Steppesister
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Once Upon a Dream, There was Italy
(There is a Table of Contents Below for Easier Navigation- Post #5)
(There is a Table of Contents Below for Easier Navigation- Post #5)
...the Tuscan Countryside, the history and art of Rome and Florence, the romance of Venice. Wine, gelato, and pizza. Rolling hills, flowered window boxes, bell towers, marble fountains… It calls to me. For years, my heart has dreamed of traveling to this ancient country full of mysteries to behold, people to meet, and adventures to collect.
If you are here as a long-time reader and friend, BENTORNATO!! To those who are new friends just joining me on another Steppe Adventure, Grazie for being here and Benvenuto to you as well!! It’s been a tradition/style of mine for quite a while now to start my Trip Reports a few months or so before traveling in order to lay the groundwork, share my excitement and plans, and create a community of folks who share my passion for travel. I am thrilled to read your comments and stories as this trip unfolds; please don’t be shy to join in! Part of the joy of sharing a Trip Report is the friends you’ll make along the way!
Let me introduce myself for those who are new to me:
My name is Liesa and I live in Oregon. While it’s green and pretty here, the weather sucks just enough for me to want to move soon. There are a hundred other reasons, but this isn’t a political forum. I am single with 5 amazing kids ranging from almost 18 to 29. Holy crap, that makes me feel old. All but 1 live within an hour, but I still feel like I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like. It’s one of the major reasons I am not ready to pack it out of the PNW. I also have 3 beautiful grandbabies that I can't get enough of. Obviously, I love to travel and get out and photograph whatever I come across, but especially Disney. In fact, this trip does indeed have at least 2 Disney-inspired portions. No, there is no Disney park in Italy, and no I’m not going to Paris. But trust me on this. Disney DOES come into play. I adore boardgames, fine dining, and listening to almost any type of music. I love Happy Hour with friends, love my job of being a Recovery Room Nurse, and a clean house. I love fresh sheets, fresh flowers, and fresh air. I love a good Regency Romance novel, dancing, and chocolate chips cookies right out of the oven. At some point I may finish up getting my private pilot’s license, but also have my eye on passing my peri-anesthesia nursing certificate, and am starting to think more seriously about getting my BSN to help me be more marketable when I pull the trigger on moving.
And now, let’s take a journey together to this land of immense beauty and rich culture!
You might be asking how I could be even entertaining the thought of traveling to one of the hardest hit areas during this Covid outbreak. Well, because, Dear Reader, this trip is far older than the virus’ debut into the Human population. Let me take you back to a time when one of my longest-standing DISFriends (I’m looking at you Karilynn! @Malia78 ) asked me to join her on a cruise. In fact, she’s been trying to get me to buddy up with her on a cruise for years. I just didn’t have the interest in most of the itineraries to justify the cost. Until she proposed one that was to sail to Italy and the Greek Isles. I agreed and the more I researched, the more enamored and excited I became. I mapped out walking tours, studied the ports and tours, and learned Greek. I found that only one word was necessary (Ouzo) so stopped after that. Naturally, I tacked on an extra 10 days after the cruise to explore Italy on my own after the 9 nights of sailing.
Then people got sick. A lot of people. And there was much that was unknown, so the world shut down, but most notably Italy.
Trouble is, who could have predicted a worldwide Pandemic that would change the world as we know it for an indeterminate amount of time? Who would have guessed that cheap airfares and thousands of dollars already invested in such a lavish dream-come-true vacation was riding on a microscopic piece of rNA that was poised to take out humanity? After much deliberation I’m sure on the part of our cruise planners, they made the painful decision to cancel our group’s participation. As far as I know that particular sailing on RCL is still going, but our group of 250 will not be on it. At this point, two things happened: 1) I decided, since my airfares, both, are non-refundable and one non-changeable, I would simply move forward with my plans to go to Italy, and 2) Our tour group re-scheduled the cruise changing from RCL to Celebrity for NEXT September. So, in short, a year from September, Kari and I will be sailing to Greece with 2 added ports to Turkey on a cruise that is 2 nights longer with 2 extra ports. But this is not a Trip Report about a cruise; it is one of a massive 3-week whirlwind trip to many areas and cities in Italy amidst the chaos and uncertainty that is our place in time right now. The bonus is that you will also get 2 TRs- one of Italy and one next year of the Greek Isles and Turkey. Huzzah!!
In short, I’m keeping my original flight into Rome on September 13 (arriving the 14th) and coming home on October 4th. It’s long enough to see a very great deal, but not nearly enough, of a country packed full of things to see and do. As a teen, I was privileged enough to get to go during a study-abroad European Tour and it was then I developed a passion for travel, classical art, architecture, and
As of early this week, it was going to be a solo trip with loads of time to wander and meander the back alleys and narrow cobble-stoned streets finding oodles of photo opps on my own terms. That was until I opened my big mouth and encouraged my youngest daughter to join me. Don’t get me wrong, I love her. I try to spend as much time with her as I can during a fragile time in our lives, and want to give her the best last years at home as I can, so naturally, I did my best to talk her into coming with me. Trouble is… she said yes.
