Italy 2015

The Plan

They say planning your trip can be as rewarding as the trip itself. Well, maybe.

No, let's be serious. It's not even close, but it can help build the anticipation and that in itself is a good thing.

Our planning started last fall, when my sister-in-law, Pat, and brother-in-law, Peter,
joined us in Hawaii for a short vacation. Peter had only recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's. His doctor told he and his wife, "If you want to travel, do it now."

One evening, while sipping our Mai Tai's, we decided mutually that our next adventure would be Italy. We knew that Peter could not tolerate the rigorous demands of a tour group, so decided to plan our own trip, one with a more leisurely schedule. We would spend three weeks travelling to our must see places, a few days in Rome, Florence, Venice, and a little longer in Tuscany.

Tim and I would add a one week cruise leaving from Venice, after Pat and Peter returned home. Our itinerary would include two other places on my bucket list, Turkey and Croatia.

Upon reaching a decision on our destination, and the time of year we would travel, (late September, early October) I immediately began to plan for my personal survival, i.e. how to cope with hot flashes in a warm environment not likely to have air conditioning.

I have spent the past ten months on this endeavour. I volunteered to look for places to stay. (I had an ulterior motive, I wanted to be sure any place we stayed would at least have a fan, or even better, air-conditioning.)

First step: Accommodations: We decided to go with VRBO - Vacation Rentals By Owner, to keep our costs down. Turns out there are literally thousands of places to stay. The trick was to narrow our search to places with two bedrooms, an elevator or at least no stairs, a central location and of course, air-conditioning. So many choices, and a bit nerve racking when your decision is based on whatever pictures you can find posted online and as many reviews as are available to read.

We settled on:
In Rome: a two bedroom apartment, newly renovated with a lovely updated kitchen, two beautiful bathrooms, living room, small veranda, five minutes from the Metro, ten minutes from the Central Train  Station, and fifteen minutes from the Colosseum, and most importantly, air-conditioning.

In Tuscany, or Montaione to be exact (a small rural community one hour from Florence, Pisa, and Sienna, and thirty minutes from the coast,) a 17th century mansion, later turned into a post office and later still into twenty one separate apartments. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, multi layer decks, two pools, overlooking an organic vineyard. The pictures look stunning.

No air-conditioning, which I was initially worried about, but upon corresponding with our host I discovered the building has two foot stone walls which are great insulators, and is on a hill top where the breezes are lovely and cool. Also, he will provide me with a fan. (I took my own to London last summer but even with a convertor, I fried it within two minutes of plugging it in.) So I am hopeful I will survive.

In Venice, I found a beautiful two bedroom apartment on the Grand Canal, directly across from the Frari church, (a must see for any art lovers, according to the esteemed Rick Steves, travel correspondent extraordinaire,) With air-conditioning and an extra fan, just in case.

Second step: What to see?
We are spending 18 days in Italy. Seems like a long time, but really, there are so many amazing things to see, do, eat, and drink, you must limit yourself. Otherwise you will be so busy travelling place to place you will be too exhausted and overwhelmed to embrace this wonderful country with the verve it deserves.
Pick and choose, and come back.

We chose:

Rome: Four days: The Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, with free time to just wander and enjoy the city.
And eat pasta, drink wine, and probably eat some more pasta.

Montaione: We will spend ten days here, in our hopefully wonderful apartment. We will rent a car in Florence so that we can make day trips to the surrounding areas.

Florence: We will make two separate day trips as this is an easy 50 km commute from Montaione. Our visit will include the Accademia Museum, because of course we need to see David, the Ponte Vecchio, and whatever museums/ churches we wander into.

Cinque Terre:
On my bucket list for sure. We will take the train from out place in Montaione and stay overnight, spending one day each visiting two or three towns.
It is always a good idea to check which trails are open as flooding and slides often close many. We discovered that several trails will be closed when we are there but there are other options for getting to each of the five towns: by boat, or train.

Of note, apparently 4:30 pm is the 'bug witching hour' where swarms of some sort of insects attack unwary travellers. Bring bug repellent of some form.

This is true for most of Tuscany, at least in the fall, in both cities and towns.

Pisa: because we have to take that silly picture holding up the tower, right?

San Gimignano a small walled medieval hill town known for its many intact tower houses and also for its white wine Vernaccia di San Gimignano, made from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grapes.
Of course we will be sampling, I'm sure it's obligatory.

Siena: The historic centre of Siena has been declared a World Heritage Site and is one of Italy's most visited tourist attractions. I see more pasta and wine consumption heading our way.

Venice: We will spend three days here, wandering the streets and getting lost, part of the Venetian experience I'm told. Our visit will include a gondola trip, because it's Venice and we HAVE to, a visit to the series of islands known as Murano, known for its stunning hand made glass, a visit to Burano, known for it's lovely coloured houses and lace making, and hopefully a Vivaldi concert in a church somewhere.

Next post: Third Step, packing.