Trip to Italy Day 29 – The Trip Home And Italy Observations

Both of our flights were good and on time with the only bad part being the long layover in Chicago – by flying on a first class international flight, we had access to the Polaris Club where they was food, drinks, and comfortable chairs all complimentary.  This made the seven-hour layover much more bearable.   

Nearing the end of a very long day.

We got home about 11:30pm and after a very long 24 hour day, we went straight to bed.  It was so nice to sleep in our own bed with the pups and enjoy some American coffee the next morning then a rainy day to recover.  Following was our trip itinerary and the one thing I would change is skipping Orvieto and going to Sorrento a few days earlier.

Date          Day   Location         Activity    Kid

13-Apr        1       Knoxville    Rome then Farmhouse K

14-Apr        2       Farmhouse Tuscany wine tour        K

15-Apr        3       Farmhouse 10:30 - Cooking class & winery      K

16-Apr        4       Farmhouse noon - Montalcino tasting and lunch        K

17-Apr        5       Farmhouse          K

18-Apr        6       Farmhouse Wine country tour.        K

19-Apr        7       Farmhouse Florence tour      K

20-Apr        8       Farmhouse Open K

21-Apr        9       Farmhouse San Gimignano winery K

22-Apr        10     Farmhouse to Siena  10:00 at Rocca R, K

23-Apr        11      Siena - Tour        R, K

24-Apr        12     Siena to Farmhouse  R,K

25-Apr        13     Farmhouse Montepulciano leave at 10:40  12:30      R

26-Apr        14     Farmhouse Volterra Cooking class  10:30        R

27-Apr        15     Farmhouse Day trip to Florence     R

28-Apr        16     Farmhouse Castellini R

29-Apr        17     Farmhouse Rhett to Florence train R

30-Apr        18     Farmhouse R&R

1-May        19     Farmhouse to Orvieto      

2-May        20     Orvieto  

3-May        21     Orvieto to Rome Airport      

4-May        22     Rome Airport to Sorrento    W

5-May        23     Sorrento    Cooking class     W

6-May        24     Sorrento       W

7-May        25     Sorrento    Amalfi coast        W

8-May        26     Sorrento    Wine tasting        W

9-May        27     Sorrento to Rome airport       W

10-May      28     Rome airport         

11-May       29     Rome         Knoxville    

Except for the Orvieto stop, the trip planning worked very well with good accommodations and fun events – Bev said I heroed.

Of course it depends on what you want to do (cities vs. countryside) but we found that we really enjoyed the Agriturismo and staying at a working farm among the vineyards and olive groves then traveling to the cities as desired.  But if seeing the sites in cities is your thing, your are probably better off staying there then traveling into the country as desired.

Italy is definitely geared up for tourism rather it be those from around the world or just the Italians from nearby.  It seems that on the weekends those in the countryside and those in the cities just swap places.

Driving is absolutely crazy with most drivers seemingly in a giant hurry and taking lots of chances and motorcycles drive wherever they want – usually down the white lines in the middle of the road.  Who has the right of way is determined by who has the most guts.  The roads were in about the same condition as at home.

The Italians are generally smaller and in much better physical shape than Americans seemingly due to a few things.  They are fitness conscious and there are always bicyclists on the roads and they walk a lot more.  The smaller towns are such that most things are in a small area and easily walkable for them.  We were told that one of our cooking classes was just a 10 minute walk but it was up the mountain so lots of stairs which the Italians think nothing about.  It was common to see older people walking home from the store with their bags of groceries.

The little old men sitting around the square in Cetara on ceramic tile benches is what I expected to see.  The Amalfi Coast is noted for ceramics.

The people seem to be very friendly and I liked them but they are not at all courteous, especially on the roads.

The Italians are very much into recycling and the country is very clean.  There were several recycling containers in our apartments.

While I had thought we would cook some pasta meals with what we learned, we didn’t cook a single meal per Bev’s desire, unless you count nuking leftovers or eating trays of sliced meats and cheeses from the store – we bought several in Castellina and I finished the last of it the night before we flew home.

While not true everywhere, all restaurant employees we saw were men in Sorrento.

While we had some very good meals, the food was not the blow-me-away delicious that I expected and and we prefer Italian-American pasta dishes and Bev prefers our creamier ice cream to gelato.  And these really surprised me - pepperoni is a pepper it Italy and not a salami and garlic was never tasted in our food.  Also salad is not a big part of Italian meals like it is in the US and they are usually just one of the side dish choices served with oil and vinegar on the side and not the Italian dressing that I was expecting.

The wine on the other hand was all outstanding as I like a lighter red wine than Bev (she preferred the super Tuscans) and I enjoyed every sip I took even the unaged table wine from our last tasting in Sorrento.  We shipped three and a half cases home of the wine we were sure we could not buy in the USA plus a couple bottles of olive oil.  We got a case of Montalcino Brunello, a case and half of Chianti Classico (two wineries), and a case of San Gimignano white. We got into the mode of having prosecco with restaurant meals so we've found a good source even if we don't have it that often.

Italy that we saw is beautiful and very mountainous and the landscape where we were reminds me of Tennessee and West Virginia.  It is about 20% bigger than TN and NC combined but it has more than three times the population.

I might could live in Italy if I spoke Italian, was in good shape to walk everywhere in a small town and rarely had to drive with the crazies and could fit into a very small car - parking is horrendous.

It was a really good trip and had it not been for colds and Bev’s injury, it would have been outstanding.  One thing that we accomplished was knowing we don’t ever want to fly that far again so no more trips to Europe in our future and I’d likely be fine never flying anywhere but I doubt that's possible.

If I had to pick my favorite part of the trip it was having our kids to share it with us most of the time - they were really good at handling our electronics needs.

Thanks to Vicki and Wayne for your help and inspiration.

Thanks for following along and hope you've enjoyed our trip.

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

5/11/25 event dates