Italy

Well, the day has come, it is the end of our travel adventure to Rome and we must return back to Vancouver and our real lives!

We were picked up by the pre-arranged airport transportation company on time and whisked away to the Rome airport in plenty of time for our 2pm flight to Toronto and then continuing onto Vancouver. Having never flown out of the Rome airport previously, this was a new experience for both of us! I do remember the route that the gentleman took when bringing us to baggage from hour flight to Rome, so I was anticipating a similar departure gate area again. I was wrong – what a surprise!

After check-in with Air Canada – which left something to be desired in the way that it was handled, or lack there of, the agent told us to go next door to get assistance to get to the plane. Well, we looked and no one was around other than WestJet and their passengers! So we just decided to proceed on our own – I had plenty of time to rest on the plane. First, we went to the VAT refund area, very cool process that you can do electronically by scanning your documents into an ATM type machine. You provide your passport and it figures out what flight you are on, scan the receipt from in this case, the leather goods store, and provide a credit card for the refund to be placed on. Took 5 minutes and within 24 hours the 19 Euros I was owed were going to be credited to my credit card! Not a big amount, but every Euro counts! We even helped the lady use the machine next to us (as Liz and I are such wizzes with machines!) and she was getting over 200 Euros returned from shopping! That will be some declaration of goods at customs wherever she is traveling to!

Next we made it through security with no issues and walked to where we thought the gate for our flight would be departing from. The gate had not been announced yet, however I remembered the area of the airport that we had been in at arrival. As we walked along, I decided that I needed to fill up my water bottle, so I saw a “Family” washroom sign and decided to explore! What a cool room it was with private cubicles for babies to be nursed and a huge changing area with garbage cans and a sink. But the CUTEST thing was the washroom! It had both an adult and kids toilet in it! They do think of everything here!

Back on our walk to our assumed gate, where we had arrived a couple of weeks prior, we spotted some lounging chairs to hang out in. The actual gate area that we experienced on our arrival on Oct 10th was pretty small so these looked like a good place to relax, have our sandwiches’ and drinks. While I contemplated the aircraft activity out the window through my eyelids, Liz decided to go for a walk and to also see if the gate for our flight had shown up yet or not. In about 20 minutes she was back – the gate had been posted and we were in the wrong area now! Off we went to the gate where the plane was located which was on a remote terminal one had to access by train.

Luckily the train ride was short and we got to the gate right when Air Canada was starting to pre-board! They were a little confused as to where Liz and I had come from, as they were expecting me in a wheelchair, however all was good and they took us downstairs to wait to board the plane. I am not sure if this is a common thing in Italy and Spain or not – it seems every time I have arrived or departed from a major airport we are taken “downstairs” in order to board a plane through a jetway. There were a LOT of people waiting to pre-board the flight – it seemed to me that there was some other type of “pre-board” going on at the same time such as Business Class. So we waited about 30 minutes to get onto the plane, however this time there were no screaming babies/kids and I was successful getting on the plane with no issues.

Our flight to Toronto was spectacular – a 9.5 hour flight during the day on a Dreamliner (787)! The windows tint as they are needed to, or you can make them darker yourself. It was really cook when ice crystals appeared too! See my pics below.

Arriving in Toronto was a nightmare from an accessibility standpoint. First, my gate checked walker did not show up, so they put me in a wheelchair to get to the top of the jetway. Then someone appeared from the elevator carrying it! So re-united with it, Liz and I proceeded to go upstairs to the Customs Hall, however that being a long walk in Toronto, we were put in a cart to be taken there. We were first taken to a “transfer point” where we were to wait to take another cart to the Customs Hall, however as we could see the Customs Hall from the transfer area, we just walked instead. We got through Customs in a flash and now were back in Canada! I knew based on the gate number for our Vancouver flight it was going to be quite the walk and we had about 10 minutes at that point to get to the flight for pre-boarding. So I asked for a cart or wheelchair to take us there.

