The Intentional Travelers

Florence, Italy Is Always A Good Idea

If you are visiting Italy do not not pass up a visit to Florence, the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region. From many Italian cities, including Rome, it is easy to reach Florence by express train for an extra night or two stay. If you are cruising the port of Livorno will also provide a chance to tour Florence.

The city is the birthplace of the Renaissance where Michelangelo carved many of his masterpieces and where Dante Alighieri lived and the Medici family ruled. Galileo lived in Florence most of his life while Donatello, Giovanni Boccaccio and Leonardo da Vinci are also on the list of notable residents. It is difficult to stroll the narrow streets and cross the many piazzas without feeling that you are walking through history. Add that to the museums, art galleries, shops, cafes and great restaurants and it is impossible not to fall in love with Florence.

Last year we caught a train up from Rome and walked the few blocks from the Santa Maria Novella train station to our hotel, the Hotel Mia Cara. We enjoyed our stay at the Mia Cara and it was right on the edge of the historic center of Florence making it convenient to walk to many nearby points of interest. The famous Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Flore), Ponte Vecchio bridge, Uffizzi Gallery, Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens are only short strolls away. If you are an art lover and are interested in history, this is the perfect Italian destination because there is so much to see and it is mostly located in a concentrated area.

Ten recommended destinations:

Gates of Paradise, Lorenzo Ghiberti (1425 – 1452) at the Museo del Opera del Duomo (originally the doors of the baptistery)
Madonna della Seggiola, Raphael (1513 – 1514) at the Pitti Palace, Palatine Gallery
The Medici Palace, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (1445 – 1460) near the Church of San Lorenzo
The David, Michelangelo (1501 – 1504) at the Accademia (a copy is also in the Piazza Signoria)
Primavera, Sandro Botticelli (1482) at the Uffizi Galleries
The Perseus, Benvenuto Cellini (1545 – 1554) Piazza Signoria
The Florentine Pieta, Michelangelo (1547 – 1553) at the Museo del Opera del Duomo
The Slaves, Michelangelo (1525 – 1530) the Accademia

There are a series of three walking tours detailed at the web site visitflorence.com. Walking directions are provided along with background information on the art and sites along the way and even suggestions for good places to enjoy coffee and gelato as you stroll.

Shopping opportunities are everywhere in Florence from street markets to exclusive shops. The city is famous for its’ leather as well as jewelry and embroidery. Check out bargains at the Mercato Nuovo, a leather and souvenir street market as well as Mercato di San Lorenzo for food specialties. Not to be missed is shopping on the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the small shops near the west side of the bridge.

Stretching between Piazza Duomo and Piazza Repubblica is Via Roma featuring Florence’s main department store, Rinascente along with Gucci, Cartier, Hugo Boss and many more premium shops. The home of Florence’s up scale designers is Via Tornabuoni. This street spotlights many of the famous fashion houses, as well as historic churches and plazas. Near Via Tornabouni, are Via Porta Rossa and Via della Vigna Nuova, offering more upscale fashion shopping.

While in Florence take time to sample la dolce vita (the good life) with frequent stops at sidewalk cafes for cappuccinos, gelato and wine. Join the Italians in their favorite pastime by sitting at cafes and watching the world go by.

From Florence you can take a quick side trip to Pisa. It is only a short train ride away with trains leaving about every half hour or so from Santa Maria Novella train station. The Regionale Veloce trains are the ones making this trip, which takes about an hour each way with ticket prices about $10. From the station in Pisa the cathedral and the leaning tower are only a moderate hike away. There are also numerous organized day tours outside the city at reasonable rates that include a day trip by train to Cinque Terre, a beautiful seaside town south of Genoa along with bus tours into the Tuscan countryside.

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Revisiting The Disney Vacation Club

The Disney Vacation Club and How It Works

Forward: We purchased a membership in DVC back in 2009 and the truth is our experience is somewhat unique. Generally there are three options for acquiring DVC memberships; you can purchase “points” directly from Walt Disney, you can buy someone else’s points (usually through a broker) or you can inherit them*.

