Italy: Putting Together an Itinerary

The flights were booked and housing was determined. At this point we had the bare bones of an itinerary: 5 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Chianti region, 3 nights in Florence, and 4 nights in Venice. 

Now... what to do to fill the days? To figure this out it has taken days, hours, dozens of websites and blogs, and a Rick Steves guidebook. 

I had no idea how intricate planning each day would be. It's not like this was our first trip. But actually, it's the first one requiring multiple location changes in a different country. The trip to the Bahamas we stayed on a cruise ship, and in Cancun we stayed in a timeshare. So cheers to us, on our first completely independent vacation.

What makes it so complicated? It's a like a huge puzzle, where the pieces include: 

• Bucket list: The advice of so many travelers is to ditch the list and use your instincts to take you from one place to another. However, with such a financial investment I find I must ensure I create some sort of idea of what to do so as to not waste time. Again, this is probably going against Italian culture to plan to the point of placing "Get lost in Venice" in an itinerary but e' la vita. 
• Rome: 
• Ancient: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon
• South: Trastevere, Appian Way, Catacombs
• North: Borghese , Spanish steps, Trevi fountain
• Vatican City: Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica
• Chianti region:
• Wine tour, ride a Vespa along the hills
• Florence:
• Accademia (+David), Duomo, Bargello, Ufffizi
• Venice:
• Cruise along Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge, St. Mark's Square + Basilica, Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs, Murano island (glass making!)
• Transportation: According to Google maps, this trip is going to be nothing short of exhausting. We'll be getting from city to city by train. It was originally an automatic assumption we would use the Italy Eurail pass, which is $195 for 3 rides within 2 months. Using www.raileurope.com we discovered that a train from Rome --> Florence, Florence --> Venice was only ~$120. Money saving at its finest! Rome is quite large, and there are also metro and buses that can take you to different sites. I'm assuming there will be plenty of walking, however. Florence seems very walkable though. And Venice, you have water travel. 
• Entrance passes: The main culprit of the puzzle. Rome, Florence, and Venice have unique 72-hour passes that took a lot of research to be sure it was worth the cost AND arrange things covered by the passes within an itinerary that has more than 72 hours in each place. 
• Rome: Roma Pass (€30) - FREE entry to the first 2 sites, and DISCOUNTED thereafter. 
• Major advantage: SKIP THE LINE to all places and free public transportation.
• Florence: Firenze Card (€50) - FREE entry to ALL sites covered. 
• Major advantage: SKIP THE LINE to all places and free public transportation.
• Venice: Vaporetto Pass (€18 if you are <30 years old when you also by a Rolling Venice card for €4) - Unlimited vaporetto rides! Normally €7 per ride, and if >30 years old is €18/2 hours, €20/24 hours, €25/36 hours, €30/48 hours, €35/72 hours. Even if you are >30 years old, the vaporetto pass can pay for itself quickly with a day + night joyrides, to and from hotel, trip to lagoon, to train station, and when you don't want to walk anymore! 
• Major DISadvantage: Unfortunately nothing in Venice provides discounts to sites
• Downtime: Still trying to figure this one out... like will it exist?!

Once we've actually done the trip, I'll do a before/after comparison of what I've planned versus what actually happened! There's much more on the itinerary than from my Bucket List that have been added based on research. 

A little preview of our plan for a day in Ancient Rome:

Next up: Travel Essentials (Part 1)

Summer travels: Puerto Rico

Before I go on another trip, I figure I would write about the last trip I did with my family and Errol to Puerto Rico. We flew Spirit Airlines (Warning: NEVER FLY THIS!), which was quite a debacle trying to make weight with our luggage. But we made it into San Juan and met up with Dad's students. Every other summer, he teachers a coral reef ecology course, and this was his third one. 

San Juan is a beautiful, history city. It still has the cobble stone streets and colorful colonial buildings. We stayed there overnight, and Errol and I joined the students with a night on the town in San Juan. 

After San Juan, it was off to La Parguera where we would spend the majority of the trip. La Parguera is the town where Dad's course is, where my parents had their first start as a married couple, and where I was conceived. It's a small town where everywhere is walkable, making it very convenient. The university is on a small island that you take a boat to, and the place has tons of iguanas! 

We stayed at Villa Parguera, which had very basic rooms but had amazing views from the pool area. My sister and I went to the pool pretty much every day.

View of the ocean from our hotel. 

It was perfect timing when we joined my Dad in Puerto Rico, because the next day was Father's Day! We had delicious seafood at La Casita.

Errol was able to go scuba diving with Dad's class at "The Wall". It's a 100-foot dive with a wall of coral. I describe it as if I did it, but I can only live vicariously through the amazing pictures and videos that Errol took.

Errol got to dive, but my sister and I were able to go snorkeling a few times! A couple of Dad's students took us around and were finding things for us like starfish and sea pearls.

The one thing I would recommend everyone to do while in Puerto Rico is swimming in the Bio Bay. It's a bay that has phosphorescent diatoms, and when you flick the water they illuminate. It's an amazing experience, like swimming in space and touch stardust. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the boat, but you can just imagine it. Again, the timing was perfect because we were able to do this during a new moon!

