Ciao, Italia!

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 04:52 PM

The Long Road to Italy (1)

I love Italy. At least I love most of it. I love Italians. Well, I love most of them, anyway. There are exceptions to every rule.

I was privileged to visit several locations in Italy while I was a young sailor in the late 1960s. I was aboard a US Navy ship that deployed to the Mediterranean Sea twice while I was a crewmember. US Navy ships in the Med can’t escape Italy, even if they wanted to, which they don’t. Naples is practically a homeport.

I was married, then as now, to Mary, but she was back home in Norfolk, Virginia, while I was visiting Italy "back then." In fact, she was giving birth to our elder daughter at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital during one of my deployments and that daughter was nearly two months old when I saw her for the first time. She’s forty now.

I have wanted to revisit Italy for several years and wanted Mary to have an opportunity to see some of the beautiful country and beautiful people that I remembered. Mary is just a little hesitant to travel to foreign lands and takes some persuading. Her only extensive travel outside the US boundaries before 2005 had been a Holy Land tour in 1996.

In the fall of 2004, as we returned home from a very enjoyable trip to Hawaii, I started looking earnestly at packaged tours of Italy. A lot of them caught my eye, but I zeroed in on the Amalfi Coast and Tuscany Tour offered by Grand Circle Travel. Nearly everything about the tour appealed to me. Mary, kind of reluctantly, finally agreed that the trip looked nice and she would be willing to go along.

A lot was involved in the booking and preparation for the trip, scheduled for May 2005, but the cancellation was the part that was important to this story. A few weeks before our scheduled departure, I fell down our basement steps. I was not seriously injured, but I developed a hematoma on my right hip that eventually required draining by surgery. That’s where the trouble began.

Immediately after the surgery I developed Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and that was serious. It was serious enough that I was hospitalized on two occasions for a few days each time, and had to cancel the trip to Italy. As I write this in 2007 MRSA is very much in the news, but in 2005 it was kind of rare. I made a full recovery, but travel was generally curtailed in 2005.

For 2006 we accompanied our friends and traveling companions on numerous occasions, the Gogols, on a riverboat cruise in Europe. They really wanted that trip and were not at all interested in Italy. We gladly went with them on the cruise and had a really great time. In fact, all things considered, the riverboat cruise on the Rhine, Main, and Danube Rivers is the best tour we have yet taken.

I didn’t have to start from scratch with planning for Italy. I had the experience from 2004 – 2005 to draw upon. But I did do a bit of research to see if any company had added a tour that might make me reconsider. I didn’t find any, so I once again updated my details on Grand Circle Travel’s Amalfi Coast and Tuscany Tour.

There were several reasons, some of them quite good, for choosing a starting date of May 12, 2007, for the tour. Suffice it to say that once I decided on the GCT tour, May 12 was the only starting date that met all of my criteria. I still had to get Mary solidly on board, however.

On the evening of Sunday, September 24, 2006, while doing a two-mile walk, Mary and I discussed the trip and the date and decided that we really wanted to do it. We had been talking about the trip for quite some time, but that day we made the final decision.

At approximately 3:00 PM on Monday, September 25, 2006, I called Grand Circle Travel at 1-800-959-0405 and spoke with Randy Perkins. I told him I wanted two spots on the Amalfi Coast & Tuscany Tour, beginning on May 12, 2007. Before I could tell him that I wanted the Rome Pre-tour Extension, he told me that the May 12 departure came with the Rome extension and would actually depart on May 8. I told him that was exactly what I wanted. He asked about our city of departure and I told him we would fly out of Washington Dulles Airport (IAD).

Randy gave me the cost numbers as: tour – $3,990 per person; taxes and fees – $78.70 per person; and trip protection Insurance – $304 per person. So the total for two was $8, 745.40. I then gave him our customer number, 521119, and he found all of our information. He said that we would need to pay a deposit of $700 today to hold the reservation. I mentioned that we had a Frequent Traveler Discount Certificate. He found and applied the $479 credit.