In 2008 the American real estate market collapsed, devastating the value in virtually everyones home or investment properties. DVC didn’t escape the blood bath as people rushed to recover the cash value out of their vacation points for a number of reasons. One was because they had bought DVC using a loan and they needed out. We took advantage of the situation buying points in 2009 at almost half the normal resale price. There was so much selling going on that even Disney couldn’t keep up their option of “first refusal”.

Soon Disney took steps to devalue the resale points. A couple of years after our purchase in an attempt to make resale points less appealing, Disney changed the rules. Starting in 2012 resale points were no longer eligible for any of the add-on benefits like the parties. Fortunately our points were grandfathered in.

Jumping forward to 2022 we decided to sell our DVC membership for a number of reasons**! Listing with a DVC broker we priced our points at the low end of the price range and within a couple of months we had an offer. We still sold for 182% of our purchase price. Buying our 170 points directly from Disney today would cost $34,000. Annual dues now run a little over $1,000 per year.

We know a number of friends that have other vacation time shares and most are very unhappy with the value they have received along with the increasing costs. For the past thirteen years (2020 was out because of Covid) we have spent between one and two weeks per year at Disney properties for a total net cost to us of just over $4,000. Not a bad deal at all.

History

In 1991 Disney created a time share property known as the Disney Vacation Club Resort. It opened on December 20, 1991 at Walt Disney World after Disney had registered its time share plan. It was renamed Disney’s Old Key West Resort in January, 1996.

On March 30, 1993 Disney Vacation Development unveiled plans for a 440-unit time-share resort 95 miles south-east of Walt Disney World in Florida. Ground breaking was on July 28, 1994 at the Disney’s Vero Beach Resort with opening on October 1, 1995. After the Vacation Club Resort at Vero Beach, Florida, Disney would then open Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort five months later on March 1, 1996.

DVC had a major impact on how “time share resorts” operated. A number of the major corporate operators changed their rules to be more in line with DVC and often laws were adopted in many states governing time shares. Often a time share was sold as an open ended contract where buyers could be locked into ownership forever. There were often little limits on the growth of management fees and assessments.

Properties

From 1996 on the character of the Disney Vacation Club (DVC) changed and the addition of resort properties exploded. Today the DVC is based on a point system and a “home resort” that includes the following resorts:

Disney Land Resort

The Villas at Disneyland

Disney World Resorts

Bay Lake Tower
Animal Kingdom Villas
Beach Club Villas
BoardWalk Villas
Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
The Villas at Grand Floridian
The Villas Reflections – Lakeside Lodge
Boulder Ridge Villas
Copper Creek Villas and Cabins
Exclusively DVC Resorts
Old Key West Resort
Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
Riviera Resort

Off Property Resorts

Vero Beach Resort Florida
Hilton Head Island Resort, South Carolina
Aulani Hawaii

How The Club Works

The DVC is based on buying points and not a specific date of use. Once you buy the points you are free to use them to make reservations at any of the resorts and you can make bookings seven months in advance or eleven months for your “home resort***”. The number of points for a night vary by resort and by season but range from a low of around 20 points per night usually for a single room accommodation to above 70 points. The membership in the DVC is also not open ended and will an expiration date that varies by the home resort (usually 40 to 50 years). When you buy a membership you are actually buying a specific “home resort”. Each year there is an assessment against the membership based on your home resort to cover operating costs, maintenance and taxes and varies on the home resort selected (on average the fee seems to run between $5 and $8 per point).

Unlike many time share resorts there is an active resale market in DVC points that allows you to recover a sizable percentage of the original cost should you want out and sell. Disney does retain a right of first refusal on all resales and they have been known to use it in order to protect the value of the systems points. That just means that Disney has the right to step in and buy your points.

Most of the resorts have a selection of accommodations available from a studio (similar to a standard hotel room) to two and three bedroom apartments. The point cost represents the size, location (view) and season (summer tends to be high as well as Christmas while January is often the lowest).

