Umbria & Tuscany

We left Rome this morning. There was so much there to see and do and we had a great time but today we head for Tuscany by driving through Umbria. I am looking forward to our time in this area – it will be our first visit here. The last time we visited Italy we only drove through Tuscany, we didn’t make any stops. This time we get to spend four days in the area and it all started this morning.

Umbria View

We were up at 6:00am and we had our bags out in the hall at 7:00am. We then went down to breakfast for eggs, bacon, croissants, orange juice and coffee. We boarded the bus around 8:00am and headed out. The route we were taking to Tuscany brought us through Umbria and after about a two and a half hour drive we arrived in SantaMaria degli Angeli (which is right outside of Assisi) to visit the Basilica. It was here that the young Francis of Assisi understood his vocation and renounced the world in order to live in poverty among the poor and thus started the Franciscan movement.

The Porziuncola

The Basilica was built over the Porziuncola (The chiesetta (little church) of Porziuncola (Italian for "Little portion") is the most sacred place for Franciscans. Francis was given this little church, dating from the 9th century, by the  Benedictine monks.) and when you enter the Basilica you can see the little church in the middle of the aisle leading to the altar. It was so incredible. We walked around the Basilica and took in all the wonderful art work and history. There is a rose garden out back that is the last remaining part of the woods where Francis and his followers lived. You take a hallway out to see the garden. In this hallway is a statue of St. Francis. He is holding a real wicker basket. There was a dove nesting in the basket as we went by. Legend has it that doves have been nesting in that basket for a very long time. After our visit to the Basilica we returned to the bus for our short ride to Assisi. As we climbed the hill to Assisi we were able to view the Basilica of St. Francis ahead of us. We got to the bus park at the higher end of town (Assisi is built on a hill) and parked. From here we took escalators up to the town entrance and walked a short way to the Basilica of St. Clare. Here we were given free time to enjoy the town – and we had a good part of the day – we were meeting the bus around 3:15pm. So Thomas and I started walking down hill through town. We stopped at different places along the way – shops, pastry stores, churches. We had kind of planned to stop in at the visitors center and get some information to walk up to the castle in town.

A staired alleyway in Assisi

But somehow we missed it. Partly because it was raining lightly and partly because we weren’t really paying attention. The town is beautiful, built on the side of a hill with winding streets with buildings right at the road forming a canyon like atmosphere. Anyway before we knew it we were at the Basilica of St.Francis – the end of town. It was still early so we decided to grab and bite to eat and get out of the rain. We ate a ham and cheese croissant and a cheese pizza at the Ristorante San Francesco. When we finished eating we decided to walk back to the city center and look around again. As we walked the rain got less and less. We arrived at the center of town and looked for a shop called Gran Café to get some baci and other goodies. We met up with Judy and Cherie who were just wandering around. The four of us then headed back down to the Basilica. The upper Basilica (oh, I forgot to tell you that there are two Basilicas for St. Francis) has some beautiful frescoes and was very peaceful and simple. Then we went into the lower Basilica and in here there was more elaborate artwork and was more heavily decorated. I enjoyed the upper Basilica much more than the lower one. Now it was time to meet the group and head to the bus for our ride to our new hotel near Radda in Chianti.

The drive took a little over two hours and we learned some history of the area. Christopher told us the story of the Battle of LakeTrasimeno as we drove around the Lago Trasimeno. Once we crossed into Tuscany we drove near to Cortona (which we could see in the near distance) – this is the place where the story Under the Tuscan Sun takes place. Christopher decided to give us some time to relax and not have to listen to him talk. So we ended up watching a part of Under the Tuscan Sun for the rest of the drive to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel in the dark so we couldn’t see the wonderful Tuscan landscape that surrounded us.

We checked into the My One Hotel and had a little time to get settled into our rooms and freshen up for dinner. Tonight dinner was at the hotel and we didn’t have a choice of food – it was already decided. The menu was as follows . . . vegetable lasagna, pork loin and a dark chocolate brownie for dessert.  It had been a long day and after the very delicious meal the hotel provided it was time to get some rest. Back in the room we settled in for the night. I can’t wait to see more of Tuscany.

