Few points:

- The activities are looking good.  We’ve stuff planned from Sat through Th.

- The weather is still very hot with temperatures in the 90s during the day and 80s in the evening

- there is a LOT of food planned!   So bring your best appetite!

Soon you will receive an email update with our phone numbers.   As always let us know if you have any questions.

A great movies from the 80s with Michele Pfeiffer, Rutger Hauer, and a young Matthew Broderick.

I’d go as far as saying that is a MUST watch before you come!  The castle where it was shot is in my region and we’ll see it during our tour!

Note that D stands for “Sunday”.  In other words the Sunday schedule is a bit different.

So for the ones arriving on Sunday…just make sure that you get on the 2.30pm one (that also takes less time).

http://www.italyfromtheinside.com/

dolci tipici

I’d definitely get a rechargeable SIM card when you get to Italy.  It will be MUCH cheaper to call within Italy and to the US.  In order to be able to use a European SIM card with your US phone you will need to make sure that the phone is “unlocked”.   Based on our experience:

- If you have T-Mobile call them and tell them that you want to unlock the phone.  They usually without any issues.

- If you have ATT call and ask.  I don’t know what the latest is, they actually tended to not let you unlock a phone.

- if you’re o Verizon or Sprint you’re out of luck, since their phone don’t work in Europe.  If ATT does not let you unlock phone you will be in this bucket as well.

So what do you do if you don’t have T-Mobile.  The easiest thing (and still the cheapest) is to just get a phone when you get there.  Here’s a link to TIM:  http://www.tim.it/consumer/c365/i3368/ricercaprodotti.do?vism=true&idsm=-1&13389=13390&1686=1687

You can see that there are bunch of phone selling for 40euros.  This is still way cheaper than calling using your regular phone or using cards.

The alternative is that you buy an “unlocked GSM phone” on ebay or one of your friends can loan one.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!

The only note is that the plan includes a stop in Giulianova.  My friend is going because his grandparents were originally from there.  I’d not go…but he has a good reason.

——
7th morning – go to L’Aquila.
You’ll probably arrive there in 1.5hrs (depending on traffic).  Tour L’Aquila (there are a few landmarks).  Night in L’Aquila is not too great, so in the afternoon I’d head over toward Teramo (very close to Giulianova).   In the Teramo area there are some really good wineries.   Couple of good ones:  http://www.vinilepore.it/,  http://www.cerullispinozzi.it/.   There are others as well.  In the towns where the wineries are you’re likely to find some good local restaurants (ask the winery guys for local typical restaurants).    I’d sleep somewhere in Teramo and visit the city at night.

8th
Go to Giulianova in the morning.   You may want to hit the beach for a swim on the adriatic.  Although the better beaches are in the south of the region.  I’d hang out here in the morning, have lunch somewhere in town.

At this point I would head down to Pescara.  It’s much quicker using the highway.  You can also have lunch in Pescara and than head to visit some of the local wineries.  Some of the good ones:  http://www.cantinazaccagnini.it/, http://www.marramiero.it, and http://www.speranzavini.it/  (the first two are really good, the third is very close to the first).  You can have dinner around some of these small towns.  Ask the winery for advice for traditional food from Pescara.  At this point you could go back to Pescara for a stroll or head south close to Lanciano.  There are a few options here.  You can stay cheap at a nice hotel called “Lo Scudo” (disclaimer: it’s my uncle…but it’s a good quality for the price…not close to the beach) or you can stay at “Hotel Garden” right across their private beach .   They are both very affordable when compared to hotels in Rome/Florence/Venice.  I’d stay at the Garden (this is were all our guests are staying for our wedding)

9th
You can experience a traditional “vacation day”.   Hang out at the Hotel’s private beach.  This is a good place for a swim…it’s a “Blue Flag” area, which means that the EU says that the water (and beach) are great!   In the early afternoon head over to the “San Giovanni in Venere”.  It’s a beautiful monastery with a magnificent view.  From there head over to Lanciano and visit the downtown, the churches (including the miracle one) and Lanciano “Vecchia” – it’s a great stroll.  Have an “aperitivo” to any of the bars in the main street.   For dinner make a reservation at the restaurant “L’ Angolino” (http://cucina.wordpress.com/2007/06/30/review-langolo-da-filippo-italy/).   When you go there tell Carlo (the owner) that Max Ciccotosto says hi.  We have known each other for a long time!  Spend the night at the same hotel.

10th
Time to hit the road toward capri.  From here the fastest way would go toward south on the highway. Right after Vasto there will be a road that cuts across Italy toward Naples (it’s called SS650).  It will take about 2-2.5hr to get to the A1 (the highway on the west coast close to Naples).   Now…here you will be very close to Caserta – home of the magnificent Reggia di Caserta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggia_di_Caserta).  I’d definitely stop here for a few hours.

From here you will be less an hour from Naples (and thus Capri).  According to your schedule.

It’s a bit dense…but distances are very short.  You’ll get to experience wine, food, mountains, hills and the beach.  Abruzzo at its best!

http://www.myspace.com/sanvitoch

The page contains a few interesting videos.  One of them is a quick overview of the key sites!

• We locked about 25 rooms at the Hotel Garden (the one by the beach) 
• The checkin date is the 30th and checkout on the 6th.  You can arrive anytime in between and the weekly rate will be the same
• The rate is about 315euros/person/week and includes breakfast plus another meal (lunch or dinner)

There should be room for everybody so we should be good.  You just need to let us know the details of your arrival!

• Ceremony starts at 5pm.  Be on time!
• There is going to be a bus available!
• We are locking a great tour of Abruzzo
• HUGE BBQ on Sunday night…my parents are hosting it.  This is a meat fest! Yes…there will be something for the vegetarians…

If you have any questions about your plans…you know where to find us!