"Travel...put a ding in the universe."--Steve Jobs
Day 1 & 2

 Get Ready, Get Set, Go

The Prep

From the date we booked our trip to the day we left I was planning, organizing and preparing for every possible contingency.  I began by reading our guidebooks   and watching Rick Steves' travel shows.   I then put our itinerary together for our pre and post tour days. I deliberately did not tell David that on our first full day in Italy after a mere 23 hour flight, I planned a full day excursion leaving our hotel at 7:00 AM.  I just sort of sprung it on him, but he was a trooper and had a great time.

We made a valiant effort to pack light and only took carry-on size luggage.   David succeeded, I failed.  My suitcase was fine, it was the backpack and shoulder bag that did me in.  There were only a few things we had to buy and kept the new clothes to a minimum.

We bought:
  1. theft resistant backpacks 
  2. RFID passport protectors 
  3. portable battery chargers
  4. extra camera batteries
  5. plenty of memory cards 
  6. power adapters
  7. multi-voltage blow dryer             
 We booked:
  1. We booked our  tickets from Florence to Venice and Venice to Rome on the high speed train, Italo, through the Rick Steves' website.
  2. We bought our tickets to the Borghese Gallery through Italy Museum.
  3. From Avventure Bellissime we booked a full day excursion to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast.
  4. We reserved our hotels in Rome and Venice online using recommendations from  guidebooks, Trip Advisor, and our friends.
"Airplane travel is nature's way of making you look like your passport photo."---Al Gore
"The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost  airline luggage. "---Mark Russell

The Journey

PictureThe Rome Opera House
All great adventures must have a beginning. Our beginning was on September 9th at 7:00 AM as we left for the airport in San Diego, followed by three flights and 23 hours, arriving in Rome on September 10th at 4:30 PM.  
                                  
Our flights from San Diego to Boston to London to Rome were on time, smooth, comfortable, and despite the length, not as bad as we anticipated.  We loaded our Kindles with books and movies, packed enough snacks to feed a small nation, and brought along enough portable battery chargers to light a small nation.                     

We arrived in Rome right on time and found our driver from Bob's Limousines who proceeded to take us on a thrilling E-ticket ride through amazing traffic to our first hotel in Rome. After checking in we were determined not to let the 9 hour time difference get in our way and found a small cafe near our hotel followed by our first of many gelaterias. We strolled down Via Nazionale and peaked in at the Opera House which was actually attached to our hotel. A very brief thunderstorm had us scrambling for cover. Enough excitement for two very long days. Off to bed, we had a very early start the next day.
Picture
The adventure begins in San Diego
Hindsight:  We didn't need all those heavy portable battery chargers.  We were able to recharge our camera batteries, cell phones, tablets, etc overnight in our hotel room. Every one of our airplanes had a seat plug-in, as did each train. The important thing is to have extra camera batteries.  We took so many photos that I had to change out a battery daily.  As for the portable chargers, take one just to be safe.