We also joined Dad's students to an island to spend the day snorkeling again.  Some of his students went spear fishing, and even Errol got to try! We saw sea slugs, star fish, sea cucumbers, baby fish, and even some barracuda!

Another excursion was a trip to Cabo Rojo to show Errol and once again see the majestic cliffs over the ocean. The beach is a cape that makes you feel like it's your own personal paradise.

On the final day, we went to Aguadilla, a town near the airport that Dad's students flew in/out of. One of his students' house is there, and it is truly paradise. It's on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and has beautiful landscape in the front yard as well. We were treated to a delicious last breakfast. 

Puerto Rico is a wonderful place to visit. I would allocate a minimum of a week to explore all it has to offer. The island has mountains, plains, oceans, rain forests, caves, and so much more! AND you don't even need a passport because it is a US territory. I can't wait to visit again; Errol and I are thinking of going again next summer to stay with one of Dad's old students who are getting their PhD's at the university. They live in Rincon, which is one of the places we didn't get to explore. But apparently there are turtles off the beach! Definitely on my bucket list for next time! 

Catch-Up: Spring Break in Cancun

Spring semester was so busy that I never got to post about my first big spring break trip! So now that I have some time to relax, it's time to catch up!

Errol's family has a time share in Cancun, Mexico, and ever since we met we talked about the possibility of going there someday for spring break. Only took us 4 years, but we finally did it! And it was definitely worth the wait! 

We had been on numerous trips together around the country, but this was our first international flight (our first international vacation was the cruise to the Bahamas in 2010). It was still relatively chilly in March up here in Chapel Hill, and the stores don't have a pool section to buy snorkeling gear. But I managed to find a new bathingsuit at Target and some other beach-y outfits.

It took a few breaths to get used to the heat and humidity as we exited the Cancun airport. But alas, my skin was happily absorbing the Vitamin D and my melanocytes began to awaken from their hibernation. After a few speed bumps, we made it via shuttle to the timeshare: Club Regina!

The time share was great, with a private entrance to the beach, awesome pool bar, and a delicious restaurant.

Sites of Club Regina beach and pool

Inside, there is a master bedroom, kitchen, living room, and patio fully equipped with a jacuzzi and a hammock. Our suite faced the absolutely beautiful Cancun sunsets, which we watched with margaritas and Coronas almost every night.

Sunset view from the patio

During one of our walking excursions, we went to La Parrilla, a Mexican grill with traditional dishes. We even got complimentary margaritas! Also, Senor Frogs style, we got tall drinks.

Errol's parents suggested that we go to Xel-Ha, an all-inclusive day in paradise. It's a natural park where we had the day to snorkel, eat all you want, drink all you want, bike, zip-line, lay out on the hammock, and more. Of all the excursions we did, I would definitely go here again! 

Views from Xel-Ha 

Another excursion we did was a trip to Chichen-Itza, which was the main cultural part of the trip. This was one of my bucket list items to see in my lifetime! It was a couple of hours away, so we went with a tour on a bus. On the way, the tour guide took us to see locals making obsidian figures and hammocks. Obsidian is a very important stone for the Mayans, and we learned all about the meaning. On the top left corner of the image, you can see that without light, obsidian is black, but when the light hits it right, it shines gold!

The tour guide told us all about Chichen Itza and the vast city that was once there. My favorite fact about this monument is that each side has 91 steps, with one more step to the top. That makes the total number of steps 365, the number of days in our calendar year!

The day we went was a special one, with a full moon. So our tour included a second trip to Chichen Itza after dinner where we got to witness a light show under the moonlight.

Full moon over Chichen Itza

Our third excursion was a day spent snorkeling in the ocean with a group. I haven't gotten the camera developed yet (much to Errol's dismay), but it was my first open ocean snorkeling. It was exciting! We even met some guys who had just graduated from University of Central Florida and hung out with them! Must have been a sign of things to come for Errol, who is starting medical school there next month.

Errol and my first international vacation was definitely an amazing one. Cancun, despite it's rampant tourism, has a lot of culture and a unique vibe that makes it a wonderful vacation hotspot.

Hopefully the next international vacation will be in Europe! 

Summer travels: Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville, NC

One of the many travels Errol and I did in the month of June was a final trip to Asheville, NC. This was my second trip since moving to North Carolina, and Errol's fourth(!).

The trip in the fall was to see the beautiful leaves changing colors and the Biltmore Estate with Christmas decorations. This time, it was to see the amazing greenery along the Blue Ridge Mountains.

It was a 3-hour drive, and the first time my car experienced true altitudes and angles. I may need to get my breaks checked after this trip...

We stayed overnight in a Best Western and first took a stroll around downtown. The streets are full of local restaurants, bars, and shops. Each one different from the next. It would take weeks to completely experience each one.

But I found the most amazing place... The Gourmet Chip! It was filled with so many fancy style potato chips, plantain chips, and more! 

"The Italiano"

On the second day, we drove up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway, up to the top of Mount Mitchell. The views were breathtaking, and the landscape just as amazing.

One of the short trails we walked along the mountains

Another view of the trails

Found a beautiful place to have lunch

Beautiful sites

The final walk up to the top

View from 6,684 feet!

Errol says he definitely wants to come again on one of his trips to visit North Carolina. Can't wait!