Italy Thoughts Part 2

OK, I'm forcing myself to the keyboard because I really need to get this posted! I guess if I do a little each day (since that's about all the time I can put aside right now) I'll get it done by next week!

Accessories

This accessory list is more like a "how to keep in touch" list. If you want to totally get away from the phone, internet, TV, etc. Italy is the place to do it too.

• GSM Cell Phone -- Bring your own, but just make sure it is a quad band GSM phone. We picked up a Motorola V551 for about $70 at a local used phone store. We bought a SIM card (TIM)at the IperCOOP in Lastra a Signa for something like 25 Euro which included a 7 Euro credit. All incoming calls (including those from the US -- although we just used Skype) are free. Very nice to have.
• A small notebook computer with a WiFi card, and built in microphone -- We had our trusty iBook G4. Very handy for grabbing pictures from the cameras, Skype, kid entertainment (Elmo's World was the theme or our vacation) and Flickr/YouTube.
• Skype Out -- I bought $10 worth of credit from Skype for SkypeOut. This was an absolute lifesaver for talking with United Airlines (dealing with the lost baby car seat) All 800 numbers are free, and we talked to the U.S. for .02/minute.
  
• Point and Shoot Camera -- We brought both the little Canon S550 and the big Canon Digital Rebel. I recommend just bringing a little camera. I really did enjoy getting some good shots with the Rebel, but lugging it around everywhere was a drag. (literally) We bought a special thief proof strap, so I wasn't really worried about it getting stolen, but I really preferred just having the smaller camera in my pocket.
• The Cianna Stroller -- A Combi Savvy Soho. 11 lbs. of baby stroller goodness. This stroller handled all of the cobblestones, Venice bridges and steps that we could throw at it. It folds up nicely for packing around and also acts as a nice restaurant baby chair. As an added bonus, it's a nice place to keep the daypack.
  

I'm out of time! I really rushed this one (can't you tell?) More later...