Asatour 2007: The Plan, Man

It's that time again -- time to fill all you faithful readers (and how many of you still check in here, just out of curiosity) on my travel plans for this year's time off.

First stop this time: The Smokies. Long-term readers may remember my last trip there; it was a great, wintry time. This will be a great, springy time, hopefully. Nothing is really planned for my time there, except that I hope to meet an aunt and uncle for lunch. Everything else is freeform.

Not so my big trip this time out -- Italy! I'm taking a 3-week trip to Italy, and every day, every location, every hotel stay has been totally planned out. I'm starting in Florence, for a couple of days of relaxation before I head to Arezzo to attend a weeklong cooking school at an old villa. After that, I spend a few days in Rome, taking just about every tour I could find, then on to Pompei -- just for a night. Long enough to see the ancient city there. From Pompei I'm traveling to Pisa, and after Pisa I go to Cinque Terre, a delightful area of ancient villages built right into the coastal cliffs. From there I take a long train ride to Venice -- I'll be seeing La Traviata there, assuming I can find some clothing appropriate for wearing to the opera. After my time in Venice, I return to Florence for one last night, and then I hop on a plane back home.

I'm really excited. All the planning has just whetted my appetite for the actual travel. I've been learning some very basic Italian. I want to at least know numbers and such, so that I can give directions to cab drivers and such. The planning itself was great fun -- picking hotels and cooking schools, and communicating with the people to secure reservations.

There will hopefully be a short trip out West as well; we'll have to see how time goes.

Posted: Sun - April 1, 2007 at 09:42 PM |

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Asatour 2007: The Plan, Man