The return home

 For the start of our return home, we had arranged with a driver Barbara had recommended to pick us up at the hotel at 8.15.  He kept us updated on the phone, the construction on the street delaying him by a few minutes, and we started the trip with him needing to back up the Mercedes van some distance on the lane turned to dirt by the construction.

We arrived at Schiphol airport at 9, and it was a pretty smooth check-in and trip to the gate. I'd heard that most of the epic problems at the airport were resolved, but once in a while there was a bad day.  We'd taken the cautious approach of arriving early, there were two flights at our gate before ours, the last one delayed in leaving the gate so we needed to move to another one.

The flight to Madrid on Iberia Express had a few minutes delay and they charged for food and drink.  When I bought a Croque Monsieur I was worried about not getting it right away, but it was cooked in the galley after the order.  Even though this was a Schengen flight it arrived at the 4S satellite terminal at Madrid, and there was a long trip, with a curving underground train, to get to the main Terminal 4 and baggage claim.  This is quite a large terminal complex used mostly by Iberia.

We got the baggage and, as we'd decided, left our checked bags in the left luggage office.  Even going with just our carry-on backpacks and taking a taxi, the trip was stressing us: there were many taxis but also a long line of people, but it moved quickly, with dispatchers directing us to cabs.  Our driver turned on the meter to the fixed €30 fare and, like on the return trip, took reckless moves.

Maybe it would have been better to stay at an airport hotel and have it optional to go into the city, but it was a nice enough night, on an award, at the Indigo Gran Via, centrally located.  Even arriving after 4, the room wasn't ready yet, but it was ready quickly.  I just made a brief stroll out, spotting a red carpet event practically next door and looking into the very busy El Corte Inglés department store and its food court at the top.  The city was full of people out.

View from the store at sunset

We decided to have a room service meal, and later I had the free drink that was offered at the rooftop bar with this view:

In the morning we picked up croissants and coffee from a bar, then got a taxi to the airport.  I got the bags from left luggage, found the designated bank of counters for our flight, then learned there was another bank for Business Class check-in.  When check-in was done, it was still a long trip to the satellite terminal and we didn't have that much time in the lounge, where I needed some of the time to deactivate my Italian phone plans and change SIM cards.

We got to the gate and boarded our Business Class seats, I think Margaret's first time ever in that class, and my first since true lie-flat seats became the standard.  Margaret liked having a window seat by itself, and we liked the food and drink selections, my main course being a beef cheek dish.  We'll consider it a great flight, even if there were problems navigating the TV screen and getting usable Wi-Fi.

We landed in Boston, a delay getting to the gate meant we couldn't get the ideal shuttle bus to our home area, but fine to wait another hour, and we were home and the trip was done.  This trip covered a range of memorable experiences, in generally mild weather, and we'll try to think of what to do next.

Making the best of final days in Italy

 We saw that our days in Umbertide were running out, and made an effort to go more places.  On Sunday, we went to Gubbio and included some upper areas where I hadn't been before.  The practical thing to note was that we parked at the Teatro Romano lot and saw ticket machines advising us to get the EasyPark app; I did the download and entered the payment method and license number with a projected finishing time.  If I was reading it correctly I could at the end enter an actual ending time and just be charged for the actual time.  In fact I missed the alert when time was running low, when I could have extended the time; after time was out, there was no extending it, but we were only over by a few minutes.  Anyway, some Gubbio pictures:

Discouraging sitting here.

On Monday we went to Assisi, where we'd talked about going every time since I've been making the trips with Margaret, and never did, even turning around on the way once.  Now we did the trip with just a little time at S. Francesco, first entering the lower basilica, then trying to enter the upper church from outside and seeing that we needed to go from inside, and missed seeing the highlights of the Giotto frescoes this time.

