Rome I got up at 5:30 and asked Chris if she wanted to come with me to the Forum. She didn’t. I walked down via Cavour to the Forum, about three quarters of a mile. All of the gates to the forum were closed and locked, so I set up the tripod and took pictures […]
Italy 2004 – Day 8
Florence to Rome We got up when the alarm chimed and packed up our suitcases. I was surprised at how long it took to move items from our closet and drawers into our three suitcases and two carry-on bags. When we were done, we ate a big breakfast downstairs, checked out of the hotel and […]
Italy 2004 – Day 7
Florence I got up at 5:40 to get some more crowd-free photos. My first stop was the Mercato Nuovo – the leather-goods market – where we had seen a brass fountain in the form of a life-sized boar. Tourists pet the boar’s snout, place a coin it its mouth, then let the coin fall into […]
Italy 2004 – Day 6
Florence We were going to try to climb the dome again. We wanted to be there around 8:30, so I had set the alarm for 7:15. It was tough to get up, but we made it. We put on reasonably nice clothes (since we were going to a church), ate breakfast, and headed towards the […]
Italy 2004 – Day 5
Florence We got up at 7:30 so we could eat breakfast and arrive at the entrance to the Duomo dome by 8:30. Our guidebook said that’s when it opened, and it was the best time to get there to avoid long lines. When we got there, the door was closed, and there was a sign […]
Italy 2004 – Day 4
Florence We both woke up around 4:00am, and it took us a while to get back to sleep, but we did. At 5:30, my alarm went off and we pulled ourselves from bed, put on our clothes, grabbed the cameras and tripod, and set out for some dawn photography. We took pre-dawn pictures of the […]
Italy 2004 – Day 3
Venice and Florence We managed to sleep until 8:15, when church bells woke us up. We figured we had better get up and take advantage of the breakfast included in our room price. We had cereal, a croissant and some yogurt. But the best thing was the cappuccino that helped us go out and face […]
Italy 2004 – Day 2
In flight and Venice We woke up around 8:30am as the other passengers around us began to stir. Soon, the flight attendants were in the aisle with coffee (“Yes, please!”) and, later, a light breakfast featuring a croissant. We both had seconds on coffee and shared a third croissant. By then, we were starting our […]
Italy 2004 – Preparation and Day 1
Preparation We had wanted to vacation together in Italy for years. We had each been there, but not together. Chris had gone on business, and she hadn’t really had any time to see sights. Dale had been there for five weeks in December 1984 and January 1985. After almost twenty years, he was sure the […]