More tours.

I am thinking about some tours that might cover things I haven't seen (and therefore don't know what to visit in more detail). While looking for a place to get Vatican tickets (with an interface that works) I stumbled upon Viator. They seem to have a lot of tours - some of which aren't the run-of-the-mill expected stuff and many of them seem to get good ratings & reviews. One can even post your own photos of the tour post-trip.

Trastevere and the Jewish Ghetto Rome Walking Tour $42.21
Christian Rome Tour - Catacombs, Santa Maria Maggiore and Ancient Appian Way $67.23
Rome Hop On Hop Off Double Decker Bus Tour $28.14/24hrs $34.40/48hrs
Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa and Villa D'Este Tour from Rome $87.56

Seems like it's geared only toward men:
Gladiator Lesson $78.18

Not really my cup of tea, but it's an interesting theme for a tour:
Angels and Demons Tour from Rome $87.56

Florence Segway Tour $117.26
Original Florence Hidden Walking Tour $39.09
Sightseeing Tour to the Middle Age Town of Lucca $78.18

If I didn't have my own car, this seems like a great day trip from Florence:
Small Group Cinque Terre Day Tour from Florence

And this is convenient:
Rome (Fiumicino or Ciampino) Airport Private Arrival Transfer
Rome (Fiumicino or Ciampino) Airport Private Departure Transfer
Nevermind. The price is per person...with 8 traveling. I'll figure it out myself when I'm there like I did last time.


I would love to do photography tours in Rome or in Florence as a seasonal job. I think I take decent photos of these kinds of subjects and I know I'm a natural teacher. The only trouble I'd have is remembering all the names and dates for the historical parts of the tour.

Wasn't it some scandalous thing of the middle ages when people were paying for forgiveness/blessings/indulgences?
Papal Blessing at Castelgandolfo $67.23
Audience with Pope Benedict at Vatican City $54.72
Didn't Jesus whip out a whip on the people that were making cost (and therefore cost prohibitiveness) a part of worship?

A three hour tour...a three hour tour.

Though my vision for my trip was more free-form, I'm finding the need to make some reservations to be as efficient with my time as possible. Though I wanted to wake up and let each day be its own...with a more general plan of all the things I want to do as potential choices...I've read about 3 hour waits at the popular museums during summer months. Early May sometimes is listed in the busy time and sometimes not. Last time I was there it was November, and I walked right into the Uffizi and Accademia in Florence, and the Borghese and Vatican in Rome (though at the Vatican I was part of a tour and we only waited a short time outside while our guide squared away our arrangements). I don't want to risk spending 2-3 hours I could be shopping, photo'ing or drinking in the sites and sounds waiting in a line - especially to see many things I've already seen just because I want to see them again.

So I booked times for the museums through the Italy Museum site. I feel really blocked in as I had to pick times down to 15 minute intervals in some cases. That makes it feel more like work than wandering...keeping to an arbitrary schedule that had to be created here from home rather than one that's created by the desire to devote attention for a sufficient period of time to things based on how I'm feeling when I'm there.

One plus is that I have reserved a 3 hour guided tour through the Uffizi and the Vasari Corridor which is only available a couple days a week and a couple of times each day. I likely would have missed that opportunity had I not done this advance planning.



On the minus side...for the most important place to be able to book and avoid lines - the Vatican - the site seems to have a malfunction. It requires me to check the choice of museum, only there's no checkbox and the Vatican is the only choice. FRUSTRATING.

And now I just got an email (a day later) for the Uffizi/Vasari tour and they'll only confirm when 7 more people register. So I'm beholden to fate for that one as well.

Importing.

Reading up on what I can bring back with me from the Customs and Border Patrol website.

The whole brochure can be found at Know Before You Go.

I have an $800 limit for duty free. Looks like that full length leather coat I left behind in 2001 won't come back with me if I also want to bring home a wedge of Parmesan.

Best guides, maps and books for seeing Italy.

I have looked through every possible map and guidebook and figured out which ones were the most helpful to me.

First, there's the AAA Spiral Guide series. They're a spiral guide, which means they lay flat. That's very convenient. The spiral spine is protected so they won't catch on things and get all wonky.

They start off with a "Magazine" section which includes historical perspectives written as short, straightforward articles. Topics include historical profiles of artists and political figures, areas that have been included in films, how frescoes are painted (highlighting important ones to see) and lists of weird & wonderful as well as best of's. Best views, best abbeys, best scenic drives, best markets, best piazzas, best ice-cream, best evening strolls, best beaches. And that's just the first chapter. Following are chapters about what to do in your first two hours after arrival which includes all the practical information about money exchanging and transportation. Following are several two- or three-day itineraries with photos of key places with tips and information sidebars that are even better than the DK series of books and guides. Then great walks and drives are covered with clear maps. The Practicalities chapter is full of great charts and graphs about documents needed, weather patterns, time, currency, websites, sizes, business hours, holidays, safety, telephones and postal services, health info, etc. etc. etc. This is followed with a decent atlas for this size of book. I'm so impressed with this series.

