A digital travel diary. · WP v1.08 · Updated
Thursday, April 19, 2026 . At 09:30, after checking out of Hotel Mioni Pezzato in Abano Terme, we began our drive to Venice's Marco Polo Airport to drop off our Opel Corsa at the Hertz Car Rental return center. . The drive to Venice was fairly smooth. When I reached the airport, I stopped to refill the Opel Corsa's gas tank (it was close to…
Read More: Ethereal Venice (March 19)
When I think of Padua, I recall the famous line from Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew (as spoken by Petruchio): . . “I come to wive it wealthily in Padua;. If wealthily, then happily in Padua.” . At around 09:40, we started our 32-minute drive from Abano Terme to Padua. . . I had booked an 11:30 English-speaking tour for the University of Padua, and…
Read More: Scholarly Padua (March 17)
Monday, March 16, 2026 . After breakfast in Abano Terme, we set off on our 50-minute drive to Vicenza. I initially picked a route that avoided the tollway, but it was a mistake, as I had to constantly slow down for all the speed cameras (Apple Maps was great at pointing them out). . . . . We parked our Opel Corsa at Parcheggio Verdi…
Read More: Quiet Vicenza (March 16)
Sunday, March 15, 2026 . At 17:00, we started our drive from Verona to Hotel Mioni Pezzato & SPA in Abano Terme, arriving at 18:15. Only one receptionist was working at the front desk, and she seemed overwhelmed by phone calls & requests. We had to wait our turn (but we were warned by our friends about slow & uneven service). . . After checking…
Read More: Relaxing Abano Terme (March 15 – 19)
Sunday, March 15, 2026 . At around 09:40, we set off from Sirmione for Verona, with a brief stop to shop at MooRER Boutique & Outlet MooRER in Cavalcaselle. Both Inna and I purchased new jackets (heavily discounted from last year). Inna really liked the Italian design flair of the MooRER brand. . . We continued our drive to Verona, parking at Parcheggio Saba Arena,…
Read More: Romantic Verona (March 15)
When we started our drive from Sirmione (at 09:00) to Brescia, I had programmed our parking as Parcheggi Fossa Bagnini, near the Castello di Brescia. . . However, when we arrived, we could not find it. Perhaps Google Maps has the wrong location. (NOTE: Google Maps was terrible at navigating in Northern Italy, failing to explain which exit to take at numerous roundabouts, and making…
Read More: Historic Brescia (March 13)
Thursday, March 12, 2026 . From Bergamo's Parcheggio Città Alta Bergamo parking, we drove about 75 minutes to the Grand Hotel Terme in Sirmione. There was heavy traffic in Bergamo, but it thinned out once we reached the tollway. . . On arriving in Sirmione, we had to follow a special procedure to park our Opel Corsa. Once we reached the yellow barrier, we had…
Read More: Picturesque Sirmione (March 12-15)
Thursday, March 12, 2026 . . . At 11:30, on the way to Sermione (from Milan's Linate airport), we decided to stop by Bergamo for half a day. . . . . . . . . We parked our Opel Corsa at Parcheggio Città Alta Bergamo, on the outskirts of Bergamo's old town, at 13:00. From the parking garage, we rode the elevator to the…
Read More: Beautiful Bergamo (March 12)
Monday, March 9, 2026 (San Jose). I woke at 07:00, showered, and shaved. I finished packing for the trip to Italy and then headed over to AVAC to work out. At AVAC, I rode the stationary bike for 40 minutes and the rowing machine for 20 minutes. I lifted a few weights and headed for the showers, returning home at 10:00. . I packed a…
Read More: Fashionable Milan (March 9-12)
Saturday, October 7, 2023. After landing at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport at 20:20 (on a flight from Brindisi's Solento Airport), we planned to take a taxi to the nearby Fly Deco Hotel in Ostia. . At first, we had difficulty finding the airport exit, but we finally managed to exit and queue for a taxi. When we reached the head of the queue (15…
Read More: Taxi Hell at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino (Rome) Airport
