In one month classes and finals will be finished and I'll have 5-6 weeks to work on my online summer school class, start working on my actual sabbatical projects, and, most importantly, begin obsessing about what to pack for Italy.
Rick Steves' website (http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/tips_menu.htm) has lots of advice on what to pack and packing light. And I think I can manage packing as if going away for 5 days rather than nearly 30 days. My problem is choosing which 2 shirts, 2 pants, 2 shoes, 1 skirt, etc to bring!
Right now I'm looking for the following--if anyone has any advice please post a comment:
1. black capris (washable, comfortable, wrinkle free, slimming but not too tight, for hiking and for dining)
2. a shoulder bag (yes, I have a day pack, but I'd rather not look too much like a tourist while we are walking around cities, so a should bag that looks nice enough for a dinner in Florence, but not too nice that I can't walk for hours with it).
3. a travel vest, very lightweight, but with internal zippered pockets to hold essentials. Must be black or dark colored and not look like I'm going flyfishing....
I THINK I have good shoe options with my dressy and casual Keens (and Teva sandals, though I'm aware that is one extra pair of shoes I may not want to carry)....
More on packing obsessions in April (unless I find the perfect item first!)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Learning Italian
Mike started taking Italian 101 fall term with the sparkling (I'm sure there's a better word that that, but it's probably only in Italian) Professore Carmelo Bellavia. I was teaching so I tried to follow along by reading the textbook and listening to My Daily Phrase Italian podcasts on my IPOD (100 5 minute daily broadcasts that truly helped me learn some basics): http://www.mydailyphrase.com/italian
This winter quarter, we are both taking Italian 102 so now I'm actually learning what the words and phrases LOOK like (one flaw with audio-only lessons) as well as building my vocabulary and grammar knowledge.
One of these days we'll do a posting entirely in Italian!
Buona sera!
This winter quarter, we are both taking Italian 102 so now I'm actually learning what the words and phrases LOOK like (one flaw with audio-only lessons) as well as building my vocabulary and grammar knowledge.
One of these days we'll do a posting entirely in Italian!
Buona sera!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Weighing Provisions
Light-Travels-Geek: Our plan is to carry on our luggage. We've each got a travel backpack (REI and Swiss Army), and now we have to find lightweight goods for the trip: For instance, we're getting Stacey one of them little credit-card cameras. As I begin to catalog all of the battery powered stuff (cell fones, ipod, cameras), I wonder what it'll all weigh.
Our Itinerary
In 72 days we'll be on our way to Italy. After debating whether or not to just stay in 2-3 cities for a week at a time and do day trips, we opted for the backpacking tour of Italy (sans hostels) so we could experience smaller towns in the evening. Thus, our itinerary looks a lot more crowded than we initially intended, but it is certainly going to allow us to see more of Italy!
We are lucky to have a house sitter extraordinare and a black belt to boot, who will be a guardian to our kitties and make sure our spring plants don't die. And we have friends who have agreed to be the guardians of copies of important documents--just in case. We have purchased our backpacks from REI (wait for those great sales) and hope to actually practice trekking around Bend with them packed: while we intend to store them at pensiones as soon as we arrive in each town, there will be some trekking from the train station to the pensione that we'll have to do....).
We spent winter break investigating all of the travel websites out there (from Tripadvisor.com to Venere.com, and oh so many others) in an attempt to find small pensiones that cost less than $150 a night. Since they are small, I made reservations early: the places north of Siena have a fairly strict cancellation policy (at least 2 weeks notice) but those south of Siena are happy with 1 day notice of cancellation. So we have a mix of stability and flexibility embedded in this itinerary!
I get goosebumps just thinking of being in all of these places!