I couldn't remember the name of the chocolate, chocolate-chip gelato treat or the bar in Piazza Navonna recommended by my guide last time I was there. The Rome guide reminds me it's Tartufo at I Tre Scalini. That alone was worth the price of the book for me. I would've walked in there and not known what to ask for (I can't remember Italian words and get the syllables all out of order even when I do remember them).



The maps I like (for their illustrations and novelty) are MapEasy Guidemaps. They are covered with short blurbs highlighting things to see. They're coated, so not likely to succumb to liquid damage on a first spill.



I also love the City Guidemap (Z Guides) series, which I bought before my last trip. They fold down (easily - you could almost do it one-handed) to 3" x 4.25". Each includes a list of sites to see and a day's itinerary, metro maps and other close-up maps of piazzas, food reviews, building diagrams and tips on the back. Unfortunately, they appear to be out of print. A damn shame.



I got the Michelin Tourist and Motoring Atlas. It's extremely comprehensive in ways that other maps aren't (showing tunnels, toll roads, mileage) but now that I have a GPS with European maps, I don't know if I'll need it. It's large at 8.5" x 11" and almost 200 pages, so it might be overkill.



My favorite language help book is still Italian at a Glance. It includes grammar an pronunciation guide, but most of the book is divided by context and is full of vocabulary and phrases that you might need while driving, eating, shopping and go into enough detail so you have a plethora of phrases for the pharmacist, the doctor and the mechanic. All in a small book that came with a nice plastic cover.



I have at least a dozen other books that include many from the DK series, walking and food tours and other books that highlight oddities, but the books above are the go-to ones for me.

I also picked up a book about Travel Writing that'll keep me focused on travelling as a writer (and photographer) and not just a tourist.

Real. Estate.

I've been poking around some real estate pages in Italy.


A restored building divided into five apartments with a pool in Umbria for $255,000 . Really?!


And this one (also in Umbria) costs more?

I must be missing something. Edit...I figured it out. That's the price for each apartment in the first example. That makes sense.

Not to worry. I'm not going to pull an "Under the Tuscan Sun" and buy property while I'm there and never come back. But I could pull a George Clooney and buy an extra home like this property on a lake for $0. Or a free castle:


I'm dying to know how much that castle is.


It's funny how this seems rustic and quaint in this setting (two entrances!), but when you put the same elements elsewhere it seems more like urban blight. Italy gets away with a lot in that regard with its primitive charm that's come back into vogue. Can you imagine if these buildings had been mowed down to make way for something new in the last few centuries?

I love this agriturismo property in Assisi for a mere $1,650,000:

Rome day plans.

I'm plotting a few routes in Rome so I can hit the places I'd like to see (and see again). I may not bother with the Colosseum and Forum this time around, but even if I do, it's not that large a route at less than 6.5 miles...certainly doable in a day even with shopping/photographing. And since I start it with Fettuccine Alfredo at Alfredo's, and gelato in Piazza Navona I'll have fuel for the journey. On another day I'll do the Vatican and the Villa Borghese Museum (again). Amazingly, this route plots about almost the exact same distance. The last day I'm there I'll play it by ear and do some shopping.

Tuscan villa.

Today I got my paperwork for my villa. The address isn't found in google maps but with a little bit of work following the directions and looking at as many photos as I could I think I found it. I also found the official website for the property along with a lot of photos that the rental site didn't have, local information and some great historial photos that show the property in decay before it was restored. And, as it turns out, I got a much better price at the rental site, even after their rental fee.

It's great to finally see how close it is to San Gimignano. I plotted a walk and it's 7.8 miles in a circular route from the villa to the town and back. Certainly doable, even with hills. Though I doubt I'll want to climb many towers after that.

Photo inspiration.

Besides the typical statuary, fountains, piazzas and landmark photos, I'm making a list of things I want to take a series of shots of in Italy. Of course, I looked to the fine people on Flickr for inspiration.

Doors and Knockers
Courtyards
Unusual perspectives
Textures
Relics
Flower Markets
Vendors
Shop windows
Cemeteries?
Logos & Design elements that are uniquely Italian
Orthographic View (long lens)
Pano Collages
HDR (high dynamic range)
Views down alleys with long lenses
Reflections in water
Stairways
Verticals with wide angles
Up in towers
And just for fun...Playing with scale
OneLetter

Ready to go.

I'm leaving April 30 and returning on May 14.

This week...
I booked my flight to Rome. I’ll have a little over two hours layover in JFK each way. I had something around 3 hours on the way back last time and even with checking through customs I had plenty of time to hang out, shop, eat, etc. I feel good about this combo compared with the other choices that had either a little over an hour and some with 5-8 hour layovers. It was suddenly available and cheaper than the other, less desirable combos. $885 round trip including all taxes and fees on American Airlines for all legs of the trip - which makes the transfers easier, too.

For flight searches I used kayak.com and sidestep.com which lead me most often to cheaptickets.com, vayama.com and I ended up getting my tickets through airfare.com. Farecast wasn't giving me any usable information. In the beginning I did a search with 3 days flexibility in either direction to discover which dates were repeatedly cheaper to fly on...and I just stuck with those from then on.

