I am an over planner, it’s what I do! When I first decided to go to Italy I started doing the research and with the suggestions that were provided by the travel company we had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to travel. Life got busy and I didn’t get a chance to come back and do the heavy research I typically do before a trip. I think that the fact I traveled Kosovo and Turkey without incident last year made me a little too confident!
Day 1 Red eye Flight to JFK
Arrived early in the morning, checked into the hotel and explored NewYork
Day 2 Started the day exploring JFK and flew red-eye to Milan
Read about our first day in Tuscany
Day 3 Pisa, Lucca & Junicar in Montecatini Terme
Day 4 Sienna & San Gimignano
Day 5 Florence
Walkabout Tuscany Cooking Tour by Viator
Day 6 Florence
Tour Uffizi Gallery, Duomo
Day 7 Cinque de Terre
5 city ferry tour
Drove to Milan for the night
Day 8 Flight from Milan to JFK
with layover and then from JFK home
I am an over planner, it’s what I do! When I first decided to go to Italy I started doing the research and with the suggestions that were provided by the travel company we had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to travel. Life got busy and I didn’t get a chance to come back and do the heavy research I typically do before a trip. I think that the fact I traveled Kosovo and Turkey without incident last year made me a little too confident!
Once again, we took a red eye from JFK to Milan and my body just refused to get any sleep on the plane. I had all of the tricks with me; a blanket, neck pillow, back pillow, sleep medication, eye mask and ear plugs. Never the less, I made it through the entire flight with almost no sleep. The lady next to me decided that turning on the light several times to dig through her purse would be a great way to fly, I strongly disagree with her choice!
They served an average dinner of chicken or tortellini with rolls, crackers, cheese spread and salad. For breakfast we got yogurt with granola topping. Not great but could be worse. We had a rental car (this will require an entire post) we drove almost 4 hours to our hotel and I was falling asleep through most of it. The towns closest to Florence were barren and not much to look at. The further you got into Tuscany the better it got!
Day 1 Red eye Flight to JFK
Arrived early in the morning, checked into the hotel and explored NewYork
Day 2 Started the day exploring JFK and flew red-eye to Milan
Read about our first day in Tuscany
Day 3 Pisa, Lucca & Junicar in Montecatini Terme
Day 4 Sienna & San Gimignano
Day 5 Florence
Walkabout Tuscany Cooking Tour by Viator
Day 6 Florence
Tour Uffizi Gallery, Duomo
Day 7 Cinque de Terre
5 city ferry tour
Drove to Milan for the night
Day 8 Flight from Milan to JFK
with layover and then from JFK home
I am an over planner, it’s what I do! When I first decided to go to Italy I started doing the research and with the suggestions that were provided by the travel company we had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to travel. Life got busy and I didn’t get a chance to come back and do the heavy research I typically do before a trip. I think that the fact I traveled Kosovo and Turkey without incident last year made me a little too confident!
Once again, we took a red eye from JFK to Milan and my body just refused to get any sleep on the plane. I had all of the tricks with me; a blanket, neck pillow, back pillow, sleep medication, eye mask and ear plugs. Never the less, I made it through the entire flight with almost no sleep. The lady next to me decided that turning on the light several times to dig through her purse would be a great way to fly, I strongly disagree with her choice!
They served an average dinner of chicken or tortellini with rolls, crackers, cheese spread and salad. For breakfast we got yogurt with granola topping. Not great but could be worse. We had a rental car (this will require an entire post) we drove almost 4 hours to our hotel and I was falling asleep through most of it. The towns closest to Florence were barren and not much to look at. The further you got into Tuscany the better it got!
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We arrived at the Regina Hotel Montecatini and checked in early. We started out by walking the town and made sure we knew our way around the city. We were under the impression that it was very small. We were wrong! There was a festival and the town square was filled with families. In the early afternoon it is quiet and a most shops are closed. By evening things start to open again and it was a nice safe place to stroll have some pizza, gelato and macchiato.
It was a long travel day but we felt comfortable and excited to start our explorations. Jet Lag is a thing! Holy Moly (I just taught my 3 year old granddaughter to say that) I was tired and grumpy and it was time for bed!
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