My Trip is Getting Closer. Here are the entries from my trip planning journal.
Wednesday, April 27 – Ok – now Jaycee (my dog) has conjunctivitis in her right eye – it is big, red and oozing some sort of yucky, yellow goop. So now instead of staying at Camp Woof she has to stay at the vet. That means her expense just went from $25 per night to $39 per night. And, I have to fight with her three times a day to put drops in her eye.
I picked up my Euros today. It was quite a process, you sign, and sign, and sign documents. The Euros themselves were locked in a cabinet. Apparently only one person at the bank has a key so I guess rather than complaining about how long it took I should be happy that person was there when I went to pick up my Euros.
I am taking a few extra Euros in part because I am traveling by myself and want to make sure I have some cash in case I have unexpected expenses or in case I lose my debit or credit cards. I need enough cash to get me through a day or two. Also, if I am exhausted when I arrive in Milan I have the option of taking a taxi from Malpensa to Milano Centrale.
The best part of the day was getting a mani/pedi so my fingers and toes are set. Although this is a luxury, I will be doing a lot of walking and I need to start my trip with happy feet. I limped around France once with an infected toenail. I won’t go into the gory details but my toe was sore enough that I seriously considered cutting a hole in my shoe.
Thursday, April 28 – Nasty storms hit the southeast last night. Fortunately we were spared in Atlanta but our neighbors in Alabama were not so lucky. When the tornadoes came through I put my passport and Euros in my purse and put them by the basement door. I am going on this trip no matter what!
Today I printed out train schedules for several different itineraries from the Trenitalia website. I have done this in the past and it really comes in handy. Knowing the times for various trains helps me plan day trips when I am in Italy. It is easier than having the hotel provide information. I have asked hotels to print train information for me before only to find that they have printed the schedule for the right cities but the wrong stations. It also helps me determine how long it takes to get from one place to another. If I am taking a day trip I opt for trips that will take an hour or less to get there.
Once I get to the Relais Uffizi in Florence I need to ask about the train stations in Florence. There is a train to Verona from Santa Maria Novella (the main train station) that takes 2 ½ hours but one from a different station that only takes 1 ½ hours. I have only been to Santa Maria Novella so I need more information about this second station.
Today, I also sent my itinerary to some family and friends so people will know how to get in touch with me in an emergency and okay I also sent them my itinerary to make them a little jealous.
I also destroyed my guidebooks! They are too big and heavy to carry around. They contain way more information than I need. I am only visiting 3 or 4 cities so I don’t need to know about all of Italy or even a region. Even the city guidebooks contain information on hotels (I have already booked mine) and nightclubs (not my thing). So I rip out the pages I need and then replace them when I get home. Next trip I rip out more pages. I used to make copies of the pages but copy paper is actually heavy and it took a long time making all those copies. I did pack my Florence guidebook.