I paid the remainder on "my" villa in Tuscany yesterday. It's in a perfect location - I've been visiting the page for this villa ever since I returned from my last trip. I couldn't be happier with what Rentvillas did for me...extending my hold through the weekend when the original hold didn't last 48 hours. I changed my mind back and forth between renting for 1 or 2 weeks...with another week split on the beginning and end of my trip both in Rome and Positano. I felt more financially secure and practical not extending myself with the additional week of rental fees (both villa and car) and living fees and the forgoing of income...at least at this time. I can make a longer trip some other time.

With my villa rental documents, I got a little book written by the founder of rentvillas.com - "Living Like a Local in Italy." Oh boy am I eating this up...

Guidebooks are helpful, but most fall short of the "guidance" you need for renting your own property. Why? Because living like a native is nothing like staying in a hotel! Whether you're packing for your adventure or trying to figure out how to grocery shop in another language, staying in your own home - away from home - presents a different set of challenges.

Over the years I've made many trips to Italy: first as a student, then a single traveler, later as a mother of three, and finally as the owner of Rentvillas.com. Part how-to, part insider's guide, this traveler's companion is based on my experiences a a renter. You'll find dining suggestions and recommendations for must-see sights as well as all the nuts and bolts of traveling to Italy, such as airport arrivals and surviving on the road.

Chapters:
Before You Leave Home, Arriving In Italy, En Route to Your Property, Making the Most of Your Stay, Cities of Italy, Regions of Italy, Useful Vocabulary, Metric Conversaions

It's full of checklists, links to resources every step of the trip and even recipes. Yay.

I've been vacillating between the fear of venturing out on my own (again) and knowing it's going to be okay. It's my goal to recognize it, face the fear head on and alleviate it enough to be firmly rooted in "knowing it's going to be okay" by the time I go. This book helps. What a great service. It's good to see a company thinking things through like this even after a great experience with their website and my booking agent.

I found a hotel in the heart of Rome (Hotel San Carlo - a block from Via Dei Condotti and the Spanish Steps) for about what I was going to pay for a hotel more on the outskirts (but near a metro station). I’ll stay there two nights at the beginning and one at the end.

I also reserved my Smart Car (or other substitute micro car) from sixti.com.
Crossing my fingers for the Smart Car. I love its tininess even though I'd be afraid to drive it here in SUV land.
I think it's funny that a five person auto in Europe is the Ford Focus.
I gotta find someone with a stick shift so I can practice again before I'm trying to shift my way out of Rome.


And I've really got to get the € conversion rate in my head. When I was there last, it was still lire...and it was almost exactly 2,000 lire to the $ which made for some pretty easy math. The € started off pretty much equal to the $ but now it's all complicated. Well...I guess it's close to 1.5, so it's not that complicated...except for us American turisti who take a beating on the exchange rate. Unfortunately when I calculated the allowed mileage and overages I’d likely incur, it’s not as economical as it seemed at face value...but it’s still better than other cars. And it’ll use less gas. I can rent it a few blocks from where I’m staying at the Villa Borghese in Rome. Though I’m scared shitless to drive in Rome for even a few moments. It’s seriously CRAZY just watching the drivers there. I'll be driving stickshift for the first time in a million years in all that fast-paced flowing-like-a-river-together traffic.

I just splurged for my room (2 nights) in Positano. I got the cheapest room I could get (standard double) at the nicer hotel. Gulp. I'm going to use their "take this train and that train and that bus" directions and avoid driving down there.


To do’s
Airline ticket purchase
Tuscany villa booking and payment
Rome Hotel booking
Rental car booking
Positano hotel booking
Get an International Driving Permit through AAA
Get train/bus other info from AAA
Find a hotel in Positano that doesn’t cost two arms and two legs
GPS
Check on my phone usage in Italy
Check with car insurance about additional coverage
Check with health insurance about coverage/documents needed if there's a problem
Make copies of all confirmations, passport, driver's license, credit cards
Figure out suitcases - 2 for check in - 2 for carry-on - all partially empty
Figure out what lenses, flash, tripods to bring
Photo storage solution
Laptop (borrow? from work?)
Print Google Maps for all my destinations
Check through old maps and travel guides

Potential Activities for consideration:
Umbria/Assisi or Tuscany by balloon
Firenze by Segway
Firenze cooking school

I considered taking a week-long painting class in Tuscany, but the timing and location didn't work out this time.

I'm also looking into local spas, winery tours (though I could do plenty of that around here), marble quarries, factory tours. I would love to see how Parmesan cheese is made or textiles or yarn or pasta or Ferraris. The latter requires that I get permission through my local dealer and I don't think I can pull off being seriously interested in a purchase, so I'll probably forgo that.

I'm going to leave plenty of time for wandering and stumbling upon places. And, of course, my camera will be soaking it all in. I'm going to be shooting for me and for making work out of this trip.



I'll get to eat Fettuccine Alfredo again soon. The real stuff. Where it was invented.

I have all my reservation confirmation numbers and now I'm waiting to GO.