Geo: -12.143, -77.0186We started our day at the "self your serve" coffee and tea station. Mike reported that the coffee was strong but lacked flavor. I was pleased that the tea water was piping hot. The selection of teas included "uña de gato" which means "cat's claw." The ingredient list included both that and "horse tail." A brief check of an promising web site revealed that cat's claw is the friendly term for a South American vine that is good for digestive complaints and arthritis. I stuck with "te puro." It was a short night and I needed caffeine, not surprises. The hotel has five breakfast options: all include freshly squeezed OJ. I had a mixed fruit bowl that included a lot of papaya, some melon, strawberries and a small yellow, round fruit that we had ... read more

Geo: 43.7687, 11.2569One of my favorite movies has long been "A Room with a View" from the novel by EM Forester. It stars an impossibly young Helena Bonham Carter as a British expat who falls in love in Florence. When we were in Italy in 1994, we never made it south of Siena so I had yet to see Florence.I checked online and found that a day trip there from Rome is pretty easy. We took the Metro to the train station early and got the high speed rail to Firenze, about 90 minutes away. We had about 8 hours, so I also looked up some suggestions for self-guided walking tours. We found one that let you visit many of the important areas/buildings and choose a few to spend a little extra time investigating.From the train ... read more

Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823We booked a tour called "Pristine Sistine" in advance. The promise was that we would get to see the world-famous chapel when it was quiet, before it opened to the general public. We left before breakfast to catch the Metro and then walked about 5 streets to the meetup. Our tour alone included 6 groups of 12 people so I wouldn't say it was quiet, but we did feel like we got a bit of a jump on the crowds. Our German guide kept repeating how lucky we were to see iIaau everything "so quiet." She worked way too hard to sell us on something we had already bought.The Sistine Chapel was much smaller than I had imagined. It was also darker, to help protect the paint. It was wonderful to see the space, ... read more

Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823The alarm went off at 4:30 to grab our taxi to the airport and on to Rome. When we arrived, we had the option of trying to navigate buses or trains an subway for about 25 Euro or for 40E we could grab a shuttle that brought us straight to the hotel.  Easy choice after such a short night with suitcases in hand.  It was a little confusing when we first arrived at the hotel.  There is an ancient elevator right inside the door: the kind with the big gate that you open once the elevator arrives. We guessed we should go to floor 1 for check in.  Wrong.  Floor 1 is the front desk for another hotel entirely.  Our hotel has its lobby on the 3rd floor.  Why no one has made a sign ... read more

Geo: 37.8253, 15.2667I got a tolerable night's sleep that included a little wakeup around 3am local time so I ended up talking to Mike on Facetime-- kind of fun.  Apparently the rose bushes that I ordered several months ago decided to show up in time for someone else to have the fun of planting them. From what I understand, trying to unearth rosebushes from their nest of packing peanuts can be a painful process.So far, I'm not a huge fan of Italian bus drivers.  Generally when I travel, bus drivers seem to recognize that I'm clueless and could use a little help, specifically, a shove or a shout when my stop comes up. These guys are 0 for 2 so far.  They don't seem to care if I get off where I need to.  I got ... read more