Ancient Rome and Wandering the City

This morning we were up by 7:00am and had our typical breakfast of eggs, bacon, croissants, orange juice and coffee.  And then it was time to board the bus for a morning tour of Ancient Rome with Antonella. We arrived in the area of the Colosseum and the Forum.

Columns at the Roman Forum

We joined up with Antonella and walked over to the Forum for a tour. In the Forum area we found a spot to sit and got an excellent history lesson on the building of Rome and the Emperors. After the lesson we had time to wander around the ruins and take some pictures. We also went into the Senate building and viewed an exhibit – “Roma Caput Mundi”. When our time was up we met the group at the designated meeting spot and then headed over to the Colosseum. Before entering we got a little history of the building and an architecture lesson.

Colosseum

Then we joined the line entering the building and made our way to one of the sections to get a little more architecture information and an explanation of how people entered the building. We were next guided to a railing where we could view the interior of the arena. Here we got even more information on how things worked and what went on in the building. In total I guess we spent about an hour at the Colosseum.

Once the tour was over Thomas and I made our way to the exit and found a spot to sit. I needed to look around the area to find a spot to plant a letterbox. We did find a place but I will tell you about that at Two Plants and a Find in Rome. Once the box was hidden we looked at a map so that we could head over to San Pietroin Vincoli to view Michelangelo’s Moses. We had to walk to the other side of the Colosseum and then make our way up a road to the church. When we arrived we found out that the church was closed until 300pm. We didn’t want to wait for two hours because there was a lot more we wanted to do so we continued on our walk. From the church we walked back to the Forum and then up the road to the Victor Emmanuel Memorial. We went into the building to take the elevator to the top to get what is suppose to be great views of Rome. Unfortunately the elevator was broken so we had to scrap that idea – we ended up just walking around on the outside of the second level of the building. I did get some good pictures but I bet it would have been better from the top. Incidently we were also on the lookout for a restaurant to get a little something to eat. We left the memorial and headed around the corner to make our way to Santa Maria in Cosmedin to see the Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verita). On the way we stopped at City Hall and the Musei Capitolini. We took pictures of the outside but didn’t go in and then continued on our walk. Shortly we arrived at the church and saw the Mouth of Truth. After that I needed to find another spot for a letterbox. You can read about that at the above link.

Statue atop Victor Emmanuel Monument

 After planting my letterbox we returned to the Victor Emmanuel Memorial area via some back roads and stopped in at a couple of little shops (but didn’t buy anything). Across Piazza Venezia we finally found a place to eat. We stopped at Caffe Napoleon and I had a tomato, mozzarella and ham panini and Thomas had some spaghetti with meat sauce. Once we had eaten we took a walk up Via del Corso and again just did a little window shopping. At one point we saw a sign for the Trevi Fountain so we decided to head in that direction. When we reached to fountain area we stopped in at a gelateria and each got a gelato – I had mango & coconut and Thomas had mint & chocolate. We sat for a while at the edge of the fountain with the many other people that were out on a Sunday afternoon and just relaxed. Thirty minutes later we were heading back to the memorial. We needed to be back there to catch the bus back to the hotel. At 5:30pm the group was on the bus and headed back for the night.

When we got back to our room we had a note with a clue for a letterbox that someone in the group had hidden so I made plans to go and find that later. We needed to clean up and get ready to go to dinner. A few of us had decided to return to Ristorante Arturo for dinner. Before dinner I started to get things packed because tomorrow we head out for Tuscany. So I started arranging my suitcase and got everything packed that I didn’t need for the night. Then at 7:30pm Thomas and I along with Mark, Sue, Dave, Deanne, Judy and Cheri headed over to the restaurant for dinner. I had a pepperoni, ham and olive pizza and Thomas had penne with black pepper & cheese. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and made a small detour to find the letterbox – again you can read about that at the above link. Finally back in the room we got ready for bed and called it a night. Our last day in Rome proved to very busy and we pretty much got to do all we had planned. I am really looking forward to the next few days in Tuscany.

