My travel itinerary for Europe

19 April 2007 at 4:56 pm · Filed under Italy

Thanks to those who have asked me to share with you my travel itinerary – at least I don’t have to rack my brain for things to tell you about (ha ha 🙂 ).

I leave Joburg on Saturday night 28 April and arrive in Israel on Sunday morning. My flight to Rome only leaves in the late afternoon so I have the day to spend in Tel Aviv with my sister, Tehilah, my aunt and uncle, and some cousins. This stopover will, of course, include a visit to the Azrieli Centre to do some shopping. No, I’m not such a kugel, but I really want to find some Naot shoes – the best health-type shoes – stylish yet oh-so comfortable. Over the past 3 years I have bought 2 pairs which I live in. And they still look great! Plus it’s always nice to check out overseas shopping centres. Because I’ve been saving up for this big trip, I haven’t been clothes shopping for months and months. Yes, I shall be wearing the SAME clothes in and out for the next 3 months. Not that it bothers me. After all, if I’m really sick of them, I’ll just buy some new Italian threads 🙂

OKay, back to the itinerary. Sheesh… Sunday night I arrive in Rome at Fiumicino Airport at the same time as Tal (what joy to find a ticket for him which matched mine tho he flies in from London). Lemme go one step back: Tal will be joining me for my first 2 weeks in Italy. How romantic hey! Ahhhhh….. (the sound of all you female readers). Yeah yeah… there’s a WHOLE other story still to be related through this blog – Meira and Tal: A Fairytale Romance. “Our hero and heroine, living half-way across the world from each other, are brought together by the hero’s sister in an epic tale of emails, tears, phone calls and presents. Finally they meet and love is in the air. Next: will they survive 2 weeks of intense travelling together? Stay tuned.”

Ummm…. back to the itinerary…. Let’s try make this brief for you 🙂

4 nights, 3-and-a-bit days in Rome. This includes a huge free 1st May (Primomaggio) concert in the main square (bonus!). We’ll be staying at a kosher B&B.
Thurs 3 May: Catch a charter flight down to Sicily. The train takes the whole day to travel down to Italy and it seemed a pity to spend so much time on travelling when we were only going to be 5 days in Sicily. Plus the charter flights are about the same price as the train, but take a fraction of the time.
3-8 May: See the east coast of Sicily – Taormina, Catania and Syracuse.
8 May: Catch a charter flight to Naples. Spend 6 days there, staying at Chabad of Napoli (they have a guest apartment). Visit Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi Coast…
13 May: Tal flies back to London. Boo hoo 😦

I’m not sure where I’ll be for the next 8 days, but I’ll probably return to Rome. Definitely from 22-24 May I’ll be in Rome because I want to spend Shavuot there.

Then I might go up to Florence for a few days.

Now we’re in the beginning of June. I have 3 weeks to see Tuscany, Venice, Bologna, Milan, Pisa, Cinquaterre, etc. This all depends on how far my money stretches. My friend, Ralph, told me about this cool organisation called Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF). It’s a world-wide organisation dedicated to helping those who would like to volunteer on organic farms. Sounds a lot like kibbutz. Anyway, since I’ll definitely not have enough money for the whole trip (yes, 3 months in Europe is a bit ambitious), I thought this is a great opportunity to meet people, not have to worry about money and food, plus experience a different aspect of Italy. Tuscany sounded like a good place to do some farm work, so I went to check out what was being offered in Italy.

And can you believe I found the perfect place?

“We are looking for people with idealism and lots of enthusiasm to help create a Jewish nature retreat and centre for alternative healing, music, spirituality. DIRA is located in Lunigiana (northern Tuscany) at 850 metres above sea level, far above the clouds. Accommodation is rustic. Tents are provided, bring sleeping bags. We provide lots of good kosher vegetarian food (mostly organic) and we all cook and eat together. We need people from June to September. Work for this summer will include: clearing, terracing, planting perennial herbs, gardening, and building.” Yeah baby yeah! Right up my alley! You can read more about the place here. The only thing which is giving me a slight twinge of concern is the sleeping-in-tents bit…. I probably haven’t done that since camp! And that was a good 13-14 years ago.

So I’ll be there for at least a week, and maybe more. Even before this, I may need to find somewhere else to work depending on my money situation.

In July I start moving north… to Paris. Got a hotel booked for a week (7-14 July). Then up to Antwerp to stay at my friend Nikki for a week. Then fly across to Israel for the last week of my trip. And finally back to the good ol’ Republic of SA on the 27th of July.

So there you have it – my general itinerary. I’d really love to hear from you regarding must-see places and things-to-do. Tips and advice on travelling. That sort of thing. Perhaps you have friends in Italy I could visit. It’s always cool to meet local people and have them show you around, do the non-touristy stuff and go off the beaten track.

Ciao!

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