In April I decided to blow our United frequent flyer miles on a trip to Italy. I had been unsuccessfully trying to get frequent flyer tickets to Hawaii, and was floored when we could get Italy. I had enough miles for three of us, and we bought 12,000 more miles so Kathy could go using her miles, which was much cheaper than buying her a ticket. We invited both sets of grandparents to come along. Mine did not go, as they are building their retirement log cabin on farmland in the Finger Lakes region of New York where they grew up. Kathy’s parents Bob and Karin quickly decided to come.

CJ and Robby are 8 and 6-1/2 respectively. Kathy and I were both a little nervous about the kids’ reaction to not having out usual San Diego-type summer vacation. When I announced where we were going, they both shouted ‘Italy?!’ in excited voices. It was a hit. I showed them were it was on the globe, and talked about Rome. Pretty soon Robby asked ‘isn’t that where the Coliseum is?’ It soon became obvious that Robby had a favorite site in Rome.

I planned the whole trip myself, taking the advice of my friends who had been to Italy. I should thank Kent Dodge, Ray Stern, Ken Frederick, and Tom Owano especially for their advice - Kent directed me to both Sorrento and Sienna.  I used Rick Steve’s Italy 2003 (which I will hereafter refer to as ‘the book’) to select hotels and plan our days. As my brother so perceptively pointed out, the breadth of information in his Rick’s books can be less than average, but his depth is unmatched. He has more information about the areas he covers than any other guide. He also is the only one to map hotels and restaurants so you quickly find where to eat and sleep in the neighborhoods you want. I also bought Rick Steve’s Mona Winks, which has very detailed information on Europe’s top museums and historic sites. We ended up seeing seven of the 25 sights detailed in Mona Winks.

Saturday & Sunday June 28 & 29, 2003 - SFO to FCO
Monday June 30, 2003 - Day 1 - Roma
Tuesday July 1, 2003 - Day 2 - Roma
Wednesday July 2, 2003 - Day 3 - Roma - the Forum and Coliseum
Thursday July 3, 2003 - Day 4 - Roma - The Vatican
Friday July 4, 2003 - Day 5 - the ‘Bus’ to Napoli, Ercolano, & Sorrento
Saturday July 5, 2003 - Day 6 - Sorrento
Sunday July 6, 2003 - Day 7 - Sorrento & Pompei
Monday July 7, 2003 - Day 8 - North to Firenza
Tuesday July 8, 2003 - Day 9 - Firenza
Wednesday July 9, 2003 - Day 10 - Siena
Thursday July 10, 2003 - Day 11 - Siena to Roma
Friday July 11, 2003 - Home to El Granada
Epilogue