slidergirl

Rentals may be in the same boat (pun intended) as hotels. Very minimal income during the pandemic, so they are big in competing with hotels for business. Just from my condos - during the pandemic we didn't see many guest rentals at all. Owners came and stayed to avoid COVID in their areas or they'd send family members to quarantine. yes, we had college-age kids of owners show up to stay for quarantine - we'd put the keys in the condo, unlock the door, and they'd go up the garage elevator to their unit and no one had any contact. How they got to town was not our business...

If you like Wool&, you'll like Woolx. I've had shirts from there for a good 4-5 years now and are still in good shape. I bought my LBTD (Little Black Travel Dress) from there, too. It saved me big time when I wore it to the Andrea Bocelli concert - a clear and HOT afternoon/evening that had a walk down and up a hill to the venue! I also sweated like I didn't know I could sweat on this trip and my Woolx things worked perfectly to not make me feel all slimy.

Anita - as the resident bag 'sl*t", I did have the Motherlode and Jr. I donated them. The Allpa has a side zipper that lets you slip into the one side without opening up the clamshell. I haven't done the "surprise me" yet - I either buy at one of our two brick & mortar stores here down in the Valley or I select something from the bags shown. yes, it doesn't come with a carry strap, but, if you have one laying around ( or buy one in the San Lorenzo market in Florence for 10EU), you can clip one on using 2 of the lash points. This is what I did with the Marabeles duffle I packed. I just now put it on the Allpa and did a few pics for you to visualize. This is the 35L one it just looks little. The strap I actually did buy in the market. I'll just rotate it among bags as needed. The big colorful staps were for sale all over the market and I saw them on just small purses all over France and Italy - a fashion trend, i guess. I'm a bit jealous of your trip to Glacier NP. I may miss any camping this year ☹️ Glacier NP is on my short list of road trips - maybe next year. Be sure to have your bear bell with you!!!

@LindaD22 - Thanks for the clarification. I was looking at just Brooklyn, not Brooklyn Heights. The ladies can telll you I was doing exhaustive searching for clothes that I needed/wanted but didn't have for my trip. I may have passed on Heights because it is high waist (not a good fit on me) and has a split seam on the bottom. Good to know that this is an excellent fit for others. Athleta is usually the first place I look for clothes. My clothes adventure over the Spring and early Summer did lead me to some new sites to buy things. Pact, Saint and Sofia, Faherty, Liverpool have been added to my list (Athleta, Woolx, Outdoor Voices, Prana) and add a little "spiff" to my usual jeans/leggings & Tshirt wardrobe.

Wow, how did I miss recommending Pizzarium????? Serious brain fog. I got off the Metro at the Cipro stop - Pizzarium is across the street. From there, I walked up to the Vatican Museums. It's about a 10 minute walk.

Well, after a week in the hospital in Siena, 2 surgeries when i got back home, 3 months in casts, a year of rehab, I can do almost everything. It ended up a little weird at the ankle, so my foot splays out like a duck. I notice it all the time when i walk and stuff, but no one else would notice it.

I just looked online again - the ankle pant in black does show that stripe. Looks like it could be about an inch wide. Black on black it may not be as noticable. Where are the full-length ones? All I saw were the ankle pants.

To be honest, I've never seen a tour bus anywhere near the Centro Storico in Florence, i was just there a couple of weeks ago the last time. There isn't much room anywhere for a minivan, let alone a bus. For kicks, I just looked up "hoho bus Florence' to see what was offered. There actually is one, but it runs out the outskirts of the city, not in the centro. I looked at the details for your excursion and, as usual, it's pretty sparse on actual details. If you want more walking than bussing, may i suggest you do the 'on your own' excursion where they give you the bus to/from and then you set your own places to walk to and see.

hmmm. That's probably the only one of my usual places that i have always made the res online. maybe it's changed. Or, all those dates are already filled or not opened up yet.., i just played around with the site and also the ResDiary site. Looks like things may be filled up. or the website is wonky. i used to do it via email which popped up if you asked to make a reservation. Times change, I guess. it wouldn't hurt to try to call.

hope @cruisemom42 knows any of these as I have not dined at any of them. To add to your list, I have eaten at these near Campo di Fiore and recommend them: Roscioli Emma pizzeria (don't let the name fool you - they have much more than that) Both are upscale-casual places that I would say are moderately priced. you can look them up on the 'net. Boh require reservations as far in advance as you can do.

Oh, i've been to Montalcino. had several Brunellos by the glass there. it's also where i shattered my leg while hiking one of the trails through the vineyards...

