First day back

Whatever vacation-zen was left has been shredded by jet lag, screwed up subways, horrific humidity, eighty bajillion email to wade through, and all the stuff at work that's been stressing me out but now piled up for a week's worth of stress in one morning.

So, Italy? Awesome.

Had a really, really fantastic time in Italy.

( Places gone )

( Things eaten )

( Things bought )

( Highlights )

Basically, it was a really, really amazing trip. I got to see pretty much everything I wanted to, and eat pretty much everything I wanted to. (And gained less weight than I thought I would.)

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the packaged tour. They tended to rush us through things that deserved a lot more time so that we could then go on the "optional" (extra-fee) excursions or shop. We skipped basically all of the optional excursions, and were glad. Many of the guides were pushy and a bit condescending. (Although given some of the idiots in our group, I don't blame them. While it was annoying for us to listen to them repeat instructions four times in a row, someone would invariably then ask exactly the question that had just been answered so the guide had to say it a fifth time.)

At the same time, we did skip a lot of very painful lines, which was nice. More importantly, we got to some really great places I don't think I would have managed on my own. I don't think I would have been up for driving around Tuscany as much as we did if I had to do the driving (the roads and the drivers are crazy). We definitely wouldn't have gone to Verrazano Castle on our own, which was one of the very best parts of the trip. The Uffizi guide was fabulous. Having someone else deal with our luggage (especially in the nightmare that is Venice if you don't know where you're going and are trying to drag something behind you on wheels) was also really key. The hotels were lovely, and the breakfasts really, really nice. Italians aren't big on breakfast - we would have been having rolls and coffee by ourselves. Having someone deal with some of the logistics, especially in a country where I don't speak a word of the language, did help.

But basically, it was one of the best trips I've ever been on. Yay!