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.

The rest of the trip: Not ideal

 The rest of our long-awaited Italy 2021 trip doesn't offer a lot to report.  Margaret was unwell, and we didn't do much beyond look at family history in the house.  We went out for two meals with long-time local friends, but didn't meet expat friends whom we'd long looked forward to meeting.  Our extra time finished up, and there are just our final two days in Rome and the return to report.

On the designated day, we took the rental car back to Orvieto by the correct route, still a bit slower than expected, but in time for the nice man there to get us to the train station.  We had a train ride to Roma Termini and with a cheating taxi driver that I'd rather not relive, to where we were staying, the B&B at Gonfalone 6.  Having a regular room, and with Margaret not being up to going out much, it felt more cramped than when we were at the apartment on their property two years prior, but it is still a nice location.  They told us that, like all other places, they were unable to serve breakfast.

The first thing we needed to do was get the COVID test required for returning to the U.S., which could be done at the pharmacy nearby on via dei Banchi Vecchi.  We and several others were accommodated as walk-ins, filling out a form, getting tested at a tent slightly down the street, and waiting for an email of the results document (finally all good for us).

Margaret stayed in the hotel room and I went to join, from our SlowTrav past, Shannon (her past helpful times including our time last year in Croatia), Brad, and Palma at the Albergo del Senato by the Pantheon, at their rooftop terrace.

That was done, and the next day, while staying in the room for a rainy morning, I checked in for the next day's flight, including using Delta's process to upload our test results, and the U.S. attestation form.  

In the afternoon, with Margaret still not up to going out, I went on a walk getting these pictures through Trastevere:

A translation not being accurate but working.  The main sight where I went indoors on this trip was the church of S. Maria in Trastevere, noting that the traditional pews had been replaced with distanced small chairs.

Then crossed the Isola Tiberina. 

Then wound up in the historic Jewish Ghetto, finding much more activity there than when I’d been there before. 

Checking in with Margaret and bringing her some food for sustenance, I had a final meal at E' Passata la Moretta, with Pasta alla Gricia and a Saltimbocca.

The next morning we got up before 6 to get the ride we booked with Rome Shuttle Limousine at 6.30.  We got to Rome Fiumicino Airport around 7, starting to get light on that overcast day.  We went to the area where U.S. carriers check in, one check that we were passengers and had our vaccination cards, but we missed that there was another desk where they reviewed our test results, and were sent back from the check-in counter.  We checked in, just beating the crowds, and had a long walk back to the left (from the perspective of the front of the terminal) to clear security, then right past the many shops to have exit passport control and the train to the satellite terminal with our gate.  There was a line to pick up coffee and munchies, and we weren't finished with them when it was time to board our 10 a.m. flight.  

It was nice to have a non-stop Rome-Boston flight.  There was normal service, but the diabetic version of pizza they served for the late snack wasn't edible.  There isn't much more to recall; we arrived and had the shuttle back to our area where our friend took us home.

We had waited for this trip for a long time, and it was disappointing that Margaret's health didn't allow us to do much.  It was interesting to think about the times that Italy had been shut down and now seeing the scene mostly back to normal, with masks being worn most of the time indoors and in crowded outdoor places, although often not properly.  We didn't do much restaurant dining and didn't much enforcement of the Green Pass rule; I saw it once when I was inside to carry out a pizza, just noting people being asked as they were being seated, with the actual check to be done later.  We will hope for a better future trip.

Getting settled in Umbertide: the market

  We’ve had a few days just staying in Umbertide.  We have the current reality of COVID rules, with masks required indoors (although we haven’t sat inside at a bar or restaurant and been asked to show green passes), and many people wearing masks outdoors, albeit as chin straps in some cases.  We’ve had our Wednesday market with fewer stands and some of them rearranged, including reoccupying the space under the Rocca where the market was when I first moved here 50 years ago.  Here are some pictures.

Trip to Italy starts, September 2021

My last post here was about the trip planned for spring 2020 to Italy and Croatia.  So much has happened since then: my father died in February 2020; we looked for this trip to be a healing time, then COVID hit the world and we needed to cancel the trip.  We made the trip to Croatia in August-September 2020, and I posted a trip report to Slow Europe, where I won the trip as a prize.

We were looking for the chance to return to Italy; when we got our vaccines we booked the trip on rewards before Italy announced reopening: we had Premium Economy (PE) on American Airlines when it was available at a good mileage price, and the same class for a return on Iberia.  We were looking at going by COVID-tested rules for the American flight.

In June, we got word that our flight via New York on Sept. 8 was no longer operating, and we were rebooked via Philadelphia on Sept. 9.  I found that it was the restart date of the PHL-Rome flight, postponed several times, and not listed as COVID-tested, meaning we would need to quarantine on arrival even if vaccinated.  We were confident that those rules would not stay.  The one option to keep the trip on the 8th on American (and not connecting through another country, which could have more rules complications) from Boston would be via Dallas, which would be an unappealing routing and there were no PE seats.  We kept the PHL connection; at first the PE seats we were assigned were in the middle, which Margaret could not take, but pretty quickly seats on the side opened up.

