Rod's impressions of Italy

 I just wanted to post my impressions from Italy, which were more pragmatic and logistical in some cases compared to Katie's experience (sorry not a lot of pictures here).

Money -  Cash was still king, especially in the more rural areas - it was the preferred payment in most small shops and rural shops.....needless to say, we went through more cash than I anticipated in the out and about places.  The more touristy areas were fine with credit cards, however.  Banks and ATM machines were prevalent (we only used ATMs inside a bank, which all worked out).

Driving - in Tuscani, it was CRAZY.  Yes the roads were curvy, but the bigger problem was the width.  Any time a truck or bus was coming at us, there was a collective groan from the people in the car!  BUT, I only knocked my passenger mirror one time..... that was against a BUILDING that formed the edge of the passenger side of the road!  (the picture below is of a town, but you can see how narrow the streets are with no sidewalks and buildings make the side of the road).  The views and scenery were unbelievable everywhere we drove and the pictures don't do them justice.  Google maps did a good job of getting us places.  In Northern Italy, the roads were wider and a little less curvy, so that was nice.  However, Google maps would give directions by turning onto road names (turn right onto Mario Giuseppe avenue), but the names of the roads were extremely difficult to see and the signs on the street indicated destinations, not road names....it was tough.  I believe Katie posted a video with google maps giving us a direction.  I would say the drivers in both parts will very good and of course used to driving on the roads.  Major highways were easy to drive on and navigate.  We needed a car in both locations (especially Tuscani).

Language - we struggled more than we hoped.  We were in very non-touristy locations and English was sparse and minimal - but we got along with pointing and Google translate.  Luckily both of our hosts were fluent in English.  As we visited more touristy locations (Siena, Lake Como area) English was more prevalent.  Most people were patient with us and friendly so it worked out.  On our last day, the kids were able to order their gelato preferences completely in Italian...so that was cool (our daily gelato shop included a young man who spoke fluent English and he made it his goal to teach the kids how to order correctly in Italian).

Food - yes, anytime we ate "out" it was yummy and delicious (except for pizza - Italian pizza is plain, simple, and minimalist [not a lot of sauce or cheese or toppings]). Again, in the non-touristy places we struggled with language, but we would all try something different so we could share or switch with someone that didn't like something.  We had easy access to larger grocery stores (think like Aldis) which helped with getting the basics.  We all gained weight.

Scenery/views - The landscape and scenery were amazing in both locations - Tuscani had a large rolling hills landscape EVERYWHERE, it was breathtaking (example on the left).  Northern Italy was a different style with sharper hills leading up to the Alps, it was breathtaking as well especially in our lakes region (picture on the right) and the valleys in Switzerland (picture on the bottom). 

Churches - We have visited and said prayers in 20 churches so far!  The worship spaces are amazing and all but 1 still had at least one Mass a weekend.  No matter how many we have seen, every time we walk into a new one, we are in awe.  We have been to 4 Masses and even though we don't understand the language, the readings and celebration of Mass were the same as we have at St. Lukes, so we are able to follow along.

We didn't have any hiccups with anything in either location, no problem with the car, passports, getting lost, or food poisoning!  Let's hope we have the same for the next 2 months.