The Milenomics Podcast Network

Milenomics² Podcast Episode 264: Strata Elite, Mesa Card & An Italy Trip Report

Added 2025-08-11 05:11:13 +0000 UTC

0:34 Citi Strata

Indeed released on a Sunday while Sam was away
80k/100k
Approvals were…mixed
6x Dining from 6p-6a Eastern on Friday and Saturday really is a thing
AA lounge passes/account creation
I feel like a new man!

12:15 Mesa Homeowners

Open for applications again
Auditing stated mortgage amounts
Declines for Identity issues
5,000 points + 12 months of mortgage points + $120 Lowes, plus $65 Costco makes year 1 worth doing even without big sign up bonus.

16:41 Italy: trip report in 3 acts.

17:39 Act 1: The logistics and plans

19:18 Go North, Explore new Areas.

The last time we came to Italy we went to Sicily, Amalfi and Rome.
This time we wanted to explore Tuscany, the lakes region and Venice.
Our original itinerary was 2 nights in Florence, 5 nights in Tuscany, 4 nights in Guarda and 4 nights in Venice. (15 nights)

Prosecco Hills, A new area to explore emerges.

After Everything was booked my wife found some accommodations, wineries and places in this area that looked great.
We didn’t have a lot of room in our travel to make this happen, but we stole a night from Garda and 1 from Venice and added 2 nights in Prosecco.

Trains Planes or Automobiles.

We had so many moving Pieces
Most people say trains when it comes to Italy.
I thought we’d just rent a car and drive. The final drive looked something like this:

Of course with stops, side trips and more this turned into a much longer journey.
Any train travel was off the table since we changed from flying into Rome to flying into Florence.

Outbound flights:

LAX-DFW-LHR-FLR

Timing was great. I think we usually leave LAX midday and this left a little later, around 4:30.
The 1 hour and 10 minutes connection in DFW was a breeze. Would have been better if we landed into same gate but a quick walk and the flight to London started boarding 5 minutes after we arrived.

DFW -LHR AA 777-300

Exceeded my expectations, but not my wife’s she hated this flight.
8 year old cabin, but you'd be hard pressed to tell
Seat and space was very good (5j)
Food was fine but I wanted the kids and myself to sleep
Service was prompt and great. A mix of young and middle age FA but they were all working hard on this flight.
Never ‘disappeared’ but not world class.
Slept 5hrs. Kids slept well. Wife didn’t sleep much

23:20 Heathrow arrivals and transit to intra Europe leg

I'm not a Heathrow fan.
It's chewed us up in prior trips, long lines and stressful lack of signage or clear directions
That's gone, with a completely new (to me) process upon arrivals.
Purple is the color for ambassadors who will get you to where you need to go.
Some of this is clearly due to the visa requirements, brexit, etc.
We were transit so no visa.
In most cases there was greater than 1:1 staff to customers for help.
It just worked! From t3 to t4 in 25 minutes.
No need to re clear security or clear immigration.
Better than ever. 25 mintues from landing to the lounge.

BA club lounges. Massive and packed.

The allure of free alcohol is lost on a man traveling with children.
The ice cream though was a hit.
Really just wanted a shower after a long day. That's the killer feature for me.

25:50 London to Florence

Clear from the landing this is a short runway. Locals prefer Venice or anywhere else.
Locals say they prefer Pisa, a much bigger airport
3 second bus ride on the tarmac (not kidding)
Distance of the bus ride.
Easy arrival and baggage claim.
In my Uber in under 30 minutes from landing, at the hotel in less than an hour from touchdown. Great job.

29:33 Hotel Baglioni Florence

Historic hotel. 198 rooms
Great location. Walkable to the major sites.
Cannot drive to the hotel with a car ZTL so logistics could get messy
The hotel is right off the T2 line that runs to the airport. 1.50€ per person (I never took this)
Ended up with two Uber black rides due to heat and baggage.

