Although I have yet to get official approval from work these are my plans:
Venice Oct. 10-16
Florence Oct. 16-22nd or 23rd.
IF I can get the third week, then I'm thinking of Cinque Terre, but nothing set in stone.
Venice dates aren't exact, but most likely I'd arrive on Sunday.

I hope it works out that a bunch of us are together at some point!

Mindy

Ciao Mindy -

Thanks for this new posting. You may remember I'm a newbie (well, now that I've gone to a Santa Monica GTG I guess I'm a semi-newbie ), anyway, right now I'm looking at Venice, arriving Saturday or Sunday October 9 or October 10 and leaving Saturday, October 16 (Kendall and I are going to be roomies in Venice and possibly Lucca). My vacation has been limited too, so I won't be able to do the week in Florence because I want to go back to my beloved Lucca and spend as much time there as possible, so I will be in Lucca Saturday, October 16 through Saturday, October 30 (but may come down for one night in Florence).

Take care and I look forward to meeting you, Jen and everyone in San Diego, which will be here before you know it

Michele

Hi, I'm Kendall and I'm a Travelholic.

I will be in Venice Oct 9th or 10th until the 16th. ater that I will either be in Florence til the 22nd or 23rd, or I will go to Lucca with Michele.

I said yes at first, then went a bit quiet because I had some timetabling issues and then decided to go to San Diego.........I'm quietly working on something and hope to let you know. 50/50 at the moment.

I need some Italy.

Count us in

The timing did not work out for us so we will be traveling in June 2010 instead.

Have fun!!

Leslie

Oooops, should have added our dates as well (I cannot edit my last post-Mods can you fix that for me please?)

Venice Oct. 10-16
Florence Oct. 16-22nd or 23rd.

Not sure what is happening, if anything after Florence...

Cannot wait to see you all in San Diego!

Ciao-

Jen

Count me in! Arriving in Venice on Sat, Oct 9, heading to Florence on th 16th, then flying home on the 23rd. Have my outbound flights booked; waiting for the schedules to open for the return.

Anne

Count us in! Jim and I will arrive in Venice on Saturday October 9th (tickets already secured)stay for 6 nights and head to Florence on Friday the 15th, stay 6 nights and end in Rome for our last 3 nights, heading home on Sunday, October 24th. Can't wait!!

I've got tickets!!!!!

Via airmiles mainly gained from my credit card - I did some fast and fancy footwork to take advantage of a short term offer and manged to get the only flights eligible for the time in question - Out Sunday 10th and back Friday 15th to Venice (and blissfully from Heathrow - so easy for me to get to!)

I'm dazed - I had a really narrow window of opportunity to do this.

Think I had better mention this to my husband when he gets home

Panda, this is wonderful!! How did your husband take the news?
So, you'll be in Venice Oct. 10-15th,

think of the fun we can have discussing this in San Diego! You are a world traveler

Pokey

quote:

How did your husband take the news?

He had an awful day at work (had to let some staff go), so I thought tomorrow would be more appropriate for news of me gaily skittering off to Bella Italia!

At least in Venice I am likely to be the least jetlagged one, as opposed to how I may be in San Diego. (the nearest I could find to an appropriate emoticon for jetlag!!)

whoopee.....I just booked my return, and went ahead and upgraded to First Class from Business for just 30k more miles..I'll be really traveling in style! Arrive in Venice on Oct 9, leave from Florence on the 23rd.

Anne

Anne, that is so great!!

I have enough "Thank You" points to buy a can of soda.

Mindy

Husband deeply impressed with my swift acquisition of these seats and got me to show him some tips - he's put the date in his diary (he'll be on domestic duty with remaining teenage daughter) so I'm good to go !!.

Got the guide book out of the library last night....I know it's nearly a year away but that's plenty of dreaming time (that's prosecco, as if I needed to say)!

We will be in Venice, Florence and Rome in October. However, our dates are earlier than Mindy's.

Booked my rental for Venice,paid in full. Now I'm concentrating on Florence and then on to airfare.Iwant everything but my spending money paid for by Post Time!

I'll be in Venice for part of your week there for sure...

To borrow Panda's wording, I went quiet on this for a while because I didn't think I could swing it.....but I now have renewed hope that I might be able to come to Venice for a few days!!!!! Yay! I'm very excited at the possibilities!!!

Does it look like Oct. 9 or 10 to about Oct. 16 are the likely dates for a GTG?

Cheers,
Sandra

yay!!! I will be in Venice, arriving Oct. 10th and leaving for Florence on Saturday Oct. 16th

Pojet..... oops, had my fingers on the wrong keys....that should say "Pokey" (too early for Poke)

Count us in on the party wagon too!!!!

If you all want to do any kind of winetasting thing, our own Nan (venexiananan) is a sommelier and does wine tasting seminars. Perhaps we should think about this. She can do something with Proscecco or whatever we want I think. I can contact her off the board if you'd like me to check it out.

I just sent an inquiry off on an apartment... it's in San Marcuola! I can't rest until I've got everything booked, LOL.

quote:

Originally posted by Shannon:
If you all want to do any kind of winetasting thing, our own Nan (venexiananan) is a sommelier and does wine tasting seminars. Perhaps we should think about this. She can do something with Proscecco or whatever we want I think. I can contact her off the board if you'd like me to check it out.

I'll be there for the Venice week (rooming with Kendall, who I believe will also be there for the Florence week) and I love Prosecco, so please count me in for anything (tour/tasting) etc. related to Prosecco (well, who am I kidding, put me down for anything related to a wine tasting activity of any kind )

Michele

quote:

Originally posted by MoJen:
Count us in on the party wagon too!!!!

Can a person Visa they way out of jail in Italy?

We'd better take more Euro

Not sure I can cope with this: I am getting all excited on two threads at once! San Diego is suddenly very, very real and I was staring at a travel display in a bookshop window today featuring Venice thinking ' Yup, there, as well!!'

How self indulgent do I feel ?!

Occaisional self indulgence is a necessity for sanity.

quote:

Originally posted by kendall:
Occaisional self indulgence is a necessity for sanity.

This my dear Kendall, is our motto for the trip. Perfect!

I live in Umbria full time so Florence GTG is the place I would be interested in attending if during the day since I will be taking the train.

Hi Margaret! We'll be sure to keep you posted about a GTG in Florence. A small groupe of us will be there the week of 16 Oct.-23rd, so I'm sure we can work out a day to meet.

(I took a quick peek at your website and your photos. Don't you just love Dozza? I was there in May 2009. It's a magical place for sure, not to be missed if you're in the area).

Mindy (from south of Boston)

Margaret
I am so happy we will get the opportunity to enjoy your company for however long you can manage.

I want a countdown clock in one of these Italy threads! Comprende?

Also has anyone besides me posted on the trip calendar?

Oh, I'm happy dancing because now my accomodations are made for both weeks! Now the only thing I need to do for a while (other than saving $$) is to learn what Italian I can and look for airfare.
I think this occaision calls for some Prosecco this evening! Whoo Hoo!