{"id":4735,"date":"2013-07-12T08:01:09","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T14:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=4735"},"modified":"2014-04-14T11:58:40","modified_gmt":"2014-04-14T17:58:40","slug":"i-never-thought-id-go-until-i-was-grey-haired-retired-and-wore-penny-loafers-and-tube-socks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/?p=4735","title":{"rendered":"I never thought I\u2019d go until I was grey haired, retired, and wore penny loafers and tube socks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Myers<\/a> This is a guest post by John Myers, a freaking awesome friend.\u00a0 He had such a great time on his vacation to Italy that he wanted to share it with all of you Wanderlusters.<\/em><\/p>\n

Yet another trip for myself and my WorldWanderlusting wife (great alliteration huh?).\u00a0 Last year (2012) we dipped out toes in the world of traveling by spending 10 days in Costa Rica<\/a> using our American Airlines points, fantastic experience! This year we also used our American Airlines points to go to a place where I never thought I\u2019d go until I was grey haired, retired, and wore penny loafers and tube socks.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 ITALY, BABY!\u00a0 My wife and I spent 10 days engrossing ourselves with Pizza, Pesto, GELATO, trains, gondolas, etc!\u00a0 Using my Starwood Preferred Guest\u00ae Credit Card from American Express\"\" and Marriot Rewards Card<\/a>, we were able to score nearly all our nights on the trip with just these two cards, and didn\u2019t even come close to using all the points on them (I still have over 50k points on my Marriott card).\u00a0 Thus, this trip was SUPER inexpensive given where and what we did!<\/p>\n

We departed out of Salt Lake City, UT with our destination in Venice, Italy.\u00a0 We had quite a few layovers…am I complaining\u2026not at all.\u00a0 I only paid $100\/ticket in taxes for these flights!\u00a0 Long as usual flight to Europe.\u00a0 We flew into Dusseldorf, Germany and switched to Air Berlin.\u00a0 Good service, do not pass up the complimentary chocolate heart they give you at the end of the flight.\u00a0 My wife scolded me for not getting one so she could enjoy two!<\/p>\n

We arrived in Italy on a Saturday afternoon.\u00a0 Our first few nights were to be spent in the luxurious Sheraton in Padova, Italy (SPG) -just a puddle jump from Venice. \u00a0It was a very nice hotel and had a nice shuttle taking you to downtown Padova.\u00a0 One of the days the driver went out of his way and took us to the train station. \u00a0This saved us some feet pain and\/or some taxi money.\u00a0 We spent the first evening in Padova, anybody looking at us would have picked us out as tourists in a heartbeat.\u00a0 We both walked around with our jaw dropped in pure ah as to where we found ourselves.\u00a0 And then it hit me\u2026I never even dreamed of being in Italy at this point in my life.\u00a0 Like most na\u00efve and inexperienced worldwanderlusters, I thought Italy was for the rich, the famous, and the retired.\u00a0 I WAS IN ITALY!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The next morning we went to Venice; enjoyed St. Mark\u2019s basilica, the Doge\u2019s Palace, Correr Museum, Rialto Bridge, the canals, the food!\u00a0 We felt like we were in a dream land.\u00a0 Without fear of sounding corny, Venice seemed enchanting to us.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t get enough of the building design, architecture, people and the food.\u00a0 Everything about it was wonderful.\u00a0 We stayed fairly late into the night and headed back to Padova.\u00a0 So tired. Slept so well.<\/p>\n

\"Venice\"<\/a>

Romantic Gandola Ride<\/p><\/div>\n

The next morning we went to the train station with the Cinque Terre as the next destination.\u00a0 The ticket office there was extremely helpful in finding us the most inexpensive route.\u00a0 I had done the research to find a cheap route, they found a cheaper route by a few euros.\u00a0 It was a fairly long train ride, although we really enjoyed train hopping from Padova \u2013 Bologna \u2013 Parma – La Spezia \u2013 Riomaggiore – and finally Vernazza!\u00a0 We dropped off our luggage at the La Spezia train station so we wouldn\u2019t have to deal with dragging luggage through the Cinque Terra (VERY glad we did this).\u00a0 All of the Cinque Terra is magical.\u00a0 While there, Ash just wanted to stay there the entire trip.\u00a0 We had a room that overlooked the Ligurian Sea in the Mediterranean\u2026amazing (the only room the entire trip that I actually had to spend some of my own hard earned money on).\u00a0 I ordered the fresh catch of the day and had a traditional Vernazza dish with anchovies\u2026so awesome!\u00a0 The entire next day was spent visiting the other villages of the Cinque Terra and eating gelato along the way.\u00a0 Every town has its own character and vibe\u2026all of them were excellent.<\/p>\n