Melody - it's Kavu for that sling bag. I had one to use after I had shoulder surgery years ago. much more comfortable than doing the 1-shoulder backpack thing. Anita - I like a clamshell carryon that isn't a roller for when I camp. Easy to keep at the end of the tent and easy to open up and get what I want out of it. that's where the Allpas come in. the smaller one also makes a good cabin bag if I need to take a little more with me in the plane. The shoulder straps are nicely padded. The larger Allpa also had a good padded hip belt (removeable). I like the company because 1)it's local, 2)uses remnant fabric they buy up from other companies, 3) pay fair wages to workers, 4)have a very good warranty. As much as I do like other brands, I will always try to support a local company first.

Did look online at them when I was hunting for a pant to take to Europe. The only thing that took them off my list was the "stripe" of fabric down the sides of the legs. I know it's the same color, but I have a pair of the Farralon shorts with the same thing and i'm just not in love with it. But, so many of you like them, maybe I missed out. Good to see all of you recommending them.

Cynthia - you KNOW I was suggesting Armando 😉 You've been to Rome more than me lately, so nothing new on my horizon, dining-wise. And, it sure sounds like you have a lot of new ruins to explore! yep, the lack of A/C was a little on the uncomfortable side. At least my niece's house had a few ceiling fans, incuding my room, so with the fan going and the window open, sleeping without a sheet was OK. But, I'm one of those people who have to have at least a sheet covering, so it's not the best sleeping for me. the cool temp in the morning is really nice. But, it's jumping into the 80s still in th daytime. Today, it was nice and cool in the house again, but supposed to get to about 85 today and stay in the upper 80s/low 90s for the week. ugh. ootd: my tie dye hoodie again, but I'm getting ready to change to my jean shorts and a tank. Got to go to the Post Office and pick up my mail that I had on vacation hold since the 12th. I may just put my hair in a pony and wear one of my baseball hats - maybe my new Ferrari red one!!

That 64 does feel really good, especially after 6 weeks all that heat and then the last 2 weeks of having to sleep with windows open and no sheet because my first friend's AC wasn't working and my niece doesn't have AC... I couldn't bring myself to watch Roadrunner again. It was a really sad documentary. oh - if any of you get Discovery+, I saw an ad for Stanley Tucci's series reruns starting on there.

PH - have a great time! I can't believe it is TA season already! As for packing - my mantra is "outside of my passport, I can get what I forgot when I get there" 😉

I just spent several days with Bologna as my base. I also always wanted to get to Bologna. Not just Bologna, but a quick train ride gets you to Modena, Parma and Reggio Emilio for foodie fun. Get adventurous and rent a car for a day and go to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello (I loved it). Have a mortadella sandwich at Mo! Mortadella Lab.

I usually say another word than queen, but it gets censored. 😉 Some of the Cotopaxi bags have permanent functions for camping things. One is my 'in case of emergency" bag that i keep in my car. The Allpas are for when i need a carryon size bag, but don't need a roller bag.

haven't look at the Brookyn stuff in person. When I was looking for pants, I saw them online. There wasn't a color that I wanted. I'd run up to Main St. to look, but it's Sunday and the street is closed for the Sunday Silly Market. Means no parking... ootd: for now, my tie dye hoodie short dress. it's 64 inside the house (i keep the living room window open all night) right now. When it warms up I'll switch to running shorts and a Tshirt.

you go girl!!! Do what you want to do, not what you think you should do. Break away from the herd!!!

If you don't want to fly into Venice, Bologna would be your next best bet for an airport.

There are instances of people doing those short-term rentals to have a party house. it's loud, brings in a lot of people & cars, and they don't clean up. AirBnB has put a "no party house' policy on it's properties, but I'm not sure how well it is enforced.

Hoping this is the only "hiccup" you encounter!!!

The condo HOA where I work has a strict "no third party" rental policy. The property management company i work for is also a vacation home rental company. If an owner wants to rent out the unit, it has to go through us. We provide the HK, concierge service on behalf of the owners as well as for the owners themselves. We are a hybrid, I guess. But, in my neighborhood, our HOA prohibits overnight rentals, must be at least 6 months so that we can rent seasonally. Workers in the area can't find places to live because so many people who own condos/houses have gone the VRBO/AirBnB route.

Laurie - if you want to stand out from the tourist herd, look at the daypacks from Cotopaxi. Being the bag hoarder that i am, I have multiple packs and bags from them. My latest aquisition was the Taal bag. It is a convertible bag - use like a messenger/tote or a backpack. It is 16L. I wanted a bag that I would be able to put all my "in the plane" things and then use it for my everyday bag. It ended up exactly what I wanted and it didn't look like just another pack. I also have: Allpa 35 and 28L travel packs, Tasra 16L daypack, Batac 16L daypack, Luzon 18L pack Bataan hip pack and Mariveles 32 duffel. The duffel went with me - it folds down flat to take up very little room in a suitcase. I used it as my 'cabin bag' when I did my 2 Coasts trip last week so I could have a little more room in my roller bag (I checked because it's free for me) to put my cowboy booties plus I wanted to put my toiletries bag and stuff in there. I was bringing back some stuff from the Mennonite store so I needed that room. no judgement, please...