The only travel event that followed the last post was a LONG travel day with an extremely confusing and unnecessarily frustrating check in at the Rome airport. My recommendation for anyone going to Italy. Fly into Rome - no problem there, but I highly recommend flying out of another airport - perhaps Florence or Naples. Web check in sent me and many others to the wrong terminal, which is apparently routine, LONG and SLOW check in line, had to go through security twice and take numerous shuttle busses to end up (I think) at the same terminal where the web check in told us to go in the first place. Three hours in line ups. If you don't believe this, as I didn't while I was living it, check Trip Advisor.
- Napping on an airport floor sucks
- Seven hour layovers suck
- Jet lag sucks
But it was all worth it for the wonderful experiences I had in Italy.
Trip highlights:
- Travelling with Michelle, Sarah and Kelly. So much fun despite one or two tense moments.
- Dinner on the rooftop of our guesthouse in Rome.
- Hanging out in Cortona and Orvieto - I relearned that, while the history contained in the cities is important, it's not where I have my most memorable and enjoyable times.
- Wine tasting tour with Kelly outside Florence.
- The concert I happened across in Orvieto. I still can't believe I went to a concert of that calibre in such a small and historic venue for only 10 Euro.
- Wine tasting and the cooking class at Decguano die Barbi outside of Orvieto.
- Walking the Amalfi Coast. It was hard at times, but I feel like I saw and somewhat understand that part of the country much more because of the mode of travel and the knowledge the tour guide shared with us about the country and the culture.
- This isn't a typical highlight, but something memorable is certainly leaving some of Brian's ashes under the rose bush in Cortona, on the city wall in Orvieto and at the top of Tre Calli overlooking Positano.
What did I learn?
- Small group tours are worth checking out, especially when I don't know the language, and (although I haven't tested this yet), I expect more physically active tours are preferable to coach tours.
- I'm not yet very brave when it comes to using public transit.
- I overthink (sound familiar, Michelle?)
- I need to do much less shopping (do you see shopping on the highlight list?). Some of the stuff it seemed so important to buy when I was over there seems so unimportant now.
- Travelling alone doesn't suck - and it would be much better if I knew the language. This trip worked well - a couple of weeks with the kids, a week on my own and a week with a small group walking tour.
Now the challenge is - where to next? So many options.....
