Since DLN asked about my trip and specifically, how I lost weight, here goes...

We walked all day long. Literally. We walked about 5 or 6 hours a day with very brief stops. Not that we are excercise nuts. Far from it, which is why I had 5 lbs to lose!

Also, we found that we drank a lot more than we ate! Most (actually, all) the places we ate were outdoors and it was way easier to drink than eat! So, that may have contributed. I did have pasta or pizza every day and (of course) at least one gelato per day - limone was my favorite by far. The limone in Rome was the best, Pisa's was a close second and Florence was a distant third.

About our itnerary. We are more interested in seeing people, hanging around the piazzas and reveling in the atmosphere than seeing every single tourist sight. This might be blasphemous to some Fodorites, but you have to have fun on a vacation, which is what we do.

Brief trip report to follow.

You know, PCircles, I was only asking for my husband, not me, of course...

Of course

Here is a brief report:

Day 1: Settled in the villa and had a long dinner with wine and followed by ice cold limoncello. This was the first time I had had this and I LOVED it - we brought a huge bottle home

Day 2: Florence (duh!) to see David. We got up late and got lost, so we missed our 9:30 reservation slot, but when we got there about 45 minutes late, they honored the reservation and let us in. Apparently, even in Italy, it helps to smile and be considered bella. Or maybe the guy was referring to my husband

After salivating over David - what an amazing face on him - we went to Piazza del Duomo and I hung around the Pieta. My husband really isn't into this kind of stuff!

Then we went to the open part of the Uffizi and watched the "Vigilante Ambianza (sp?)" telling people not to eat or drink in the gallery.

Cool people watching for a while. Then across the river...

Now THIS sounds like my kind of trip..sometimes just BEING there seems to be enough! Thanks for the report.

Day 2 contd - crossing the bridge:

We sat on the bridge for a really long time enjoying the breeze and the Arno and watching people look at all the gold jewerly. An aside - I didn't think the jewelry was any more beutiful than the stuff you get elsewhere, but maybe that was just me.

Right, before the bridge, we went to a cafe and got some pasta salad to go (for me) and pizza (for hubby) and a cold bottle of wine. I gotta tell you, I have never had wine straight from the bottle, but hanging around those hot Italian piazzas, eating cold pasta salad and chugging cold wine straight from the bottle was an awesome experience! We need to lighten up in the US is my big lesson from that!

We went to the Pitti Palace, but there was a line (!), so we just sat in the piazza. We were plannig to go to Boboli gardens, but all the Fodorites said they were not pretty, so we skipped that. We watched local and tourist toddlers chase pigeons in the piazza. Kids really are so cute!

Before heading back to the villa, we hit a grocery store called Margherita Conad that is right around the corner from Santa Maria Novella. It is on the same side of the street as the station. We got some sandwiches (prosuitto and moz for hubby and moz and roasted red peppers for me), cheap wine and headed back to the villa.

Spent the evening enjoying the stupendous view form the villa - the grounds look onto the valley and it is simply divine. Drank wine, drank limoncello, and staggered off to bed. Good thing we are happy and relatively quiet drunks!

Day 3: Woke up at about 11 am (so sue me - I was on vacation!) and headed outside for coffee and the stupendous view.

Went to Florence and roamed around the Uffizi - absolutely blown away by Botticelli's Venus. Of course, I loved the story of Michaelangelo's first commissioned art peiece - what a great story! The rest of the stuff was fine, but really nothing to write home about. We spent at least 2 hours in there and could have spent the time more wisely, imho.

Again got some cold lunch - I got an amazing risotto salad - black and green olives, ham, carrots, peas, freah moz - absolutely amazing. Hubby got a sandwich - prosuitto (yeah, he really liked their prosuitto!) and moz. Had lunch sitting on some steps at the Piazza del Duomo.

Went to the Medici Chapel and was absolutely amazed by the size of the main chapel. Didn't like Night and Day as much as I thought I would. Oh well. also, Mich. women seem odd. It is almost as if they are men with breasts. Maybe he never studied female anatomy with the fervor with which he studied male anatomy?

Headed back to the Uffizi's open gallery and watched a mime...

Day 3 contd: The mime.

This guy was absolutely heartless. He would follow someone around and when they turned and saw his white face, they invariably screamed and jumped at least a foot in the air! OK, not the most sophisticated humor, but it was funny as all get out! We all gave him $$ (Euros actually) and had a side-splitting time watching him scare people! Such guilty pleasure. The funniest was taht people could see us laughing and that normally tipped them off that something was up, but they still screamed!

