Italy Thoughts Part 1

I can't believe that we have already been home for three weeks! I jotted down a lot of little notes while we traveled and then made a "recommendations list" that is currently residing on a set of 3x5 post-it notes. I also tried to put a little commentary and a pseudo-blog entry each day on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mick_huisking/sets) because I found that trying to blog and organize the days photos/movies and finding time to be with the wife and to give attention to Ryan and to chase Cianna, was all consuming!

Anyway, on to the big bad list...

I have the big list divided into several sections:

• Clothing
• Accessories
• Reference Books
• Drivers/Taxi Services
• Places to Stay
• Places to Eat

Clothing

I was a bit freaked out about the proper clothes to wear, especially after reading the Lonely Planet guy's blog about shorts in Italy:

Guys, want to know instantaneous ostracism? Wear shorts in Italy.

Believe it or not, there is a lot of truth in that blog entry. I ended up only wearing shorts around I Cipressi, and in the Borghese Gardens. Most of the time I wore the lightweight North Face pants and believe it or not, I was never uncomfortable (at least due to wearing long pants -- there were a couple of humid days where I could have been walking around wearing nothing and still have been dying. Think about a lovely summer day in San Antonio, Texas... it was like that)

Here's what worked for us in the clothing department:

• The North Face Meridian Cargo Pants -- (REI) The nice thing about these is a security pocket built into the front left waist. I didn't have to worry about dealing with a money belt, and the pocket was pretty easy to access.
• Ecco Walking Shoes -- I had the Ecco Walkathon Oxford (Nordstrom) and am glad that I had a walking shoe like this. You always hear "Oh, you walk a lot in Italy" after my last few visits to Europe, I walked quite a bit, but not like this. We walked everywhere! The only taxi we used was to get to the airport in Rome! (oh, and the little accidental taxi from Firenze Rifredi to Firenze SMN but I don't want to talk about that) A good pair of shoes are a must. Don't skimp.
• Merrill Walking Shoes -- Cindy and Ryan had Merrill Walking Shoes and really liked them. Ryan has worn his out!
• Eagle Creek Pack-It Folder -- (EagleCreek.com) I thought this thing was a little cheesy, but after using it I am completely sold. I could have packed all of my clothes for the entire trip (I traveled light) in this little folder. All I really needed was a small bag containing this thing, a little space for socks, underwear, etc. and a toiletry kit. Instant light travel. Grab one of these things.
  

OK, enough blogging for today. I'll continue transcribing my post-its in the next blog. Coming up next -- Accessories! (I bet you can't wait)