\"Italy<\/a>

John and Ashley watching the sunset over the Cinque Terre<\/p><\/div>\n

We went back to La Spezia, retrieved our luggage and got back on the train to hit up PISA!\u00a0 It was later in the evening once we arrived, so we just went straight to our A.C. Hotel (Marriott) and enjoyed the luxurious setting.\u00a0 It was a nice hotel with a fairly accommodating location.\u00a0 The staff was INCREDIBLE.\u00a0 I felt like a king there.\u00a0 Because we arrived late and were hungry, they went ahead and fixed both of us up with a sandwich even after the kitchen had closed\u2026.FOR FREE!\u00a0 Only free meal of the trip!<\/p>\n

The next morning we found ourselves in a beautiful piazza staring at the craziest leaning tower you\u2019ll ever see.\u00a0 It is really leaning, people! \u00a0We also went into the baptistry and cathedral there. \u00a0Of course we took the classic pics holding up the tower (my wife tried her best).\u00a0 We didn\u2019t go anywhere else in Pisa other than a few blocks from the main piazza and felt this was sufficient.\u00a0 Jumped on the train after that and we rode with some Aussies the whole way to Florence. \u00a0They were such good times everywhere chatting with other travelers.\u00a0 They almost got a huge fine for not getting their train ticket validated.\u00a0 We always made it a big point to validate the ticket.<\/p>\n

Once we arrived in Florence, we took the hotel shuttle at the end of platform 16 and stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in Florence.\u00a0 This hotel was in major need of updating, but, it was free!\u00a0 And we got upgraded to a really big room with a walk-in closet and conference table.\u00a0 Ashley was dying for some McDonald’s as we saw one close to the hotel.\u00a0 Although, the only access to the McDonald’s is from the freeway\u2026so that\u2019s exactly what we did.\u00a0 We hiked along the freeway for about a quarter of a mile to get a quarter pounder – or, more appropriately, 2\/5 of a kilometer for a 1\/10 kilogram burger.<\/p>\n

Over the next couple days we saw all of the most amazing things in Florence.\u00a0 The Duomo was incredible, we hiked to the top of Brunelleschi\u2019s cupola.\u00a0 This was worth every penny.\u00a0 The hike up the stairs and lack of fresh air can get pretty claustrophobic, but the view from the top was spectacular.\u00a0 It drizzled a little bit that morning, but by 11:00am, sunny and warm.\u00a0 We also checked out the Ponte Vecchio, a really beautiful bridge.\u00a0 Piazza del Signoria was beautiful, the palace there was amazing.\u00a0 We totally enjoyed waking around there and viewing works by Titan, Michelangelo, etc.\u00a0 The Uffizi was incredible!\u00a0 Botticelli Spring was also an impressive sight.\u00a0 We also went to the Museo Nazionale del Bargello and saw Donatello\u2019s David, the first reputable nude sculpture, so awesome.\u00a0 The sculpture of all sculptures was of course, Michelangelo\u2019s David. I can only describe this experience as surreal and spiritual because I felt a rush of emotions as I sat and looked at him.\u00a0 He was so magnificent, tall, and studly.\u00a0 I had studied about it in school, and read a few books as well, and none of them could have prepared me for what I felt standing in that atrium and looking at him.\u00a0 It was wonderful.\u00a0 Not only was the David incredible, but I was also really moved by a Pieta done by Michelangelo.\u00a0 The feeling and emotion of Mary holding the crucified Lord in her arms was something I will never forget.<\/p>\n

\"couple<\/a>

John & Ashley in Pisa<\/p><\/div>\n

After spending three days in Florence, our trip was concluding.\u00a0 We rode a bus from the train station to the tiny Florence airport.\u00a0 We had an overnight layover in Stuttgart Germany.\u00a0 Used our free category 1-4 hotel with Marriot here.\u00a0 It was a nice hotel, just an expensive taxi to get there and back.\u00a0 The next morning, our flights were as follows: Stuttgart \u2013 Berlin \u2013 Chicago \u2013 Salt Lake City \u2013 then drive back to Idaho Falls.<\/p>\n

In all seriousness, I can\u2019t thank WorldWanderlusting enough for the opportunity they\u2019ve given my wife and me to see places and sights that I never thought I would ever see with my own eyes.\u00a0 Italy was magical, and my wife and I are so excited for the next adventure.\u00a0 We\u2019ve already got enough points for the next trip and we think South America or SE Asia are calling our names.<\/p>\n

\"Enhanced<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post by John Myers, a freaking awesome friend.\u00a0 He had such a great time on his vacation to Italy that he wanted to share it with all of you Wanderlusters. Yet another trip for myself and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443,92,21,24],"tags":[1324,1008,1007,1889,1323,1325,833,1031],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwanderlusting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}