I asked about the Good Buy Plan and the options available for payment. I said I wanted to pay it all now by electronic transfer, so I gave him the routing transit number and account number for the First Commonwealth checking account. For paying it all that day we got another $283 Good Buy Discount. So the total that was debited to the account was $7,983.40.

The confirmation number, which became the reservation number, was 1622885. Paying that day also allegedly insured against price increases. We could make changes to the date or other aspects of the tour with no penalty up to February 26, 2007. We made no changes and there were no price increases, except for the optional tours, and they weren’t part of the guarantee. The Customer Service telephone number is 1-800-321-2835.

I immediately called First Commonwealth Bank to alert them to the electronic debit so that they would not be suspicious of the transaction.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 05:00 PM

The Long Road to Italy (2)

The formula for the Good Buy Discount was:
[a] (Trip price [$8137.40] – certificate [$479]) x 10% = $765.84
[b] [a] ($765.84) / 365 days = $2.0982
[c] Number of days until final payment is due = 135
[d] [b] ($2.0982) x [c] (135) =$283.26

That confirmed the $283 indicated above. It was, in effect, a 10% APY on the money, and that was considerably more than I could obtain from any other short-term source.

Among the contents of the mail on Friday, September 29, 2006, was a large envelope from GCT. In the envelope were the Travel Handbook and the invoice. The invoice was incorrect, and that has become a recurring theme with GCT. It is always corrected with a single phone call, and this was no exception. The problem this time was that the $479 Frequent Traveler Discount Certificate had not been applied, and the invoice showed a balance due of $479.

I immediately (2:30 PM) called the Customer Service number, 1-800-321-2835, and eventually was connected with Doug. He said his last name but I did not catch it. I explained my concern and he said that our balance was zero and the certificate had been applied. He apologized for the error and said to disregard the invoice with the balance due.

When we returned home from a visit to West Virginia on Sunday, October 8, 2006, I found in the accumulated mail from the previous week an updated invoice from GCT. It showed application of the Frequent Traveler Discount Certificate of $479. It also showed the balance owed of $0.00. It furthermore stated that the account was "paid in full."

In the mail delivered on Tuesday, October 10, 2006, we found a letter and form from GCT requesting verification of passport and emergency contact information. Everything we have in our online profile was preprinted on the form and is correct. In accordance with the instructions in the letter, we reviewed the information, found it to be correct, and filed the form. We were not to return it unless we had corrections or changes to make.

The only slightly worrisome thing in the passport information is the expiration date of my passport, September 6, 2009. If, as is likely, we will be taking some kind of tour in the spring or summer each year, I will need to renew my passport early in 2009. Most tours require that a passport have at least six months to run at the beginning of the tour, so I will need a new passport on or before March 1, 2009.

The GCT web site promised our preliminary air itinerary would appear online on Monday, January 8, 2007, and that we should receive a paper copy in the mail a day or two from that date. The brochure did not originally mention flights from IAD, but the information on the web site indicated that flights from IAD would likely be on British Airways, changing planes in London (LHR). A brochure received in mid-October finally included IAD with the notation that flights would be on British Airways with a change of planes in London. It also listed the total elapsed time from IAD to FCO at about 12 hours. That would indicate a layover in LHR of nearly three hours and that is not bad. Heath Row is a bad airport in which to change planes quickly. Having an extra hour or two there is desirable.

To help understand the times listed below, it is important to remember that all areas are on Summer time, formerly called Daylight Saving Time. The time differential is five hours between Eastern Time (IAD) and Greenwich Time (LHR) and an additional hour between Greenwich Time and European Time (FCO). When it is 12:00 Noon in Washington, it is 5:00 PM in London and 6:00 PM in Rome.

The preliminary flight itinerary was indeed on the web site that morning. Here’s essentially what the published itinerary looked like: (This isn't pretty, but you can figure it out.)
Depart Arrive Airline Class Meal Elapsed Time Miles
IAD 6:55 PM 5/8/07 LHR 7:00 AM 5/9/07 BA #216 Coach Meal 7:05 3672
LHR 9:10 AM 5/9/07 FCO 12:35 PM 5/9/07 BA #548 Coach Snack 2:25 898
FCO 1:30 PM 5/29/07 LHR 3:10 PM 5/29/07 BA #549 Coach Snack 2:40 898
LHR 5:10 PM 5/29/07 IAD 8:10 PM 5/29/07 BA #293 Coach Meal 8:00 3672

I assumed that the final itinerary would be the same as the preliminary, or at least not substantially different.

