I would not dare to drive any car in Rome or Europe for sure. I am afraid of driving in LA also. A lot of drivers did not know the lane changing signal is not an option, it does come with the car. Your trip is coming up soon, right?
Next Sunday Iāll be there (if the flight is ok, pandemic, wars, grasshoppers and I donāt know what other biblical catastrophes can prevent me!).
So anxious to visit your wonderful country. I asked my friends to spend one day trip to Boulder to visit Paul and PS Audio staff, they said what? Are you crazy? How can explain them the joy to listen to FR30 in room 2?
Boulder, Cororado is like 1200 miles from CA, so, it does sound crazy for a one day trip. By the time you leave Italy, M-1s are not fully break in yet, but they will be by the time you get back home. You may have a different reivew by then.
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Unless you have a Gulfstream or LearJet.
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Even if Boulder was 5 minutes far from our hotel they would have refused my proposal! They promised a special permission for record shops (to me) and guitar shops (to my son). We do not share same passions other than (good) food, (good) wine and the privilege of being able to savor them in (good) company.
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Luca. Enjoy your trip to SF. Have fun!
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Are you going to visit Phoenix near Scottsdale? If you like steak, the best steakhouse is Dominickās Steakhouse in N. Scottsdale. Their 45 days aged bone-in rebye steak was the best I have had. I grill an excellent steak that matches most good steak houses, but not this one!
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If you want to be on vacation when you need emergency retinal re-attachment surgery, Iād recommend Boston 
Quite possibly one of the most worried moments in my life when I found out I needed emergency retinal attachment surgery. Went in with a 50/50 chance of losing vision in my right eye. Fortunately, I came out on the good side.
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Here is my hot tip for those planning to drive to Chicago from the Southeast during the Fourth of July weekend:
Donāt!
Just kidding. We had a nice time in the city (Humboldt Park neighborhood) on the 4th, despite the accidents and construction that tried to keep us from getting into the city.
I worked with a woman who tore both hers in a rail dragster running 1/8 mile. I always wondered how well her car must have been hooking up to do that or maybe she was suffering wheel hop?
Wow, thatās insane. Mine was a result of deterioration over 30 years from a car accident when I was 17.
itās a serious understatement when I say I was scared poopless going into surgery.
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I bet. Herās was back-in 2003. I had a cornea transplant back then . That is walk in the park compared to chance of losing sight and detached retina.
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I had an eye under surgery recently myself with detached retina, coming back from having only 20% of remaining eyesight. Glad to have it back to about 60-70% now. Having detached retina was just plain bad luck - with increased risk due to aging. Here in the Netherlands, we have a good specialized hospital for eye care, so I was fully confident in a good result. However, it was a noteworthy experience undergoing surgery while remaining conscious, knowing the slightest movement can have drastic consequences. Surprisingly it wasnāt hard at all to remain laying dead quiet.
Biggest lesson for me was the to learn that whenever you suspect something is off with your eyes, have them checked immediately. Better safe than sorry, according to the surgeon.
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This.
I had a batch of floaters a month ago, went to the eye doc, and he looked at the retina at that point. All looked ok, but he said to be aware of any changes.
Well, they happened when I was on vacation in Boston. I waited a couple of days, but when things didnāt improve (was noticing a little ācrescent eclipseā at the bottom of my field of vision), I went to the ER. Had surgery the next day. Should be ok, but it still looks like Iām seeing through water in that eye.
Biggest bummer is that I canāt fly (had to send my 17-yo son home on his own) and I have to drive home to Minnesota. My sister is flying out, and weāre taking off this afternoon in a rental car. Gotta make sure we donāt go through any high elevations!
No reason it happened, just getting old I think.
But anyway, Iāll consider it a blessing I was in Boston as opposed to a million other places.
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Philly would have also been a lucky break. Wills Eye is among the best there is for eye care and surgery. 
I-90 all the way to Illinois is the best bet, you know where to go from there. All toll roads but other than western Massachusetts and eastern New York itās pretty flat the whole way. Iāve driven it many times ā¦
Traveling by train from Paris to Florance seems like a relaxing way to travel. There are a few stops between them including Lyon, Milan, Bologna. The train continues to Rome, and it is the only city we have visited in the past, and we may go there too.
Any advice on rail companies to take and where to stop along the way?
Oh ohā¦ pay attention scrupulously to which kind of train, a few years ago I had a trip from Paris to Milan by train (a wrong one) that was a nightmare!
When arrived in Italy I strongly recommend high speed trains: āItaloā or āFrecciaRossaā the only two to choose.
Time from Milan to Rome is less than 3 hours (if you go by car it takes almost 6 hours).
Milan (so close to me): 1 day and mainly for wife shopping (via Montenapoleone, via della Spiga - you can find Canali that you like if I remember well).
Bologna: no more than half a day - art and food
Florence: almost 2 days, simply wonderful. Art (Ufizi Museum), history on every street, delightful food and wine.
Here my suggestion. Rent a car when in Florence and go to visit Tuscany area around Florence. Chianti region where you can taste the best red wines of the world (Sassicaia and Brunello di Montalcino, take duly note).
Siena, famous for the āpalioā an ancient horse race inside the main square of the city.
Sam Gimignano, little village with lots of (small) ancient towers.
https://www.discovertuscany.com/blog/summer-wine-tours-tastings-in-tuscany-6235/
Traveling by car you may visit lots of wonderful little places of the Renaissance.
So you can go by car from Florence to Rome (1 hour without traffic on the highway) but I recommend on the way to stop in a few villages I mentioned above, also for 1 or 2 nights along the road.
Feel free to ask me to give a call to hotels or any other place you want to reserve, Iām happy to help you if I can.
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Thanks for such detailed great information on traveling through train! We are planing in a trip to Europe in either Spring or Fall of next year, and we will definitely save your travel tips! 