Packing for Europe - Keep it Simple (but still cute)

I finally bit the bullet and started sorting out what I want to pack for Europe. We are only doing carry-on luggage, at least until the last leg from Paris back to San Francisco. Can a gal actually spend 17 days traveling through Europe with just a carry-on and not be incredibly out of fashion?

I think so, but then every gal is different.

I started by pulling out the pieces that I though were must brings. One pair of jeans, three pairs of shorts, one skirt and two dresses. What I noticed was that I had a good base of colors to build on: red, black, cream, white and denim.

From there I pulled out some of my tops that I really love, but that are travel friendly. I did this with the expectation that I would be ruling out some of the tops as I started to make different outfit combinations.

Here's the key. Any shirt that only went with one bottom was automatically ruled out and vice versa. I don't want to have 5 separate outfits, I want to have choices with all of them based on the given day. Garanamals-style. You know, lots of combinations with just a few pieces because everything goes together.

I also needed to consider that at some of the sites we will be visiting, modest dress is mandatory. For instance, at the Vatican, you can't have your knees or your shoulders bare. For this purpose I added a light-weight, white cardigan. The weather is another variable. In Rome and Florence, it is likely to be in the mid 80's while in Paris, the highs are likely to be only 65 (which means that the mornings and evenings will be in the 50s). It's complex.

This a photo of what it looked like just before the final cut. Like I said, lots of black, white etc. but you'll notice just a bit of color with the red and purple (the teal shirt didn't make the cut).

I was really surprised how well this came together with only a couple of missing pieces. I'll be bringing a pair of walking sandals and a pair of suede shrug boots for sure. I do need a pair of nice black flats that I can wear with the cream dress shown here. That is what I will be wearing the night of our 22nd wedding anniversary dinner as we cruise up and down the Seine in Paris.

Wow, did I really just say that? Pinch me.

 I may toss in one more pair of shoes. Something that isn't quite a sneaker but is a comfy walking shoe.

The best part about it? I weighed the suitcase with all of my clothes and shoes and it weighed only 13 pounds! Seriously. I know I still need to add toiletries and accessories, but still. I'll take that to the bank. I can easily hoist 20 pounds on my back and trudge through a train station.

At least I think I can. Stay tuned for updates post-"hauling the luggage through the train station." Ah well, it's all part of the journey.

For now, I'm off to the mall to see if I can find the illusive black flat that is both cute dress worthy AND walking around friendly. It doesn't sound like it would be too hard, does it?

Rodin, Flesh and Marble - Paris Exhibitions

Our trip is getting oh so close. 7 days until lift off from SFO.

I've been looking at what will be going on in each of the cities we will be visiting (not things that are always going on, but special events). One of them that caught my eye is this special exhibit at the Rodin Museum in Paris. We'll already be going to the permanent exhibit, but this looks like it might be worth the extra EUR 9 each to see.

Rodin, Flesh and Marble - Paris Exhibitions What's on | 60by80

Florence Museum Pass

For 50 euro you can buy a pass that gets you into many museums and sites and gives you access to public transportation for 3 days in Florence. The Firenze Card can be purchased here. You can buy it on-line ahead of time, print a voucher and then pick it up at one of the noted locations, or you can just purchase it at a handful of places when you get there. We are opting for the later choice so that we can pay cash for it and avoid any additional fees.

Here is the link to the complete list of places (50) the Firenze Card gives you access to and here is a list of some of the more popular ones:
Museo di Santa Maria Novella
The Uffizi (the main gallery in Florence with lots of famous stuff)
The Academia (where you can see the David)
The Boboli Gardens
The Galileo Museum

The card DOES NOT get you into the main Duomo.

Cocktails in Paris

Dan and I always enjoy a good cocktail. It seems that finding a good place to enjoy such libations in Paris wasn't always an easy task. Wine bars a-plenty, but not so much with the full bar.

We found a great blog called 52 Martinis that helps with the task, however and they recently published a map of Paris with each of the cocktail joints mapped out for your convenience. And if that weren't enough, someone had the fortunate task of trying each of these places and writing a review for the blog. It's a rough job.

We'll be checking out some of these places, I'm sure and will report back on our findings. Work, work, work.