We did a little uphill walking, then went back to the car to eat at La Stalla, an out-of-town restaurant I remembered from the 1970s.  Ready to return home, we weren't getting a signal for Waze, I was pretty sure we'd find our way to signs for Perugia that would help us home, until the entrance ramp for the superstrada in that direction was closed.  We started what seemed like a parallel route until we got a dead end warning and it was time to turn on Waze, which continued to put us on small roads until we were on a big one.

For the last full day, we were figuring out a short trip to take and I thought of Monterchi, known mainly for the Piero della Francesca painting of the Madonna del Parto, the pregnant Madonna.  While that used to be easily accessed in the cemetery chapel, now it is the subject of a museum in town with a video presentation and other explanations of the geometry of the painting.  Then we thought to go to Città di Castello and have lunch at Trattoria Lea with its truffle specialties.  Time to return to Umbertide and wrap up our too-short time.

On our last day, we needed to gather our devices and chargers before our departure. After doing our best (problem to be reported later), we loaded the car and took off to return it at Orvieto.  We had thought of just waiting for a train around 1.30 p.m., but since we were there on time, we took the slightly more expensive option shortly after 12, giving us the InterCIty train with assigned seats. When it arrived, it was a strain to board the right car as they were whistling to clear it for departure,  but we made it to a nice near-empty car that had vending machines. 

I liked that this train had us change at Tiburtina rather than Termini, but still it took an effort to get between the right tracks. We got to the airport station, and it was time to get to the B&B we’d booked. There had been two B&Bs recommended by travel friends, and we chose the more modest one, L’Isola, recommended by Cheryl, who also turned us to the Orvieto car rental.  They had reached out through Cheryl to us to make sure we were set for our arrival. They told us where to wait after our arrival and to send a selfie. It took more time than expected, and they took us to the place, on the modest side but serving our needs. 

They also recommended the seafood restaurant Amelindoo, fancy looking but we got out with nice mostly one-course meals. 

On the way, Barbara had noted that my backpack might have a problem meeting Lufthansa’s carry=on allowance. When I arrived at the B&B, I noticed that the backpack didn’t have my laptop; as best I can determine, I left it at the house.  So as I blog, it will be done more slowly on the iPad. These weeks our last few days in Italy:  now we have Germany and the river cruise to look forward to.

The first week: setups and trip to Rome

For the first week, we were mostly around Umbertide; I did a few errands to update things in the house, getting a new small smart TV and a Wi-Fi router.  Problems with the latter: at first I understood that I should just plug it in and wait for the final light to change from red to white.  Then I saw that the included SIM card had to be inserted, but there was some ambiguity about which way to insert it.  I made another trip to Città di Castello to check on that, another day to wait with no change, and another trip.  Then they found that there was a difference in the incorrect way they had entered my name from when I first signed up with the TIM phone company in 2010; they'd started another incorrect way and it was keeping the service from starting.  Another attempt: the light hadn't changed when we left for Rome, but I got a text confirming the connection once we were in Rome.  In the meantime we were getting Wi-Fi service with the HipPocket portable router, delivered to us in the U.S. from France, which should also be good for the latter parts of the trip.  To complete this part of the story, once we were back in Umbertide and the Wi-Fi was working, I tried to reset the password but found that I shouldn't start with what was labeled "Password" on the router label, but rather with "WLAN Key."

Anyway, on Wednesday we drove to Rome with the purpose of meeting Margaret's sister-in-law Barbara to take her back for the rest of the trip.  We used points from the opening bonus of a credit card to book the Residenza in Farnese in the area familiar to us.  I initially thought of parking at the Parcheggio Via Giulia in the area, but once we were in Italy I asked about the hotel's parking, it was open, and they would arrange a permit for the ZTL (restricted traffic zone).  This was good because when we walked by the Via Giulia garage we found it full, although spaces open up regularly.  I had my misgivings about driving into central Rome, but we went ahead.  On the drive down, the worst problem was when we wanted to exit for a coffee at the Autogrill near the Roma Nord tollbooth, I took a regular exit and turning around meant paying an additional toll.  In Rome I most feared the Lungotevere, which I think of as a racetrack without clear lanes, but I found it relatively orderly, with underpasses to avoid stoplights at the bridges.  The Waze app had me leave the Lungotevere earlier than I'd expected, and I was turned around as to which direction we were going on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, but we made it to the hotel without hassle, with instructions to go around the block to where the parking gate would be open.