I made sure we avoided that alley when we walked to SMN.

Day 4: We went to Pisa for the day. ate a leisurely lunch, had some wine and caught the train.

The train ride was really nice - the countryside is beautiful, even though they are in a drought. In Pisa we walked the 25 - 30 minutes to the leaning tower. What a quiant town Pisa is! Just lovely.

The leaning tower is just there. No warning, no majestic gournds, just there. Quite breath-taking. We missed the walk up, which was fine because I had blisters from 2 days of walking in inappropriate shoes!

We sent postcards to the in-laws and my grandma, so Pisa gave us a moment to fulfill our duty!

We hung out for a while, walked around, took in the gorgeous and unbelievably tower. Then, hubby had a neat idea. We took turns getting our picture taken so taht it looked like we were holding up the leaning tower. Some teens saw this and got their pictures taken just like that. Kinda gives you and idea of our maturity level

Got back to SNM and headed to the Piazza del Duomo for dinner. The cafe we ate at had a perfect view of the chapel and the tower. As we ate dinner (absolutely the best gnocchi I have ever eaten), the sun was setting and the gold on the buildings shone. It was just the most stirringly beautiful sight. The waiter gave us a table in the corner facing the buildings, so, while we kept hearing diners behind us, we had a private little space to ourselves. After we finished eating (about 2 hours later!) and paid the waiter told us to stay as long as we wanted. We sat there for another 5-10 minutes and then went and got a gelato and sat in the piazza.

Cought the last train home and called it a night. Well, maybe we sat out for a bit and had some limoncello!

This is the first time I have ever written a trip report. I am sure we come off as a tad indolent, but we are, so why pretend to be anything but

Tomorrow: Rome, Frescobaldi, and 30 Euros for YSL shoes!

The Italians have a lovely phrase that translates as "the sweetness of doing nothing."

It sounds as though you and your husband adapted to the Italian way as soon as you hit Italian soil--good for you!

That risotto salad you described is REALLY making me hungry. It sounds delicious!

It was David's FACE you noticed?!!!

Very nice report. Glad you had such a wonderful time.

It's so nice to hear from someone who isn't trying to finish a checklist of 'things one must do'. You sound as if you are enjoying life, the surroundings, the food and each other. What can be better than that? Look forward to hearing more.

I like the laidback way you travel too, I have learned over the years to do the same thing and just sort of hang out in the places I visit. It brings a whole new perspective to travel.
I love museums and art galleries though, so, for me, it is best to do the hanging out on my second visit.
Sometimes though I mix the two and visit a gallery or two, but I don't let it rule my day.
It sounds like you had the perfect trip for you, good for you.

hi Pcircles,

First, great trip report...2nd your comment in your 1st post:

"About our itnerary. We are more interested in seeing people, hanging around the piazzas and reveling in the atmosphere than seeing every single tourist sight. This might be blasphemous to some Fodorites, but you have to have fun on a vacation, which is what we do."

I could not agree more, except I dont think many fodorites will think it blaspemous at all. I think that one of the best characteristics of most fodorites is they love to watch and meet people!

my favorite time of the day is in the evening. We try to get our site seeing done early in the trip, (and this one in october in particular) so the rest of the trip is relaxed and open. And I always allow for a nice dinner. I love nothing better than finding a cafe restuarant, having dinner and people watching and meeting. I am not what you call a shy person....okay..there is not a sky bone in my plus size body...Okay, okay...I am from the south...we have been known to tell total strangers our life history on hello! so sue me!

anyway, that is my favorite part of the day...ending it with a relaxing evening, good food, good wine and good conversation. I love people watching and will think nothing about stopping and sitting down and just watching people go by (of course, this always allows me to light up one also! yes I am a smoker!).

One of my favorite places in paris is the tulleries...early morning, just sitting on the park bench watching the people go by. I had one of the most fascinating conversations about parisian attitudes vs. american with a 70 year old gentleman...and I stress gentleman, for 2 hours one morning....He spoke flawless english and loved my southern accent! charming parisian men! ah!

I will forever cry and tear up when I look at my photos of the sacre couer
in montmarte...I met the most wonderful women in her 80's that walked to the church everyday and sat on the bench at the bottom of the terraces.