On Saturday, February 17, 2007, the mail carrier brought our Grand Circle travel gifts. This was almost six weeks before they were promised. They were hanging toiletry bags, similar to (perhaps exactly like) the ones the Gogols got last year before our European River Cruise. They were the nicest of the gifts we had received from GCT to date. We felt we would use them any time we traveled, and not just on organized tours.

On Saturday, March 10, 2007, I was looking at the itinerary for the trip on line and noticed some differences in the listed optional tours. Some were offered on different days of the tour, some were significantly changed, and some were dropped altogether. I got the latest brochure and discovered that it matched the on line itinerary. I sent an email to GCT, not exactly complaining, but asking when I might expect the itinerary to be final so that I could finalize my planning. I don’t expect to hear anything for a couple of days, and then I don’t really expect a useful answer.

On Tuesday, March 13, 2007, I received a return email from Brian Kwash at GCT. He threw a little "boiler plate" at me and then said our Program director would give us the final schedule of optional tours when he or she gave us the opportunity to buy them after the tour started. That didn’t help me at all but is, I’m sure, all he was allowed to say.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 05:11 PM

The Long Road to Italy (3)

The mailman delivered a Priority Mail package on Wednesday, April 18, 2007. It was exactly what was promised for April 24, 2007, and was almost one week early. It had the expected flight itinerary as well as a few surprises. While in Sorrento we are to be housed in the Zi Teresa Hotel, and while in Montecatini at the Hotel Ercolini & Savi.

The list of tour participants included only 37 names. Since this is one of the more popular dates, and since the listed hotels were the alternate hotels listed in the brochure, one interpretation could be that we were the second, or even third, group on that date. But the literature did not indicate that and it turned out to not be the case. Of the 37 tourists on the list, 30 (28 others) were on the Rome pre-tour extension.

Based on common last names and hometowns, there were 15 married couples (including us) and only 7 who were not part of a pair. All 7 of the singles were female. The state of residence of the 37 broke down as California – 13; Florida – 8; Pennsylvania – 6; and 2 each from Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio.

Ten of us were listed as taking the Rome Extension only. Five were taking only the Venice post-tour extension. Twenty were taking both extensions, and two were taking neither.

I was eager to check on our flights and seat assignments, so on Thursday, April 19, 2007, I went on line at www.britishairways.com and entered our flight reference number, ZD277T. It came up with our reservation and a lot of additional information. It also allowed me to enter our passport information to speed up our check-in process at the airport. I also gave them my email address and cell phone number so that we could be notified if they made any changes to the itinerary.

The only seat assignment we had at that time was for flight 216 from IAD (Dulles) to LHR (Heath Row). We were in seats 35 D & E. Those were not great seats, but not bad either. We would have an opportunity to relocate our seating, but only within 24 hours of the flight time. We decided we would not relocate. I thought that when we checked in at IAD we would get seat assignments for the London to Rome leg. Then I noticed that we could get the seat assignments and even print our boarding passes on line the evening of May 7, 2007.

Our arrival in LHR was to be at Terminal 4, 7:00 AM local time. Departure was to be from Terminal 1 at 9:10 AM. That left a 2 hour and 10 minute layover. The instructions said we needed 75 minutes to get from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1, so we had 55 minutes slack time. That was rather comforting, really. I didn’t want to cut it any shorter. Coming back, the layover was 2 hours even, so our slack time was reduced to 45 minutes, still plenty if everything is running on schedule.

I started making some preparatory arrangements. On Friday, April 20, 2007, I called USAA and spoke with Ann. I told her we would be in Italy, Rome, Compagna, and Tuscany specifically, from May 9 through May 29, 2007. I established a PIN so that the MasterCard could be used as an ATM card for a cash advance. It’s a good emergency source of cash, but we didn’t plan to use it that way. There is a 1% conversion fee added by MasterCard to purchases made on the card. There is an additional 3% fee for cash advances, plus the interest rate kicks in immediately. We planned to use our First Commonwealth Debit Card for cash.

