We started our trip long before the day of departure. We knew where we wanted to go well in advance. Italy. Florence and Venice. We didn't really know the areas very well so we thought some research was in order. We bought the Eyewitness Travel Guides to Florence and Tuscany and Venice and the Veneto; these would serve as our guides to the sights. Of course we also bought the Michelin Hotel and Restaurant Guide to Italy (the red book). We hoped to find appropriate accomodations using the guide. After about a week, however, it became clear that although the guide might be a good cross reference, it was not going to help us choose a hotel.
Up to this point, we had been concentrating on hotels in the major cities, Florence, Venice, etc. But since this wasn't going well we adopted a new approach. We bought a Fodor's Guide to "Hotels and Country Inns of Character and Charm in Italy". Then we looked through it and picked what we thought were the nicest of the available options. They were somewhat on the expensive side, but in retrospect, well worth it. It made a big difference staying in really interesting places rather than antiseptic big name hotels that are no different from ones you would find at home.
The other thing that we did that made it more enjoyable for us is to stay outside the major
metropolitan areas. It gives you a better feel for the country. In Tuscany, for example,
we stayed in San Gimignano rather than Florence (Firenze). It was beautiful, quiet and
removed somewhat from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist routes. It was the Fodor's guide that convinced us. We didn't look at the locations first, we selected the most appealing hotel in the general area we were interested in. In our case, the hotels all turned out to be somewhat off the beaten path. Ahhh.
Because I am a somewhat suspicious type, we cross-referenced Fodor to The Guide (Michelin), just to make sure we had chosen wisely. The Guide was also a good reference for tracking down interesting restaurants.
Going to Italy means gaining weight, you must simply accept that. It is REQUIRED that you
eat in at least 2 restaurants of note (as per The Guide) per week during your stay. These
experiences have formed a significant portion of what we remember about the trip.
Italian food is such a big part of the experience that missing out on it means you might as
well visit Italy by reading a book. I think that it makes the difference between just
appreciating Italy and loving Italy.
We bought a few Italian phrase books a couple of months in advance of our trip and spent
some time trying to learn a few basic things. As it turned out, by the time we were there
the few phrases that we had learned set the foundation for us to pick up things very
quickly and were able to communicate with people who spoke only Italian. By the end of our
stay I was quite comfortable speaking Italian (albeit with a very limited vocabulary and
where I began each conversation explaining that I did not speak Italian, but ... ).
If you re planning a trip, one thing to remember is the shoes. Really comfortable shoes. Shoes that are already broken-in. Don't buy new shoes for the trip. Does this sound like someone speaking from a painful experience? Well, yes. I made the critical mistake of buying some really good hiking boots and walking shoes expressly for the trip, but did not have sufficient lead time to break them in beforehand. Mistake. Big mistake. We walked tens of miles every day that we were out and about.
You know, when I began writing this, I didn't think I'd have much to say. But now as I
look back over this note, I guess I did!
Notes on the trip ...
Hi there! Just for my own reference, I thought I'd write some of this stuff down. I
think that it'll be nice to refer back to it in the coming years. I figured that as long as I'm writing this stuff down, I might as well post it here. I've have had some queries on these topics from others who are travelling to Italy and thought that the notes I wrote back to them should be part of this. And so it begins ...