What a gong show, no one was available to do so, instead we were told to walk to the security check point and there are “lots” of Air Canada personnel to assist me. So off we walked and got to the security checkpoint area behind security and there was ONE Air Canada representative, trying to keep about 20 people going to Delhi on a 9pm flight under control. I explained that we had a very short connection and I was concerned we were not going to make it on time. The Air Canada lady said she would help us, however after waiting for about 5 precious minutes, I decided that we needed to get going on our own. At that point the Air Canada person noticed us getting in the elevator to go downstairs and grabbed a wheelchair and joined us going down to the gate area. I got into the wheelchair and Liz pushed my walker and we express walked to the gate and low and behold – no plane! So we were not actually late after all! The 777-300 that we were to take to Vancouver had not arrived yet. The Air Canada escort parked me at the gate and went back to deal with her Delhi wheelchair situation!

The gate agent was really great and saw my sunflower lanyard and agreed that I could preboard. On that flight, for some UNKNOWN reason, I was the only person pre-boarding, so it worked out well. No issues getting onto the plane, once it arrived 30 minutes late and we were off on our last leg of our journey! We were fed mushroom chicken again (second time today) and a fruit plane – oh joy! I got some rest and soon we were landing in Vancouver and pulling up to Gate 52 which is a close in gate without much walking needed. However where was my walker? It is MIA! Finally it was found at the TOP of the gate area – not at the door of the plane. So into a wheelchair I went and was pushed to where my walker was located and then Liz and I walked to baggage claim to get our luggage. There we parted ways as Liz just takes the Canada Line home and Andrew was picking me up on the Departures Level – as he has done for years!

We were home from a very fun, but exhausting vacation, to Italy! Now I have just under 2 weeks to prepare for my next vacation with Andrew! Stay tuned!

Our LAST day in Rome and in Italy! Tomorrow we fly home. Time for some gluten free shopping! Luckily there is a Conad grocery store a block away from us so we popped in there and acquired a few gluten free items – Liz was purchasing for her next door neighbour who is a tween and has CD and I was basically just purchasing anything that looked interesting! I am not going to list what we purchased as that will give away some surpises however they ended up being both gluten free and regular items at the store.

Now, as this previously was forecasted to be a rainy day, and we were going to stay in, and it is now a LOVELY sunny day, Liz decided to accompany me on my “B” list item that I wanted to do – got to newer chain store in Rome called Celiac Laboratory (but in Italian). So off we went!

I knew that the subway stop near the Celiac Lab was accessible as it is one of the two stops near St. Peter’s and the Vatican that are advertised as such. However I did not notice that the stop nearest to where we were staying, on the same line, was NOT. So needless to say, Liz had to help me by carrying Hugo down some stairs while I used the railing to get down safely. After managing to buy tickets this time and scanning properly to take the train, we got onto a train and hoped we were going in the right direction – so we were and shortly we arrived at the correct stop. Now, where is the elevator that is supposed to be here? Nowhere to be found!

There are stairs going up to the next level and there at the top – a stair lift! How ingenious! Yet no way to call someone in the booth that I cannot see from down at the bottom of the stairs – so Liz had to go up and with the assistance of another lady, get the security guard to help me take the stair lift upstairs. Then we were on the main level underground and there was another set of stairs, with a lift, going up to the street. I went back and asked for assistance and was told the lift was broken. Okay, I get the picture – they did not want to help so in the end, Liz carried Hugo and I climbed the staircase, which was smaller than the one that I went down to get onto the subway near the convent and we were off to look for the Celiac store!

A short walk away we found it – thanks to Google Maps leading us there! What an experience it was! We do not have very many Celiac only stores in Vancouver anymore (in fact I think they have all closed now) and it is such a wonderful experience shopping at a store where you do not need to read all the ingredients and scrutinize them before putting them in your basket or cart. The store was a BIT small for my walker to get around however it was manageable. I did get some items – mainly tea cookies that I like and some small pasta that I can put in soup and then we were off and trying to figure out how to get home from there. At this point we were farther away from the convent than we had ever been!

So we started walking as I was NOT going to repeat the subway and busses were a no go for me. As we were near the Tiber river we walked to Castel S. Angelo which is a round building on the Vatican side of the Tiber River and had a break (that was so Lynda could have a cold drink) and then we kept walking towards the convent, where we ended up, funny enough at Volgia d Pizza Restaurant which is gluten free. There we had something different! A zucchini pizza along with my standard caprese salad. We also took home 2 Tiramisu`s for desert (and motivation to walk home). The pizza came with a sign on it indicating that it was made using celiac protocols. Very cool! It was a good pizza with a nice crispy crust.