We had to do a little wandering before the room was ready; when it was we had some rest and a little more wandering in nearby Campo de' Fiori and Piazza Navona.  In the evening we had a get-together with Cindy and Scott from the Slow groups: nice to have their company, we ate at La Carbonara on Campo de' Fiori, where I have 50 years of memories: a nice enough meal, but now I find it too touristy.

The next morning was Barbara's arrival. I wasn't going to drive to the airport to meet her if we were continuing to stay in Rome, so she arrived with a car service.  It was raining that morning, and I decided to have some activity beyond staying in the hotel, so I went to the Van Gogh show that had just opened at the Palazzo Bonaparte on Piazza Venezia.  It was most of the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo.  It was fine to see, don't know if I'd call it essential; we'll be able to see the museum devoted to him in Amsterdam.  The rain let up: a couple of pictures:

Campo de' Fiori

Piazza Navona

We had lunch at our favorite modest place across the river, Da Giovanni.  There wasn't much for the rest of the day, just neighborhood wandering and a pizza dinner.

The next morning we drove back, and that drive was more difficult.  With Margaret and Barbara talking I missed some directions from Waze, and there seemed to be pointless instructions to exit Corso di Francia, part of the established road out.  So more difficult, but eventually back to this home, letting Barbara see our little town.

This is Saturday, Margaret feeling a bit unwell, Barbara has explored Umbertide, and then I drove her to the nearby town of Montone, a hilltown with peaceful old streets and some views:

The trip between homes

 Now the obligatory description of making the trip.  Margaret's son, who lives with us now, took us to the Dartmouth Coach station for the ride to Boston Logan Airport.  Early in the morning we got notice that our 5.55 flight would be delayed to 6.45.  We were checked in and had a wait; now that Delta has moved most international departures to Terminal E we were in an area of several gates close together boarding at the same time so there was confusion.  We were eventually boarded and left with a bit more of a delay.  The diabetic meal we ordered was not pleasing to me.  In regular Economy seats I got a decent amount of sleep.  It was nice to see Italy on the landing approach, but there were foggy conditions on landing.   They made up most of the delay, and I had my first look at a new E concourse at Rome Fiumicino airport.

Our bags turned up, and it was time for the train journey to pick up the rental car in Orvieto, which we found a good solution last time.  Because it's preferable to pay cash for this rental, I was looking for ATMs.  The ones I saw in the terminal were from Euronet, which make me worry about extra charges.  At the airport train station there was one from a regular bank, Intesa Sanpaolo.  It tried to make me take Dynamic Currency Conversion, charging in dollars at a bad rate, but I declined that and it still had its own fee of €3.  (Finally exactly 1-1 EUR-USD conversion.) I bought train tickets from the kiosk  and we had our trip connecting at Roma Tiburtina.   I felt the weight of our overpacked bags and it wasn't as easy as I had hoped to find our connecting track number, but we were there, that train was delayed, and it made up most of the delay.

We arrived, were picked up by Andrea from the rental agency, and were settled in the automatic 500L.  I'd picked the roadside restaurant Pisello, where we had some nice pasta dishes to get us started.  Then we got to Umbertide and found the house in good shape.  It was 24 hours after our departure from home.  A quick visit to our favorite grocer and bar, and we were ready to sleep, a good night for me.

After it being close to freezing temperatures in Vermont, we arrived in Italy with warm times, getting chilly at night.

