In June, my husband and I traveled to Italy for 14 glorious days. This trip was a first for us in several ways. Prior to this trip my DH had never left the continent of North America and he was a little apprehensive. Secondly, this was my first time planning a trip that was not in North America (I had been to France and Russia many years ago, but not as a tourist). Words cannot describe how great it felt to stride with confidence through every airport, train station, and city we visited, feeling like temporary Europeans. I would not have been as prepared, and free to really enjoy our trip had it not been for the RS books I read, the numerous topics on this website, and everyone here who takes the time to answer questions. Whenever I had a question I was usually successful in finding that it had already been answered somewhere on this forum. For those that are interested I put together a website about our trip to share with family, friends, and fellow travelers. In the website I have a section called Recommendations. It covers our lodging, restaurants we ate at, and tours we took. I'm hoping it will also help first-timers with packing light - I dedicated one section in Recommendations to that topic as well. Italy 2013
Posted by
Reno, NV, USA
7 posts
Leia
Thank you! Your website is so very informative. I'll be there in 7 weeks and am very excited and nervous. I appreciate the time you've put into this website, I will probably refer to it many times before I leave. I especially like the packing information. It looks like your trip was fabulous and uneventful in experiencing any problems. Hopefully, mine will be the same. Thanks again!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16364 posts
Your "Unidentified Veggies" are "fagioli borlotti" (borlotti beans) still fresh in their shells. In English they are called also cranberry beans. http://www.cranberrybeans.net/
Posted by
OP
Ankeny, Iowa
104 posts
Thanks for identifying those veggies Roberto! We loved going to the markets in each city. We have a farmer's market every Saturday, where I live, but it pales in comparison to the markets in Italy.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
I can't wait to read your blog/website... thanks Leia! And I'm glad you and your husband had a good time!
Posted by
back in the Americas
750 posts
I enjoyed your travel blog. Thanks for sharing. Enjoyable to read, very informative and practical.
Posted by
Atlanta
3280 posts
Leia,
Your website is really well-done with great photos and lots of useful information! It looks like you had an amazing trip! Thank you!
Posted by
Owings Mills
22 posts
amazing job Leia. We just got back from 12 days in Italy - I wish you would do the same for our trip!
Posted by
Winter Springs, FL, United States
36 posts
Lela:
Wow, great job and thanks for the tips! Could you provide the name/brand of the power strip, thanks! Holly
Posted by
OP
Ankeny, Iowa
104 posts
Holly, So glad you found the website helpful. I got the power strip at TravelSmith. Here's the link Travel Smith Power Strip
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1454 posts
Leia, I really loved your web page and read it all the way to the end with your recommendations. The photos were great. It is always nice to get recommendations for food. The photos of the cappuccino drinks put me right back at the cafe in Florence during my visit in 2010. Thanks so much for sharing. Ciao! Linda
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34580 posts
Leia, This is a very comprehensive trip report. Do you know we have an are here for Trip Reports? The section you posted in is for asking questions. Do you think there's a chance you could put the information over there?
Posted by
Chicago
792 posts
What a great website. It was so well organized and easy to follow. I hope you do more! Happy to hear you had such a great time.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
19 posts
Thank you Leia! I spent a long time on your website and took many notes. It's very kind of you and very helpful to first-timers like me.
Posted by
Monterey County, CA (formerly Verbania Italy-Lago Maggiore)
1663 posts
Great website! Haven't read the everything yet, but will save to my favorites and read later.
One addition to the essentials to pack in addition to Kleenex are a couple of the travel toilet paper rolls available at Target for 99 cents. You never know when public restrooms are stocked with TP.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Screw the website. Anybody that pulls off a trip like that their first time out of the box deserves a ticker tape parade.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Screw the website. Anybody that pulls off a trip like that their first time out of the box deserves a ticker tape parade.
Posted by
OP
Ankeny, Iowa
104 posts
So happy everyone is enjoying the website! @ Nigel - I actually posted the website in the trip report section first, wrote the thank you post here second, and decided to tack on the trip report link at the last minute. @ Ed - Your comment made my day! Dear husband had the biggest laugh over it (in a good way!)
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
Just finished reading your blog.. that was fun! I enjoyed all of it and especially enjoyed reading about the food you ate, lol, and I really appreciated your hotel listings. So helpful. As others said, so well done.. thanks Leia!
Posted by
New York
1206 posts
Thank you for sharing. Wonderful, informative web site. It was a real pleasure to look at it. I have been to Italy and really enjoyed looking at the photos, and I am going again to Rome in a few weeks so it was a real treat to see the photos and take down the names of the places you ate in. Bet your planning your next trip!