Additional DVC Perks

Being a DVC member does come with some additional benefits. Members usually get a 10% discount at restaurants and shops at Disney World and there are discount offers at times on park tickets along with a number of special events. Starting around the Disney World 25^th Anniversary they began to offer free members parties after the parks close including the water parks. It was planned to be a special anniversary year program but it was so popular that they continued it year after year. In 2018 for example there were five parties (each theme park and one water park) that included live entertainment, free food and most rides were open. The parties usually start when the parks close and go to Midnight or 1:00 AM. If you are considering buying a resale membership, Disney has begun to restrict some benefits to resale memberships purchased after specific dates. You should check and make sure you understand the new terms of use before you buy.

Buying Disney Vacation Club In 2023

If you are looking to buy a considerable number of points there is a work around that can save you some money. Currently the minimum point purchase from Disney is 75 points with points costing $200 each. That means a minimum buy-in of $15,000. If you pick your favorite resort for your direct from Disney purchase of 75 points and pick a less expensive resort for buying resale you end up with the best deal possible. For example, 175 points could be $27,000 for a savings of $8,000.

As of January 2023 all DVC resorts at Walt Disney World Resort have the same direct price but a range of prices for the resale market. Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas direct from Disney are $200 per point but about $134 at resale. Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort direct from Disney is $200 per point and about $127 resale. Disney’s Old Key West Resort is $200 per point direct from Disney and about $120 resale.

*If you or a relative own points and have the intention of leaving them to their family in a will you need to be aware of an issue. Disney considerers inheriting points to be the same as selling so your heirs will not get the add-on benefits. To avoid that relatives can be added to a membership now and will retain those benefits when one of the family “owners” die.

**One of our reasons for deciding to sell was the increasing difficulty finding the reservations we want. It seems that the more DVC rooms they add the tighter the availability becomes, which strikes us as odd. Over the years we have made family reservations at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort in September. It’s a favorite of our grandchildren and we celebrate birthdays there, but in 2021 we couldn’t get two rooms for the same date and had to stagger the dates in the reservation. In 2022 we couldn’t get any reservations at all the day our opportunity opened. We are also very fond of Animal Kingdom Resort and were in the habit of going often for just one or two nights with short notice – it’s been almost impossible to get spur of the moment reservations over the past few years.

**The second reason is the added issues with getting into the parks (reservations required and park hopping is impossible) and the terrible changes in the “fast pass” concept. Now it’s the Genie or Genie+ and it’s all linked to a cellphone app. The system now has a premium price and doesn’t seem to deliver any benefit.

*** When you go to buy your DVC membership you must first select a “home resort”. If you are buying directly from Disney the cost is the same per point (in 2022 tat is $200 per point) for each resort. In buying as a resale each resort has a different price depending on the popularity. After you own a resort the annual fees are calculated based on each resorts costs. Your “home resort” also allows you to make reservations at eleven months before your needed date instead of seven months for all other resorts.

Todays Featured Poster • Arches National Park

Arches National Park is located between the Colorado River and the town of Moab. It’s a red-rock wonderland landscape of contrasting colors, land forms, and textures unlike any other place. Inside the park can be found numerous natural stone arches, hundreds of soaring pinnacles (above), massive rock fins, and giant balanced rocks.

Visiting Arches National Park

There are almost a dozen national parks, state parks and scenic drives within a short distance of the small town of Moab, Utah. The town is only 24 miles south down State Highway 191 from Interstate 70. The most popular park in that area is Arches National Park with its entrance only four miles outside of town.

Within Arches National Park are more than 2,000 natural, sandstone arches including the well-known Delicate Arch, as well as a variety of unique geological resources and formations. The park contains the highest density of natural arches in the world.

The Delicate Arch

Inside the park is a really good visitor center along with miles of well marked hiking trails leading to a number of the more spectacular arches.

A Word of Caution – The biggest threat that visitors encounter, especially in summer, is heat stroke and serious dehydration. Always carry water with you when you head out on a trail.

Located between Moab and the Arches entrance is State Route 128 heading off to the northeast from 191. The road travels for 30 miles following the course of the Colorado River past a winery, a movie museum and some spectacular scenery before it goes north to connect with Interstate 70.

Moab’s focus is on tourism and features a selection of chain hotel accommodations along with restaurants, a brewery, ice cream and coffee shops.