Our hostess suggested visiting Ostuni instead of Brindisi when we were checking out of our Hotel Palazzo Papaleo in Otranto. She said that Ostuni is much more picturesque and exciting than Brindisi's port. . . Although I had researched Brindisi and planned to stop there, I switched my plans to Ostuni, about 30 minutes away from Brindisi (by car). . . . The drive from…
Read More: A Stop in Ostuni
October 2, 2023. After speaking with an agent at Hertz Car Rental (which I had previously booked with), we finally settled on the front-wheel-drive Opel Corsa (made in Zaragoza, Spain) with license plate GL235AS. . . Since I had never driven in Italy, I opted to purchase additional auto insurance coverage as a precaution. The other basic insurance added 100.00 euros to my bill (the…
Read More: Driving Opel Corsa in Italy
Thursday, October 5, 2023. . . From Lecce (parked at the Parkejoo near downtown), we started our drive to Otranto at 18:20 (later than I would have liked, as I prefer to drive during the daytime). . . . . I programmed Otranto on my iPhone's Google Maps application, and we started our drive there. Traffic was heavy during rush hour, and I made a…
Read More: Relaxing in Otranto
Thursday, October 5, 2023. On the long drive to Otranto (our next major destination), we decided to visit Lecce. . After driving from Matera over mostly one-way and some two-way roads, we reached Lecce in two hours. Passing slow-driving cars on one-way roads took a lot of work, as most roads were curvy and bumpy. . . When we reached Lecce, I parked at the…
Read More: A Visit to Lecce
Wednesday, October 4, 2023 . In the early morning, after a quick and delicious breakfast at our Aquatio Hotel, we returned to the Parcheggio Sant'Isodoro (Parking Garage) and set out on our drive to Alberobello. . . On the way from Matera, the roads were primarily single-lane and only sometimes well-paved. When we reached wider freeways, the roads were much better (and speed limits much…
Read More: Trulli beautiful Alberobello
Tuesday, October 3, 2023. After touring the Norman Steps at Castelmezzano, we returned to our Opel Corsa rental (Hertz), parked in the blue spaces on Strada Provinciale 13, and set off for Matera. . . . . I connected my iPhone 14 to the Opel's USB port, and Apple CarPlay started working! It was a great help in navigating the complex roads to Matera. The…
Read More: Exploring Matera
Tuesday, October 3, 2023. Castelmezano is a member of the I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy") association, and the grand views around the village certainly warrant that lofty claim. . . . In the morning, we woke at 7:30, showered, and dressed. We had to pack our clothes to prepare for the drive to Matera. . . . Before leaving…
Read More: Hiking the Path of the Seven Stones
Once our Alilauro ferry docked in Sorrento, we rushed to the taxi area, hoping to catch a taxi. We needed to get to the Hertz Rental Agency ASAP (before it closed for lunch at 13:00). . Unfortunately, there were no taxis. This was a big surprise since taxis know the ferry schedule and should be happy for additional business. . . . . . After…
Read More: Driving to Castemezzano with a stop in Salerno
To relax during our two-week trip to southern Italy, Inna made reservations for 3 days at the San Montana Resort & Spa on the island of Ischia (off the coast of Naples). Ischia is one hour away from Sorrento by ferry (making it convenient to visit). . . . . Friday, September 29, 2023. While in Sorrento, we woke at 7:00, dressed, and packed our…
Read More: Relaxing on Ischia
Inna reserved a private, chartered boat tour of the Amalfi Coast for my birthday. However, unfavorable marine conditions forced a change of plans one day before my birthday. Inna rescheduled the time for Thursday, September 28th, hoping the Tyrrhenian Sea would get calmer. . . . . Luckily, the weather improved, and we were first picked up by a driver from Corso Italia (flags). He…
Read More: Boating on Amalfi Coast