So now, what was to be a solo trip, is now a mother-daughter trip. After spending the entire week last week at my parent’s home in Kentucky on a very much-needed vacation after working insane hours during Covid at my two jobs as a nurse, I was all set. I spent basically 10 hours a day for 7 solid days planning walking routes, booking planes, trains, and automobiles and finding AirBnbs and hotels. I read all I could about how to get from place to place. I came up with a 21-day itinerary, looked at prices for museums, e-mailed back and forth with Bed and Breakfast hosts. You name it, I planned it. Sometimes I swear I missed my calling as a Vacation Planner. Then again, if I had to do it as a job, I’d probably hate it.
So, now I had to go back and re-trace all of my steps, book (or at least try to) all of the same flights from beginning to end and everywhere in between, re-look up trains and book those, re-book my AirBnbs with an extra person, buy her a City Pass, etc….. but all of those details are coming as I delve into the trip with more specificity chapter by chapter. Meantime, while I may lose a bit of the carefree nature of this trip that I was looking forward to, I’m also grateful to have this chance to get to spend time with her one-on-one, have someone to help me navigate as I try to drive in a foreign country, and just generally share the excitement with as I travel along. By the way, our agreement is that she will pay for all of her transportation, souvenirs, and food, and I will take care of museums, extra costs for the AirBnb/hotels (nominal), and incidentals up to $500. She is going to ask her dad if he would be willing to help some, and my parents also offered to help a little as well. She has some money set aside for education, and we’ll be using that as, 1) she isn’t even remotely interested or ready for anything after high school right now, and 2) a trip such as I’ve put together is, in my book, about as educational as it gets.
Now, you might be asking: “Is Italy even open yet?!” “Don’t you feel unsafe with Covid traveling?” “Is she nuts?!”
Here are a few answers as I know them. From every source I’ve read, a full 13% of Italy’s economy is from tourism. That’s a lot. They are begging people to come back and enjoy what it has to offer, so much in fact, that Sicily is offering free airfares just to go there. To bad that’s not on my itinerary. Ya win some, ya lose some. The news on the street is that many museums opened already in Mid-May including the Uffizi in Florence and on Monday a good many more, especially the popular sites such as the Colosseum, will open. That is good news for me. There continues to be a mandatory 14-day quarantine in place for anyone arriving from international origins except the EU, but with tourist sites opening I am banking on that mandate quickly disappearing after a phase of watching Covid numbers with European travelers who will be the first to be excused from the quarantine rules. Given there are 3 ½ months before travel, I can’t imagine that still being in place. I will however be careful to note any mandatory quarantines for my work as I return. That, my friends, may be the ultimate deal-breaker.
Do I feel unsafe? The answer is a resounding no. Some may call me cavalier. Others may deem me reckless. I feel I have enough information to know my risk both to myself and others, I know as a professional healthcare worker how to mitigate my liability and am very comfortable traveling. My health is my own responsibility to care for and coupled with both my own personal attention to prevention and those that are put into place by mandates of airlines, restaurants, hotels, etc… I feel no qualms whatsoever.
Am I nuts? Heh, that is not for me to judge.
Now back to the Who… (no, I’m not a pinball wizard)
Literally 2 days after I got everything all booked for my daughter Anara, I got a text from Kari. Her flights ended up being non-refundable as well. “How are your September plans coming? I might be stuck with my airplane tickets.”
“Going great! Anara is coming. Wanna join?”
“It’s a possibility.”
After a phone conversation yesterday, she will start looking into how her flights might get refunded. If that’s not possible, she will start pricing things out as I have them planned and see if this trip would work for her. So, this may turn into a girls’ trip after all! That’s up in the air as of today, so stay tuned for more on the Who. (I recommend Behind Blue Eyes)
I think to keep clarity with things moving forward in this trip planning phase, I’ll keep things chronological which breaks from my usual TR style. Some of you are already saying, “Thank God!” You know who you are. But if there was one chapter for an entire day, the chapters would be pages long. There is just so much packed into each day that I’ll take it in chunks. Obviously, I don’t have any photos, so you’re stuck with the (much better) stock photos that the internet so graciously provides for me to pilfer for your viewing pleasure. Interspersed, I’ll share my planning successes, frustrations, insights, and tips. I sure hope that those who’ve been before will share your own insights to any obvious planning flub-ups as well.
Coming up: The best way to get there is to fly
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I am just not sure. I'd imagine EU travelers will be back but since it's September combined with Covid, you may be right. I am hoping for some elbow room.
