Italy 2009

In May 2009 I went to Italy, my first completely independent trip to Europe. I did all the plans, figured out the itinerary, reserved hotels, arranged transportation, and pre-booked museum admissions. The only thing I didn’t plan on was a terrible heat wave, with temperatures well over 30° Centigrade. Even so, I have wonderful memories from the trip. What I don’t have is very good blog posts. It was the first trip I attempted to blog. In 2009 that meant finding internet cafes and such, so I blogged sporadically and didn’t write anything interesting.

I flew into Rome and took a bus to Siena, where I spent the first four nights. I had a rental car for two days while I was there, and I took two day trips. First I headed south to Montalcino, Pienza, and a few other towns in that area. The next day I went to Monteriggioni, Volterra, and San Gimignano.

Then I traveled by bus to Florence, where I spent three nights. In addition to visiting many museums and churches and seeing a lot of art, I took an excursion to nearby Fiesole.

From there, I went to Lucca and spent two nights there. I took a day trip to Castelnuovo di Garfagnana in a futile attempt to escape the heat.

Finally I went to the Cinque Terre. I stayed in Vernazza for two nights. I hiked between the towns and did a lot of people watching and eating. Then I took a train to Milan and spent the night at the airport before an early morning flight home.

Although I didn’t end up blogging effectively on the trip, I did take some great pictures.

Photo Albums

Siena (29 photos)
Montalcino, Pienza, and nearby towns (41 photos)
Monteriggioni, Volterra, and San Gimignano (44 photos)
Florence and Fiesole (51 photos)
Lucca (31 photos)
Castelnuovo di Garfagnana (20 photos)
Cinque Terre (59 photos)

Blog Posts