An Adventure in Italy, Disney-Style; Part Three

We toured St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums on our third day followed by a festive lunch of antipasto and saltimbocca. The group was getting livelier, and the children had paired off in natural age groups having the time of their lives. Parents were able to listen to the guide without interruption when the “Junior Adventurers” were given their own talk prior to entering the Sistine Chapel. And of course we all were wowed with the famous site of Michaelangelo’s most famous work of art.

Traveling in off-season has its benefits. While the weather was a cold, it was sunny and the winter light was spectacular. You could actually move without someone’s elbow in your ear at the Sistine Chapel, and some of the lesser-known museums were so quiet I could hear the floor creaking beneath my feet.

On our last night in Rome we wandered the enchanting back streets near the Piazza Navona and decided to have a drink before dinner at a fun and festive trattoria. Then we couldn’t resist just a little something to go along with the wine and ordered appetizers of grilled artichoke and the local specialty of filetti de baccala, fried cod. But the pasta looked so amazing we just said “what the heck” and went for a complete dinner. Loved every minute of it. What a perfect ending to a fabulous three days. But the topper was spotting hundreds of Santas rollerblading down the Italian flag-lit Via Corso on our way back to the hotel. We couldn’t believe our eyes!

The morning of the 4th day we headed off to Umbria and Tuscany. Setting luggage outside our room, having it picked up during breakfast, and then taken to the bus with not even a thought about it until our arrival in Florence that evening seemed to be something of a miracle. My usual modus operandi was to lug it off to the station, figure out the schedule to the next destination, drag myself down the platform, and hope for the strength of Hercules to get if up and into the train. What, I ask myself now, was I trying to prove all those years of doing it on my own?

And I’m still in shock that the pace is just about the same as what I would have set for myself. Except for one early 7:45 AM morning we have yet to depart before 8:30 A.M. This, my strongest argument against a group tour, has been shot down in a matter of days.

Orvieto was a charmer and a lunch of wild boar pasta (a local specialty) with a glass of dry Orvieto white wine was perfect. It’s a picture-postcard town and once again the streets were almost empty. But shops were open and welcoming. Our favorite stop was an amazing cheese and meat shop where wild boar was featured in every fashion…wild boar prosciutto, wild boar salami, wild boar truffled sausage…the list went on and on. So a slab of pecorino cheese and truffled sausages went with us to Florence. Just need to pick up a nice bottle of Tuscan red and gourmet crackers for a feast in our room one evening.

The only aspect of this trip that I’m a bit stuck on are the hotels. Our hotel in Florence was an A-plus location just off the Pizza Signorina with a charming lobby and lounge area. But I swear our room was the size of a large closet. More updated and fresher than the one in Rome, but half the size. When we requested larger accommodations the staff quickly moved us, but to one that wasn’t more than 50 square feet larger. In truth, however, most of the other travelers in the group described their room as huge so thankfully this wasn’t the norm for everyone else.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I’m looking forward to the sights in Florence.