Tivoli and Baroque Rome

Wow, what a day! Busy from morning to night. We were up at 7:00am, showered and dressed, then went down for breakfast. After a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, croissants, cereal, orange juice and coffee we returned to the room to get our things. We then headed  to the lobby at 8:50am and were on board the bus at 8:55am. From the hotel we headed to Tivoli. The drive took us between 30 and 45 minutes to reach the town of Tivoli. We stepped off the bus and walked a short distance to the Villa d’Este. After getting our tickets we entered a small courtyard and our tour director gave us instructions and a meeting time and place. We were then left to explore the villa and gardens.

Organ Fountain at Villa d'Este, Tivoli

We first went out to the gardens to hear the organ play. They have a pipe organ that plays music when water is pumped through it. And it only plays once every two hours – and it was set to play at 10:30am. So we headed to that area and took pictures of the different fountains and the fountain where the organ was. Right at 10:30am, on cue the doors on the fountain opened and a pipe organ appeared and began to play. It was incredible to hear this knowing that the music being produced was only done so via water movement. When the organ stopped Thomas and I wandered throughout the gardens and enjoyed all the fountains. They were all incredible We even befriended a cat that was wandering around the gardens. After 30 minutes or so of walking around and taking pictures we got caught in a downpour. So we headed back into the villa and walked through the rooms – we really liked the frescoed walls and ceilings. We then headed back into town with Mark, Sue, Dave and Deanne. As we exited the villa we noticed that the church right outside the walls of the villa was getting ready for a wedding. A young groom was standing outside and then we saw bridesmaids arrive. Then a couple of young men rolled out a red  carpet. As we rounded the corner of the church we saw an old model car with the bride. By this time the rain had stopped and they put the top down on the car and she was driven up to the front of the car – what a pleasant surprise to witness  this in an old town in Italy.

We then started walking up and down some of the streets of Tivoli and stopped in a small restaurant called Antica Pizzeria Rosticceria. Thomas had a fried rice and cheese ball (Arancini di Riso) and I had a fried potato and mozzarella ball (Crocche). We ate outside while walking and then did a little shopping. Thomas and I decided a little while later that we wanted to sit and have a snack. So we went to Arist Bar and had some pasteries and caffe lattes. We sat at a table by the window and just relaxed. It was then time to meet our group at the designated area so we made our way outside. Once the group had all gathered we walked back to the bus and made our way to Rome. Once we arrived in Rome we picked up our tour guide, Antonetta and we began our tour of Rome. We drove past the Baths of Caracalla, Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus, Santa Maria in Cosmedin and Bocca della Verita, Victor Emmanuel Memorial, around the Piazza Venezia and past the balcony where Mussolini gave some of his more famous speeches. We then left the bus and walked a short distance to the Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain

Here we had about 30 minutes to go to the bathroom, throw coins in the fountain (for a return trip to Rome) and just relax and enjoy the surroundings. So Thomas and I threw our coins in the fountain and took some pictures and then walked around the area to do a little people watching. Our group then gathered and we continued our walk to St. Ignazio Church. We stopped here to see the ceiling. In the center of the church is a painting that is meant to look like a dome. When you walk in it appears that there is a dome with a center area but as you get directly underneath you can see that the center area is actually off to one side. This was some incredible perspective. From here we made our way to the Pantheon. We had about 30 minutes here to walk around inside. The place was packed inside as well as outside. We found Raphael’s tomb, Victor Emmanuel’s tomb and enjoyed this incredible structure that is preserved in its original state since between AD 118-125.

Next we made our way to Piazza Navona. We viewed the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (The Fountain of the Four Rivers) and got a little history lesson on Pope Innocent X – I gathered from this that he wasn’t all that innocent. This ended our time with the tour guide and the plan was to return to the bus and go back to the hotel and rest for a while. Then we would leave later to return to town for dinner. Thomas and I (and a few other people decided to stay in town and do some more things and then meet the group at the restaurant later on.

So Thomas and I walked around the other edges of Piazza Navona, took pictures, watched a street performer and then walked through a large gathering of street artists selling paintings and doing portraits of people. We then slow made our way back to the Pantheon area. We stopped in to the Creameria for some gelato (Thomas had chocolate and I had caffe). We sat on a bench outside the shop and ate our gelato. When done with that we walked around a little more and then stopped in at Tazza d'Oro for a granita di caffe con panna and a caffe latte. We stood at the bar and had our beverages and when we were finished we went out and sat by the obelisk in front of the Pantheon. We had made plans to meet a few people there at around 6:00pm. Dave, Deanne, Mark, Sue, Jack and Carol eventually joined Thomas and I and then we all headed in the direction of the restaurant that we needed to be at to meet the group. We got there early so we decided to explore this area.

