momnan30

So helpful kwren- thanks ever so much!

kwren

momnan - I found this post that might be helpful (although it's a few years old) if you are interested in bike riding:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...a_Tuscany.html

It doesn't seem that it would be a problem to find a bike to accommodate the 9 month old.

And here's another more recent:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntre...readID=1950438

We rented from Chrono Bikes (according to our pictures!) and our bikes were in great shape.

jamierin

Great report kren. Thank you for taking the time and posting it.

johnnyomalley

Great report, thanks for sharing.

I'm curious when you are you going on your cooking vacation? I bought the same groupon and I'm in the June 10-16 group.

kwren

Glad you enjoyed the report jamierin and johnny.

HEY Johnny!!!! Can you believe it! We're going for the same week! Now this is exciting! We're also going to Rome for a few days after it ends.

We are flying out from JFK on the 9th. How about you?

johnnyomalley

too funny! We're (my mum and I) flying out on the 6th from Ottawa and flying back on the 17th.

johnnyomalley

Shoot - hit enter too soon

It's my 1st trip to Italy and I go between OMG! panic and OMG! squeee!

kwren

We went last summer - as you saw from my above trip report - and loved it! I can't wait to get back there and cooking, wining and dining for a week! Wow. The excursions should be fun too. I hope this deal is as good as it sounds, but I talked to the people at Groupon and they said they were shocked at the response this trip got.

Only 4 weeks and we'll be there!
I'm going with my husband and daughter.

johnnyomalley

When I was booking, I went back and forth several times with one ot the travel reps and he said they were floored at how popular the groupon was.

Have you gotten your itinerary yet?

kwren

I think we arrive in Rome around 11 am. I haven't heard yet when they will meet us.

I also haven't heard what time they'll take us back at the end of the week. I need to know that so I can arrange a time to get into the apartment we're renting.

Have you gotten anything?

johnnyomalley

No, nothing, I'm getting a little antsy. I need to make sure we're back at the airport on Sunday at the right time.

kwren

They take us back on Saturday not Sunday, so you will be OK no matter what the time. I'm going to write them them today though to see if they have more info for us.

darnestown

Were you able to travel from Grindewald to Jungfraujoch? If so, did you need to make advance reservations?

kwren

We didn't need advance reservations, darnestown. We bought train passes and tickets the first morning that the weather was nice. I recommend going as early as you can for 2 reasons: you never know when the clouds will roll in and the crowds roll in too!

We didn't go up the Jungfrau this trip, but did the last time we were here, so here is where I wrote about it (scroll down just a little bit to July 27 to read my entry):

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...burg-paris.cfm

I highly recommend this trip!!!

Gwendolynn

I just started reading this report and spent hours looking at your beautiful pictures. Many thanks. One little note: some years ago we had the same problem in Orvieto. No agent
at the Hertz office. wonder if it's the same person - Looking forward to your next trip!

kwren

Thanks Gwen for the nice comments. They help me look forward to writing my next trip report. As a matter of fact, we leave next Saturday for Italy again! (my sons aren't happy that they are relegated to being the house sitters instead of going with us)

This trip will be really different for us...it's the Groupon trip on top of the remote hill town I mentioned above for a week of cooking classes and excursions. We booked it quite a while ago and I can't believe we will finally be going!

I'll write it up under a separate thread.

Johnnyomalley, you said you would be there the same time as us and you were waiting for the itinerary. Did you receive it? I'd love to hear from you before we leave, but if not, we'll see you there! I'm sure you're as excited as we are!!!

kwren

Hey johnnyomalley...it was wonderful to meet you and your mom in Abruzzo. What a great cooking vacation at the Palazzo Tour d'Eau!

kja

Great trip report, kwren - thanks for posting!

kwren

Glad you liked it kja!

You might have seen just above that I mentioned that went back to Italy for a cooking school in Abruzzo in June 2012. That trip ended up being so wonderful that we just booked it again for September 2013. Next time it will include a mosaics class, new excursions including truffle hunting and making new recipes including ravioli! It's sure to be just as wonderful the second time around!

Keep on traveling!