I had just finished visiting the chapel and had walked down the terraces. I was sitting at the bottom and was taking a minute to just take the view in....and I sighed. I knew that if I was 90 and looking for a place to meet my maker...this was it. Life could not have been anymore peaceful. I felt a warm hand on my arm....a wonderful parisian lady was sitting beside me...I had not even noticed when I sat down..and in a heavy accent she said "I know!!!". She said that she wanted to live many more years, but if she had to pick a place that she left this world, it would be sitting on that park bench looking up at the view of this cathedral and wonderful terraces. I had not said a word! I could not have agreed more!

Vacations, to me are not just about the site seeing....it is about the memories of the people you meet along the way!
My mother always said you are never alone in less you want to be.....and strangers are only strangers for as long as it takes to say hello....

Good traveling!

Hi PC,

Lovely report. Thanks for posting.

Do you remember the name or location of the cafe at the Pzza Duomo - the one with the gnocchi?

Good report. Finding the right balance between adventure and relaxation is often tricky.

I usually have a more robust schedule, but also enjoy people watching and relaxed dinners. I'm glad you had a compatible partner to enjoy the very relaxed pace. Unfortunately, this sometimes is not the case and it can lead to travel disaster.

I used to travel with relatives or friends that always seemed to take hours to get ready to leave the hotel in the morning, invariably insisted on returning to the hotel to retrieve minor items, never had local currency and expected me to pay, could never pass a trinket shop without stopping, spent hours haggling to save a dollar, always wore the wrong shoes and got leg cramps or blisters, and often tried to change previously agreed to plans for some unspoken personal agenda.

My patience finally wore out and I now refuse to travel with them, even if it means going alone. At least now I'm the master of my own fate.

Thanks for all the nice comments, folks. If it hadn't been for this board, I would have had a very hard time figuring out where to go and how, so double, nay, triple, thanks

DLN - My husband is a master at the art of enjoying doing nothing. Mercifully, when we go on vacation, I pick up on this great trait of his!

BrimhamRocks - Just thinking of that risotto makes me hungry. It was so satisfying and cool and refreshing. OK, I'll stop it's just cruel to go on. Tangentially, I picked up some olive oil from the Frescobaldi estate and am going to take a crack at making the risotto this weekend!

Grasshopper - I gotta be honest - a great face is much much more attractive than a great ___. Plus, his wasn't that impressive

erinb - love your story about Paris. I must admit, Parisians are very nice. For that matter I have had New Yorkers walk upto me and give me flowers. Nice people abound all over, as long as you are nice first!

IRA - first, thanks a million for the # for the reservations. And, here is the name and number of cafe (I keep all my receipts) Caffe Rondo 055 219 251

Degas - sounds like you learned your lesson. We did have some people we could have travelled with, but they acted as if Tuscany and all parts of Italy within 200 km of the villa would vanish without a trace. Needless to say, running amok like Chicken Little all over the Italian countryside is at the top of our list of things to do.

And, now on with the report. for those of you groaning, remember you encouraged me with your lovely comments so you have only yourselves to blame

Error of omission in earlier post:

"Needless to say, running amok like Chicken Little all over the Italian countryside is at NOT NOT NOT the top of our list of things to do."

And now back to the regular program...

Day 4: We hung out at the villa, gorged on great food, vegetated with vina, played in the pool, lazed like lizards in the sun, and were generally a complete disgrace to all hard-working tourists!

Day 5: Aaah, Roma! Such an incredibly fantastic city. Hope could so much beauty be stored in such little space? And, so much like India. Every corner holds a new treasure, the buildings have such immense character, and the streets have seen so much history. Rome is almost too lovely to bear. It is so hard to leave that city. Plus, it has the Sistine Chapel. But, to start at the beginning.

We actually got up early for this one - for Rome no sacrifice is too great

Got the 9:30 Eurostart and landed in Rome at 11. Got a map at the tourist ofice and headed out to the Colloseum, which was hubby's first pick!

Impressive building, but for me, not so much. It really upsets me that the popes went around ruthlessly branding the building with their names and crests while at the same time condemming all things not Christian. Vandalism takes the fun out of it for me. If I want vandalism, I'll go to NYC.

After the Colloseum, we walked to the Forum. I t amazes me that people walked on those very road centuries ago. In some ways it looks like they could have been there just yesterday. Some of the buildings in Delhi give me that very feeling. I know this is odd, but I would not be surprised in the least if I saw some ancient Romans suddenly appear in the Forum and start conducting business! No, I am not on crack, even though it may sound like I am

Ok, on to the Typewriter building. I showed my husand Mussoulini's balcony and he was suitable unimpressed by the drab appearance of the building. The typewriter building on the other hand is simple marvelous. Too bad it has such negative connotations.