Ciao, Italia!
Sharing the details of our trip to Italy in only one post would not be sufficient. We traveled over 2,000 miles on a charter bus with 29 people. We strolled the streets of Rome, Florence, and Venice with Local Specialists. We were able to find some artisan handcrafted jewelry and handbags. We had the opportunity to travel in private water taxis in Venice, a ferry boat to Capri, and more. We will provide more detailed descriptions of each of the experiences with an overview of each day.
A vacation of a lifetime requires detailed planning to make sure that it is the memorable trip you want it to be. That part of the process will be covered in another post that will be written at a later time. This post will cover the days leading up to our departure.
Getting ready for our first international trip, we had many things to consider, even before setting foot onto the airplane.
COVID Protocols
To be allowed to enter Italy, we first had to have a negative COVID test result within three days of our arrival. Although the vaccine was not required, a negative test was. We scheduled the test for Wednesday and received the result the next day. On the flip side, to be allowed back into the United States, we had to have a negative test result within one day of our flight. Our tour company arranged for a doctor to come to our hotel in Florence to administer the test. The full COVID mandates for the airlines and Italy will be discussed further in another post.
Required COVID test result to return to the United States.
We also had a supply of KN95 masks in different colors. They matched outfits, and we didn’t realize that. Some of our fellow travelers commented on the mask and asked where we bought them.
Passports and COVID cards
We needed to ensure that our passports, COVID cards, and phones were secure and easy to access. We used a slimline fanny pack that could be placed inside our pants. I packed a few pairs of pants that did not need a belt because that can be quite a bit of bulk to sort through. The fanny pack kept us safe from pick-pocketers, but it was challenging to get to it quickly. And then replacing it into the pants was not always smooth. We will be looking for other options for our next trip.
Luggage
My hubby and I wanted to keep it simple and did not want to take much luggage. We each carried one large suitcase apiece and a backpack. As we were packing each of the suitcases, my hubby weighed them to ensure they were under the 50-pound limit. They were taking items out, reweighing, moving items in between suitcases, reweighing, removing things that we felt were unnecessary. It was a lengthy process, but we could get about 45 pounds each for both suitcases. The only problem – we had little room for souvenirs. It turns out that the suitcases were officially weighed by the airlines, so it didn’t matter. My suitcase was almost 60 pounds on the return flight, but nothing was said. Maybe they were more concerned with the COVID test instead.
Euros
The euro is the official currency in Italy. My hubby had to make the exchange at our local bank. We wanted to have enough paper money in hand to make it easier to pay for quick items, but to use the credit card for larger purchases and when it was necessary to have a proper receipt. We allowed about fifty euros per day, plus an extra 200; which was sufficient for our needs.
In our next installment, we will share our experience maneuvering through the airports and arriving in Rome.
Stay Tuned!
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