We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
Rome at 6am
Rome at 6am
Rome was quiet at 6am!
Our driver picked us up at 6:30AM and took us to the airport for a 9:30AM flight. It was sad to say goodbye to Italy (so sad I almost cried!) 
Continue reading
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
We woke up in our palatial room and packed up our bags (entirely too soon, we thought!) 
We grabbed breakfast at our hotel in a ballroom (!) then checked out and left our bags at the hotel and set out to do a little site seeing before our fast train back to Rome.
We set out for the Duomo, but got distracted by a fancy candy and sandwich shop called Gilli, so we went in and had a cannoli and espresso (today is the last day to eat sweets before noon, so we’d better make it count!)
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
What a day! It started around 6:15 when we got up, got our innkeeper out of bed at 7:25 (yes, we had told them we needed an early check out, but it apparently didn’t take). After refusing multiple offers of more breakfast, we hiked back up to our car and headed out to Florence. We were on a tight timeline and were already 20 minutes late! By the time we dropped the car off in Florence (after putting 3/4 of a tank of diesel in for 70 euros!) We were 45 minutes behind schedule to get to our reservation at the Accademia Gallery to see the David.
We grabbed our bags, hustled to our hotel, Palazzo Guadagni, to drop them off (got all the way through the check-in process with an old guy who was very slow and couldn’t really speak English) raced across town, ended up getting to the museum 15 minutes late, only to find the most disorganized, lackadaisical non-system ever! By now, we should’ve known… we’re in Italy after all! We waited in line to pick up our actual tickets, and then in another line to get in, all while almost an hour past our reservation.
Finally we got in and went straight to the David—just as amazing as pictures make his seem, and BIG! They have this cool fiber optics system that is monitoring all the cracks and measuring strain, especial in his right leg. After that, we breezed through the medieval wall panels and sculptures hall. 
Continue reading
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
Hello from rainy Cinque Terre!
Awoke to more thunderstorms this AM… snuggled up on the couch for some freshly delivered croissants and focaccia (and a loaf of unsalted bread, which we’ve learned not to eat!) I found some nutella, read my book, and tried not to be too disappointed by the rain on my only full day in Cinque Terre! Around 10 it started clearing off so we hopped on the train to Corniglia (successfully this time!). Continue reading
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
The sun was finally out in Tuscany, so of course, we left!
The day started out rainy, though, of course. So rainy that there was thunder so loud it sent me running back to bed and hiding under the covers! Needless to say, Charlie, the house dog, didn’t like it much either.
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
We took the morning off! Kirk got us breakfast in bed, and is downstairs now, braving the cold to do a couple of laps in the pool. I am keeping warm and snuggly in my bed, writing and reading.
I took a (very muddy!) hike through the countryside behind the villa, and then we got our day started.
Around noon, we headed for Cortona, a walled city that is very well preserved and is about 30 minutes away from our hotel. 
Continue reading
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
Today, we did a backroads tour of Tuscany (which literally meant we drove down a ton of back roads!) Our guide, Max, picked us up after breakfast at the villa.
A herd of Tuscan sheep (and a sheep dog!)
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
Update on dinner last night—it was amazing! It was buffet style with all sorts of rustic Tuscan fare—the highlight was pasta with gorgonzola and speck. We also had quiches, crostini, fried chicken with lemon, sautéed spinach and lots of great wine! There were several talkative Brits and a huge Great Dane that the house dogs, Charlie and Lucy, weren’t too thrilled about. All in all, it was a great, homey evening.
This morning we were greeted with a great breakfast downstairs—yogurt, granola, pastries and a delicious lemon olive oil cake straight from the oven.
We set off for Giulia’s house after breakfast for a lesson in cooking a traditional Tuscan meal. Our GPS got us lost a few times getting out of town (what’s new?), but soon enough we were on our way.
We just got back from a eleven day trip to Italy. I’ll be posting my travel journal entry, along with photos from each day.
We go up and had breakfast at the hotel—our last one there for a while! After breakfast, and a little time at our window overlooking the piazza, we packed up our room and grabbed a taxi at the taxi stand next to the Pantheon, and headed to the train station.
We bought our fast train tickets at the kiosk, and headed to our train. Imagine our surprise to see we were seated 3 cars apart! No harm done though, and after initial concerns that Kirk was going to fall asleep and miss our stop, we all proved to be responsible adults and met back up in Florence.
Once in Florence, we walked to our car rental company (after a few wrong turns). Once we got our car, things got interesting! The key was actually a card you stuck into the dash, and reverse was this little ring you pulled up on on the gear stick. Then it started raining, and our GPS started giving us directions in German.
Kirk kept his cool, and after a left-turn through a (small, unpopulated) traffic circle, and me completely giving up on the map, we took our toll ticket and were on the A1, headed towards Villa Fontelunga.
After about an hour on the highway, we took our exit, and as we got further away from the freeway, we could feel our stress melting away. We travelled through tiny villages (some twice after our GPS got us lost!) and finally made our way to Villa Fontelunga. It was worth the trip!
oneyearincali 