Italian ramblings
I have been reading tons of guidebooks and magazines about Italy. My journal is a great place for me to keep track of my readings and thoughts.
First the negative stuff, just to get it out. We are thinking about mid-Sept., possibly early October 2006 for our trip. My fear is that Biz will want to be married then. I won't go into the details but I have told her repeatedly that we will not put down any deposits, etc. until 1) Jeff is out of prison, 2) they have been living together for several months, 3) they have shown us that they are truly committed to the relationship. I hate to sound like one of THOSE mothers but there are major issues there. I am not going to put my life on hold in anticipation of their marriage. We think that Jeff will get out in December or January. No guarantees- it could be the full 7 years sentence.
The other issue is Susie and Daryl. Are they in? Are they out? To be fair, when Susie called me about this trip, she was very frank about her plans. She will have to work Daryl around to the idea. We have loved them long enough to know how his brain works. I don't have a problem with this. We had not expected to have a small windfall that would allow us to make the decision that we are going to go. That also happened the day she called. I understand Daryl's work ethic, just one of the reasons I love him- he is the stereotypical Type A.
We travel well together. That is one of the many reasons we became best friends and then family. However, Mark and I tend to be those travelers who try to absorb our location- we are not going to stand out in anyway. D is a loud man. Suz can get a little empirical with waitresses and taxi drivers. I don't understand why they occasionally slip over into rudeness. I do believe in my heart though that they will embrace the Italian culture and not become the ugly Americans.
If they are in, we will probably spend 2-3 nights in Venice, then 2 nights in Florence, 4 nights in Tuscany and 2-3 nights in Rome.
If they are out... I would probably spend more time in the countryside and less time in Roma. We are not big city people. It seems so strange to think about going to Italy and not seeing Rome but this is not a contest- it is about having a wonderful vacation. The flip side is that we need to be stretched. We choose not to live in a big city but that shouldn't mean that we never spend any time in a big city, especially one of the oldest and most intriguing cities in the world.
First the negative stuff, just to get it out. We are thinking about mid-Sept., possibly early October 2006 for our trip. My fear is that Biz will want to be married then. I won't go into the details but I have told her repeatedly that we will not put down any deposits, etc. until 1) Jeff is out of prison, 2) they have been living together for several months, 3) they have shown us that they are truly committed to the relationship. I hate to sound like one of THOSE mothers but there are major issues there. I am not going to put my life on hold in anticipation of their marriage. We think that Jeff will get out in December or January. No guarantees- it could be the full 7 years sentence.
The other issue is Susie and Daryl. Are they in? Are they out? To be fair, when Susie called me about this trip, she was very frank about her plans. She will have to work Daryl around to the idea. We have loved them long enough to know how his brain works. I don't have a problem with this. We had not expected to have a small windfall that would allow us to make the decision that we are going to go. That also happened the day she called. I understand Daryl's work ethic, just one of the reasons I love him- he is the stereotypical Type A.
We travel well together. That is one of the many reasons we became best friends and then family. However, Mark and I tend to be those travelers who try to absorb our location- we are not going to stand out in anyway. D is a loud man. Suz can get a little empirical with waitresses and taxi drivers. I don't understand why they occasionally slip over into rudeness. I do believe in my heart though that they will embrace the Italian culture and not become the ugly Americans.
If they are in, we will probably spend 2-3 nights in Venice, then 2 nights in Florence, 4 nights in Tuscany and 2-3 nights in Rome.
If they are out... I would probably spend more time in the countryside and less time in Roma. We are not big city people. It seems so strange to think about going to Italy and not seeing Rome but this is not a contest- it is about having a wonderful vacation. The flip side is that we need to be stretched. We choose not to live in a big city but that shouldn't mean that we never spend any time in a big city, especially one of the oldest and most intriguing cities in the world.