Booking our hotel in Rome

We booked our hotel in January...a full 8 months before our stay.  We made our selection based on a recommendation from a family member who had stayed there last year.  We will be staying at the Hotel Sonia, which is right across from the Opera House and about 6 blocks from the main train station.  It is the #108 rated hotel out of 1280 in Rome on Trip Advisor. 

Double Room

Standard Bath

Breakfast Included

We did not book using any online source.  I emailed started on the hotel website and then confirmed prices and discounts via email with the hotel staff.  They responded to email very timely and I have all our details in writing that I can copy and bring with us.

I was poking around today and couldn't believe the prices I was seeing on all the on-line booking sites.  We are paying $116 Euros per night...$106 with cash.  This comes out to about $140 US.  The booking sites now are quoting about $250 US per night.

I am sure glad we booked early and directly with the hotel.  I strongly recommend you do the same.

Getting Lost in the Research

Our trip is just three and a half months away.

WOW.

It still feels so far away, but the reality is that it is just around the corner. Time to start digging in to some of the details of the planning. Our flights, hotel and apartments have been booked for months. We've spent the last many months reading, watching travel shows and documentaries on the History Channel and National Geographic, talking to friends and doing everything else we can do to educate ourselves enough to make good decisions on how to spend our time. Now let's get down to the nitty gritty.

A re-cap of some of the "education" we've been doing.

Movies we've watched:

• Roman Holiday - 1953 Starring Ms. Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. A classic. I bought this one.
• Under the Tuscan Sun - 2003 Starring Diane Lane - Beautiful scenery, filmed around Cortona. Total chick flick, but gives you a nice feel for the beauty in the region.
• Midnight in Paris - 2011 Academy Award winning film by Woody Allen starring Owen Wilson. This movie is like crack to me. Bought this one, too. As I will be searching out Hemingway's Paris, this was a no-brainer for me. Well done, even if you aren't a big Woody Allen fan.
• PBS' The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance -  Not terribly exciting, but very informative.
• The History Channel's Engineering an Empire - Details about the engineering feats of ancient Rome. Very interesting if you like this sort of thing. I do.
• The Da Vinci Code - Of course. 2006 starring Tom Hanks and Katherine Zeta Jones. An exciting story, some history, and some Parisian scenery. You can actually take a Da Vinci Code walking tour of Paris.
• Angels and Demons - 2009 starring Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor. This one takes place in Rome. Loved it.
• The Borgia - and The Borgias - These are both series that started about a year apart. Both are fun to watch and give you a good idea of some of the stories (which I'm sure are theatrically embellished) around the Borgia family and how it ruled, or tried to, in Rome and all over Italy circa 1492. Warning, these are not child friendly AT ALL (sex and violence).

Books we've read (or books I've read):

Some of these books I've read over the years and not just in our research for this particular trip but I thought it might be helpful to include them here.

• The Birth of Venus - by Sarah Dunant: Very loosely based on the happenings in Florence around the same time as the Borgias were ruling in Rome. A bit of chick lit but well written and when I finished it I felt like I learned something and was entertained in the proces = Win.
• The Paris Wife - by Paula Mclain: I'm a sucker for Hemingway's Paris. This is the tail of Hemingway's time in Paris as told from the point of view of his first wife, Hadley Richardson. LOVED IT.
• Time Was Soft There: A Paris Sojourn at Shakespeare & Co. - by Jeremy Mercer: Again, crack for me. The memoir of a Canadian journalist who lived with other writers in the bookstore in the late 1990s.
• A Movable Feast - by Ernest Hemingway himself: Posthumously published, Ernest tells of his time in Paris in the 1920s when he hung out with Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Salvadore Dahli, Pablo Picaso and other creative lightweights. This is beyond crack.
• The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo - by Irving Stone: OK, so I haven't read this, but I aspire to. I'm told it's a must if you are going to spend time in Florence, but it's a long one. 784 pages. Didn't they make a movie? Why yes, they did.

There is so much left to do, and so little time. I'll update these lists as we add to them.

How Not to Get Ripped Off Eating in Italy

I found a link to this great article on a blog I read often called Rome Reveled.

It is a rather lengthy post on how to make sure you pick the right restaurants to eat in as well as how not to pay too much for your food and drink.  Click Here to check it out.  I found it very helpful and hope you do as well.

On the same blog there is an excellent article on what to eat when in Rome.  Click Here to read it.