Hi. My name is Dorothy. I turn 60 in September and decided to reward myself with a trip to Italy. I’ve been lurking here for some time. Congratulations! What a wonderful website. I learnt so much during my lurking phase that I decided to join now that I am really going. I leave Perth on 2 October 2008 and will be staying one month in Florence. I couldn’t get a flight to Florence so am flying to Rome and then taking the trains, about which I am already nervous. I am travelling solo and will be using public transport. My original plans were too costly and so I decided to settle in one place and do day trips around Tuscany. I will be staying in an apartment in Oltrarno – a place about which I read many wonderful reviews.

I have a number of questions but will ask them at a later time in the Italy forum.

Thank you again for the wonderful website. I look forward to being a member of this community.

Dorothy

Welcome to Slow Travel, Dorothy. Your trip sounds wonderful and we look forward to your questions on the Italy board in the coming months. I hope you are planning to spend a few days in Rome getting over jet lag before you head to Florence. Please don't worry about taking the train from Rome to Florence - it's quite simple and people here will walk you through the process.

Dorothy, welcome to Slow Travel! You plan a great trip and I am sure it will be a great one too.

Post your questions and don't forget to use the Search function: we have a few interesting discussions based on the travelling solo of some of our members. Just one point: if you spell "travelling" with just one "l" instead of the two we use, you will get
a lot more hits! (P.S.: I just tested it: with "ll" there are 5 pages of hits; with "l" you get 10 pages. One never stops learning... )

Hi Dorothy,

It is great to welcome a new member from down under. I visited Perth in September 2006 and found it to be a lovely town. I'd love to return and spend more time in the Margaret River and Albany area.

You'll find lots of help in the Italy forum. Your plans sound wonderful. Florence will be a great place to celebrate and indulge yourself.

See you in the forums.

Hi Dorothy

A very warm welcome from a fellow Aussie!

My brother lives in Perth and it is truly a great place - sensational beaches, beautiful botanic gardens, and so much more...

Like others have said, I think you're in for a wonderful trip and with the help of this board you will go forth into Italy with confidence and excitement

Cheers
Christine

Hi Dorothy and welcome to ST from another sandgroper.

Train travel throughout Italy is very easy and you should have no problems.
Ask plenty of questions and you will get plenty of answers, pretty much varied but extremely useful.

Have fun.....

Elly

Welcome, Dorothy. Good for you going to Florence for a month on your own! You will love it. And I promise you it will feed your soul in many surprising ways.
Just as an aside, Doru.
I use American English. But one of the few words that just does NOT look right to me spelled the American way is 'travelling'.
So, Dorothy, when you see any posts from me with the word travelling in them. Don't be confused. I'm from the US.

Deborah Horn
In a previous life I was an Umbrian sunflower farmer. I want to do a past life regression and stay there.
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www.petsburg.com
My blog: Old Shoes - New Trip

Hi Dorothy from a fellow Australian. I am from Melbourne and have just joined also. It does look a great site and it is wonderful to have your questions answered by people who have been there and are kind enough to help. Have a wonderful trip. Caz

Thanks to everyone for the very warm welcome. I'm really looking forward to being in Florence. I'm learning Italian and hope to be able to squeeze out a few sentences by the time I leave in October.
Dorothy

Having lived in Australia just long enough for my spelling to be completely boogered up, I typed "travelling" and "traveling" in a Word document, used the spell check, and the spell check agreed with both of them!

Where does that leave us except completely confused?!?

Correct either way?

Elly

Hi Dorothy,

Welcome to ST. I am glad to see the Australian membership growing. You will find we have some wonderful fellow travelers from your neck of the woods here.