Pondering Plans

You know that you have the Italy bug when you start planning your return trip while in Italy! Sure, I knew I had more places I wanted to see--Venice, Pompeii, Siena. But after I skipped out of the Rome tour for a day and took the train up to Florence, I knew where I'd be going next. One day in Florence is nowhere near enough to appreciate the beauty and history of the city, especially when you're freezing to death the whole day. I vowed to return, properly armed with gloves, scarf, and long underwear!

Perhaps because I was only there for one day, but physically, Florence seems to be Rome after a run-in with a trash compactor. It's much smaller, the streets are tiny, and the sidewalks are worse! There is literally only enough space for one person to walk on the sidewalk, which means when another pedestrian comes from the opposite direction, you turn sideways and flatten yourself against the building. You don't dare step out into the street (if you can even GET to the street, see picture below), or you'll lose a limb or at least a few toes to the madcap Vespa riders.

Being smaller, the key sights are much closer together, and there aren't as many places to wander off to. This doesn't improve your chances of not getting lost, however! Hopefully the tour orientation will make it easier to navigate around, as it did in Rome.

So, that's why we're going to Florence. Why Rome? Well that was a bit of an accident. Originally, I intended to go to Venice, but the combination of having Dad along (go with your father to one of the most romantic cities in the world? uh, no.) and wanting to go back and experience Rome "on my own" changed things. Once Rome and Florence were set, well, it made perfect sense to build in a short stop at Orvieto in-between. Venice will be there another day--as long as it doesn't sink, that is!