by Jeff Drake | Nov 19, 2017 | Travel
It seems silly now to repeat the refrain about how much I love Italy, but I can’t seem to help it. I really do… love Italy, that is. I could find reasons not to love Italy, if I looked hard enough, In 2009, for example, our first visit to Tuscany resulted...
by Jeff Drake | Nov 19, 2017 | Travel
Our last full-day in Sestri Levante! Thanks to the advice of our hotel manager, Santos, we adjusted our plans today to take a boat ride from the southernmost Cinque Terre town, Riomaggiore, to Portovenere. This spot is only reachable from the north by boat or a 4+hour...
by Jeff Drake | Nov 19, 2017 | Travel
Just a tidbit… We’ve managed to dodge a couple of bullets during our journey so far! First, like Italy-rookies (ugh), we forgot to validate our train tickets before boarding the train in Sestri Levante! Validating is required for any non-reservation train...
by Jeff Drake | Nov 19, 2017 | Travel
Today we visited Florence, Italy. For Lisa and I this was a “revisit”, as we were here in 2009. At that time, Florence threw me for a loop. It was my own fault, as I had serious misperceptions as to what I would find in Florence. In 2009, I had just...
by Jeff Drake | Nov 19, 2017 | Uncategorized
I realize I have been remiss in daily postings. I’m new at this, so there is a bit of a learning curve. I am finding that a daily schedule that begins at breakfast and last till bedtime makes it difficult to find time to just sit and write. I’m not...
by Jeff Drake | Nov 19, 2017 | Uncategorized
We arrived in San Gimignano yesterday (10-5). It was my first experience driving since we were last in Italy (2009) and I got rear-ended by a teenager on a motorcycle. No problems this time! Getting around was easy, for the most part. I have to say though, that having...
by Jeff Drake | Oct 29, 2017 | Uncategorized
Post-trip Reflections and Lessons Learned Wow, time is flying! We’ve been home two weeks already! Lisa and I managed to pick up head colds prior to the end of our trip, which, when combined with some rather tedious and tiring jet lag, made our travel recovery a...