Ann also gave me two telephone numbers to use from Italy if we needed to contact USAA. The toll free number was 00-800-922-90920. That looked a little strange, but we confirmed it. There was also a number we could call collect if the tool-free number didn’t work. That was 1-210-491-9097.

I also called First Commonwealth and told them we would be in Italy. As was the case last year, they didn’t seem to care. Mike just confirmed that we would be able to use the card as either debit or credit, and the limit was $510 per day for cash from ATM and $2,500 per day for purchases. We didn’t plan to use it for purchases, and the daily limit for cash was way more than adequate.

On Tuesday, April 24, 2007, I went to the AAA Store and bought TSA locks for our luggage. I also went to the bank and got $50 in one dollar bills and $50 in fives. I also found two one-Euro coins and one two-Euro coin we had left over from last year’s river cruise. They would come in handy when we first got to the Rome Airport. I also found a five Euro cent coin and a two Euro cent coin, but they wouldn’t be useful at all.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 09:44 PM

The Long Road to Italy (4)

The last weekend before our departure was the time for wrapping up some final details. We needed to make an advance payment on any bill that was likely to come due while we were away. Most of our utility bills are direct debit, so they were not a problem:
The Allegheny Power (electric) bill for our home in Greensburg would debit about May 20;
The Allegheny Power bill for our farm at Bear Run debited in April and June;
The Dominion Peoples (natural gas) bill would debit near the first of the month;
The Verizon (telephone) bill for Greensburg would debit about May 8;
The Verizon bill for Bear Run would debit about May 18.

Some other utility bills were not direct debited, so would need a little more attention:
The Allied Waste (trash pick-up) bill was paid by check in March and would not be due again until June;
The HTMA, Hempfield Township Municipal Authority (sewerage) bill was paid by check in March and would not be due again until June;
The MAWC, Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (water) bill would be due about mid-May, so we needed to pay an estimated amount before leaving;
The Dish Network (TV) bill was being charged to the USAA MasterCard and so it would be payable with that bill.

So the MAWC (water) bill was the only utility bill requiring special attention. We had not yet received a bill, so we sent an estimated payment on Saturday, May 5, 2007. The amount sent was the same as the last bill, $45.32. When we got home and got the bill, it was for $56.71, but the prepayment meant that we owed only the additional $12.39 and did not lose any prompt payment discount.

The most significant bills were the credit card bills. The USAA MasterCard bill was received on April 30, 2007, and was due on May 15, 2007. Based on that, we would be back home in time to pay the bill that would be due in June. I called USAA Saving Bank back on April 20, 2007, and informed them that we would be in Italy from May 8 through May 29, 2007, and would likely be using our credit card for purchases. I also called them when we returned from the trip and told them we were back and would be making no more charges in Europe for the foreseeable future.

I didn’t anticipate using any other credit card on the trip, but we took an additional one with us as a backup. I needed to also notify that bank. I thought it would likely be the Target Visa Card, just to have the option of Visa if there was a problem with MasterCard. But when I called Target Bank I was informed that our card had been cancelled for lack of use. That was fine. We just took our AT & T Universal MasterCard as the backup.

The AT&T Universal Card bill was due to arrive after our departure and be due before our return, so we needed to make an advance payment on it. The amount was fairly predictable since I used it normally for Internet provider fees only. That had been running $23.90 per month. We watched closely to see if that card had been used for any other purchases that would likely be billed at that time. On April 20, 2007, we received a bill from AT&T Universal Card in the amount of $27.66. It was due on May 3, 2007. On April 21, 2007, I sent a payment in the amount of $55.32. That put us one month in advance, so we would not need to rush the payment when we got back.

We hadn’t used any other cards, so no other advance payments were either required or desirable.

