A Lot To See

One of the first things that we learned about our trip was that there was a lot to see in such a beautiful country and just three weeks to get it done. We were going to go it alone - no tours groups. We made out fine, as it turned out.

Rushing wasn't going to help - we'd miss out on all those great little discoveries up an alleyway or down a dirt road, or that train to a town just an hour away and towards the mountains. So, we decided to limit ourselves to the north with Rome as the southern limit - coastal Tuscany (Pisa) as our western boundary, then Trieste to the east. There were modifications of course, there was nothing rigid about the plan. We went to Slovenia (still Yugoslavia, then), and Switzerland on day trips.

Always there was that amazing train system (to someone from Rhode Island, anyway). If we missed a train, there was usually one leaving soon to a town near the one we wanted to get to. So, there'd be a little exploration while we waited for the proper connection.

And always plenty of walking - most of it up or down a hill, but even that was great considering how flat Rhode Island is. Lots of sun, not too hot (we went in June), and no unbearable humidity. That was a surprise to me, considering we were surrounded by the sea, and warm days and cool nights are not normal in summer in Rhode Island. It tends to get very uncomfortable here in the summer.

We had enough rain to keep things interesting - how to stay dry and still get around on foot. But it was nice to have a good thunderstorm to break up the pattern.

By the time we got home we were very tanned and very healthy.