Having our arrival delayed by a day also made us note that the trip was on the short side, and Margaret prevailed in our looking for a different return date.  With Iberia, it’s a major pain to get through on the phone, and when we did, there were no dates close to what we wanted in PE, and if we wanted to change classes, a phone agent couldn’t do it: we would need to cancel, get our points back, and start over with a new booking.

Knowing it could be a major wait to get the points back, the solution I came up with was to book a round trip out of Rome on the Delta non-stop to Boston.  The return for spring 2022 is on a placeholder date that we may well change.  Before too long, I was able to get the Iberia points back, and hope to use them for the next return when we can be sure the dates will stick.

As time approached, we found the testing requirement removed, then reinstated shortly before the trip, and we were able to schedule a rapid test at CVS at a place convenient to where we would be.  

We took our area bus to Boston the previous night, and got to the airport at 9 a.m. for our 12.50 flight.  I planned to get there so early because it takes time for agents to get all the required entry information in, but this agent got it done quickly and were at the departure gate way early, seeing two flights board before ours.  We had a flight to PHL in the front row of the Main Cabin, with extra legroom, but no cabin service because of expected turbulence.

We had a long way to go between gates at PHL. The gate posted was walled off; we waited at the gate across from it to see if it would open, and then one of the apps where I’d sent the flight info alerted me of a gate change, so we went to the new gate.  As more people showed up and boarding time got closer, they announced that passengers who didn’t have an orange sticker (basically everyone who didn’t originate at PHL) would need to go to the counter to get their vaccine cards, test results, and the Passenger Locator Form we’d needed to complete, verified—it wasn’t enough that our boarding passes already said “Docs OK.” The time required for this meant that we boarded after our turn.

We found nice seats, though; Premium Economy has been described as what Economy seats should be or used to be, but these were almost comparable to domestic First Class.  This was my first flight on a 787, and the air was more breathable than is typical.  When the restart of this route was delayed until after Labor Day, some said it was an indication that it wouldn’t operate at all, but in fact I gather it was because of a delay in delivering new 787s.  We were given true headphones and seatback entertainment, although that’s mostly been removed from American’s domestic flights.  We’d pre-ordered diabetic meals, although we aren’t both diabetic, and these meals were really nice, with both steak and chicken.  

I got a few hours sleep even with a facemask on, and we got a nice breakfast featuring a tortilla omelet.  We had a nice arrival in Rome a little early; we didn’t use the e-gates and the passport control agent asked to see our CDC cards (I’d heard that usually the check at departure check-in is enough).  The wait at baggage claim was on the long side, but we made it to the train that I considered the best-case scenario (in fact we got the one 15 minutes before), to get to Roma Tiburtina station.  I needed to find my way around the renovated station to get the train we needed to Orvieto. These trains were Regionali, so they didn't have the Green Pass check that the reservable trains have.

I’d put in the SIM card from the Italian provider TIM, but I continued to have trouble using it or seeing what credit I had.  Margaret had her phone on the AT&T Day Pass, and with it we were able to use WhatsApp to update the Orvieto garage that Cheryl had recommended on our arrival to pick up our rental car.

We arrived at Orvieto and one of the owners of the garage was there to meet us and get our rental, a good deal, started.  I followed the signs to Todi and, before long, realized that this was not the route I was familiar with.  If you can follow this, we were supposed to take SS448, the yellow road south of the lake, but wound up taking the back roads above the Parco Fluviale, through Colonnetta, Prodo, and Doglio.

Here we took the route that wasn’t the most pleasant to drive after an overnight flight, and we got to Umbertide and our house, finding that our helper had prepared it well.  The Wi-Fi wasn’t working after a few years of not being billed for it.  For my own connection in a jet-lagged state, I went to the electronics store and got my phone re-established with a TIM data plan working as a hotspot for other devices, but we still wanted something more like Wi-Fi for the house, and would need to consider options. 

Some people say that it's adequate to have data on a phone with a hotspot, but we saw problems with that: starting with power draining on the phone, and that we'd want to be in contact when we're in different places.  Renewing our home Wi-Fi would have problems of paying for time when we're mostly not here, and waiting for a service call to get started.  I looked into getting Wi-Fi from the phone company TIM, which would have the same problems at a higher price.  Maybe there's more to look into, but I remembered the service we used once, Expresso Wi-Fi.  A search indicated it was replaced by OneMyFi.  I put in an order on Saturday, slightly worried that the live chat was down but attributed it to the weekend, hoping all would be well.  On Monday there was still no confirmation, I searched more, and found that OneMyFi is no longer in business, but they still take PayPal payments.  I am working to resolve this money taken from me; in a hurry I looked at other options, and there may be better ones, and wound up with HipPocketWifi.  It got shipped from France in two days and there were problems getting it started, but with support I have it going.  It also has a data allowance that might be a challenge, but we'll see how it goes.

So far we haven't done much: I'll start with this picture: Rocca di Umbertide.