The USAA automobile insurance on the Ford Ranger would be due about May 15, so that was another advance payment. We knew the amount even though we did not have the premium notice in hand, so we could pay that one accurately before we left. On April 20, 2007, the amount of the insurance premium, $325.87, was posted on line, so I had it charged to the USAA MasterCard. So that was taken care of.

Another bill I investigated was the AAA Membership Dues. I found out that the current membership did not expire until June 30, 2007, so we would have plenty of time for renewal after our return.

No certificates of deposit required action while we were away.

So that Bob Callahan, our neighbor, would not have to handle our mail for three weeks, we left in the mailbox a "hold mail" card. It instructed the mail carrier to hold our mail at the Post Office, starting Tuesday, May 8, 2007, until we come in to pick it up. By selecting that option, we didn’t have to give them a date for the pick up. They can hold mail for a minimum of three and a maximum of thirty days. Ours would be held about twenty-three days.

We called the Tribune-Review (newspaper) and told them to stop delivery after Monday, May 7, 2007, and not to resume delivery until we called.

Bob Callahan still checked for a few days to insure that neither newspaper nor mail was being delivered. He also kept an eye on the homestead while we were gone, and mowed the lawn twice. We got back home a day earlier than he was expecting us, or he would have mown it three times. It was growing rapidly at that time of year.

To have money handy for travelling expenses, we had $50 in one dollar bills and another $350 in larger bills to carry with us. All other expenses we would pay with a credit card or with Euro obtained from ATM machines called "Bancomats" in Italy. We did not have traveler’s checks because they are relatively expensive and not universally accepted.

At church on Sunday, May 6, 2007, we insured that all that were interested knew that we were going to be away for most of the month of May. I would miss the Church Council meeting on Wednesday, May 9, 2007, and the Congregational Business meeting to be held during the third week of May. Mary and I would miss three Thursday choir rehearsals and three Sunday choir anthems. We would miss four Wednesday "Out to Lunch Bunch" Bible studies and one "Young at Heart" luncheon meeting.

I had previously informed the Irwin Male Chorus leadership that I would not be available for the Memorial Day concert.

We had originally planned to travel to our daughter, Amy’s, house on Monday, May 7, 2007. When we saw how late in the day our flight departed IAD, we decided to drive there on the morning of Tuesday, May 8, 2007, instead.

I had been watching the weather forecasts, and that Monday was predicted to be nice weather, so I put off mowing the lawn until that day. The weather was fine, so I ran the string-trimmer and mowed the lawn in the morning. That postponed as long as possible the necessity for Bob to mow it.

We went out to lunch and then made some last minute purchases at the drug store. We nearly finished packing but did not load the car. Since we have only two suitcases that we will be checking and our two carry-on bags, it would not take long to load the car the next morning.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent resting and relaxing as much as possible. I got on line at www.britishairways.com and finished our online check-in. I was able to print our boarding passes for both the Washington to London leg and the London to Rome leg. The value of the online check-in will be pointed out later.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 09:48 PM

The Trip

I will write the narrative of the trip chronologically, with what is effectively one chapter per day. Some of the daily chapters will be very brief, while others will be rather lengthy. The title of each chapter will indicate the day of the trip, the calendar date, and a brief description of what was supposed to happen that day. Then the narrative will tell in more detail what actually happened that day.

Day 1 (of the extension), Tuesday, May 8, 2007 – Start Flying to Rome

We got up about 6:30 AM, loaded the van, and got on the road at 7:56 AM. We had breakfast in Donegal. Pennsylvania, just before getting on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I drove to the Breezewood, Pennsylvania, (Town Hill) Rest Stop on I-70. We had a lot of construction on all routes, but were not unduly delayed. Mary drove from Breezewood to Leesburg, Virginia, where we made another brief rest stop. I then drove on to Amy’s house in Vienna, Virginia, arriving at 12:30 PM. Amy made us a grilled chicken and pasta salad lunch and we played with our grandchildren, Gavin and Brooke. Matt, Amy’s husband, came home to take us to the airport so that Amy would not have to take both children. Gavin did accompany us.

