At the time we started planning this trip, I had just turned 60 and my husband had just turned 65. We are in good health.
I LOVE to travel. I like going new places and seeing new things. I'm a history buff and a reader. Europe has been on my bucket list for some time, but I've had minor kids in the house for the last 29 years and with the ages and personalities of my kids, not to mention the size of my bank account, taking them to Europe has never been in the cards. However, in May, 2022, my baby turned 18 and shortly thereafter, graduated from high school. We were DONE with parenting (at least as much as you are ever done with it--hence the url of this album).
While I roll with the punches pretty well, my husband hates it when things don't go according to plan. Throw in a language barrier and he was not at all comfortable with do-it-yourself planning. I decided that if something went wrong, I'd rather he was unhappy with a tour employee than with me.
We decided on Rick Steves' Heart of Italy Tour. It starts in Rome and heads to Volterra and Cinque Terra before ending in Florence. It is called a nine day tour but it is really a little over seven. Day one started in the late afternoon and day nine ended after breakfast. We had considered the Rome Florence Venice trip but decided we wanted to see more of Italy than the "big 3". We think we made the right choice.