When I’m about halfway through a vacation, I usually start getting really tired and feeling like the trip is long; then, out of nowhere, it’s over, and I’m wanting another day or two. That was definitely true for this trip….

So, on the last day we set off from Perugia for our last hotel where we would be just one night before departing from Rome. But Tauck would never have you just riding from place to place. There are always stops along the way. This time, our first stop was Spoleto. If you were guessing fountains, medieval theaters, narrow cobblestone streets, and churches… you’d be right. This was also a town we had seen on Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy, so we were interested in seeing it in person. As always, we had an incredible local guide, and it was fun that when we walked into town, we saw a Sunday flea market occurring. The smell of spices was wafting through the air and I had to get a plaque to put on the wall of my wine room. In Spoleto we also climbed to the top of city and got to take a look at an aqueduct in the park as well. It’s VERY clear why Umbria is called the “green heart of Italy.”

We did run into a LITTLE timing issue in Spoleto. We knew this was going to be our only chance to get any kind of lunch, but we THOUGHT we had seen one of the restaurants Stanley Tucci went to and wanted to try that. Those streets turn into mazes, though, and everything looks alike… so we couldn’t find it. Then, we got indecisive. Eventually, we sat down at someplace that had sandwiches. It was 35 minutes before we were supposed to leave. We THOUGHT that would be enough time, but things were running a little slowly that morning! Ultimately, Richard and I snapped at a chicken sandwich in a matter of seconds before we made our way back to the bus with 1 minute to spare…

From there, it was on to Narni… (No, not Narnia – although, that’s apparently where C.S. Lewis got the name- even though he was never actually there. He saw it on the map, liked it… and there you have it.)
Here, we saw a sunken church that had only been discovered by spelunkers. We even had a chance to meet one of the six spelunkers who unearthed it. This wasn’t just a church, however, it also included a torture chamber and an isolation room.

This was, perhaps, my least favorite stop of the trip. Our guide was VERY knowledgeable, but not very engaging (to me.) He told LONG stories and pointed out EVERY thing about EVERY thing. I started to feel a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t really claustrophobic, so to speak, it was just dark in the rooms and his lecture was VERY DRY. Also, his English was somewhat lacking, so there wasn’t much cohesiveness between ideas – he quickly jumped from one sentence to another. Still, a least favorite part when exploring an Italian history is a pretty good part! I’m not disappointed that we took part in this excursion. With ANY excursion, you could bow out. There were always places you could wait for the others before you moved on to the next sight.

Then, just like that, we were at the Hotel Indigo at our last stop in Rome. We said “goodbye” to our driver here and gave him his gratuity. All tips are covered on Tauck tours (bellmen, wait staff, local guides, etc.) EXCEPT for the driver – the suggested amount for the driver is $7 per traveler per day – and for the tour director – the suggested tip for the director is $10 per traveler per day. We paid ours in euros in an envelope with a nice note at the end. This hotel was just a block or so off the heart of Rome. It was a small hotel room with GREAT air conditioning. Like all of the hotels, we had to play around to see which sockets would take adaptors and how the showers worked. They were all very different. Now, Tauck has A LOT of tours which include in-depth studies of Rome. When they take you to places like the Vatican, they actually go when it’s closed so you don’t have to mess with the crowds. (The same is true in Paris. You go to the Louvre when it’s closed.) But THIS tour wasn’t about going to the big cities. However, Richard and I have never been in Italy or Rome and don’t know when we will be again. We had two hours before dinner. We took a look at Google maps, saw that Trevi Fountain was a mile away, so we set off at a brisk pace to see our one Rome icon. (We knew we didn’t have time for others.) Imagine our surprise when we realized that we passed the Pantheon on our way there. Some of the streets we were walking down felt sketchy, but it was bright daylight, and the energy was palpable. Sooooooooooooo many people. Sooooooooo many restaurants, street vendors, hustlers. It was hard not to get caught up in the excitement! At Trevi fountain, we had our “Clark Griswold looking at the Grand Canyon in Vacation” moment. (If you know, you know), spent MAYBE 10 minutes marveling at its beauty, threw some coins in, and turned around and walked a mile back. That’s all the time we had for Rome!

Back at the hotel, we showered QUICKLY and made it down to the farewell cocktail party. The hotel had very nice hors d’oeuvres out on their lovely courtyard. It did start to sprinkle a bit while we were out there. Then, we went to our rooftop dinner where it POURED. They were able to enclose the whole restaurant, but it did obstruct the view somewhat. The picture below isn’t mine. I’m just sharing what it SHOULD have looked like if they hadn’t had to surround our whole table in plastic for the thunderstorm. Still, it was a very nice dinner. It was somewhat odd to say “goodbye” to people, most of whom we’d really gotten to know, realizing we’d probably never speak again. I may actually seek out our tour director, Sofia, for the chance of another tour with her.

Our flight the next day was the earliest of anyone. We departed from Rome at 8:05 AM, so that meant our transfer would be there at 5:15. We said our “Arrivedercis” and went back to the room. The next day started with a minor fiasco as we were on the fifth floor, there was a spiral staircase going down, the bellmen had not picked up our bags, and the elevator didn’t work. BUT when we made it down one floor we found a staff elevator and used that.

The ride to the airport was VERY non-eventful. Rome was quiet and empty – as was the airport. We hung out in the lounge for about an hour and then got on our quick jaunt to Heathrow. We didn’t have a whole lot of time in Heathrow (an hour and a half between flights). But we didn’t have to pick up luggage, and our next flight left from the same terminal (just a slightly different section that we needed to get to by train). We had enough time to hang out in the business class lounge for about ten minutes. It is ENORMOUS in Heathrow. TONS of rooms, self serve liquor and bartenders, food everywhere. I can’t even imagine what the first class lounge is like (one floor above.)

Then, back to our final leg – the last 10 hours. Richard was quite bummed that his lie flat seat didn’t work at all. This is a BIG deal, and I have contacted British Air. There were two empty seats near us, neither of them worked either. When you pay the premium for a lie-flat seat, you expect to get one. Still, he was pretty happy that they offered afternoon tea about two hours before landing. (I had a sweet potato salad and a paneer for my main meal. The food was SO SO SO good.)

Throughout the entire flight, a lady was hacking and coughing behind us, literally 10 hours straight, poor thing!

When we got off the plane, it took an hour in Austin to get our luggage, but my wonderful parents were waiting for us with our ridiculous dog in the car. Mom even brought a cooler of drinks! It’s just like a Tauck transfer, right?

And now, as I’m finishing up my last blog, I’m loving reliving each moment of the trip.

Our next “big” trip is Scenic’s Delightful Douro in July of next year.

Oh, sidenote, we did come home with a little travel “gift”: Richard has a mild case of COVID, I’ve got strep… but we’re both fine, and we both agree that even if we knew in advance how we’d be feeling right now, we still wouldn’t hesitate to go on our adventure!