Off we went walking again, through Trastevere, along to the Venetian piazza and around the Coliseum and up the hill to the convent! Wow – what an adventure we had today! Now it is time to pack and eat my desert! Well packing was SLOW and the desert went down FAST! I had not accumulated much on the trip however no matter how much you move things around, they never fit like they did when your originally packed them! Now it is time for bed as the morning is going to show up faster than I want it to!

Again, up in good time to partake in breakfast and to get going before the “big” crowds hit the tourist locations. Today we are going back to the Colosseum area and going to walk through the Roman Forum and then on to the Pantheon – which is the reverse of the tour that Andrew and I did the year prior.

Can I say how much I LOVE cobbled streets? My arms are really getting a shake down! In fact my whole body vibrates going over them. Then there are the LARGE cobbled streets going up the hill from the Colosseum and those are even MORE fun! Nothing like some morning exercise and vibration to go along with it!

So we entered the Roman Forum (yesterday we figured out we had 2 day tickets which was really cool) and walked along between the monuments and various statues and columns for a while – it is basically a long area sunk down next to the main road leading from the Venetian Piazza. It runs quite a long distance from the Colosseum right to the road (which was under construction) that joins into the piazza. The ONLY concern that I had, which I had not shared with Liz, is that the last time I was here, we entered the Roman Forum from the entrance near the piazza and the elevator to go down was not working so I had to walk down the stairs, with Andrew carrying my walker. I was *hoping* the elevator was working to go UP today! And low and behold – they had a new elevator and it worked perfectly fine!

While we were in the Roman Forum, both Liz and I were in awe of the tall columns which had pieces of marble placed across the top of them – such as 3 columns with 1 piece of marble across the top of all 3 of them. These columns are SO TALL and it is a wonder how they lifted this marble up so high with human power only! They were AWESOME master builders in those days!

Next on the list of sights was the Pantheon – which is a circular structural wonder due to how it was built. As most people have heard by now, it has an oculus or eye up to the sky which is open to the elements. If it rains, the rain comes cascading down onto the marble floor of the building. The Pantheon is an active church and holds services on Sunday and special occasions. People just do not sit under the occulus!

The Pantheon was originally built in 27 BC, however it was rebuilt by Hadrian, whom most people associate the building with, between 118 and 128 AD.

The great concrete faced with brick dome rises from the surrounding walls and there is a “front porch” of Corinthian columns which support a gabled roof on the front. To enter the Pantheon, you go through some HUGE bronze double doors which are 24 feet high.

The Pantheon is remarkable for its size, its construction, and its design. Until modern times, the dome was the largest built, measuring about 142 feet in diameter and rising to a height of 71 feet above the floor. There is no external evidence of brick arch support inside the dome, with the exact method of construction never been determined. On success factor for the building surviving through the ages has been the excellent quality of the mortar used in the concrete. One thing that has been discovered is that the dome is strengthened by huge brick arches and piers set above one another inside the walls, which are 20 feet thick.

So after experiencing this wonder, we decided to have an early dinner on the way home to the convent. As we were really close to Trastevere, we returned to Mama Eats! where we had eaten with Anne and Richard the first day in Rome. A short walk later and we had arrived! We are becoming creatures of habit – AGAIN it is a mozzarella pizza and caprese salad to share! Now that we have been fed, it was time to walk back to the convent! As this is a pretty long walk for me, we decided to take the tram half way – why not add another mode of transport to our list! There weren’t any ticket machines at the tram stop and so we decided to just get on the tram that was approaching and see what happened. The French speaking family next to us did not have tickets either. Onto the tram and there was a ticket machine so we could purchase tickets! Liz tried first and we were not quite sure if it worked or not by scanning her credit card as she received no receipts. There were signs everywhere indicating if you did not have a ticket you could be fined. And low and behold, right between stops the ticket police appeared! So we showed him Liz’s credit card and said we were not sure if it worked or not and the policeman scanned the card and said there was a valid ticket charged to the card. Then he scanned my credit card and no ticket! Well Liz and I knew that as I had not bought one yet as we were not sure if we had purchased Liz’s correctly. The policeman looked at us, my walker and I said “we told you we were not sure if it worked or not”! So he then took my credit card and tapped it on the ticket machine and voila! I had a ticket too! No actual ticket – it just was charged to my credit card. Then we noticed that we were at the next tram stop and the French family quickly got off before the policeman could get to them…

