RM, wonderful news for you and your family!
RM, Congrats! Name? Hope the new family is doing well. What do you want to be called?
DIL"s parents are grandma and grandpa and we are Nonnie and Poppie.
dt, we are traveling to Italy this April. We will go from OR to NYC, stay two nights as we want to visit the 911 site,
and then NYC DIRECT! (yeah) to Milan and return Milan through NYC to Oregon.
D will train from Boston to NYC and fly into Rome to meet us and then our of Milan to NYC-Providence on the way home. NYC to Milan and Rome are all on Delta.
2 hours at the eye doc/ordering new glasses and 2 hours at the dentist to get an appliance adjustment and I find myself wishing for a plan out of Kaiser. We love Kaiser but sometimes I want plush and fast.
D said it was -3 last night. Coatless yesterday and today here but the wind is back and the fog and soon the rain.
H cooked! tonight. “So that is what it is like to take a nap and wake to dinner” . I did the main and a veggie but he pulled off potatoes and spinich rice bake. Maybe there is hope? =D>
Congratulations RM.
DTE, there are no non-stops to Florence or Venice from Boston and only one non-stop to Rome, which is on Alitalia, which is pretty bad (actually haven’t flown in a long time but it was quite bad and I don’t think they’ve solved any of the problems they have in their business). My favorite way to go to Europe, especially if it is for leisure is to take the BA day flight to London. I then stay overnight at the Sofitel at the airport or one of the other airport hotels (they are cheaper but you have to take a shuttle bus). Then I fly the next day to Europe. Alas, to go to Florence, BA only flies there from London City Airport and not from Heathrow. So you’d have to stay in the city that night (and not at the airport) and make your way to LCY for your flight. But BA does fly from Heathrow to Rome or Venice.
The reason I like the day flight is that flights from the East Coast to Europe are generally too short to get enough sleep and you feel jetlagged for a few days. And, unless you are flying business class, you are in an uncomfortable non-flat seat. This is avoided by flying the day flight and staying overnight. Also BA has a premium economy section which is a bit more comfortable as well.
Good morning. First off, congrats to RM! How exciting!
DTE, nice trip coming up by the sounds of it. How long are you going for?
Paris seems to have its share of direct flights from my neck of the woods. In my alternate timeline where I am coming with you, I’d fool around in Paris and then meander south through the countryside to meet you in Florence 
I haven’t actually done this land trip, mind you…only the cruise, though I did love that. But when I was in Nice and hopped on the train for a spell, I had the feeling I could get anywhere by train.
(If you’re wondering what I was doing on a train in Nice when I was there by ship, you’re not the only one people really shouldn’t let me wander…)
Thanks all. All are doing fine. DIL was VERY tired and a bit sore I think last night although she was trying to put up a good front. 
I was good and only stayed for about 20 minutes then H went in for about 5 minutes - he works near so had dropped over before during the day. H will try to go back for a bit today as well. They will come home it sounds like Sat. if everything continues to go well. We may see if they want a bit of company at their place for a short time on Sun as S’s birthday is coming up next week. So we could go down with his gifts and just have his celebration a bit early. I chose Nana (that was what my grandmother was called whom I was very attached to). H will be grandpa. We won’t bother differentiating with something like grandpa Paul as both DIL’s father and H has the same name.
I am going to Italy with a friend for a short week. so we are trying to figure out the most expedient, way to go. We are thinking of Rome, to assisi and ending up in Florence. where her daughter is finishing a school year abroad.Glad to get the insight into Alitalia. I was not thrilled with British air but only because I have to sit in the economy seats and feel like a sardine. I flew Delta and was less than thrilled with their service .
I finally looked at boysx3 caring bridge, this woman is so amazing,We already knew that, but she just blows me away. I am so hoping her recovery continues, she is working so hard and has overcome so many setbacks. I always think about how she reached out to m a virtual stranger, I hope all this good feeling and karma just envelopes her, she has touched so many. CD do you have her new address?
dt, when are you going? We are at the point of figuring out the few things we want to commit to regarding buying tickets ahead. And train schedules. We will be in Florence the end of April.
DTE, it might be worth considering taking the day flight to avoid jet lag and but with BA premium economy seats (called World Traveler Plus) for comfort.