Victor Emmanuel Memorial

We walked down a small street and eventually emerged near the Victor Emmanual Memorial. So we walked to the front of the memorial and took some pictures before returning to Piazza Margana.

We had a little time to wait for the group so we sat on the curb and listened to a woman playing an accordion. It was such a pleasant way to start the evening. The whole setting – the music, the piazza and the old buildings made for an incredible image of what living in Italy might be like. Once the rest of the group arrived we were shown to our tables at La Taverna degli Amici and the feast began. Of course there was wine on the table and some crusty bread. Then the courses started coming. First we had prosciutto and mozzarella, then they brought out the pasta, penne with meat sauce. Our next course was beef and potatoes and we ended with a cake and caffe for dessert. I think we all had a great time if judged by the level of chatter and all the laughing. The meal was delicious and the company & conversation were fantastic. Like I said earlier – it was a very busy day but also an incredible day.

We didn’t get back to the hotel until after 10:00pm. I am still wide awake (probably from all the coffee I had today) and I was able to get this post done for today – and anyway we get an extra hour of sleep tonight since Italy turns back its clocks tonight. Tomorrow we have a tour of Ancient Rome in the morning and then the afternoon to do whatever we want.

Meeting Christopher and a Visit to the Vatican

Today was our first morning waking up in Rome and the day started out a little cloudy. Thomas and I slept in, meaning that we didn’t set an alarm and we just woke up when we woke. We were really tired from all the traveling and the afternoon in Rome yesterday so we didn’t plan for anything this morning. Around 9:30am we made our way down to the dining room for breakfast. We had eggs and bacon, croissants, orange juice and coffee. We sat with Dave, Deanne, Frank and Susie. A little later we were joined by Mark and Sue. We had a pleasant and relaxing breakfast and then headed back up to the room to get ready for the afternoon.

At noon we met our tour director – Christopher (originally from the UK but now lives in Rome). We had a little meeting to get all the scoop about our tour. He didn’t go into the detail about what we would be doing each day but he did talk about things like being on time and safe. He also let us know about dress codes when visiting churches and that we would have different tour guides in each of the cities we visit. We were also given little radios. We wear these when we are getting a tour and the tour guide speaks into a microphone and you can hear everything through headphones instead of them having to yell – I think this is one nifty little idea. We also got a couple of handouts with information on it and an itinerary for what we will be doing each day of the tour. The last thing we did was pick our menu choices for tonight’s dinner at the hotel.

After the meeting we had about an 45 minutes until we left for our tour of the Vatican. Thomas and I returned to our room to get a few things and then we went back down to the lobby to meet the group. By 1:30pm we were all loaded on to the bus ready for the short drive to the Vatican. Our bus drive Mimo was fearless driving the huge bus through the narrow and busy streets of Rome and he got us to our destination safely. He dropped us off on the side of the Vatican Museums where we met our tour guide for the day – Antonetta. She had one of those pointers that telescopes and she had a big red flower attached to the end. This is what Christopher told us while we were on the bus –“That crazy lady with the big red flower is your tour guide for the day”. It was a great way to start the tour. We all gathered on the sidewalk and turned our radios on and then made the short walk to the entrance to the museums.

Sculpture in the Vatican Museums

We went through security and then waited in an area until Christopher got all our tickets. While he was getting tickets there was time for people to take a bathroom break before starting the tour. About a half hour later we began our tour. We first went out into a courtyard – The Cortile della Pigna. Named for a large pinecone from an ancient fountain at one end of the area. Here we were given some history and information about the Vatican, the museums and the Sistine Chapel. We then returned inside and continued the tour. I can’t tell you exactly where we went or what we saw. All I can say is that we walked down long halls and saw an incredible amount of art – tapestries, sculptures, frescoes and paintings. It was all very amazing and beautiful. Sue made a comment that we didn’t have enough eyes or cameras to take it all in – and that was exactly how it felt. At the end of the tour of the museums you end up at the Sistine Chapel. Here we had about 30 minutes to take in the place. Again, very overwhelming. I had downloaded an audio tour of the chapel from Rick Steves for my iPod – so I found a place to sit (which wasn’t easy since the place was packed) and listened to the description and history of the paintings. It was all so interesting. When the 30 minutes were up we met Antonetta and exited the chapel and made our way to the front of St.Peter’s Basilica.