So we took the tram a total of 3 stops or to the Venetian piazza. From there it was an easy, and well practiced walk back to the convent! I stayed in for the evening in my cute little hotel room while Liz went for another walk. Tomorrow is another day! The forecast has changed from rain to sun so we shall see what we are going to do on our last day in Rome!

Well, the early birds continue to rise and we are down to the breakfast area of the convent bright and early to see what damage we can do this time! Liz was able to operate the coffee machine no problem – check. Lynda did not make a mess getting her tomato and bocconcini cheese – check! We have gluten free items available – double check! No one is stealing our gluten free items – even better! Lets have breakfast!

We decided to strike out fairly early today and go to the Colosseum. Liz has only seen it from the outside and I was able to obtain tickets to the area (Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum) for us to visit without queuing in line. Let`s just call it the “rollator” express entrance to the Colosseum. I find the colosseum awe inspiring with how large it is along with the fact that those walls were built by hand – no cranes existed in those days! Andrew and I have taken a tour of the Colosseum previously so I went the same way that I had gone before and we checked out all the views. Basically we went up to the 2nd floor (elevator) and walked all the way around and then went down the elevator and based on my last experience, went to exit. However the guard looked at our tickets and said that we could also go to the ground floor of the Colosseum and check it out! So that was pretty cool – to be able to walk into the Colosseum where gladiators have walked and check out the views. This access is on a platform which used to be the floor of the Coloeum and underneath, but not accessible to me, is all the inner workings of the Colosseum from times past – such as rooms for the animals, gladiators etc. After exiting the Colosseum, we then walked over to Palatine Hill which I have never explored previously, so this was a new experience for me!

If you are walking away from the Colosseum and towards the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill is to your left. I think a lot of people miss it – the tour that I took with Andrew did not take us there and I can see how easy it would be for people to not understand what is up the hill. Palatine Hill is one of the 7 hills of Rome and based on what we saw. was inhabited by Romans many eons ago. Once up the hill (which is hard going due to the cobblestones) we saw some dwellings that had been restored along with some interesting sculptures. We walked over to a house looking structure and its gardens and found next to it, while probably was the peak of the hill, a wonderful HUGE patio or vantage point over the Roman Forum and looking towards the Venetian Piazza. We stat for a while and people watched and realized our tickets were for 2 days so we could do the Roman Forum tomorrow, so at that point started our walk back to the convent.

As we were in the area pf a restaurant that Andrew and I had been to previously, Liz and I decided to go there first for an early dinner of pizza and salad. That worked out well and then we were on our way back to the convent. At this point in time, the sky was a little bit grey and no sooner than 2 minutes after we each got into our rooms, the sky opened up with a torrential rain downpour! I was very glad that we had gotten back to the place were were staying on time! It was an early night for me, while Liz went for a walk after the rain storm just to up her total milage for the day.

Tomorrow – Pantheon and Roman Forum!

Good morning everyone! We had a nice and early start today for our trip by water taxi to to bus loading area in Venice and then off down the highway from the Venitian area of Italy into Tuscany to visit Piza! It was a beautiful drive with the views changing to more wineries by the side of the road on flowing green hills.

As our fearless tour director said “Pisa is a stop only to check out the Square of Miracles”. As the bus had to park a ways from the Square, there was an alternate type of transportation waiting for us – a Choo Choo train! The train took us close to the entrance where we could walk in to see the Church/Duomo, Baptistry and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

We had a quick lunch and then walked back in the rain to where we met the Choo Choo train to take us back to Antonio and the bus.

Off again we went, now to Montecatini, which is where we are staying for the next 2 nights! Montecatini is also known as an Italian Spa town.