Random changes to note: ten years ago I reported on the newsstand in our nearby piazza being removed and relocated; now in the new location it's closed.  I currently just buy the newspaper on Friday when it has a magazine supplement, at the tobacco shop; now there's a sign that that business is for sale.  Closing with a picture of the house and Margaret.

The 2022 trip: Italy and a river cruise

 We're getting ready for our 2022 Europe trip: here I'll go over what it is and how it was booked.

I doubt anyone here recalls (I hardly do myself) that for our 2021 trip we booked a round trip starting in Rome, with an April 2022 placeholder date for the return.  As we were thinking of what we would do for 2022, Margaret was hearing from her sister-in-law Barbara suggesting that we join her on a river cruise; she's liked these after doing a few of them.  For the cruise that she was planning, I was finding the cost to be out of reach but the description was appealing: Uniworld's Classic Germany and Amsterdam cruise.  As we looked at it some more, we agreed that we'd find a way: it's an "only live once" way to see some picturesque German towns and Cologne, then have time in Amsterdam at the end, as Margaret has been wishing.

Once we started this cruise booking, we looked at the airline booking.  I understood that we could change the Delta return (Boston-Rome) to any date with the generally available Economy fare code with no change of fare, and the funds were available through the end of 2023.  As I tried to change the flight date, I kept getting error messages until I selected Oct. 5.  Aha, even though the funds were available, this ticket could last be used on that date, one year after the outbound.  If we tried to book a later date, the funds could just be applied to a new ticket, and there would be the problem of deciding to use it on a likely expensive one-way or start a round trip when we already had plans for the other direction of the trip.  So we booked Oct. 5, which I think is good although it's a little earlier than Margaret was thinking.

Barbara will arrive for our second week in Umbertide; then we'll fly from Rome to Munich to a bus to Nuremberg where we'll have a night before the cruise starts.

For the return, this is finally the chance to do an Iberia trip on points, where we've had several booked trips cancelled either by the airline or by us.  Last fall there was a favorable deal to get some more points on a credit card conversion; I did that to give us a chance to fly Business.  Now, when could we get the award seats when they typically just release two of them per transatlantic flight?  I found them if we spent five nights in Amsterdam after the cruise, a good chance to spend time there and on some day trips.  I had promotions from a new credit card to have those nights in a hotel for free.

Meanwhile, as I was starting to hear in early summer about the crazy waits at Amsterdam airport security, Iberia posted a schedule change that they wouldn't operate the Madrid-Boston flight on the day we booked, Nov. 2.  I didn't like needing to call them, but after one call where the answer made no sense, the calls worked better and we got changed with our Business seats to go Nov. 3.  Then one week later, the morning Amsterdam-Madrid flight was removed from the schedule, so there wasn't a way of making the connection in Madrid on the same day.  Another call needed, and there was the option of changing to British Airways via London on the same day, but we preferred to stay with Iberia and get a night in Madrid, also on a reward.

I'll also mention arranging phone and Wi-Fi service in planning, before we see how it works on arrival.  I'm going by memory where things may have been more difficult than needed, but it seemed that my login to my TIM Italian phone account needed to be done with a VPN saying I was in Italy, I found out by chat that it was the day before expiration of my current SIM card, and to add value I needed to put that card into my phone to receive a code by text.  Then for making payment I wasn't finding where they allowed entering my "foreign" credit card number; I could do it with my Italian PayPal account listing an Italian mailing address, but the credit card still couldn't be a U.S.-issued Visa or MasterCard; it could be an American Express card.  Got that?  I got the value added, and waiting for the eve of departure to get the plan that looked right to last a month including EU worries.

So we have our worries: with most COVID rules removed, it's still on our minds that many friends have had bouts with the disease while traveling.  I've followed stories of low river levels disrupting the cruises, but that seems to have eased to the point of the rivers being too high at some points.  For Amsterdam airport, we need to continue to plan for a long time clearing security.  Still, hoping for a memorable trip overall.