donna in mililani

So my father and I returned from our short and speedy Italian vacation a few weeks ago. It was fun exploring new places with my dad. He did not mind at all that we just walked and walked all over the place (once in a while we would ride the subway too of course) ...he didnt complain about the last minute change of route in which we took to get to Rome in the first place. To say that the life of a standbly traveler is unpredictable is an understatement. The original plan to fly to the west coast then to DC and then fly to Rome was immediately crushed when i learned that no standby employees were getting on any flights to the US mainland that weekend. All of a sudden, United flights were packed and overbooked. Canceling my vacation was not an option, however, so i decided to take the advice of my dear co-workers and take the opposite direction to get to DC....via Japan! Taking the scenic route proved to be a success because we did arrive in Rome at the expected time.

Rome was nice, but i fell in love with Florence right off the bat! It was hard not to. The last time i fell in love with a city like that was a visit to Luzern in Switzerland and Bath in England a few years back. Very charming, i just loved the architecture of the old buildings.

Venice was also a sight not to be missed. Rain came down pretty hard that day, and i still have the umbrella i bought in Venice as a souvenir because of it.

My dad was a good sport....He waited with me for more than an hour to get into one of the museums in Florence after a long day of walking everywhere!

The best part was knowing that our return flight home from LAX had nearly 60 open seats; and no matter how beautiful the places i've been to, coming home, to me, is far more satisfying....

Ciao