Italy Day One: Rome

So, I don’t know if you knew this, but we went to Italy last week. (Here’s the back story.) And it was just about the worst vacation ever.

That was maaaaaaybe the biggest lie ever. It was incredible. From start to finish, if I don’t say so myself, I planned the greatest week we’ve had in our almost 5 years together and we also had the most amazing weather anyone ever could have asked for. I did ask Timmy if he wanted to be involved in the planning, and being the ever-so-wise partner that he is, he replied, “Nah. You got this.”

And get it I did.

Here’s what we were supposed to do (and yes I created a timetable itinerary that I will never apologize for. It was awesome because I’m awesome):

Sat Oct 25 Rome	Arrive in Rome @ 7:30a (Drop luggage off at car rental place?) Take train into Rome (Termini station, 11 euros, take to Spagna metro) Spend day in Rome Start in Spagna area walk to Corso/Navona/Campo walk to Vatican (2pm tickets (bring voucher) to Vatican museums/Sistine Chapel) train from Ottaviano to Colloseo (12 euros for entry to Foro Romano, Colloseo, and Colle Palatino) walk to Capitolino Hill walk to Termini station train back to Fiumcino Pick up car around 6p Drive to San Sano ~2.5 hrs (arrive ~9p) Unpack, shower, buy food/dinner
Sun Oct 26 Perugia	Leave @ 8a Drive 30 min to Montevarchi station (free parking) Train depart from Montevarchi @ 8:48a, arrives Perugia 10:18a ($56 total) Take minitrain into town for Eurochocolate 2014 Depart 7:41p, arrive Montevarchi 9:06p
Mon Oct 27 Parma/Reggio Emilia/Modena	Leave @ 8a Drive to Parma by car ~2 hr 47 min drive (arrive ~11a) Stop at Reggio Emilia and Modena (http://www.balsamico.it/) on way home Spend day traveling
Tues Oct 28 Florence	Leave @ 8:15a Drive 30 min to Montevarchi station (free parking) Train depart from Montevarchi @ 9:07a, arrives Florence 9:48a in Santa Maria Novella (Piazza Del Stazione) ($36 total) Spend day in Florence 11:45 A tickets for Uffizi (bring voucher) Lunch at I Due Fratellini, Via dei Cimatori, 38, 50122 Firenze Gallerie dell’Academia Dinner at 4 Leoni, Via dè Vellutini, 1r, 50125 Firenze Train departs 9:09p, arrives Montevarchi @ 9:47p
Wed Oct 29 Lucca/Pisa	Drive to Lucca ~2 hr drive Stop in Pisa on way back tickets to climb Tower, 9 a.m.- 6 p.m Get gas
Thurs Oct 30 Siena/Gaiole	9:30am-12:30pm: ½ day cooking class at Ristorante Malborghetto Siena/Gaiole for the afternoon by car (15 min drive)
Fri Oct 31 Bologna/Prato	Drive to Bologna ~2 hr drive Spend day in Bologna Eat at Ristorante Diana (Via dell’Indipendenza, 24, 40121 Bologna)) Stop in Prato on way home
Sat Nov 1	Leave @ 4a Drive to Rome ~2.5 hr drive (arrive ~7a) Stop for gas, return car Flight leaves at 9:15a

Did it turn out exactly like that? Of course not, but every omission/addition to our days was incredible and couldn’t have turned out any better than it did. This is the map of where we actually went this trip. You should be impressed, in case you were wondering what your reaction should be.

We learned from our traveling mistakes in March when we went to Spain, so this time we flew separately from our cities to Atlanta, and then flew together straight to Rome. The 9.5 hr flight FLEW by, we seriously couldn’t believe it. I think back to all the times my family and I traveled to Spain growing up, AND HOW DID WE GET THROUGH THOSE FLIGHTS??!?! Those back-of-the-seat screens are the greatest invention ever. I saw three movies by the time we landed. 🙂

I also learned from our super difficult time getting over jet lag in March, so we tried to sleep on the plane ride over, but alas, that was a bust. Neither one of us can sleep on moving vehicles and surprise surprise, sleeping sitting up is a very challenging thing to do. We landed in Rome around 7 AM their time, and proceeded to spend every last waking minute soaking up the city and as much daylight as we could to get our internal clocks set to the local time. We didn’t end up making it to the Roman Forum or Capitoline Hill as planned but after having walked all over the city to the other locations on no sleep, we’d had enough.

These are pictures from Day One and only Day One of our trip. You will see as I keep posting that Italy is freaking ridiculous. I’ve been there once before in 2004 when I studied abroad in London, and my friends and I took a 4-day weekend trip to Rome, Florence, and Milan. It prepared me well for enjoying the sites this time around (as well as reminded me of the moronic adventures we experienced there when we were such little 21-yr old babies).

Enjoy the pictures because there’s a lot of them. More to come!