Buon viaggio

19 April 2009- I have only been home for 6 hours and already craving a cappuccino. Now I know I can get one in Paris but they cost a lot and just aren't as good. This was the best one on the trip. Venice at the La Piscina Caffe. Came with glasses of water and a cookie too. No extra charge. A bit higher priced than the other cap's drunk in Italy but the best one. Still cheaper than the Paris ones that one old guy on our street will not serve you past lunchtime. More on him in another Paris rant post.
I am still wading through all the pictures. 884 was the total and that was because we forced ourselves to delete the bad ones right off. We even had a sit down with a pint (of course, I did go on vacation with Chad) and killed off all the blurry ones and my unfortunate "taken while driving pictures."

Yes this is of course Italy. Sheets and drawers hanging in the wind. I even have a picture of an old lady hanging hers out. I will have you all know that I too became an official Italian woman on this trip. Managed to do the laundry in the hotel sink and found a drying rack in my bag.

Ten days in mostly northern Italy was enough to scratch the surface. We both loved Florence but we are already planning our return trip to the Cinque Terre. More on that in subsequent posts. Driving in Italy "wasn't horrible, good thing for GPS" says Chad. Keep in mind we didn't drive around these cities. Just to them for a good parking spot then for a good walk. We didn't even try a car in Venice, left it at the train station in Milan.

I had a good thing happen before I even left the apartment. I was ready at least 90 minutes ahead of my allotted time before I needed to catch the train to the airport. I called a friend to see if she was up for a coffee. Good thing she wasn't available. Turns out the trains were "perturbed" and no train traffic was going north. But the airport bus was totally functional. While on the bus, there was this crazy lady. I know, when is there not a crazy lady on the bus? Crazy lady, little black dog and she kept blocking the doors at the airport stops. More on her later.

I had enough time to check-in, if only the people were intelligent ahead of me in line. Finally time came close and the airline asked for all Milan customers. I pushed ahead like any European at that point. Got off in a cloudy Milan Malpensa airport. I turned on my cell phone and got my confirmation I had arrived in Italy. The most recognizable feature of Europe (besides that Eiffel Iron thinga-ma-bob in France) the Leaning Tower of Pisa appeared on my phone. Chad, our rented Lancia Delta car and the aforementioned GPS showed up and we promptly started paying tolls on the autostrada to get to Genoa/Genova as soon as possible.

To be continued after a full night's sleep.