30:01 Rental car: eurocar by keddy booked via Priceline

A more complicated booking couldn't be done
One way, Florence to Venice. $680 all in.
Apparently includes damage waiver
Booked EV, got a Peugeot e2008
Any bigger would have posed challenges on some roads
Tight fit for luggage plus all of us though.
Recharge Around app was the only way that paying for charging worked. Might have worked at the chargers with a Chip+Pin card for preferred pricing.
.50-.80 per kWh. Charged about 50% at our Ariturismo and 50% on the road with fast chargers.
Ends up costing the same as gas, Italy doesn’t discount for EV nearly as much as Norway. But one way to guarantee you don’t get a manual transmission is to rent an EV.
Less good than Norway, but still spent less than 40 minutes charging the entire trip.

32:00 Using AI to plan on the ground .

This is all new. Gemini allowed for simple prompts like “plan a route from sirmione to prosecco hills with a stop in Verona. Add in time for lunch in a non touristy area. It would then generate the daily itinerary and a custom google map link for driving. Fantastic.
Most of the food we found was done with similar prompts. Including the wording for the textl to ask for a reservation. Sometimes they seemed shocked we had a reservation.
Really a wonderful addition to travel. “Plan a kid friendly morning without too much walking” found a fun interactive museum for example.

34:27 Weather: Great after we left Florence.

It was hot the first 2 days we were in Florence.
Heat wave left and we had 25-32C temps the rest of the trip.
Really great, and I can see how hotter weather would make the trip less enjoyable.
2 days of rain, both travel days.
Really surprised by the weather, expected CA weather, kept hearing how ‘we’re lucky with the weather we have in Los Angeles”

37:02 Getting to Venice; Overblown and way less complicated than I expected it to be

Clearly case of too many people online freaking out for no reason
Lots of outdated info, airport renovation has it all streamlined.
Drop the rental car and in 5 minutes you’re at the boat dock.
Aqua Bus (vaporetto) 18 euros per person and got on in <20 minutes.
Took about an hour.
150 euros for a water taxi (shared) which also meant a short wait as they try to find more people.
All told this was a ‘solved’ issue. A worse but cheaper option would be a bus to the edge of Venice, but that’s no better unless you’re near there.
Kids are not free. They’re taking tickets and turnstiles are on the docs.
Don’t forget your Venice city tax – even a day trip needs to pay this now (link)

38:19 Flights Home

VCE-DFW-LAX. Nice tight 80 minute connection or so.
VCE airport is interesting. Very modular with the ability to swap airlines at the boards, all signage is digital.
Marco Polo Lounge was actually a decent spot. Priority Pass eligible. Not too crowded.
VCE-LAX pushed back around 2pm. I planned on not sleeping but ended up getting about 90 minutes of sleep.
We all agreed the catering was much better this flight.
Saved AA for my wife. She got a GREAT FA who went above and beyond.
In DFW the dread of clearing customs, rechecking luggage. I’ve never done this, 100% of my flights landed in LAX prior to this. It was actually really not bad.
The whole thing took 30 minutes and a bit of walking. Makes me more likely to look at US connections moving forward.

40:52 Act II: On the ground:

41:00 Florence

Walked around and quickly realised it was not our scene.
AI generated list included a great kids museum of Leonardo Di Vinci. Something similar can be found in most Italian cities, not a really authentic experience but great for kids and reasonable.
Saw the main sites from the outside. That was fine with me.
Zero options that were not touristy for lunch. Zero.
We were all set to hate Florence and regret the massive changes we made to get here instead of Rome…. And then…
Somehow had one of the best meals of my life here. I’ll never forget it. Ever. The view from our table:
Florence at Night was a wonderful contrast to the heat, and business of the day time. Well worth the time we spent there:

47:55 Tuscany

What a region
Just incredible. Rolling hills, beautiful countryside.
First stop at https://www.chianti.com/castellina-in-chianti/ which was almost deserted.
Stayed at Relais La Martina, super laid back, huge space for 9 rooms + a few villas. Never saw another guest except at breakfast.
View from our Villa:
I assume almost every single Agritrusomo is some kind of tax dodge. (Bourdain probably would agree.)
Breakfast was not included but was $12 per person (kids free).
Drove hundreds of km around the area. No real preference and I think there’s really no ‘ideal’ place to stay. Pick based on amenities (pools, horseback riding, AC, and plan on driving)
So Many hilltop castles we wanted to see and couldn’t make time for.
Prioritized Siena, Montepulciano and San Gimignano Also made it to Piena and Chanellie in Chianti

