a veg life

We are hoping to do a series of posts for our destinations, sharing a bit more in depth about how we used points and miles to get here. Since Rick is the expert in all things points related, he'll be the one explaining how all of this works! Enjoy! Casperia to Florence was an easy-ish ride on the local train service and Italo Rail (though we would recommend booking the tickets on Italo in advance to save $$).  Florence was a must-see on our list this summer and we wanted to stay with locals rather than another luxurious hotel.  On A irbnb we found a cheap apartment that was centrally located for $62.00 a night ($138.00 total after service fees).  Once again, we wrote this off on our Barclay Arrival card for 13,800 points (12,420 after the 10 percent back).   So for 8 nights in Italy, 4 in Airbnb (all written off), 2 in Hilton using points, and 2 in a local Bed and Breakfast using cash.    Phew! That's a lot of math! But, it hopefully gives you...

(posted by Emily) 14 July 2015 Florence, Italy There are so many amazing things to see and do in Florence, It was the birthplace of the Renaissance, and is full of incredible art and history.  One of the major sights to see is the Duomo, Florence's cathedral. Entrance to the church itself is free, but climbing the dome of the church costs about 7 Euros (I believe).  We read that the church opened at 10am, and when we arrived at 9:45ish, the line to get in was already wrapped the building. Ugh. We'll check back on that later.... We wandered down toward the Uffizi, which is a museum gallery that is home to many prominent works of Renaissance art. Reservations are recommended, and despite multiple recommendations online and from friends, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it. Instead, we decided ro wander the local market stalls that sell leather goods, scarves, and clothing. Sometimes, you just know what kind of sightseeing is most appealling to you! These are the statues...

(posted by Emily) 13 July 2015 Casperia, Italy Rome, Italy,  Florence, Italy On Monday, we took a fairly laid back approach to our day. With no tickets pre-booked, our departure from Casperia was not really time sensitive. We had breakfast, and chatted with the Danish couple who were also staying in the village for a bit. Then, it was down to Vigna one last time for a quick beer and goodbye--more like see you later :)  We took the local train in to Rome (and may have been scammed by the conductor selling us tickets on the train? It seemed too expensive), and then bought Italo Rail tickets to Florence--probably would have saved some money buying those in advance, but oh well!  We arrived in Florence around 16:30, but couldn't meet up with our Airbnb host until 19:30, so we wandered a bit to find where the flat would be, and then found a local bar with an aperitif and buffet special--7 Euro for your cocktail and food, and they had wifi, so we sat for a while and snacked to ...