Ever since my diagnosis, I feel as though I need to accomplish so much before it is too late.
There was even an old television series starring Ben Gazzara, called Run for Your Life, which dealt with the issue of a successful lawyer diagnosed with a terminal illness, setting out to do everything he never had time to do before.
I didn't realize at the time, just how much I would be able to relate to his situation, but my recent trip to Italy put that entire perspective into reality. It was a hectic and tiring trip, and now even after being at home, I have still not managed to get my body clock in order.
And we even flew business class. I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like had we flow coach!
Now the trip was not a total downer, and I am glad I went, but had I known what I know now, I doubt I would have gone, or at least I would have done it a lot differently.
I would have skipped all the tourist attractions, not made any reservations ahead of time, except for a rental car, and just toured the countryside, stopping at what ever bed and breakfast or hotels we would have encountered along the way. That is what we did during our trip to France in 2003, and loved it. Of course the food is much better in France.
I don't like being tied down to a schedule, and that's what I had done for this trip. I had heard so many stories about accommodations being at a premium in Italy, I thought it was important to book in advance. We didn't discover that to be the case, even in high season.
There were so many bed and breakfasts and hotels along the route, I am certain we could have easily found a place. They might not have been 5 star rated, but that's what makes traveling an adventure worth doing. (And there is always the car.) Just like Ben Gazzara in Run for Your Life.
I also think I set my expectations up too high. I had heard from a few friends just how wonderful Italy was, and how great the food was. Well the countryside was beautiful, but if you've seen one town built on a hillside, you've seen them all, that is except for one little town called Civita in Bagnoregio only accessible by foot bridge! It was almost worth the entire trip to Italy, just to go there.
And as far as the food goes, all I'll say is Italy can't hold a candle to France. Except for dinner at the Costello Banfi winery restaurant, in Montalcino, which was a French restaurant, I can get just as good Italian food right here in good old Long Beach, California.
My only real regret about the trip was planning too much. Prearranging all our accomodations just made the trip seem more like a job, with deadlines to meet, rather than a time of relaxation and enjoyment. I won't make that same mistake again.
Oh yeah, and I still promise to chronicle our entire trip, with lots of pictures, once I can get my body clock back in sync, but in the mean time, you can view all the pictures we took (not captioned) at my picassa website.
There was even an old television series starring Ben Gazzara, called Run for Your Life, which dealt with the issue of a successful lawyer diagnosed with a terminal illness, setting out to do everything he never had time to do before.
I didn't realize at the time, just how much I would be able to relate to his situation, but my recent trip to Italy put that entire perspective into reality. It was a hectic and tiring trip, and now even after being at home, I have still not managed to get my body clock in order.
And we even flew business class. I can't even begin to imagine what it would have been like had we flow coach!
Now the trip was not a total downer, and I am glad I went, but had I known what I know now, I doubt I would have gone, or at least I would have done it a lot differently.
I would have skipped all the tourist attractions, not made any reservations ahead of time, except for a rental car, and just toured the countryside, stopping at what ever bed and breakfast or hotels we would have encountered along the way. That is what we did during our trip to France in 2003, and loved it. Of course the food is much better in France.
I don't like being tied down to a schedule, and that's what I had done for this trip. I had heard so many stories about accommodations being at a premium in Italy, I thought it was important to book in advance. We didn't discover that to be the case, even in high season.
There were so many bed and breakfasts and hotels along the route, I am certain we could have easily found a place. They might not have been 5 star rated, but that's what makes traveling an adventure worth doing. (And there is always the car.) Just like Ben Gazzara in Run for Your Life.
I also think I set my expectations up too high. I had heard from a few friends just how wonderful Italy was, and how great the food was. Well the countryside was beautiful, but if you've seen one town built on a hillside, you've seen them all, that is except for one little town called Civita in Bagnoregio only accessible by foot bridge! It was almost worth the entire trip to Italy, just to go there.
And as far as the food goes, all I'll say is Italy can't hold a candle to France. Except for dinner at the Costello Banfi winery restaurant, in Montalcino, which was a French restaurant, I can get just as good Italian food right here in good old Long Beach, California.
My only real regret about the trip was planning too much. Prearranging all our accomodations just made the trip seem more like a job, with deadlines to meet, rather than a time of relaxation and enjoyment. I won't make that same mistake again.
Oh yeah, and I still promise to chronicle our entire trip, with lots of pictures, once I can get my body clock back in sync, but in the mean time, you can view all the pictures we took (not captioned) at my picassa website.
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You can also see all the pictures I took by going to my picasaweb.
I downloaded him.