Italy Beckons

[Turfman]

After many years of family vacations, adopting three children in four years which doubled the number of children in the house and numerous foster kids (three right now) the wife and I are heading for a much needed vacation to Italy. We leave in two and a half weeks. We currently have seven children home with us and five of them are 10 and under (smallest is 4 months). We are ready for a vacation. Two weeks in Italy, Spain and France.

Needless to say, I’ll be watching for a chance to take a few pictures of tractors there and will post any I get that are worthwhile. Hope you guys can make it two weeks without me /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif. I’ll have a lot of posts to catch up on upon my return.

 

[RoyJackson]

Sounds like a really cool trip you've planned!!!

I was stationed in Italy for two years ('74 to '76) while in the Navy. It's a great place to visit!! If you don't have a Eurorail pass yet, you might want to look into getting one for each member of your party.

In Italy, make sure you get to Florence (Firenza, as the Italians call it). This is the prettiest city in the world, in my opinion, If you get to Naples (that's were I was stationed), see the Herculeneum (probably spelled that wrong). as well as Pompei. Venice, however, was dissappointing...dirty city. Glassware is a bargain there, however.

In Spain, try to go to Barcelona, another lovely city...beautiful churches!

When I was there, each country had it's own currency (pesos in Spain, Lira in Italy). Although the Euro makes life easier for tourists, I'm kind of sorry to see the end of the individual currencies.

Two weeks is a great vacation, but not enough time to see all the wonderful sites in Europe. I wish you the best and hope your family enjoys the trip!!

You'll be seeing military personnel at the airports and train stations. They carry automatic weapons (this has been common for 20-30 years. All airports are under the jurisdiction of the military services in Italy.
By the way, watch for purse snatchers in Italy. They'll be on motor scooters. Little buggers are fast!! Also, don't be offended if your wife gets pinched on the behind! That's also a common thing in Italy!!

 

[JATO_RaT]

Wow, you lead an interesting life to say the least. My sister just got back from Italy this week. She likes it more then any other European country. My father was there back in 44 and 45 but for reasons other then site seeing as he was dropping bombs from his B24 on various targets throughout Italy and Poland. Have a wonderful time, I believe you deserve it. Rat...

 

[Thomas]

Sounds like a grand time and do enjoy..we shall be waiting for your return! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[looch]

Cool. My father is from Florence. I've visited there 4 times - once when I was 17 for 2 months in the summer. We stayed in Florence for a week, then spent about a month in Livorno, took a short trip to Isola D'Elba for a week, then finished up with a trip to the Dolomites. My parents go at least every 2 years. They've found the most economical thing is to fly to Nice, then drive along the sea side.

I hope you and your wife enjoy yourselves, it sounds like you deserve a good vacation.

 

[DavidInNH]

<font color=blue>If you don't have a Eurorail pass yet, you might want to look into getting one for each member of your party.</font color=blue>

If you get Eurorail passes, buy then in the US, they are cheaper. (at least they used to be).

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Turfman,

Boy, do I envy you! I went to high school in Italy. Talk about a wonderful place. Used to skip school and wander around the local markets - fish, vegetables, fruit - where I sampled the wares - nothing like a slab of fresh mozzarella di bufala on a loaf of crusty bread with maybe a little olive oil or coarse black pepper. I thought Venice was stunning, Florence was spectacular, as was Rome, and Naples was, well, Naples. Ah, bella Napoli! And you're going to France and Spain, too! Have a fun and safe trip!

 

[dourobob]

Ah ... memories of Firenza. My wife's mothere's family is from Italy and back in '88 we visited for the second time.

A heads up - some places in Italy close for two or three hours around noon - kind of an Italian siesta. We got caught in the change from daylight saving time and showed up at 10:45 a.m to pick up our rental car - the clocks had gone ahead and it was really 11:45 and the shop was closed from 11:00 until 3:00. Firenza is a nice place to wander around but we had relatives expecting us and we ended up 6 hours late, trying to find our way to a rural destination in the dark - the kind of experience that makes memories.

Have a wonderful time. Sounds like you and your wife really deserve it.

Ciao

Bob