(April 13, 2014) Our day began with a tour of the Uffizi Museum from Context Travel. As usual, our guide was knowledgable and interesting, full of lesser-known facts about everything…

(April 12, 2014) We were up at a good time and able to catch a 9:35 hydrofoil to Naples. A quick taxi to the train station, where we dropped our…

(April 11, 2014) Today was the day I took off. I’d been half-expecting it, and it finally happened. I woke up sore and aching all over, and very very tired,…

(April 10, 2014) Breakfast was a standard buffet — a variety of cold cuts and cheeses, yogurt, pastries, toast, and cereal, It was not memorable, but just what we wanted…

(April 9, 2014) Breakfast was as late as we could get away with, and then across the street into the ruins. Let me just say that if you are interested…

(April 8, 2014) Our original plan had been to take the train to Naples,pick up a car there, and then drive to see Pompeii. After some discussion, we called the…

(April 7, 2014) Sadly, I had a very bad night and hardly slept at all. Moreover, the taxi we thought we’d call to pick us up never showed, so we…

(April 6, 2014) Today we’d planned to spend the day taking the bus out to Villa d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa. Note the past tense? Yeah . . .  our alarm…

(April 5, 2014) This was the one day we *had* to wake up early, and we deliberately planned it for the first day of the trip, figuring that jet lag…

We’ve got pictures we want to upload, but the internet/wi-fi connections have been so slow we haven’t been able to. Hopefully when we get to Florence (today) we’ll have the…