http://stewartblog.com Rambling thoughts from Alexandria. Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:29:28 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en School is 27 days away, but field hockey started yesterday. Fifty seven girls and lots of running, but Caitlin is happy. For one thing she felt like she was in better shape than most of the others. Today is another sweltering day, but the temperatures will only be in the ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=781 Leigh, I wanted to like Venice more, but all the people got in the way. It was just unbelievable crowded, from the swarms of tour groups that got off the boats in the morning to the river of people walking through the streets in the evening. When you have to ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=780 Planning a trip is a lot of work and full of apprehension that everyone will complain, but the people on Trip Advisor gave “The Best of Tuscany Tour” such rave reviews that I thought it was safe to try. Plus it seemed a good way to see some other towns ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=779 This was a walking vacation. It was a rare day (usually one we traveled on) that we didn’t walk six plus hours. It was just the best way to enjoy the cities. We’d start in the morning, go for a while, have a break in the hotel (siesta time!) and ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=778 We really loved Florence. It is a great city to visit because you really can walk to anywhere and everywhere. We were 600 meters (thanks Google Maps new walking route feature) from the Duomo and that was our main navigation device. We’d walk to the Duomo and from there head ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=777 We enjoyed the markets of Florence with the street carts weighed down by all sorts of leather items. Some focused on jackets, others on wallets and belts, and some on purses. In between were carts of scarfs and some with beads and necklaces, and occasionally t-shirts and souvenirs. Scotty bought ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=776 We are big fans of the Italy train system having taken it from Rome to Florence and now Florence to Venice. The Eurostar trains are clean with well-designed interiors. One half of the seats are turned in clusters of four with little tables between the two sets of seats facing ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=775 It took us awhile, but we finally figured out lunch. Go to the “cafeterias” with the sandwiches displayed in the counter, choose from an array of small sandwiches usually with interesting cheeses and/or ham or prosciutto, have the staff warm it up, ask for a liter of water, and sit ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=774 When I said the kids could sleep in on Friday I didn’t think they would wake up at 11:00. But that is what jetlag will do to you. I was up by 8:30 and headed out for a walk. I discovered crowds (indicating no one else had slept in); the ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=773 For the second hotel in a row we have a rather trying internet connection. Sometimes we can see sites we want, other times we can’t. And we definitely can’t read articles on washingtonpost.com so we don’t know the details or Strasburg’s injury or Chelsea Clinton’s wedding. But more importantly, we ... http://stewartblog.com/?p=772