5 weeks in Italy

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, dolce e sale, including honey straight from the comb, we headed to the train station for a daytrip to Ravenna , a UNESCO World Heritage site with some of the best mosaics you will ever see.                                                        The trip there was an adventure itself, we missed the direct train by about 4 minutes so we caught the next available, which required a change in Faenza.  Not a big deal, except when the first leg is late, then you miss the connecting bus. So we're standing in the parking lot of the train station, next bus in 2 hours, contemplating our next move. I hear a couple speaking English by the cab stand to we approached and agreed to bite the bullet and split a cab, 65 Euro, and off we went.  Chris and Regina were quite the couple, well traveled a...

We spend our day meandering around Bologna with little agenda as intended.  We picked up a couple 30 day SIM cards, unlimited data, for 32 Euro.  Good deal, works fine in my lady's phone but not mine.  Both iPhones purchased from Amazon, mine not as advertised.  Such is life, I will do without, there's no way I'm spending more money on my dang phone. Where is Bologna you ask? So we traversed the city just looking, the differences abound between a medieval European city and an American town.  The old buildings with the architectural detail of craftsman is so interesting to see, so many just take it for granted.  Near our hotel we stopped to check out the one of the canals and naturally my wife the teacher found herself surrounded by a field trip.  Never fails.  But wait, this isn't Venice......canals in Bologna?  Yes, about 60km worth of canals began long ago (12th century) and were used for the silk industry among other...

My lady is a trooper, she went to urgent care Saturday morning before we left America and was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection.  They gave her drugs and said have fun, so we were off, not many other options. We left the house at about 2pm Saturday EST and arrived in Bologna at 5:30pm Sunday.  Long day of travel. When we bought the tickets we wanted to ensure direct into Italy, Rome or Milan, as our first stop was Bologna.  We searched tickets and airlines through numerous cities in the US, Atlanta, Detroit, DC, NYC, Boston, but ended up flying Air Canada through Toronto.  The price, the timing and the fact that we were same airline for both legs, in case of delays or baggage, were the selling points. I think I slept for a couple hours on the flight across the Atlantic, its always a tough go when people are talking, the seat belt light dings on and off, the announcements, but it is a must to ensure you can hit the ground and function on landing. ...

Had a nice last day in the office, attended a speech by former Navy SEAL Jon Sanchez.  He's a patriot and a hell of a speaker who talked about leadership and how to stay focused and motivated in the most challenging of times.  Team Performance Institute    Enjoyed a nice lunch with my friend, picked up some Euros I ordered before traveling, it makes the arrival in Rome easier for a coffee and train tickets.  I also bid farewell to a retiring colleague who will be missed not only by me but by our organization, the Goddess of Demand is hanging up her crown.  And luckily I crossed paths with a friend as I was departing for the day, she quizzed me, wished me safe travels and expects pictures. 😁 I will do my best and wish you a wonderful summer bella! Planning for this trip has been some of the most fun, getting to dig into the history and the country, to find those often overlooked places that strike a chord.  Planning has taken on many phases, from on...

The countdown has officially begun, we're under a week until we arrive in  Italy for 5 weeks of fun and relaxation.  Our adventure has been in the works for about 18-months now, researching and planning, reading several guidebooks and surfing the web, all the while ensuring we leave whitespace on the calendar for lots of time on the lidos of Sicila , for getting lost, and for drinking granitas. This isn't our first extended vacation but might be our most anticipated.  We've booked a variety of places off the normal Italy path:  Bologna , Sicily and the surrounding  Egadi  and Aeolian islands. We've travelled the country before, living there for a couple years while I was a young US Army Soldier , there's just so much more to see.  We expect to take only one or two official tours, I gotta see those wheels of parmigiano reggiano, so that will require "official" help, but otherwise we are flying "duo".  My wonderful wife of 27 years Kathie a...