A magical Meditteranean vacation - the Italy road trip COMPLETED - Page 29 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
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It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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The problems with the Segway sound really scary. I'm glad it wasn't worse.
I'm glad too. In fairness, it was probably a bit of over confidence on my part. I'm happy to report I had no such issues on the Segway tour we did in Paris at the weekend.
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Love the pictures from the tour, especially Ponte Vecchio! That was certainly a scary thing that happened with the Segway. My nerves would have been shot after that. Other than that, it sounds like a wonderful tour!
That looked like the way to see Florence on a segway at night and glad you enjoyed your tour! That was a bit scary with your segway and crazy how it went out of control! Some very nice photos at night! Sorry, to hear you were so exhausted, but you certainly had a long and quite active day!
That's quite odd with some tourists climbing all over the boar statue! I guess idiots tend to multiply in certain areas that they are attracted too!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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That looked like the way to see Florence on a segway at night and glad you enjoyed your tour! That was a bit scary with your segway and crazy how it went out of control! Some very nice photos at night! Sorry, to hear you were so exhausted, but you certainly had a long and quite active day!
That's quite odd with some tourists climbing all over the boar statue! I guess idiots tend to multiply in certain areas that they are attracted too!
Friday 18 July – part one: “I guess we’re out of historic Florence now!”
I was very relieved that when I woke up this morning at 7:00am, I’d not only had a good night’s sleep, but I also felt so much better than last night. I wasn’t exhausted, I didn’t ache all over, and my insect bites didn’t seem to be sapping the life out of me, as they were last night. They still looked just as bad, they just didn’t feel quite as bad… thank goodness!
We headed down to breakfast just after 8:30am, and quickly found Mari and Raleigh. I loaded up with more cheese, yoghurt, and croissant, having a mild panic that one I tried might have been apple, but Mari confirmed it was almond. Phew! I was also impressed they had water there, so I made sure to fill up on that, as I knew I’d be glad of it later.
In the end, we checked out about an hour later, and carted all our luggage down to the garage. How on earth we are going to get this all home, I do not know, but that’s tomorrow night’s/Sunday morning’s problem… We met the member of staff, who opened up the entrance and the exit to the garage. I couldn’t believe how many more cars were in here. They’re obviously a busy place, and it had been a nice stay there.
We left through some very narrow street, which were thankfully one way…
… then we saw some more of historic Florence, as we headed along the banks of the River Arno.
We seemed to travel forever through Florence, as opposed to a couple of days earlier, where we’d come in off the motorway, and been into our hotel very quickly.
We saw some sights on the way, including some of the moped riders…
… and some unusual buildings…
This is apparently the tribunal building of Florence.
As Mari said, “I guess we’re out of historic Florence now!” Yep, I guess so… We even went past the airport, which didn’t seem to be very big…
Then we were back out into the countryside again. This was about an hour’s journey and I have to say it passed me by, as I was just enchanted by everything I was seeing as we drove along…
One thing we did notice was how horribly hazy it was. I guess sadly that’s probably the result of pollution.
Soon we were coming into Lucca, and we soon found the city walls…
We headed in, through this amazing gate:
… and the GPS happily took us along to one of the main squares, and we saw some lovely sights along the way.
However, it was a bit too easy. There was a parking space there. In fact, there was more than one, and no parking machine in sight. I smelt a rat, and a big one… we walked around trying to find somewhere to pay, then I checked with a girl at a local bar, asking her in Italian if we had to pay. she told me, but went on to say it was only for residents. Ah, that explains it then…
Not wanting to get the car towed, we didn’t take the risk, and we asked the GPS to take us to a parking garage. Simple right? Well, not really. It took us down some medieval, exceptionally narrow streets, and how Mark got around them, I do not know.
What a scenic drive! I'm loving the look of those narrow streets. But to drive through them... um... good job Mark!
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That was a bit scary with your segway and crazy how it went out of control! 
Some very nice photos at night! 
I guess idiots tend to multiply in certain areas that they are attracted too! 
We met the member of staff, who opened up the entrance and the exit to the garage. I couldn’t believe how many more cars were in here. They’re obviously a busy place, and it had been a nice stay there. 
she told me, but went on to say it was only for residents. Ah, that explains it then…
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