This trip took place in October of 2017
We boarded a super fast train early on our fourth morning in Rome. I felt somewhat hesitant to leave as I felt I had only scratched the surface of what there was to take in Rome. But, there was more awaiting in another city and so we bid Rome farewell.
The train service people came around with their tiny little carts and offered us a snack bag along and asked if we might like some coffee. I said yes to the coffee and the Italian woman unstacked a tiny three ounce cup and pushed down once on the coffee dispenser then abruptly handed me the tiny cup and moved to the next person. They do coffee a wee bit differently than we do here in the U.S. I am assuming your suppose to sip it slowly, but as I don't dig bitter thick coffee but still wanted the caffeine lift, I just sucked it down like a shot glass. Boom, done. The train was clicking along over a hundred and fifty miles per hour and I was sitting alone in a single seat listening to my music and writing about the green rolling hills flying by and felt the caffeine shot kick in.
Florence was our second destination. We all went our separate ways again splitting by three houses. We drug our luggage through an outdoor market of Italian leather bags and jackets and scarves hanging up on their portable carts.
Our house here was bigger than the last one, and Chris and I were fortunate to get our own private room as the last place we had the loft. We didn't get the best view ( we didn't have a window that opened or we could see through) because we were the last to get back to the place before everyone else chose their rooms. They all had rooms with windows that opened to the top of the city, unfortunately for them the mosquitoes attacked them viciously in the night and they all ended up with a case of red itchy bumps the next morning. I guess that could have been us. So praise God for the last pick of rooms.
The first night we all walked a ways to a city overlook and watched the sun go down. All the other tourists had the same idea, so getting a spot with no other people in the pictures was not an easy feat.
We boarded a super fast train early on our fourth morning in Rome. I felt somewhat hesitant to leave as I felt I had only scratched the surface of what there was to take in Rome. But, there was more awaiting in another city and so we bid Rome farewell.
The train service people came around with their tiny little carts and offered us a snack bag along and asked if we might like some coffee. I said yes to the coffee and the Italian woman unstacked a tiny three ounce cup and pushed down once on the coffee dispenser then abruptly handed me the tiny cup and moved to the next person. They do coffee a wee bit differently than we do here in the U.S. I am assuming your suppose to sip it slowly, but as I don't dig bitter thick coffee but still wanted the caffeine lift, I just sucked it down like a shot glass. Boom, done. The train was clicking along over a hundred and fifty miles per hour and I was sitting alone in a single seat listening to my music and writing about the green rolling hills flying by and felt the caffeine shot kick in.
Florence was our second destination. We all went our separate ways again splitting by three houses. We drug our luggage through an outdoor market of Italian leather bags and jackets and scarves hanging up on their portable carts.
Our house here was bigger than the last one, and Chris and I were fortunate to get our own private room as the last place we had the loft. We didn't get the best view ( we didn't have a window that opened or we could see through) because we were the last to get back to the place before everyone else chose their rooms. They all had rooms with windows that opened to the top of the city, unfortunately for them the mosquitoes attacked them viciously in the night and they all ended up with a case of red itchy bumps the next morning. I guess that could have been us. So praise God for the last pick of rooms.
The first night we all walked a ways to a city overlook and watched the sun go down. All the other tourists had the same idea, so getting a spot with no other people in the pictures was not an easy feat.
Florence is a big art city. The Medici family long ago used their banker wealth to really foster the arts and pushed it to flourish. Here is where Michelangelo sculpted the David. Yes, the first male nude statue since long before when it use to be trendy. Michelangelo started the nude statue trend again. The next morning we went and saw this famous statue in all his white stone male attribute glory.
Chris and I walked around the rest of the morning and made it to our next tour which was the Uffizi Gallery. We saw a lot of different art painting trends here. I think it's safe to say the entire groups feet were in pain by the time we finished and we weren't seeing a lot more of the museum due to our body exhaustion. At some point, all the famous art begins to look alike and your mind starts to envision large soft benches next to the wall. Actually any type of chair or bench would be fine. We ended up resting on the floor against the wall. So. Much. Walking.
