The final pieces

The last two pieces to book were our rental car and our return flights.

The return flights were simply a matter of looking at what was available and selecting how short we were willing to make our connection time at JFK. We just needed to make time to book them.

The car was a different story. How large - or small - a car were we willing to go with? Exactly how large was the new Fiat 500? And would our luggage fit in the car? How to find out? We took  a drive to Wesley Chapel, to the nearest Fiat dealer, to check out the cars. I loved the retro looking Fiat 500s. Too adorable! And also the perfect size to be driving around Italy for not quite 4 weeks. We'll fit comfortably as will our bags, although we'll most likely have to keep our carry-ons in the backseat.

As of a few nights ago, everything that needed to be booked in advance, save our pizza tour, have been booked in advance.

I read somewhere online that it's important to bring along a guide book when doing a tour such as what we've got planned. We spent an afternoon at Barnes & Noble looking through guide books. None of them seemed to work. We left without a book. Late that week, looking for a cookbook, I found the guide book we'd purchased before our honeymoon. Yes, it's 5 years old, but it is as good as any other guide book that we saw in the store. Plus since several of the things we're doing are kind of off the beaten path, they don't show up in guidebooks. I will spend the next not-quite-2-months doing research online and taking notes. Today I wrote down restaurants I think we should try in Tremezzina, San Pellegrino Terme and Pienza (Siena). I hope to create my own little guide "book" before we pack for the trip.

I bought a new camera bag and a card reader for my iPad (no need to travel with a computer anymore). I still need to buy new SD cards. I plan to take a lot of photos. Lou got a new backpack. And I've checked to see that I can easily locate both our passports!

Stay tuned for further planning blog posts that will crop up from time to time.

And then the real purpose of this blog - to give you as detailed a trip report as you're interested in reading!