Pauline
Forums Admin
I am starting this thread so I can do a few posts on our next trip. This was a hastily arranged trip - I booked everything the day before we left for France, and we are home for just under two weeks before leaving again.
In May Nico from Sant'Antonio Country Resort posted on Facebook that he had a cancellation and was offering a big discount for the two weeks in June. We have been planning to go to Tuscany, and to stay at Sant'Antonio, but had not booked anything yet, so we took this opportunity. We have spent many weeks in Tuscany in the past, usually in June or September. I went through my photos and realized that the last time we spent a week in Tuscany was 2002 when we spent two weeks in Cetona. The next year we spent a few nights in Tuscany and that was our last visit. We have been other places in Italy, but have not been back to Tuscany.
Our first trip to Italy was 1988 to Florence and then a week in Porto Santo Stephano on the Tuscan coast. We did not return to Italy or Tuscany until 1996 when we spent three weeks in near Siena. After that trip we returned many times. I guess by 2002 we figured we had spent enough time there. It will be interesting to see what it is like after 12 years away. Reading my old SlowTrav notes, looking at maps and reading guidebooks brings old trip memories flooding back and I am looking forward to the trip.
I have a box of Tuscany guidebooks and maps in my garage in Santa Fe, but nothing here with us in England, so I had to buy them again. The beautifully written and well researched Cadogan guide by Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls made me a Cadogan devotee all those years ago, and it is lovely to read it again (thank you Dana!!). The Cicerone Walking guide is the best one for Tuscany, and we have done several of the walks over the years, but hope to do a few more (or redo some) on this trip. And the TCI road map was always my favorite.
The Trip Plan
On Thursday we fly EasyJet from Bristol Airport to Rome and pick up a rental car. This time I bought full insurance with zero excess for the rental car, since we have had damage to the rental car on two recent trips. I have just submitted our claim, to our car rental excess insurance provider, for the scratch we got in France. Enterprise/Citer charged us 850 Euro!! (For a scratch!!) They would cover us again on this trip, but AutoEurope was offering the extra insurance for very little, so I took it.
Thursday afternoon, with temps predicted for the mid-90s, we drive up to Orvieto where we are spending two nights in a hotel. Luckily, because I never thought of checking this when booking, it has AC! Hotel Duomo in the town center. Everything else was booked and this seemed like an okay hotel.
Friday we will probably spend in Orvieto exploring the town. We have only been here once on a day trip years ago. I still remember those frescoes in the church and I want to see them again (maybe a couple of times). If it is unbearably hot, maybe we will drive to Lake Bolsena - or have an afternoon nap in the hotel.
Saturday we plan to drive to Pitigliano and hunt out those Etruscan Pathways that we found in 2002. I have better information now and I hope we find a few more and do a walk in the area. We can check in at Sant'Antonio between 3pm and 5pm.
It looks like the weather is dropping down into the 70s with rain for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but then back to sunshine and 80s on Wednesday. We plan to have a fun week in the Tuscan countryside, visiting Montepulciano and Pienza, Sant'Antimo, Monte Oliveto, a day in Siena.
We fly back from Rome on Saturday afternoon, leaving us enough time for a couple of hours at Ostia Antica before the flight.
I have my notes organized, restaurant lists and suggestions printed out, and am ready to go. After all those years of flying from the US to Italy for long trips, it is strange to be doing a 2 1/2 hour flight and spending only 9 nights there. This really is the magic part of living in England. Fingers crossed that EasyJet and that annoying Bristol Airport work out well for the trip.
Buddy (the cat) is off to the cattery tomorrow, but I don't have the suitcases out yet, so he doesn't know.
In May Nico from Sant'Antonio Country Resort posted on Facebook that he had a cancellation and was offering a big discount for the two weeks in June. We have been planning to go to Tuscany, and to stay at Sant'Antonio, but had not booked anything yet, so we took this opportunity. We have spent many weeks in Tuscany in the past, usually in June or September. I went through my photos and realized that the last time we spent a week in Tuscany was 2002 when we spent two weeks in Cetona. The next year we spent a few nights in Tuscany and that was our last visit. We have been other places in Italy, but have not been back to Tuscany.
Our first trip to Italy was 1988 to Florence and then a week in Porto Santo Stephano on the Tuscan coast. We did not return to Italy or Tuscany until 1996 when we spent three weeks in near Siena. After that trip we returned many times. I guess by 2002 we figured we had spent enough time there. It will be interesting to see what it is like after 12 years away. Reading my old SlowTrav notes, looking at maps and reading guidebooks brings old trip memories flooding back and I am looking forward to the trip.
I have a box of Tuscany guidebooks and maps in my garage in Santa Fe, but nothing here with us in England, so I had to buy them again. The beautifully written and well researched Cadogan guide by Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls made me a Cadogan devotee all those years ago, and it is lovely to read it again (thank you Dana!!). The Cicerone Walking guide is the best one for Tuscany, and we have done several of the walks over the years, but hope to do a few more (or redo some) on this trip. And the TCI road map was always my favorite.
The Trip Plan
On Thursday we fly EasyJet from Bristol Airport to Rome and pick up a rental car. This time I bought full insurance with zero excess for the rental car, since we have had damage to the rental car on two recent trips. I have just submitted our claim, to our car rental excess insurance provider, for the scratch we got in France. Enterprise/Citer charged us 850 Euro!! (For a scratch!!) They would cover us again on this trip, but AutoEurope was offering the extra insurance for very little, so I took it.
Thursday afternoon, with temps predicted for the mid-90s, we drive up to Orvieto where we are spending two nights in a hotel. Luckily, because I never thought of checking this when booking, it has AC! Hotel Duomo in the town center. Everything else was booked and this seemed like an okay hotel.
Friday we will probably spend in Orvieto exploring the town. We have only been here once on a day trip years ago. I still remember those frescoes in the church and I want to see them again (maybe a couple of times). If it is unbearably hot, maybe we will drive to Lake Bolsena - or have an afternoon nap in the hotel.
Saturday we plan to drive to Pitigliano and hunt out those Etruscan Pathways that we found in 2002. I have better information now and I hope we find a few more and do a walk in the area. We can check in at Sant'Antonio between 3pm and 5pm.
It looks like the weather is dropping down into the 70s with rain for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but then back to sunshine and 80s on Wednesday. We plan to have a fun week in the Tuscan countryside, visiting Montepulciano and Pienza, Sant'Antimo, Monte Oliveto, a day in Siena.
We fly back from Rome on Saturday afternoon, leaving us enough time for a couple of hours at Ostia Antica before the flight.
I have my notes organized, restaurant lists and suggestions printed out, and am ready to go. After all those years of flying from the US to Italy for long trips, it is strange to be doing a 2 1/2 hour flight and spending only 9 nights there. This really is the magic part of living in England. Fingers crossed that EasyJet and that annoying Bristol Airport work out well for the trip.
Buddy (the cat) is off to the cattery tomorrow, but I don't have the suitcases out yet, so he doesn't know.