Chris and I had a goal to rent a moped. So after the museum we went in hunt of one. It wasn't real easy to locate a place, but we did, right across from a vintage shop. I took advantage of the shop while Chris rented the scooter. Chris has his motorcycle license so he was the driver. I held the map. We strapped on our little black helmets and away we went for an hour. Yes, the weird traffic made us slightly nervous and it doesn't help when you can't read the signs in your language. I guess we enjoy generating our own stressful stories so we can talk about them later. It was fun, and only because I wasn't driving.
The next day, we got up super early and walked to the bus station with the people in our house. We boarded separate buses and the entire tour we only saw the other people once, but we all went to the same places. We visited four little coastal towns called Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. There are five, but we only went to four of them. Unfortunately for us, the weather was a little damp. We invested in umbrellas right away. The rain flattened my big hair and I wasn't thrilled with that. The colors of the cities were beautiful even in the groggy wet weather. These fishing towns would be even better if I liked to eat fish. It's on my bucket list to learn to like fish.
The next morning we were at the train station again and heading for Venice. We had about seven hours or less to check out this city before we boarded the bus to the airport. It took us all way too long to find a bag babysitter drop, but we managed to find it. Chris and I went off together with the goal of getting a Gondola boat ride. We found a tasty bakery to eat at and then found a boat. The boat wasn't cheap but the memory was what we were buying. The sailor was dressed in a striped shirt and straw hat, just like the pictures show them. He gave us some history as we floated through the famous city on the water. Chris and I wandered through the tiny walkways of Venice for the next several hours looking at places the Web had suggested we see. We probably walked seven miles. We deserved to eat a Cannoli. So we ate one. Man these people know how to make good food.
Chris and I had a goal to rent a moped. So after the museum we went in hunt of one. It wasn't real easy to locate a place, but we did, right across from a vintage shop. I took advantage of the shop while Chris rented the scooter. Chris has his motorcycle license so he was the driver. I held the map. We strapped on our little black helmets and away we went for an hour. Yes, the weird traffic made us slightly nervous and it doesn't help when you can't read the signs in your language. I guess we enjoy generating our own stressful stories so we can talk about them later. It was fun, and only because I wasn't driving.
The next day, we got up super early and walked to the bus station with the people in our house. We boarded separate buses and the entire tour we only saw the other people once, but we all went to the same places. We visited four little coastal towns called Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. There are five, but we only went to four of them. Unfortunately for us, the weather was a little damp. We invested in umbrellas right away. The rain flattened my big hair and I wasn't thrilled with that. The colors of the cities were beautiful even in the groggy wet weather. These fishing towns would be even better if I liked to eat fish. It's on my bucket list to learn to like fish.
The next morning we were at the train station again and heading for Venice. We had about seven hours or less to check out this city before we boarded the bus to the airport. It took us all way too long to find a bag babysitter drop, but we managed to find it. Chris and I went off together with the goal of getting a Gondola boat ride. We found a tasty bakery to eat at and then found a boat. The boat wasn't cheap but the memory was what we were buying. The sailor was dressed in a striped shirt and straw hat, just like the pictures show them. He gave us some history as we floated through the famous city on the water. Chris and I wandered through the tiny walkways of Venice for the next several hours looking at places the Web had suggested we see. We probably walked seven miles. We deserved to eat a Cannoli. So we ate one. Man these people know how to make good food.
We all made it successfully to the airport and right on cue my bobby pinned hair sets me off to have an extra search done through the security. I still don't care. I need the pins in my hair and I know they won't find anything dangerous on me. I just accept it as the price I have to pay to have big hair.
The Easy Jets they have in Europe aren't that easy. They are real hagglers about how much extra baggage you're taking on the plane and the weight of your suitcase your checking has to be almost exact at 44 lbs. And it's kind of a big ordeal how you get on and off the planes. They don't pull right up to the funnel, you have to walk out to it on the tarmac or take a bus. Easy Jets? Blah.
Our destination was Berlin, Germany. And that will be in another post.
The Easy Jets they have in Europe aren't that easy. They are real hagglers about how much extra baggage you're taking on the plane and the weight of your suitcase your checking has to be almost exact at 44 lbs. And it's kind of a big ordeal how you get on and off the planes. They don't pull right up to the funnel, you have to walk out to it on the tarmac or take a bus. Easy Jets? Blah.
Our destination was Berlin, Germany. And that will be in another post.
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