Mosaic in St. Peter's

We got a short history lesson here and then we were given time to enjoy the inside of St. Peter’s and then walk around the square and do a little souvenir shopping. The first thing we did after entering the church was to view Michelangelo’s Pieta. I really love this piece of art – it is beautiful and amazing. I think it is incredible that Michelanglo could get such a moving and emotional piece of art from a block of marble. We then just made our around the church admiring all of the ornate art work. By the time we walked back outside it was raining. So we stood under a covering for a little while and when the rain slowed we made our way to a bookstore. I got a book on the Sistine Chapel and some postcards. We mailed a postcard back to ourselves and one to a friend from the smallest country in the world.

By this time it was time to meet the group back at the bus to make our way to the hotel. We had a little time to clean up and get ready for dinner in the hotel restaurant. For dinner we had put in our orders earlier so they had prepared what we all wanted. Thomas and I both had penne with meat sauce for the first course. Then Thomas had chicken and I had seabass (both came with green beans and potatoes) and for dessert I had some fruit and Thomas had a semifredo. We had a nice dinner with the group and we talked about how much we were all enjoying the trip so far. Dinner didn’t start until around 7:30 so we didn’t get back to the room until 9:30. Now that I am showered I got this post done for the day. I already have things ready for our day tomorrow. We have to be at the bus at 8:50am for a morning in Tivoli and an afternoon in Rome.

On Roman Soil

We landed and got our bags and went out of the building to meet our transport to the hotel. Unfortunately things did not go smoothly. We couldn’t find our bus. We walked around but found nothing. Three phone calls and an hour later we finally connected with our driver and we all piled onto a small bus for the ride to the hotel. The drive to the hotel – Crowne Plaza RomeSt. Peters Hotel and Spa – was a lot shorter than our waiting time at the airport and we all headed inside to check in. Thomas and I got our room keys and headed up to freshen up before meeting the group back in the lobby in about an hour.

Our room is nice, very clean, with two double beds, a desk and a lounge chair. There is a flat screen tv (that we probably won’t have time to use) and a small balcony with a larger terrace attached. So after getting settled and cleaned up we gathered some things in a backpack and headed downstairs to the lobby to meet up with everyone. Toni and Edie unfortunately still didn’t have a room and were waiting – (they did finally get a room and we waited until they were ready before leaving for the afternoon in Rome). Once everyone was in the lobby (minus Dave, Frank and Susie – they decided to hang out at the hotel and rest) we were joined by Phyto (Heather) who lives in Naples and was joining us for the afternoon and evening. She also brought a couple of her friends to join us - Daniele & Uvio (I hope I got those right). I gave everyone a button I had made for the trip and then we headed out. I have to say we weren’t a very organized bunch. Our goal was to get to Villa Borghese. We debated taxis vs. bus vs. Metro. We did stop at a tobacco shop and get tickets and then we looked for a bus stop. We got a little side tracked and stopped at Pizza, Amore & Fantasia for a little bite to eat. Thomas and I split a small sausage and pepperoni pizza and a rice ball (called an arancini di Riso). We also had a Limon to drink.

Entrance to Villa Borghese

When we were all done we started to move again. We finally opted to use the Metro (I actually love using the subways – very fast and easy means of getting around) to get to the park.  We entered the Metro at Cornelia and then exited at Flaminio. We entered the park at Viale del Muro Torto Corso d’Italia.