Siena

Way too busy
Probably got a ZTL ticket.
Didn't much care for the size and scale of the town
The main square was quite beautiful and ringed with restaurants

Montepulciano and San Gimignano were wonderful and slower paced, but full of tourists mid-day.

Pienza: Wish we Spent more time here. Maybe on another trip. Quite a hilltop town.

Val D’Oro, From Pienza.Bells ringing, the wind in the trees, not care in the world

55:50 Incredible meals at agrituismo in the area.

La Fonte Agritursomo and Brewery: brewed their own beer. Set in the countryside just below Pienza
”Dining Room at La Fonte”, Sunset dinner. Not shown, 3 dogs and plenty of locals with their kids running around and playing.
Saturday special meal, Fattoria Poggio Alloro. Another place worth staying at. The meal on Saturday includes Florentine steak. We moved many things around just to have this meal and it did not disappoint.
The View from the dinner table during the Day:
And Night, are incredible. The Tuscan Countryside with San Gimignano in the distance:

Tizanna: Greener, closer to Rome. Stunning.

There’s an alternate version of this trip where we stay in Tizanna instead of Guarda and can be in Tuscany even longer.
Agriturismo Le Ceregne Bio, Tizzanna. We spent the day here doing a private cooking class.
Didn’t get to visit Anghiari, but it looked well worth the visit, there are SO many of these hilltop cities that don’t get as much press as the more well known ones (Sienna, Montepulciano, etc)
Anghiari Italy. Know nothing about it but wish we had time to explore it.

57:50 Lake Guarda. Interesting but crowded

The lake is ringed with tiny towns each with it's own museums and cafe.
Initially planned on being further out along the western side of the lake.
Due to 4 night minimums we chose a location in Simrione:
Best description is “South lake tahoe”
Visited the castle in Sirmione, arguably one of the cooler ones we saw.
Nothing works in Italy, had to buy tickets in person

01:11:36 Prosecco Hills -

This is a UNESCO world heritage site (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1571/)
Think Tuscany but GREEN.
We really got incredible weather while we were there.
With the hills the roads were WINDY and very narrow.
Seems like a less visited area
Green like Kauai, had to pinch myself at times to remember I’m in Italy
Wish we had more time here, so many places to explore (Castles, Grottos, Towns)
Learned a LOT about Prosecco, and appreciated the time spent here.

Driving in Italy: Either really simple or harrowing.

Autostrada was like driving back home.
Speeding was not easy to do because of all the work needed to navigate
Small SP roads and SA roads instantly brought me back to Amalfi – 1 lane roads shared by 2 lane cars that cut through the countryside and made for white-knuckle driving.
In general the areas we were in were mostly empty
Was glad to get rid of the car in Venice.
Eataly Autogrille (AI found this!).
Impossible to be in Tuscany, Guarda or Prosecco without a car
Don't assume the person you're following is a local. There are plenty of tourists.
I think the number one and number two industry in Italy is the making and posting of Street signs. An absolutely insane number of pictographics
What does this mean?

01:17:34 Venice:

I loved this city, my wife was a little cooler about it, and thought it was worth doing but not worth a return.
For me the small narrow alleyways, the lack of cars, the idea we’re in the lagoon and the massive history of the town were incredible.

The city is no more expensive than any other city in Italy, which was a surprise.
Sad a bit that the town really is ‘tourism’ and not much else, the city seemingly can’t sustain itself.
Our guides seemed to love the city, but also lament this fact, that the best days of industry are behind Venice.
What will this city become in the future?
There’s just nothing like a Gondola ride. Even my kids were asking to do this. We did around sunset and it did not disappoint.