• Tues, April 29th: Leave Bend at 11am in the morning, arrive Amsterdam Wed morning
• Wed, April 30th: Arrive at 11am and fly from Amsterdam at 2:40 to Venice: arrive at 4:25: Stay at Pensione Guerrato (http://www.pensioneguerrato.it/services.asp )
• Thurs, May 1: Venice
• Friday, May 2: Venice
• Saturday, May 3: Venice
• Sunday, May 4: Venice
• Mon, May 5: to Florence: stay at Hotel Enza: http://www.hotelenza.it/eng/tariffe.asp
• Tuesday, May 6: Florence
• Wed, May 7: Florence
• Thurs, May 8: Florence: Piccolo Hotel Puccini : http://www.hotelpuccini.com/
• Fri, May 9: Lucca
• Sat., May 10: Lucca to CT stop in Pisa. In Cinque Terre stay in Manarola at Maria 3, an apartment available via http://www.acasa5terre.com/
• Sun, May 11: CT
• Mon, May 12: CT
• Tuesday, May 13: CT to Siena: Piccolo Hotel Etruria http://www.hoteletruria.com/home_eng.php
• Wed, May 14: Siena (day trip to San Gigmignano)
• Thurs, May 15: Siena
• Fri, May 16: Siena to Orvieto, La Magnolia B and B, 65 euro with bath and breakfast, http://www.bblamagnolia.it/inglese/index.htm
• Sat. May 17: Orvieto
• Sun, May 18: Orvieto/ train to Rome: Hotel Trastevere http://www.hoteltrastevere.net/ --
• Mon, May 19: Rome
• Tues, May 20: Rome
• Wed, May 21: Rome
• Thurs, May 22: Train to Sorrento: Hotel Desiree (www.desireehotelsorrento.com)
• Fri, May 23: Sorrento (visit Pompeii and Naples)
• Sat May 24: Sorrento (visit Amalfi Coast/Positano)
• Sun, May 25: Sorrento (visit Capri)
• Mon, May 26: Sorrento, train to Roma
• Tues, May 27: fly home: 6:15am flight out of Rome…arrive in Redmond at 2:30pm the same day!
We are lucky to have a house sitter extraordinare and a black belt to boot, who will be a guardian to our kitties and make sure our spring plants don't die. And we have friends who have agreed to be the guardians of copies of important documents--just in case. We have purchased our backpacks from REI (wait for those great sales) and hope to actually practice trekking around Bend with them packed: while we intend to store them at pensiones as soon as we arrive in each town, there will be some trekking from the train station to the pensione that we'll have to do....).
We spent winter break investigating all of the travel websites out there (from Tripadvisor.com to Venere.com, and oh so many others) in an attempt to find small pensiones that cost less than $150 a night. Since they are small, I made reservations early: the places north of Siena have a fairly strict cancellation policy (at least 2 weeks notice) but those south of Siena are happy with 1 day notice of cancellation. So we have a mix of stability and flexibility embedded in this itinerary!
I get goosebumps just thinking of being in all of these places!
• Tues, April 29th: Leave Bend at 11am in the morning, arrive Amsterdam Wed morning
• Wed, April 30th: Arrive at 11am and fly from Amsterdam at 2:40 to Venice: arrive at 4:25: Stay at Pensione Guerrato (http://www.pensioneguerrato.it/services.asp )
• Thurs, May 1: Venice
• Friday, May 2: Venice
• Saturday, May 3: Venice
• Sunday, May 4: Venice
• Mon, May 5: to Florence: stay at Hotel Enza: http://www.hotelenza.it/eng/tariffe.asp
• Tuesday, May 6: Florence
• Wed, May 7: Florence
• Thurs, May 8: Florence: Piccolo Hotel Puccini : http://www.hotelpuccini.com/
• Fri, May 9: Lucca
• Sat., May 10: Lucca to CT stop in Pisa. In Cinque Terre stay in Manarola at Maria 3, an apartment available via http://www.acasa5terre.com/
• Sun, May 11: CT
• Mon, May 12: CT
• Tuesday, May 13: CT to Siena: Piccolo Hotel Etruria http://www.hoteletruria.com/home_eng.php
• Wed, May 14: Siena (day trip to San Gigmignano)
• Thurs, May 15: Siena
• Fri, May 16: Siena to Orvieto, La Magnolia B and B, 65 euro with bath and breakfast, http://www.bblamagnolia.it/inglese/index.htm
• Sat. May 17: Orvieto
• Sun, May 18: Orvieto/ train to Rome: Hotel Trastevere http://www.hoteltrastevere.net/ --
• Mon, May 19: Rome
• Tues, May 20: Rome
• Wed, May 21: Rome
• Thurs, May 22: Train to Sorrento: Hotel Desiree (www.desireehotelsorrento.com)
• Fri, May 23: Sorrento (visit Pompeii and Naples)
• Sat May 24: Sorrento (visit Amalfi Coast/Positano)
• Sun, May 25: Sorrento (visit Capri)
• Mon, May 26: Sorrento, train to Roma
• Tues, May 27: fly home: 6:15am flight out of Rome…arrive in Redmond at 2:30pm the same day!
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