Photos: I’ve posted some of my photos on google photos. Generally, I do not like people in my photos. 😊 This was a little challenging in Italy.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EEdUiXay6PubqW1g7
Brief Introductions. We (myself, my sister, and my bro in law) are mid to late 40s and this was our second trip to Europe together. We all traveled to Switzerland in Sept. 2021.
Will this trip happen? In February, my sister ended up in the emergency room with a ruptured appendix, which required a week-long hospital stay. But, she recovered in time and we were soon on our way to Italy.
Packing. We’re like the anti Rick Steve packers as we check our bags. 😊 This usually works well for us, but maybe not so much on the way home this time. More on this later.
A few new things I tried this trip. 1) Turning my wool socks inside out after wearing to air them out so they can by reworn multiple times. 2) I brought an Anker portable charger for my phone which I used most days and was glad to have.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08TW7BRTJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
3) I tried this stuff that my sister uses for hair—Osis Thrill fiber gum. I’m low maintenance and always have my hair back in a ponytail. This stuff worked much better than my usual hairspray at keeping all the hairs in place. I transferred some to a smaller container. No more worrying about my tiny hairspray bottle leaking.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GZ7GGA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Weather. We had near perfect weather on this trip—cool in the mornings (40s – 50s) then warming up in the afternoons (50s to 60s). This was my 4th trip to Europe in the last 2 years and I’ve had near perfect weather on each trip. There’s no way my luck can continue. I’m preparing for lots of rain when I head to the UK next month.
Starting in Switzerland. As there are no nonstop flights from Chicago to anywhere in Italy during the offseason, I had the brilliant idea to start our trip in Switzerland as Swiss Air has a nonstop from Chicago to Zurich. I’m always looking for an excuse to return to Switzerland. 😊
Lugano—First Home-Base. We spent our first 2 nights in Lugano, Switzerland at the Hotel Dante. This was just long enough to stock up on chocolate and our favorite paprika potato chips before heading to Italy. We had planned on a day trip to Como, Italy, but due to a local train strike, we headed to Locarno instead.
Verona—Second-Home Base. We spent our next 7 nights in Verona, Italy at the Hotel Indigo. We chose this location because my sister and her husband had enough credit card points to cover both our rooms and I was hoping it would be a less crowded place to stay and it was.
Day trip to Venice. Yes, we took a day trip to Venice and absolutely loved it. We loved it so much we did a second day trip a few days later. 😊 This was our favorite place as it is just so unique and a fabulous place to just wander around (away from busy St. Mark’s square). I purchased skip the line tickets for the basilica (6 EUR each), which allowed us to walk right past the super long line. Thanks to RS for the tip!!
Day trip to Florence. Yes, we took a day trip to Florence. Did you know they sell Swiss chocolate in Florence? The Lindt chocolate shop across from the Duomo was like a magnet, pulling us in. 😊 I found Florence to be more city-like than I was expecting. And it was so crowded around Piazza della Signoria due to a couple of photo shoots taking place. There was so much security and police and they were constantly shouting, no pictures, no pictures!!! Ummm, we’re in Florence, we have to take pictures.
Day trip to Lake Garda. We took the 23-minute train to Desenzano del Garda. We loved it!! I think we were the only tourists there.