We arrived at our hotel in Montecatini and it was a beautiful old hotel – all of our hotels seem to have been unique and so far, all my rooms have been accessible except one, which was okay for the one night. One issue – as we are at this hotel for two nights – I cannot get near the bathroom with my walker! Back downstairs I went and thankfully Margaret and her husband were able to switch rooms with me – somehow they had been assigned the accessible room! Crisis averted!

Some of us had signed up for an optional dinner in Tuscany tonight so back onto the bus we got and drove the 20 minutes to a beautiful estate winery that hosts groups for dinner. On the way there we passed through the town where Pinocchio lived with Giuseppe and there was a huge Pinocchio statue in the middle of the round about! When we got to the Estate, first we visited the Vineyard and then we sat down for dinner. The Estate produces 7 different wines (maybe more) and all 7 were being served for dinner – starting off with 3 whites, then 3 reds and lastly a lovely dessert wine. I do not drink so I had 3 different vintages of an Italian specialty called Coca Cola Zero Zuccheri! Actually to be truthful, I had a mouthful of the dessert wine and it was pretty good! Dinner was awesome also – plate of fresh sliced meats along with bruschetta and then veggies for my non meat friend and I. Then boar pasta (or tomato pasta for us) and a selection of meats and chicken. Dessert was a Panna Cotta that was absolutely devine! The consumption of the wine led to some dancing in which an interesting picture just happened to find their way to my email! A great evening – tomorrow we take on Florence!

Welcome to the City of Water aka Venice, Italy! I LOVE this city and its intricacies and vaccinating buildings and history, however despite being here twice previously, Venice does not always agree with me!

After a great start to the day in what I heard was a beautiful breakfast room (I was at a different hotel for accessibility reasons) the tour was off on foot to the large water taxi (takes about 80 people) which was taking us to the Island of Murano. Everyone got to sit under cover where it was WARM except for myself who was sitting on the top deck of the boat as I could not safely make it down the stairs! Sure glad I had brought my jacket!

For those who do not know the significance of the island of Murano, it is when the Venetian Murano glass is made. Simply beautiful and amazing glassworks! It is said that the trades people who could create Murano glass eons ago had a free rein to do anything including marrying royalty – however they could not leave the island! We arrived at the store which also had a factory attached, to see a glass blowing demonstration and then an introduction to Murano glass wares in the store. Very expensive stuff too!

I have uploaded a video I took of the “Master” glass maker creating a horse here!

Once done with the demonstration and browsing or those who wanted to purchase glassware to bring home, we waited for a replacement water taxi as our original one had developed mechanical issues! Better this happen before we get on the boat and cross the channel!

We arrived from Murano at a Pier near St. Marcos Piazza and took a leisurely walk across 3 large bridges, which thankfully for me, are ramped also at this time of year. Arriving in St. Marcos Piazza, we saw that the tide was high and there was some water pooling – only a few inches deep. The City had put some raised sidewalks out to avoid the pooling water however as person with a walker does not do well on the raised walkway (past personal experience) due to its width and the number of people walking in both directions, I decided to walk through the large puddles! Everyone thought I was crazy but I had my waterproof shoes on and it was actually much safer (and fun!) for me to do!

The included part of the tour was now over we launched into the Optional tour that we had signed up for! I was both mentally and physically prepared for this! We were lead through the lesser travelled streets of Venice by a tour guide and it was lots of fun seeing this part of Venice without getting lost! Only downside were the 4 bridges that had to be crossed…and they did not have ramps! Many thanks to Liz for keeping me motivated and going on this tour!

Arriving safely back at St. Marco’s Piazza, with our timed, skip the line entry into the church, the group was able to enter the amazing St. Marcos church and we had a short tour! My favorite part was looking at the floor and the intricate marble work that was inlaid. It was a different tour than the ones I had taken in 2019 and 2022 when visiting – a lot of the church was roped off and one could not see as much! So there was a positive experience traveling at the end of COVID – must more space and ability to move around!

Now we had time for shopping and I had 2 destinations on my list after we found some lunch! Mikael recommended a gluten free pizza place near St. Marco Square, so the 4 of us were off to locate it! Funny enough we found others from our group dining there too! The name of the restaurant was Rossopomodoro Venezia San Marcos Neapolitan. We had pizza and salads and were quite satisfied with the meal! Only thing to note is that the restaurant is NOT AIC certified.

