Hello Everyone,
I am finally coming down from my travel 'high'! I just wanted to thank all of you for your advice as I WAS new to traveling abroad :)
I (and my daughter) had the time of our lives! I was never stressed or wishing I didn't plan something on our itinerary and the only thing we cancelled was the Mondo boat tour to Capri-the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms in the afternoon and we were given the option to cancel with no penalty. Being it was my first full day there we opted to cancel and spent the day shopping and exploring Sorrento. The storms never materialized so we used the beautiful infinity pool over looking Naples bay and it was glorious. We never saw a drop of rain on the whole trip! 60's, some high 50's and cool nights...perfect weather.
Rome was only a 6 hr of a visit but we easily fit in all the sights we wanted...Trevi, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Cat sanctuary and a fabulous lunch and gelato too!
Orvieto... beautiful, beautiful, beautiful... more cats-my daughter was in heaven! Picked up our rental without a hitch and drove to Saturnia Hot Springs (gps..enter Cascate del Molino and you will be directed right to the parking lot) and it was fantastic!
Tuscany... spectacular...driving was easy and fun. Il Rigo was beautiful, the food was just like my Nonna's. We loved Pienza and even saw the filming of The Medici's while we were there. Had a wonderful meal at La Porta. Took a tour at Barbi Vinyard and bought some single grape Brunello wine. Went to Lo Foce and all of the towns in the area..
Had a spectacular hot air balloon ride on the morning we headed to Florence.
Florence.... where do I begin....5 glorious days of wandering the streets...strolling through the museums and cathedrals...climbing the Campanile...an apartment right across from Pitti Palace. The Duomo museum was just so moving to me...David and all of the works at Accademia just overwhelming beauty. Uzzi was huge even with the audio tour. Climb to Piazza Michelangelo...watched the sunset...SHOPPED...cooked...ate and ate!!
Venice...I have no words for Venice, beyond beautiful.....like nothing else on this earth...truly. We did not go into any sites...we wandered St. Mark's square...ate lunch outside at the Florian...took a gondola ride and soaked in the beauty of it all.
Thank you all for helping me plan the trip of a lifetime...the first of many more to come!