Catherine begins Part 5 by mentioning our train ride back to Rome. That  reminded me of the movie  title Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

During this trip, we used plenty of all three. We flew on four aircraft: an Airbus A330 twice, a Boeing 737, and finally an Embraer 175. We took four trains: a local passenger train from Rome to Cortona, an intercity train to Florence, another from Sestri Levante back to Rome, and finally the Leonardo Express to Leonardo da Vinci International Fiumicino Airport.

Italy’s rail network is excellent, with an impressive number of tunnels cut through mountains, and service that makes long distance travel practical and comfortable.

Automobiles included a bus ride to O’Hare International Airport, another at the Rome airport to and from a hotel. We rode in a BMW van transfer from the Rome airport into the city, three van trips while staying in Cortona, four taxi rides in Florence, and a Peugeot 2008 Hybrid rental car. It was a sporty little SUV that handled the mountain roads like a rally car.

And in between all of that, we walked.

The range of transportation on this trip was very different from life in the United States, where we usually just get in the car and drive to wherever we are going. After this experience, I could get used to taking the train much more often.