you cannot but notice a very large proportion of Polish or other Slavic names.
There is a long and complex history behind all of this but, very briefly, the Polish Corp that fought in Italy included units formed from Polish citizens who, in Sept. 1939, managed to escape from Poland to Britain ( my uncle was one of them ), but also from Polish Army soldiers taken prisoners by the Soviet Red army when the Reds, in alliance with Hitler's Nazis, attacked Poland in Sept. 1939. While many thousands did not survive Soviet POW camps, others were sent to work in the Soviet factories in the Urals only to be eventually released in 1943 from Soviet captivity and allowed to join the British in what was then British Palestine. Those fit to fight again were incorporated into the Polish Corp and many of them eventualy found their ultimate fate at Monte Cassino.

MikeS

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posted 02-05-2005 17:58               

quote:

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Originally posted by Carolinian:
What did they do for officers, since the Soviets massacred most of the Polish officers at the infamous Katyn Forest?

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I imagine they had their own Audie Murphy equivalents who could step into the breach.

posted 02-05-2005 19:42            

The Starostecki's article about the battle of Monte Cassino is very useful as it indeed provides a more detailed historical overview of the Polish Corp and their role in the Italian campaign. There are many other historical references about Monte Cassino published in Polish but I have never attempted to ascertain what exactly is accessible on the Internet.
For the sake of historical accuracy only, it should be noted that the Soviet Red army crossed the Polish border on Sept. 17, 1939 in accordance with the secret Protocol of the Soviet-German Pact signed on August 23, 1939. Soviet state propaganda attempted to justify the invasion by claiming that, in the light of disintegration of the Polish state, over 6 million Ukrainians and Belorussians living within Poland needed "protection" from their Soviet "blood brothers". Within less than two months that "protection" turned into mass arrests paving the way for a fraudulent referendum under KGB supervision with millions "pleading" with the Stalin Politbureau to approve a permanent accession of Poland's prewar eastern territories to the Soviet Union. That "request" was, of course, quickly granted and full scale "Sovietization" of the population became the order of the day.
Reliable Polish sources have estimated the number of Polish soldiers captured by the Red army in Sept. 1939 at a little over 200,000. How many have managed to survive Soviet captivity is unknown. As the Nazi armies penetrated deep into the Soviet territories some of these people died in POW camps, while others were mobilized into auxiliary Red army units and sent to fight on the Eastern front. Others were released at the British request and joined Gen. Anders Polish Corps to fight in the Italian campaign. What is well known is that out of over 10,000 Polish army officers taken in Sept. 1939 to prison camps in Western Russia over 4,000 were found dead in mass graves in the Katyn forest near Smolensk. This crime, long denied by all Soviet leaders, has been finally acknowledged during Yeltsin's term as Russia's president. Other mass graves, dating back to 1940's and 1950's, found in other locations in the former Soviet Union, mainly in Ukraine, included many civilians whose identities remain secret together with many other Soviet state secrets locked up in Putin's Kremlin. It's impossible to predict if the whole truth will ever be known.

posted 02-07-2005 08:33               

quote:

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Originally posted by Daverock:
I would like to make one suggestion that I think you MUST consider. Near Pompeii is a town called Herculanium. It is under the city named after it and was buried at the same time as Pompeii. The modern city was built not knowing the ancient city was underneath it and was only discovered after some farmer was trying to drill a well and came up with antiques.

Because of the type of volcanic ash, most of the building were preserved intact and they have uncovered a part of the ancient city with intact 2-story buildings including the original furnishings. You will be able to walk down the orig cobbled streets just as someone did in 79AD and look into the same buildings as did someone living there. There is a totally whole presevered bath and its awesome.

I have been to both Herculanium and Pompeii and if you, like me, like seeing, not just imagining at Pompeii, you will truly have a great experience. The site is small and can be done under 2 hours and, IMHO, put the time aside to do it and you won't regret it.

You can then, get on the train, and continue on to Pompeii. When there make sure you see the "Villa of the Brothers" and make sure you ask to see the "special Room" which is only shown if you request it.

Dave

[This message has been edited by Daverock (edited 02-04-2005).]

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posted 02-07-2005 08:38               

quote:

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Originally posted by 225chs:
First- I highle recommend you spend more than a few days in Rome. I spend a week a year there and keep finding new places. Email and I'll recommend places depending on how long you have. I also have the name of a guide for half day tours if interested

I would then spend some time in Tuscany/Umbria since that is the direction you are heading. The Chianti region is magnificent and the hill towns are facinating. You should definitely make time for Siena and Assissi (not close to one another) Other great visits are San Gimangano, Orvieto. Perugia.

You should also try to spend several days in Florence. Again, a week would not be too long but you don't have the time and you can see the city in less.

As you head to Venice, you can stop in Milan(I have not been there) or Bologna (where they say the best food is).

As to Venice-haven't been there in 30 years but will be on March 18. Please let me know.

Arnold

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posted 02-09-2005 14:11               

If you think you might want to go there I will send you the info on where we stayed.

posted 02-09-2005 15:15               

quote:

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Originally posted by Dunk:
No one has mentioned the Cinque Terre. For me this was the best part of my trip. I was able to truly relax without having to rush from one sight seeing venue to another....just sit over lunch with a bottle of wine for a few hours and watch the boats go by...ahhh I wish I was there now. http://homepage.sunrise.ch/homepage/avong/cinque_terre/

If you think you might want to go there I will send you the info on where we stayed.

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