Best European tourist punchline ever!

Tuesday was a day with lots of walking.  We started by looking for a yarn shoppe that Jenae found on the internet, but after wandering for 30 minutes, we gave up and headed back to our neighborhood, and then we happened to stumble upon it.  Next we went to the Telecom Mobile Italia store so I could but a SIM card for the iPad for Internet connectivity throughout Italy.

Then on to Santa Maria Novella, a historical pharmacia where traditional cosmetics, scents, and other potions are formulated, where Jenae found something that smelled pretty.  Then the rain returned, so we went to the indoor Mercado Centrale, to wander among the vendor stands and lunch booths:

For lunch, we returned to place we visited 2 years ago, which is now 104 years old, and we had a light lunch, followed by a brief nap at the hotel to compensate for a jet lagged induced 2:30 wake up during last night's sleep.

Then we continued walking, and caught this charming scene, not unusual in Italy, of a little girl singing while riding along with her Papi on the bicycle:

 And we trudged onward and uphill to San Minato al Monte, a monastery overlooking Florence, took some photos and listened to Gregorian chants by the monks:

That was quite a walk, and as the sun set, we strolled back towards the hotel, stopping at a couple of wine bars.  At the second one, we met a nice couple from Norway, and we discussed Italy, travel, barbecue, and cold weather.  During that conversation, the waiter came over and inquired if they were done with their dinner plates.  Without missing a beat, our new friend, Tommy Johansen, replied "No, I'm not Finnish, I'm Norwegian!".

We continued back to the hotel to get ready for dinner, with a phot of the river and some artsy thing on the side of a hotel:

Now it is midnight in Italy, 6 pm on the US east coast, and 5 pm in Austin.  Good night, friends.

Italy 2013 planning

Some of you might remember that Jenae and I went to Italy this same time of year two years ago.  Almost as soon as we arrived in Venice back then, we knew we wanted to return, so we started planning this trip early this year.  I watched airline prices for a few weeks, then bought the tickets in April.  In May and June we developed the itinerary, and then in June, we started making selections for lodging, based on price, internet reviews, and personal tastes.

We decided to focus on central Italy, mainly Tuscany and some of Umbria, since we so enjoyed Florence in 2011.  Another thing that is different this time is that we'll be renting a car when we leave Florence, to better get around Tuscany.  I prefer not to have to deal with a car on vacation, but it does allow much more flexibility and independence for this kind of vacation.  Jenae at first favored basing ourselves in one or two locations and branching out, but I argued in favor of more locations, for two reasons:

1) more morning and evening time in different places, because that is often very different than typical mid-day vacation experiences, and

2) allows more wine enjoyment without the worry of driving back to a home base after dinner with wine.

The itinerary that we eventually came up with is:

3 nights at a hotel 2 blocks from the Duomo in Florence

2 nights at a hotel in Lucca

1 night at a hotel in Volterra

3 nights at a Bed & Breakfast in Sienna

2 nights at a castle in Perugia

1 night at a Bed & Breakfast in Orvieto

The final night at a beachside hotel in Fregenne, not far from the Rome airport

Finally, as the time neared, I notified our two banks which serve our ATMs that we would be traveling, same for our Capitol One credit card (no foreign transaction fees), so that those should work while we're here.  We also bought some Euros (Italian currency) from one of Jenae's friends for the current exchange rate, saving some money in transaction  and ATM fees.  Traveler's checks are not nearly as popular or acceptable as they used to be, so these steps allow us to use credit cards and ATMs instead, which worked out very well for us back in 2011.

Day 1 report of 2013 Italy trip

My first blog entry for this trip.  We're now sitting on the high speed train in Rome, awaiting departure in a few minutes.  Right now it is a few minutes before noon, local time, and 5 am in Austin.  We'll arrive in florence in 90 minutes, and that will complete 19.5 hours of travel, via 2 planes and 2 trains, although that travel time includes almost 4 hours in Chicago between flights, and about 30 minutes waiting for trains here in Italy.

Everything has gone very smoothly, and although we slept a little on the flight, we're tired but we'll probably feel energized once we get to our hotel in florence and get freshened up.  There's rain in the forecast for Florence and there's also a very big bicycle road race event going on there today, so it should be interesting once we start strolling the cobblestone streets.  We'll likely start by seeking out a nearby enoteca, which is a wine bar where you can also get tasty snack food to go with wine, such as charcuterie, cheeses, bread, etc.  We've left today unscripted, knowing that we would be tired, and uncertain of actual arrival times, due to possible delays, getting lost, etc, but none of that happened, so that leaves more time for resting, strolling, and wine swilling.

(Now writing again later in the evening, before going to bed.)

The hotel in Florence was only about a 10 minute walk from the train station, but we we're pulling along a 22" carryon suitcase and carrying an umbrella in a pretty good rainfall.  We checked in at 2 pm and they gave us a free upgrade, so we have a comfortable a spacious room on the second floor overlooking a small courtyard.  The bed seems gigantic and is very comfortable.

We got freshened up after the journey and started out in search of wine and light food, and found a nice little place where shared a charcuterie and cheese plate.  That was also fun because at a nearby table was a group of old Italian men watching the bicycle races with a group of young German men, apparently here for the race.  Their lively conversation and attempts to communicate were fun and refreshing.

Then the sun came out, so we walked around some more, finally going back to the hotel for their happy hour, where we met other travelers staying here, several from the US.  Finally, to finish the day, we went out at 8pm for gelato, and at the gelateria we met an art professor from Toronto, along with a pretty student also from Toronto, with whom we shared a table and nice conversation.

I'll close with this picture of th inside of the elevator in our hotel.  Look closely and you'll see a button for "-1".