Part of the Goethe statue

Once in the park we spent some time letterboxing – you can read about that over at The Lion’s Game at Finding Boxes at Villa Borghese. The park was beautiful and we enjoyed our walk through the park. We saw Tempio di Esculapio (The Temple ofAesculapius) on Giardino del Lago (Garden of the Lake) and a statue of Goethe. After more than an hour in the park we left as it was starting to get dark and headed for Piazza de Spagna and the Spanish Steps. We wandered down narrow roads taking in all that we could. We did get lost a little along the way and had to check the maps quite often but this only added to our experience and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Door Knocker

At one point we ended up at PiazzaBarberini which has a beautiful fountain - Fontana del Tritone. We left this piazza and continued our walk making our way to Piazza de Spagna. We arrived at the top of the steps near the church of Trinità del Monti. There were hoards of people and lots of street artist with incredible work. We eventually made our way down the steps to the Fontana della Barcaccia (a Bernini piece). We took pictures and enjoyed all the energy the crowd provided. After a little while here we decided to head back toward the hotel, so we headed to the Metro. We took the Metro from Spagna to Cornelia and then walked the rest of the way back to the hotel. We stopped just before the hotel at Ristorante di Arturo for some dinner. Thomas had Fettucine with meat sauce and I had a creamy scampi risotto. It was a delicious meal but it was late by the time we finished eating and we all just wanted to get back to the hotel and sleep - remember we have all been up for quite a few hours now. And we have more to do tomorrow. Once back in the room we took showers and Thomas went straight to sleep, but I did this blog and organized things a bit. Tomorrow we visit the Vatican.

The Journey Begins

It all started early – very early. We were up at 3:00am. After getting dressed, we picked up around the house and made some coffee.

On Our Way to Italy

Then we got the dogs settled at Thomas’ Dad’s house – Bruce and Nancy wiil take care of them for us. We left the house around 3:40am and headed to Albuquerque. Since it was so early there wasn’t any traffic but the drive seemed to take forever. Eventually we arrived at Airport Parking and caught the shuttle. We checked in our bags and got our boarding passes and headed for security. It was slow going through the checkpoint – they only had one lane open, but we got through and gathered our things and headed for our gate. By the time we got done with everything we didn’t have long to wait for our flight. We boarded the plane and took our seats. The flight was quick, it only took about an hour and 20 minutes to reach Dallas. We landed at DFW at Terminal D – we then needed to get to Terminal C for our connecting flight to New York. The Skylink was a quick ride to Terminal C and in no time we were at our gate. There was still about an hour before we were leaving so we took a bathroom break and then got a quick bite to eat (McDonald’s – bacon McGriddle, sausage McMuffin, hashbrowns and water). Then we waited, but not very long and then we started the boarding for the flight to JFK. The boarding seemed to take forever and we left about 15 minutes later than our scheduled departure – it was about 10:20am when we finally took off. This flight was longer and a little more uncomfortable because the woman in front of me kept pushing back in her seat and causing my drink to spill. She did eventually go to sleep and that made things better.

During the flight to JFK I watched Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, I listened to my iPod, I read and I worked a little on this blog. It definitely made the flight go faster. The only snacks on the flight were things you had to buy and I felt they were really expensive for what they were offering. So I had some orange juice and water. Thomas didn’t have anything except the water he brought on the plane with him. Most of the time Thomas read or slept and before we knew it we were in New York.

When we arrived in New York it was around 2:30pm which meant we had about 5 hours to kill. We walked around the concourse and eventually stopped at Abitino’s Pizza and we each had a slice of pepperoni and sausage pizza. After eating we walked around and stopped in a couple of shops before heading to our gate.We found a corner of the waiting area and settled in. I connected to the internet to look up a quote from the Madagascar movie.

Alex

The main character (a lion named Alex) was talking to his zebra friend (Marty). They were in Rome and they were part of a circus performing at the Colosseum and this was the quote . . .

“The Colosseum Marty! The original theatre in the round. You know my ancestors used to perform here. Every show a captive audience. Apparently they killed.”

I loved this – since we are going to Rome and will visit the Colosseum and since I use the trail name lionsmane this quote really stayed with me.