Tours:

Florence: Leonardo Di Vinci Museum, Natural History and Florence Botanical Gardens. Mcdonalds.
Tuscany: Horseback riding, Cooking class (private), Underground wine tours, wine tastings, Castle Brullo Tasting, tour and dinner. Small forest scavengers hunt around the castle. Polo Tournament. Toured Sienna, Montepulcino (Including underground winery).
Lake Guarda: River and canyon tour: Really great with kids. Sirmione Castle tour (really neat castle)
Day trip to Verona. Beautiful but packed. Mostly felt like an outdoor mall
Prosecco Hills: wine tasting, Grotto tour, pinch me and I’m in Kauai.
Venice: Scavenger hunt with kids (airbnb tour) just a fantastic 4 hour tour for families, Doge Palace ‘hidden treasures’ tour. Gondola riddle at sunset.

01:24:56 Act 3: Takeaways from this trip

01:25:20 Main Takeaways:

The kids: Loved it. Food was a non issue, their love of pasta, fish and seafood came into play. Surprising win: Tagliateli with Duck Ragu.
Food in the lakes region was heavier, saucier and in general showed more German interplay. We pivoted to Hawaiian and Chinese in Sirmione after realizing this.
Travel in the country was at times difficult, other times very straight forward.
Almost universally everything takes more time than you'd expect it. Even map directions assume you know the roads and drive the insane at times speed limits.
Traffic, side quests, interesting people all add time. Don't try to overbook!
Truly a cashless society. There was not 1 time I needed cash. I did take out a small amount for my kids to spend, and for tips for tours. One tour requested cash and gave a healthy discount so I went for it.

01:29:13 Terribly bad advice abounds

My wife did all the on the ground research.
She agrees–there’s just tremendous bad advice out there.
There’s no need for over-planning. There are stores all over.
Reservations are important, but:
Calling a week ahead was more than enough notice, in other cases a day ahead (or 1 hour ahead) was enough.
In one case she made a dinner reservation 5 weeks out, when we arrived they had no notice of it. She showed them the email and they shrugged and just made us a table.
There is hours and hours of discussion on “authentic gelato”, the differences between “restaurants, osterias, trattorias” but none of it really matters. Because you will need exactly 1 meal in most areas, and you only care about what’s open.
Lunch is the hardest one, we wanted a meal not a snack which is tougher in some areas.
“Where would you eat?” continues to be a winning phrase. Hotel help for reservations is also a great avenue to pursue.

01:34:12 Settling into a pattern:

Breakfast, followed by an exploration.
An early (but heavy) lunch, usually at a full service restaurant.
- Short term this was fine but long trem this started getting to me.
- You know we’re ‘done’ when we start finding chinese food and Ramen (Ramen in Venice was a surprise)
Apertivos around 5 or 6: more snacking. As Robert says, “They always give you a little something extra”
Dinner around 8, lasting about 2-2.5 hours.
- My wife’s choices made this so easy–mostly kid friendly places (thanks to AI).
Bed time around 11pm even for the kids
Could almost never get anything done with the time change. Just too ‘out of sync.’

01:34:46 Is Italy a real experience? Or an expectation turning into reality?

More than a few times I was thinking to myself “this can’t be real”
Example: the number of places that ‘make their own wine, their own olive oil and their own cheese”
Suspend disbelief and just enjoy things
Limit your spending and exposure (110Euro wine story)
Great food and wine exists and that’s not something you can argue with. It will not be found in a place where people are taking photos outside of themselves.
Venice, Florence and I assume Rome are horrible in the daytime. Just start green screening people into the ‘classic’ poses (on Rialto bridge, in St. Mark’s square, on the grand canal.
But in the morning and evening the city is magical. Got a good list of restaurants in the city and had some great seafood.

01:40:20 What’s next if we return?

Tuscany seems impossible to skip.
Prosecco Hills had so much more to explore, and fantastic wine and food
Can’t keep coming back, but I’m looking towards shorter trips. Too much time and energy is spent on the ground.

01:44:14 MSP-3 Our Third In Person Meetup is going to Be October 11 2025