The Colorado River flowing next to Route 191

Todays Featured Poster • The Liberty Belle

At Walt Disney World in Florida at The Magic Kingdom’s Liberty Square is a remarkable Steamboat. The Liberty Belle set sail for the first time on the second day the park was open on October 2, 1971. This Mississippi Steamboat takes guests on a 17-minute ride on the Rivers of America and is an interesting technical attraction. The Liberty Belle sits over an I-beam located under the water that guides the boat through the course. On the top deck an operator sits appearing to steer the steam boat but is only responsible for blowing the whistle, ringing the bell, and playing the narration.

There is an engineer located on the lower deck who controls the speed of the large paddle wheel on the rear of the boat powered by an on-board steam engine. The trip on the Rivers of America passes by the sites in Frontierland, Tom Sawyer Island, and Liberty Square.

These giclée prints are available in several sizes, custom printed for each individual order on archival, museum grade paper using fade resistant inks.

THE POSTER GALLERY SHOP

Three Coins In The???

Back in the late sixties while in the Navy, I was in and out of Italy a lot. On a number of port calls I put in for two day leave to travel around the country and on one trip I managed to spend a couple of days in Rome again. I had been friends with a girl from Florence and we arranged to meet in Rome. I stayed in a hostel while she stayed with an aunt who lived in Rome. Back in those days young Italian girls had to be chaperoned, at least in the evenings.

Before the Euro the Italian currency was the Lira and the exchange rate to the U.S. Dollar ranged between 600 to 800 Lira (₤) to a dollar and it was common to carry around 5,000 and 10,000 Lira notes. The smallest Italian coin was a 10 Lira and the Italians had lots of uses for those 10 Lira aluminum coins. Need to use a public restroom 10₤, ride an elevator 10₤ and they were more common than pennies in America.

Back in the fifties a popular movie came out called Three Coins In The Fountain about three American roommates working in Italy who wished to meet the man of their dreams by throwing coins into Rome’s Trevi Fountain. Before that movie it wasn’t a practice to throw coins in Trevi and over the years that movie scene has morphed into a tradition. Now it’s throwing a coin over your right shoulder into Trevi Fountain to guarantee that you’ll come back to Rome.

Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi) is the most famous fountain in Rome and is considered a Baroque masterpiece and is on most tourist’s list of sights in the Eternal City. It was designed by Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762.

In the mid sixties Trevi Fountain again became the center of attention when Federico Fellini’s movie La Dolce Vita staring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg was released. Trevi Fountain is the night scene of Anita Ekberg in a strapless black dress dancing and wading through the fountain.

Throwing coins into water isn’t new and probably can be traced back to the time of Germanic tribes when they made offerings to gods in springs. From that came the more modern tradition of wishing wells but filling public fountains with coins probably has its beginnings with that 1950’s movie.

Getting back to the point of the story, my Italian friend and I visited the Vatican Museum on that Rome trip. In the sixties the attractions in Rome weren’t the mob scenes they are today. The Coliseum was in the middle of a traffic circle with no barriers, or admission tickets – you just walked in through one of its many arches. Likewise the Vatican and Saint Peters where just open with not any mobs of people except on Sundays when the Pope offered his blessing over St. Peters Square.

In the Vatican Museum there is a grand marble spiral staircase that goes to the upper floors. Sitting at ground level in the middle of the staircase was (still is) a marble urn on a pedestal that stands about five feet tall. Somewhere between the second and third floor we got the notion of trying to throw a 10₤ coin into the urn – you always had a pocket full of those coins and after about five or so tosses we got one in and moved on to the art galleries.

After we spent some time visiting the exhibits we returned to descend that spiral stairs and discovered that we had started something. Two guards were on the ground floor sweeping up coins as dozens of people on the stairs were still tossing coins trying to fill the urn. It was a comic scene and nobody seemed to be getting upset.

Looking back I don’t think three coins in the urn caught on like Trevi fountain and probably didn’t last beyond that one day at the Vatican Museum. I still believe that the Catholic Church missed out on a money-making opportunity with that one.