Well, we are getting closer to the time we leave for Italy again. This time we depart the Saturday before Easter. A little early in the year, sure, but it should insure we are some steps ahead of the annual crowds of tourists, although when you think about it, we are tourists ourselves. I can’t say that the Euro-Dollar exchange rate is inviting though. At 1€ per $1.33 I now know what it must feel like for all those Canadians who come to the States.
By nature, I am a maker of lists and a planner and now with a place of our own in Calitri, my lists ‘runith over’. I have lists on the items we need to buy for ‘Casa della Feritioa’, house matters we need to attend to while there, lists of area restaurants and wineries to investigate, places to shop for various odds and ends, questions I’d like answers to, ‘Via Michelin’ maps/directions to a number of places in the hope we won’t get lost, lists of things to remember to bring with us, even an accounting of the items we will take with us for the apartment just in case customs asks. Whew, and there are more! Invariably, although I try, there is always something I’ll forget, but I start early. That’s one of the nice things about traveling – the anticipation long before you leave!
We leave directly from Boston this time with a plane change in Paris and then on to Marco Polo Airport in Venice, our first sojourn. We are flying Air France. This will be our first trip on AF. Unfortunately, we will not be first class passengers this time so I doubt we’ll get to sample their French wines! One other concern is the Charles de Gaulle Airport and its lost baggage reputation. I’ll be sure to report on that experience. With over three hours layover, you’d think that would be enough time to move some bags on the same carrier.
The reason we are going to Venice and not Calitri right off is because we are going to be guides for my sister and her husband who have never been to Italy. We are starting at the top and working our way southward. It should be great fun for all of us, the guides and the novitiates. Really not much better than the blind leading the blind though!
We enjoyed only a day trip to Venice by train once before so with four nights to look forward to we will all get to see it together after nightfall and inhale its romantic atmosphere. We will be staying in the Dorsoduro district close by the Accademia Bridge. Its location is almost a secret to us because it lies in an alleyway not much wider than a yardstick. Real estate in Venice mustn’t come cheap! It will be an interesting adventure to find it, I’m sure. It kind of goes well with an Easter egg hunt theme since it will be Pasque when we arrive! I can just see us now, rolling our suitcases (many of them) down that narrow calle. Finding it will definitely be the trick.
From Venice, we will take the train to Florence. We plan to stay there ‘two days and a wake-up’ before moving on. We will be very centrally located, just a short distance from Piazza della Signoria. It should be fun walking the inner city in the days to follow. On past day-trips to Florence by train, we were limited by time and had specific visit objectives in mind. This time, we can roam and take time to enjoy this city of beauty and art.
At this point we will say goodbye to the big metropolises and drive south into the heartland of Tuscany. We will first, however, stop at IKEA on the outskirts of Florence and see what we can find from our list of things we need for Calitri – did I mention that means just about everything! The van we’ll have should just about be ‘spill over full’ by this time. Our next destination will be Chiusi in southern Tuscany just off the A-1 Autostrada. We have a closely held, special place there in the countryside not far from Lake Trasimino. Two attached and beautifully modern Tuscan cottages await us. We will use this as a base camp of sorts to explore further into Tuscany and Umbria over the next few days.
The next and final leg of our upcoming adventure will be in Calitri. It will be a long drive to get there when we do leave Chiusi but I know that by then we will be leaning far forward in our seatbelts in anticipation of arriving, and as new homeowners, getting our keys and walking into our home for the first time. Think I should carry Maria Elena over the 1875 threshold? Unfortunately, we will have to bypass Roma but two out of the 'big three' isn’t bad for first timers! This will definitely be compensated for by the many out of the way side adventures we will undoubtedly experience. It will also be fun to unpack all our purchases and set up the place, something my wife and sorella have been looking forward to.
In preparation for the trip, just last night we started to pack. Yes, it is early. We have been accumulating items for the apartment and wanted to see how much baggage space they would take. We had hoped to use only one extra suitcase, but no joy there. Using ‘space bags’, which let you suck out the air and really compress soft things, we got all the apartment cloth items (towels, sheets, etc) into one small suitcase. In another, we placed all the metal objects such as things for the kitchen. I was concerned that if someone scanned the space bag piece of luggage, got curious about something and pulled it for physical inspection, they might open one of the space bags. If this happens I doubt that afterwards everything would fit back into that suitcase again. To reduce the likelihood of this occurring, we repacked things to remove all the metal items from the space bag suitcase. Now a second ‘apartment suitcase’ has all the metal items. They can have fun with that one because if scanned, it will definitely show one heck of a metal blob!
Wish us luck.
Paolo