How I did it: Here's a Lists of Bests list that shows the cities that we visited.

I used this site called Tripology to find a travel agent that I liked.  In the end, I went with Nancy Whelchel who turned out to do a great job of figuring out the kind of trip I wanted, and then executing on the plan in a very organized manner.

This was the first time I used a travel agent and it actually worked out a lot better than I had hoped.  A few days before the trip I received a packet in the mail with a full itinerary of our trip, according to the schedule and desires I had given.  I had vouchers for people to pick us up at the airport, hotels, trains between cities, and other things like private cooking classes and wine tours.  I referred to the itinerary as our "choose your own adventure" and consulted it whenever we needed something to do or were arriving in a new city. 

I was a little afraid that having it all planned out would ruin some of the serendipity of the trip, but it did just the opposite.  It provided a solid backbone upon which all the serendipity could live within.  Instead of worrying about where we would stay or how we would get there, we got to focus on the food, the walks, the friends, and the gelato.

Lessons & tips: I kept most of the plans secret from Kellianne so that it all simply unfolded while we were there.  That was a lot of fun, and since this was her first time to Italy (Europe even), it made the magic that much more magical.

Resources:

• Travel agent from Tripology.com
• Eyewitness Italy
• Rick Steve's Italy
• Acceptance that gaining 5-8 lbs while enjoying gelato, vino, and pasta is okay

Oct 30, 2008, 11:42AM PDT | 0 comments | 2 cheers