Now Liz and I went power shopping! For my last 2 visits to Venice I have tried to get to the yarn store that I have read lots about, and this time I was determined to get there! We were successful! We had loads of fun using Google maps to lead us – I did not know that Google Maps cannot distinguish between small narrow alleys and wider walking streets so I think we walked about twice as much as we needed to!

Then, stop 2 – the mask store which makes paper mache masks and is a really fun, unique store to shop in. My friend Karen, who passed away this month, 3 years ago, had originally taken me to this store in 2019 – before we all got on a cruise. It specializes in masks and cats – what a combination! A very eclectic store! We wished we had brought Anne and Richard (who has a cat) with us!

Now our power shopping was completed, it was time for us to take a vaporetto (public boat) back to the Lido where we were staying as due to the shopping, we had opted not to take the scheduled tour boat back. For me, taking the vaporetto is always an entertaining experience – the boat sways at the dock – up, down and sideways – trying to get on is sometimes a leap of faith! That said, the person manning the ropes on the boat does watch out for people in wheelchairs, walkers and parents with prams.

We arrived back on the Lido in one piece and walked back to our respective hotels and had an early night! I really needed a jacuzzi, however a hot shower would be a good substitute! See you tomorrow when we depart Venice and check out Pisa!

Today is a travel day, going from Assisi to Venice – through Umbria, touch of Tuscany and into the Venetian areas. We were fairly lucky on the weather again with only a sprinkle of rain along the way.

First up was a tour of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi which is a Franciscan church UP a STEEP hill above Assisi. It was a beautiful church – unfortunately we were not allowed to take any pictures in it nor were there any postcards available! The frescos on the church ceiling and walls were unbelievable and depicted scenes from history very accurately. Also the views over the valley were gorgeous!

There were two more highlights of the day for me – one the lunch spot and two, the ferry ride – more on the 2nd one in a bit!

After our “comfort stop” disaster of the day before on our way to Assisi, Mikael and Antonio (our fantastic bus driver) found us a different type of rest stop restaurant (just off the highway instead – not a stop on the highway) that was willing to serve us all a gluten free lunch! So we had risotto (no idea the flavour – it was blonde colour and yummy)! and veal/potatoes/veggies (which I did not take part in) for the second meal. What an awesome lunch spot! What made it extra special was that the washrooms which were downstairs like in most places in Italy, had an elevator to get down there! Luckily I was warned about the stall that locks you in – Liz though I heard was not so lucky and it was good someone could rescue her!

We were then off again on our quest to make the ferry in Venice! We DID arrive in Venice on time and dropped off those going on the optional canal/gondola excursion with Mikael and then Antonio took us to the ferry on the bus along with everyone’s suitcases! Suitcases and gondola’s do not mix 🙂 For those who have been to Venice, the ferry, left from near the old cruise ship terminal and took us to the Lido, which is an island, and the only part of Venice that has cars, where we were staying for the next 2 nights.

I LOVE being on the water and an Italian ferry is a new experience for me! For those who live in BC it was like the Gulf Island Ferries with a large lower deck for cars (and a bus) and an enclosed upper deck where passengers can sit. We had to get off the bus for the 45 minute ride, so taking the glass elevator up to the upper deck (we do not have glass elevators on BC Ferries!) we had a gorgeous view standing on the front of the upper deck, outside, going down the main canal of Venice, at sunset and then over to Lido.

On Lido, as I mentioned, there are cars, unlike the many islands that make up Venice proper. Antonio was probably the best bus driver I have ever seen and he had lots of fun attempting to get to the tour hotel. A lovely 8+ point turn to get onto the hotel street due to a poorly parked car, one scrape down the side of the bus by a tree branch and we arrived at the hotel! The people who did not go on the gondola tour then got off the bus, while I stayed on, thinking we were driving to the next hotel where Mikael, Antonio and I were staying (for accessibility purposes). I saw all the suitcases removed from the bus and I saw Liz tell Antonio which suitcase was mine and to put it back on the bus for me. Antonio does not speak English. So then he got onto the bus and parked it about 20 feet ahead on the side of the very narrow street so that some cars could get by.

