These tour directors are cagey people. They know we need a break at least every two hours to “use the facilities” and stretch our legs, and they craftily plan it so there just happens to be not only a toilet, but also a place where we can buy gifts and souvenirs to take back home.
The drive from Sorrento north to Montecatini was our longest travel day, and we made three excursion stops along the way. The first was at a “Cameo Factory,” and we got to see a demonstration of how authentic cameos are individually hand carved. Naturally, I had to have a pair of cameo earrings.
Our second stop was more of a sightseeing side trip. We stopped in Orvieto, which is in Umbria in Central Italy, and took the funicolare to see the mammoth cathedral at the top of the mountain. Since it’s a little more difficult to get to, the area is not quite as touristy, except for the hordes of high school students on field trips!
I enjoyed a light lunch—Ok, I had a gelato—while appreciating the cathedral, right there just a few dozen steps away. The front was ornately designed, but the sides were of big, thick stripes of light and dark marble, and for some reason, it reminded me of a prison. In a souvenir shop, I purchased some classic movie postcards—in Italian!
A leather factory was our third stop that day. I wasn’t about to pay 155 euros for a small, simple purse, or over 400 euros for a hand-sewn jacket, but others in the group readily did, and this small factory outside Florence did well that day.
Andre, always chatty and personable, was busy singing “That’s Amoré,” and missed the turnoff to Montecatini, so the day was even longer by the time we got checked into our third hotel of the trip. It turned out to be the lesser of the six hotels we stayed in, the internet was totally unreliable, there was no gift shop, and I was glad our days were filled with so much to do. The neighborhood was safe, however, and a small convenience store was only a few blocks away, where soda was 1.49 euros, and not the 6 charged at meals.
We were now in the very heart of Tuscany, and midway through the 15-day tour.