After checking this quote I look at my emails and then decided I could use some coffee. There was a Starbucks near our gate so I started walking in that direction. I ended bumping into Grumpy Grinch (Susie and Frank). I showed them where we were sitting and they went and met Thomas and I went to get my coffee – I ended up with a venti iced Caramel Macchiato. We visited for a little while and Susie gave us each a bag of trail mix for a snack on the plane. Not long later the lazy letterboxer (Deanne) and the letterboxing ham (Dave) showed up. Deanne made everyone a journal with the event stamp on the cover (a great journal and a nice gift) and she carved us each a signature stamp (our trail name in Italian).  Shortly thereafter someone noticed the rest of the group walking in so I went over and showed them where we were sitting. So we were joined by ggghiker (Toni), EdieSoCal (Edie), The Seeker – aka Nana C of Nana C and the Seedlings (Cheri), sewsewbizzy (Judy) and Mark & Sue Pepe. Sue brought banana bread to share with the group. With all twelve us now in the airport I think it finally hit me we were on our way to Italy. The group has people from all over the U.S. – Alaska, California, New Mexico, Illinois, Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts. We did some stamping in of the new Italian signature stamps, the event stamp and some stamps that sewsewbizzy carved to plant in Italy. You can read about that at Letterboxingat JFK. We then just visited until it was time to board the plane which was about 7:30pm. By the time we boarded, taxied on the runway and finally took off it was a little after 8:00pm.

Settled in our seats and finally on our way, the flight crew came around with drinks. Thomas and I each had 3 rum and cokes. During this time I did some puzzles on my Kindle and started watching one of the in flight movies – Darling Companions. Not long after (about 9;30pm EST) they came around with a little meal. We had a choice of chicken or pasta. Thomas and I opted for the chicken. We had chicken and rice with a salad, crackers, cheese, bread and a brownie. Not too bad and it hit the spot. After eating I relaxed and finished watching the movie. Once the movie was done I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth – if we had an eight hour flight I needed to have fresh breath. I then took some time to write a few things on this blog and listen to some music on the iPod. For the remaining of the flight I did a few things – but sleeping was not one of them. I read, did puzzles on the Kindle, wrote in my journal and watched another movie – this one was The Vow. The last part of the flight seemed to go faster than the rest. About an hour before landing the flight crew brought out croissants and orange juice and we also had coffee. After eating I packed everything away except my iPod and I just listened to music until we landed. Once off the plane we went through Passport Control and then off to baggage claim. We all gathered our bags and headed outside to meet our transport to the hotel. I will continue our trip in the next post now that we are in Rome.

Italy Planning and Preparations Are Complete

In January of this year we started plans and preparations for a trip to Italy. Last year we took a cruise in Alaska with a group of letterboxers that was put together by Mark & Sue Pepe for one of their Pinecone Adventures. We had a great time on that trip and since this trip to Italy is another Pinecone Adventure we decided to go on this trip as well. This trip and event is called Viva Italia Letterboxing Tour. We are very excited about this trip and I have been planning since the beginning of the year.

Classic Italy Tour

I got travel guides and maps, I did research on the internet, I talked to people who have been to Italy and countless other things to prepare for this trip. We are going with a tour group and we are taking a tour called Classic Italy - Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Venice & Lake Como. This is a twelve day tour but we will gone 14 days with the travel to Italy and back. We have been to Italy before but it was on a tour of Europe so we only had a few days in Italy and didn't get enough time in the country. This time it is all Italy and I am looking forward to it.

For the trip we are only allowed one check in bag and one carry on bag. I was a little worried when I first found this out but I did a lot of research and planned well. I have a medium sized suitcase to check in and it weighs about 37 pounds and I will carry on a backpack with a few other things. I think I did well with my packing and I am sure that I willl have everything I will need for the trip. As of 4:00pm this afternoon we are completely packed. There are only three things that I need to take care of tomorrow and then we are ready to enjoy our trip. We leave very early on Wednesday morning - 6:00am and we will be traveling from Albuquerque to Dallas to New York and finally to Rome. We arrive on Thursday morning around 10:00am in the Eternal City.

I plan on posting to this blog every day so that I can journal this trip. But that will depend on the internet connections in the areas where we will be. My exact plan is to write my blog post in Word and then publish them to the blog itself when I have a connection. This blog will hold the details of our trip throughout Italy and on the days we do some letterboxing I will post on my Lion's Game blog at Italy Letterboxing.