Friday

Sally and I left very early on Friday. We drove our car to the FlyAway in Van Nuys and took the bus to LAX. The FlyAway and been completely remodeled and is much better than it used to be. When we got to LAX we ate some Mexican food. We thought they wouldn't serve food on the flight because it was leaving so early in the morning (we were wrong, they feed us a bunch of times). The flight was uneventful. We had to transfer planes in Paris. We needed to take a bus to terminal F and there was some confusion because the bus was parked far up the road from where the signs indicated that the bus would stop. We almost missed the bus and had to run to catch it. We took a small jet to Florence. When we arrived in Florence we thought about taking the bus but decided on taking a cab. This turned out to be the right decision because it was late at night and we wouldn't have found the hotel or a cab after we got off the bus.

Saturday

This was a very short trip to Italy, 2 1/2 days in Florence and 2 1/2 days in Rome. Given that we had so little time we did a lot of planning before the trip. My guide books stated that we would need reservations for the Accademia and the Uffizi. I had made a reservation for the Accademia at 10 am on Saturday and one for the Uffizi on Sunday. On Saturday I planned to visit the Museum of San Marco first, then the Galleria dell'Accademia with The David and then after lunch to see the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Medici Chapel. If we had any extra time we would try to do some other things.

Sally and I woke up pretty early in the morning and were off before 9am. Florence is very small and we walked to San Marco, but we arrived before it opened. We decided to walk down the street to the Accademia and see if we could get in early. The Accademia was empty. We didn't need reservations at all. At one point Sally walked off into another room and I was the only person in the room with the David. From what I understand it is usually packed. This is one of the reasons why Sally and I enjoy taking a vacation in the winter. You can really avoid the crowds in January and February.

Sunday

On Sunday we were ahead of schedule. Two of the museums that we wanted to see were closed, so after we had gone to the Museo del Bargello we needed to decide what to do next. Half the fun of Florence is wandering around all of the little streets and exploring the little shops. The weather wasn't that great, Sally and I don't like shopping that much and it looked like a number of shops were closed. We decided to take the train to Siena which many of the guide books said was very beautiful.

Monday

Monday was a split day, we got to spend half of it in Florence and half in Rome, with a 3 1/2 hour train ride in between. Sally and I decided to leave Florence early and head for Rome. We caught the 9:53 train to Rome. I traded in my tickets to Rome on the slow train for tickets on the EuroStar (total 24 Euro), which cut the time to Rome by an hour and ½. The ticket agent confused me. She told me that she had upgraded us to first class, which wasn't true. When we got to the train we walked all the way to the end of the train to find the first class compartment. The train was getting ready to leave (or so we thought) so we got on and then dragged our baggage through the train (which is difficult) to the first class area. There we discovered that we had 2nd class tickets and had to go up 10 cars. It was a real hassle trying to get our luggage through the train. Next time I have to do a lot of train travel I will bring a smaller suitcase. Of course, the tickets did of the car number printed on them, but in our haste to catch the leaving train we didn't look at them carefully. The train ride was uneventful. Sally slept most of the way, but she said it was the most comfortable train she had ever been in (and lately we have done a lot of train travel in Europe). Along the way we passed many snow-covered fields. At one point we went through a tunnel and when we came out there was no snow.

When we arrived in Rome the weather was beautiful. It was warm and sunny. We had reservations to see the Colosseum on Tuesday, but by now we knew that we didn't need reservations. We decided to see all as many of the outdoor things as possible on Monday. This was the right decision because the rest of the days were colder and cloudier.

Tuesday

We were way ahead of schedule on Tuesday so we decided to spend the bulk of the day at the Vatican. Two of the Vatican museums were closed and we still spent almost the entire day there. Afterwards we went to the Pantheon and then walked to Piazza Navana and to the Trevi Fountain. That night we went to the Santa Maria del Popolo church and had our most expensive meal near the Spanish Steps (about 85 euros).

Wednesday

This was our last day in Italy. We had reservations for the Galleria Borghese in the afternoon and this was the only reservation that we absolutely needed. We went to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in the morning. The museum was fantastic, but since it was relatively close the Galleria Borghese we should have visited it later in the day. After we went to the oldest church in Rome, San Clemente. It was closed in the middle of the afternoon, so we got some lunch and then went to see the church. By the time we finished with the church we really needed to get to the other side of Rome quickly to make our appointment for the Galleria Borghese so we took a cab there. I think the Galleria Borghese was my favorite place of the entire trip.