Planning for Italy

It's true--we're going to Italy.  A dear friend has rented a farmhouse in Umbria and invited us to visit so we've decided to do it.  The last (and only other) time we were in Europe was in 1987 after we got married.  We spent a month in Greece and just loved it.  This time we're celebrating my 65th birthday.

Our itinerary includes three days in Florence, a week at the farmhouse, then taking the train to Venice and spending three days there.  Then back to the farmhouse with time to explore some Tuscan hill towns, then by train to Rome for a few days, perhaps Pompeii  and then north through Tuscany to the hiking trails of the five villages of Cinque Terra (pictured above) and then back to Florence for our return flight on 30 June.  Isn't that fantastic?

Our friend Kath is already there and she says the countryside in Umbria is sublime.  It's 90 degrees F there, which is just fine with me.  We've been enjoying temperatures in the low 50s so it will be a nice change.  The trick is packing for heat when it's cool at home.  We're planning to pack light, very light.  We're each going to take just a carry-on bag--that is if we can fit everything in. 

We have arranged for a British Couple to house sit and take care of the dogs and Jamie will be moving into our little downstairs suite.  He's doing well with his walking cast and his job.  In the process of cleaning our house up for the people who will be living here we've realized that there's a big job of getting rid of stuff when we return.  But now it's just getting ready and dreaming of a lovely Italian holiday.  I'm planning to post some photos while we're on our trip if there's easy internet access so you can enjoy the trip with us.

One week from today we'll be on the plane to Frankfurt and then transferring to Florence.  Incredible!