Chapter five—Tips on traveling
We pause in our journey to give you direction in the event you want to follow some of our footsteps towards enjoying a memory filled Italian vacation or to any country..
Our vacation was in June of 2011. Its planning began almost a year earlier.
First, decide if you want to tour any country either by bus (tour group) or by car (your group).
Yes, it's easier to let a tour organization plan your every step (on and off the bus, stop and go, stop and go, on and off the bus, 10 cities in 5 days). Planning your own trip takes time and effort, lots of it if you want to maximize your vacation time. But it's fun and educational.
First, get the books. Find books which come with maps. Rick Steves books are indispensable. As a previous bookstore owner, I also advised the tour books from Lonely Planet. For my traveling bookstore customers, those were the most popular. There are many more. Go to a bookstore near you and look over the offerings. Google Lonely Planet Rome, for example, and see what you get.
Don't forget, also, there are many tour books and guides that you can download into almost any device. We downloaded Rick's various museum tours and could, for example, listen to his discussion of various works in the Uffizi Museum in Florence before ever reaching the Uffizi.
Get a book on the language. You can also purchase tapes and disks on proper pronunciation, interpretation and translations of the language. Faye did this extensively. I said, “I'll figure it out.” I have had many bookstore customers who were avid travelers who shared my philosophy.
The prospect of landing in a foreign country where they speak an unfamiliar tongue can be stressful. But, lo and behold, English is an international language, and many foreigners speak it, especially in high tourist areas. Airport signs are in several languages. Stewardesses on airplanes give directions in several languages, depending upon your destination.
We had little trouble communicating. Pointing helps. After a few days, I became used to Italian basic words and phrases, and I found it fun and challenging to attempt to communicate. So the best advice is, learn some basics, then learn by doing. Don't be afraid. Charge on.
If you need directions, head for a group of people. Somebody in it will speak English.
There are some pitfalls, and I committed a dandy. The Italian words for bread and penis are quite similar. And when I went into a bread shop and told the lady what I wanted, she gave me the strangest look. Wrong word. I did a hasty retreat.
As I said, planning began early for our trip. Faye did it all. She put together a flawless itinerary. It went as planned due to her diligence and planning. Also, by doing it herself, she was able to communicate directly with our various hosts, and by the time we arrived, she had established an open working relationship, if not friendship, with them.
You can do it all on-line. Before you leave home for the airport, you should have all your reservations made, your museum tickets, your airline tickets and boarding passes, train tickets, your lodging reservations, your rental car, your passport and foreign driver's license.
Older drivers beware. Over 70 drivers get killed on insurance rates. If your spouse is under 70, let her rent the car. Figure out later who will drive.
The really popular tourist destinations require tickets and admission fees. Order your tickets on-line, schedule the time you wish to enter the museum, pay the fees on-line, get a printout of your tickets, sign up for a guided tour. When you go to the popular tourist spots, if you don't have advance tickets, you could stand in line for hours. Don't waste your vacation time standing in line. Get your tickets in advance, go to the head of the line, wave bye-bye to folks still waiting to get in.
If you are going to take the train from Rome to Venice, for example, buy your tickets on-line. Train stations are crowded. Compare the crowds to those in the Atlanta airport. The two guidebooks I mentioned really have extensive resources. They describe the attractions of all the cities, offer restaurant reviews indicating hours, locations, prices, menus. telephone numbers. They will tell you if you need a reservation or not. Same with lodging, bus travel, train travel and car rental agencies
Most importantly. Before you go, check your passport. Do that well in advance, because the Department of State is deluged with new applications and renewals. It could take months to process your application. Don't delay, do it now. Also, if you will be driving in a foreign country, you will need a driver's license. Apply at any AAA office.
Stay connected to home. WiFi is everywhere, even in restaurants. Our friends and family followed our exploits by Facebook. Take your laptop or similar device. Our teenage granddaughter spent hours each night connecting with her friends back home.
Check with your cellphone provider to determine if your cell phones will work were you are going. If not, don't let them sell you a special international phone. Instead, Google international cell phones. Look over the list, get one that only charges you airtime, and airtime only, no monthly or annual fees. You will be charged for the phone, about $100, nothing else, and you won't get a bill unless you make a charge. Minute rates start at $1. But check this out in detail.
What about money?
Bank ATM machines abound. Debit and credit cards are routinely accepted. Everywhere.
Everything is traded in Euros. The denominations are similar to US coins and bills. There are 2 and 5 Euro coins (dollar) as well as bills, which I found quite useful.
We departed Italy from Venice's very modern airport. First stop was baggage check-in. The desk clerk asked for our passports, and when she returned them to us, our boarding passes were included – all the way back to Tallahassee.
How great is that?
Next: Sienna and World War II in Tuscany.
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