My suitcase and Antonio: Antonio motioned for me to get off the bus, which I did. At that time another gentleman appeared and talked to Antonio in Italian and I did understand that Antonio said that he had to take me to my hotel and then he would come back and move the bus. I did NOT however hear the word Canada or English (in Italian) spoken and all of a sudden this man was addressing me in English (I must have had speak English tabooed to my forehead) and asking where I was from etc. Antonio wanted to get going – I could tell. However my suitcase was in the bus hold! So I tapped on the bus door where it was and he did not understand – so the man who showed up to the rescue! I told him that my suitcase was in the bus and I needed it. So Antonio then understood and got it out for me and said thanks to the man who went away at that point. Now I knew where we were going as I had looked up the hotel on Google Maps. Next I knew Antonio had taken off with my suitcase! I tried to get it back but he refused – I guess men pull women’s suitcases in Italy. Will have to remind Andrew about that! So off at a VERY fast pace we went down the lane and past the hotel which was on our left. Oh, no, I cannot tell Antonio that he has past the hotel entrance – he was 10 metres ahead of me! So I stopped walking and he got to the street and asked another man for directions (NOTE: men in Italy ask for directions) and then express walked back to me standing at the fence for the hotel. He just grinned – he thought it was funny that I knew were I was going! He took my luggage upstairs and got me checked in while another desk clerk took me around the back to the elevator – which I was told was a service elevator. Oh it was so CUTE! The same kind of lifts that are used on the Skytrain in Vancouver – I know how to operate these! So my own private elevator – how cool!

We had a hosted dinner tonight at a restaurant on Lido which was delicious! Pasta with smoked salmon, fish, salad and strawberry/lime gelato for desert! Again the pasta dish was outstanding and made me think of home due to the salmon… then we walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day on the “City of Water”!

Compared to the start of the trip, the next few days should to be tame mostly on the bus with some visits to interesting places until we get to Venice – I hope!

Boom! Crack! Not my favourite sounds and a massive thunderstorm at 7am hits Sorrento! Italy has been expecting rain but this was excessive! According to Mikael our wonderful Tour Director, this was a very strange and rare storm! From my lovely bay window all I could see was rain and dark sky – I am feeling for all those brave souls that are making the trip to Capri today!

Breakfast was great – my favourite bread was available and I was able to make a sandwich for lunch later today. They had us in a side room so no one was procuring the cool gluten free products for pockets except of course, us!

Those who were on time for the bus were able to avoid the brief pause in the liquid deluge however it then started again just as we were about to drive. So that made for some INCREDIBLY slow progress out of town!

As mentioned before, we take “comfort breaks” at highway exits where there is a gas station and a full service restaurant/store. So today we were scheduled to eat at one of these restaurants. Mikael DID warn them we were coming and unlike the wonderful restaurant experiences people write about in Italy the highway stops are NOT recommended (after seeing many of them now) due to their lack of ability to serve gluten free food. They had made PLAIN lettuce salads or plain hamburger patties. That is all they had on offer that was gluten free in the restaurant! That really did not go over well! Luckily I had my sandwich and I was able to snag a protein drink from the gift shop fridge.

After that experience and a lot of hungry people on the bus, we were off to our next stop in Perugia, which is a Trafalgar (tour company) supported weaving business that has existed since the 18th century. The gorgeous looms (about 10 of different sizes) are housed in an old Franciscan church. As a person who has done weaving and loves hand crafts it was an awesome experience. Trafalgar provides a grant to the owner of the weaving business, which was especially helpful during COVID, so she can survive in this competitive world. It is great to see such a family based, historical business still able to produce the weaving done over the centuries.

We got onto the bus again and arrived in Assisi at a very nice, clean hotel. The majority of the tour went on an optional dinner that sounded very interesting in a cavernous restaurant where they served lots of pig meat (no more details as what happens in Assisi stays in Assisi) and a couple of us stayed at the hotel and had a lovely but NOT QUIET gluten free dinner of our own. We had some awesome chicken salads and were provided with the sourdough like steamed buns that I was accustomed to from my last visit to Italy when not on a tour. It was also nice eating some green things and veggies – our tour meals have been lacking in them! Excellent!

Tomorrow off to Venice – my favourite city until my walker meets a bridge 🙁