Deciding where to go - Part 2
When deciding where we would travel to during our 12 day trip to Italy, besides my dad’s hometown, I think Rome was a no brainer. I mean, it’s Rome. We have to go, right? It’s like the epicenter of the world (besides NYC, maybe). Ty and I like exploring new areas ourselves, as opposed to taking tours or staying in the city center. We did, however, book a tour of the Colosseum. It is really the only way to get inside the structure, anyway, without waiting in line for a long time.
We were planning to break up our stay into 3 nights a piece in 2 cities, then 4 nights in my dad’s hometown (and then fly back to Rome for 1 night before we head home). We decided on Rome pretty quickly, but needed to choose another city for the in-between. Ty and I both loved the idea of Tuscany (in part to watching Under the Tuscan Sun but mostly, the wine). We didn’t want to stay in Florence - didn’t really want the crowds and the tourism. So we looked at cities outside of Florence and easily landed on Siena. My brother studied abroad there and loved it, so I knew it wouldn’t be a bad choice (fast forward - it was the best choice).
We knew, wherever we stayed, we wanted to experience the local culture and not necessarily the tourist side of the city. So we took to Airbnb to book our stays. Without knowing much about the neighborhoods around Rome, we sort of just looked for a reasonably priced apartment that we would enjoy staying in for a few days. We found Roberta’s apartment in the neighborhood of Monti.
Our private roof-top patio at our apartment in Rome.
For Siena, there were so many beautiful places. Some right in Siena’s city walls overlooking Piazza del Campo and some more private, a short drive away. We landed on Martina’s countryside apartment just outside Siena’s city center.
Enjoying our nightly glass of Chianti in Siena before we head to dinner. Bring me back!
The house my dad grew up in was recently renovated and still in the family, used just for this purpose (it’s how my grandfather wanted it). We planned to stay there, along with my aunt, uncle, cousin Stefania, brother Chris and his wife Alyce.
The view from our room in Montepaone.
Round-trip plane tickets to and from Rome were purchased. Train tickets booked. A short, round trip flight to Lamezia Terme bought. Cars rented. Now, all there was left to do was wait to leave.