Here’s another piece of info from one of the travel writers I subscribe to:
Not too long ago, when travelers wanted a cheap coach flight to Europe, they started a search in the New York-London market. But high aviation taxes on the British end and too many pond-pounding bankers have made New York-London flights surprisingly pricey. So where are the cheap fares now? Believe it or not, New York-Milan. Ever since Emirates launched a daily flight on the route last year, coach prices to Milan have plummeted. They are now the cheapest in Europe and cheaper than flying to Rome by hundreds of dollars. Alitalia, the route’s incumbent, is selling tickets for as little as $659 roundtrip this winter. Emirates, which started the price war, is also at $659 roundtrip, too. And Lufthansa is charging $659 roundtrip on its Star Alliance/code-share partner United’s Newark-Milan nonstop. The restrictions are relatively light: assume you have to book 14 days in advance, travel midweek and include a seven-day stay. Tickets must be purchased by early February.
Incidentally, Emirates is a great airline (though I’ve never flown Emirates in coach).
Shaw that is interesting information. We paid $711 on Delta NYC-Milan RT. Of course we need to get to NYC first but our total was less than friends who are traveling from PDX to Rome and have a stop over in Germany and are taking about 5 hours (not including the stop over) longer to arrive.
It also appears that the flight is a Delta flight and not an Alitalia codeshare, whereas the flight to Rome is the reverse.
Our wackadoo puppy turned 1 on Thursday. She “celebrated” yesterday by being spayed! Our breeder was adamant about waiting until she was 1 for a variety of developmental reasons, and since she’s been in the business of breeding Wheatens for 30+ years, we listened. Everything went fine; the vet wants her kept “quiet” for 2 weeks. Yeah, right – we’ll be lucky if we can keep her “quiet” for 2 days!
dte – our 2nd trip to Italy included a couple of days in Assisi. H & I loved it! I remember a pappardelle dish I had one night that was off the charts delicious! (Of course the sights were phenomenal. too …)
Happy weekend to all. Stay warm.
At the lake this weekend. Enjoying the beautiful snow scene and quiet. Still cold (-12 with windchill) but better than earlier in the week! Could see some trucks out on the lake last night and snowmobile tracks but no fish houses which is very unusual. Wish I was going to Italy!!!
RM – I hope you’ve had some cuddle time with the little one by now. Mmmm…babies!
We managed to have an ice storm Thursday night that left a glaze of ice on everything, and then got a couple inches of snow. Shoveled the snow only to learn that the ice underneath was even more treacherous. Warmer temps today, and I hope it is gone. Yesterday I was waiting for my skating scores to be put up just walking across the driveway.
NM – the pictures out of your area look brutally cold. Brrrrr…
thank you for your advice it was quite helpful, We are flying into Florence, as it will be our base of operations. My friend and I are quite compatible, except I am not an early riser which I will have to work on. We both kind of go with the flow.
RN I am sure you are loving your new grandson so exciting.
I am still sick although I ate a lot today which I have not been doing.
I keep forgetting we are leaving the beginning of May. right after my final.
dt, we will be leaving Florence on May 1st. I bet your friend’s D will have great suggestions for food.
we went to a great restaurant in Florence, I am trying to find out from my travel companions the name. I was quite concussed at the time. We are going to Assisi. also. didn’t get the best fare but flying Luftansa. haven’t flown them before.
Oregon are you going anywhere else?
NM it must be lovely, there were a couple of ice houses on my Aunts Lake in MN. Her house is so lovely, quite large inside actually, I simply enjoyed looking out the windows and watching the woodpeckers and birds. The snow made it so pretty. The only thing I didn’t like was I am spoiled by my ability to get anything for food I want at the grocer ystroe. Their grocery stores do not carry all things you need. I wanted to make a French toast casserole and the nearest stroe that carried baquettes was 45 minutes away.
dt, 2 nights in NYC, 3 in Varenna, 3 in Venice, 9 on tour of villages, 1 in Rome where we meet up with D, 5 in Florence and the last night in Milan to fly out. A long trip!
In just the past few days a 31 yr old and 51 yr old died suddenly that H knew (or new her parents). The 51 yr old’s H had retired one year ago. Last year our friend’s W died suddenly and he had just retired. And my GF’s H died quickly.
None were over 72. Thus, the need to get our travels in sooner rather than later.
NM–how is the baby doing? and mom and dad? I looked up images of your weather–wow!
I lived in the woods outside of Gettysburg for 2 years in my 20’s. The car was stuck for days on end–front wheel and no chains and probably poor tires. But so very beautiful. Always too cold but did not have truly warm clothing. Most of that time I lived in a house built in 1800–so no heat to speak of either.
http://www.osteriadigiovanni.com/in-the-dining-rooms/ Oregon a great restaurant in Florence. We feel the same, so when opportunities arise we take them if we can.