Once at the airport we went to the British Airways Fast Drop desk. We could do that because we had printed off our boarding passes at home the night before. We were in a much shorter line and got our bags checked very quickly. As further evidence that our transfer time in London was not excessive, the agent put a special tag on our checked bags that said "Short". We weren’t worried. Even if our bags were delayed a day in getting to Rome, we had enough with us in our hand luggage to sustain us for that day.

At the security check we had to remove our shoes and put everything through the x-ray machine. I still set off the metal detector, so I had to remove my belt and send it through x-ray as well. Mary’s bag was side tracked and searched. She had in it a sealed bottle of water, and that was confiscated. I also had a bottle of water in my bag, but it was overlooked. But the strangest thing was the confiscation of Mary’s toothpaste. Even though the tube was over half used up, the tube was bigger than allowed. But we finally satisfied everyone and got to the departure gate in plenty of time. That gate was Gate D32, at the very end of Concourse D.

There was a Villa Pizza shop near the gate and we got some pizza and Pepsi. While we were eating, Mary spotted a lady carrying a clipboard that said "Grand Circle Travel." We didn’t have our nametags on because we weren’t expecting to need them until we got to Rome. Mary flagged the lady down, and we found out she was really there to see off the five persons on the flight who were bound for the GCT Tour of Ireland. But she had our names on her list and checked us off. Since we already had boarding passes, there wasn’t much she could do for us.

We sat in the gate waiting area and a lady across from us saw our GCT document wallets. She asked if we were going to Ireland, and we explained that we were changing planes in London bound for Rome. I saw the GCT lady pass by a few times, but as boarding time was nearing, she was holding up a sign that said "Simonton." I asked our new friend if that was she, and it was. So the two of them got together and both were happy.

The final itinerary said that British Airways Flight #216 was scheduled to leave Washington Dulles Airport (IAD) at 6:55 PM. The plane was delayed for about twenty minutes by "catering problems." I guess that meant they were late getting the food aboard. We boarded about 7:15 PM and found our seats, which were not bad at all. The plane was a Boeing 747, not the 777 I was expecting. My first clue was when the flight attendant was directing some of the passengers "up stairs."

It was a fairly comfortable flight. We had a decent meal shortly after departure, but we really weren’t that hungry. I sat my watch to London time, Greenwich Summer Time. It was already after midnight by the new setting. I tried to watch part of a movie. I don’t remember the name, but it was a psychological western staring Pierce Brosnan. Since I didn’t watch it all, I quickly lost the story line, assuming there was one. I listened to some audio, but mostly just had the flight progress map on my screen. I worked some puzzles and managed to sleep a little bit.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 09:52 PM

Day 2 (of the extension), Wednesday, May 9, 2007 – Arrive in Rome

On London time it was actually Wednesday by the time we took off from IAD. Just before landing we were served a breakfast snack. It was nothing to brag about. The coffee was obviously instant.

They made up lost time and we landed at London Heath Row Airport (LHR) at the scheduled 7:00 AM Greenwich Summer Time. We had, theoretically, two hours and ten minutes to catch the next leg of the flight. We landed at Terminal 4 and had to transfer to Terminal 1. The estimated time for that transfer is 75 minutes, giving us nearly an hour slack time.

It was a long hike from our landing gate to the transfer bus. Then it was a fifteen-minute bus ride to the Terminals 1 – 3 complex. Then it was a long walk to our gate at Terminal 1. Actually, we didn’t know which gate we needed, only that it was Terminal 1. We had to go through a security check to get into Terminal 1. The Departure Board showed our flight, but the gate assignment was blank.

Our scheduled departure time (British Airways Flight 548) was 9:10 AM and the gate closing time was posted as 8:50 AM. We got to the shopping mall in the center of Terminal 1, but didn’t know where to go from there. I asked at the BA Information Desk and was told that the gate assignments were not made until 40 minutes before departure. That would be about 8:30 AM and it was now 8:15. So we settled in where we could watch the departure board.

The gate assignment, #23, went up at 8:50 AM. That should have indicated an actual departure time of 9:30 AM. As we walked to Gate 23, we had to go through another security check. We boarded almost immediately and found our seats. They were exactly what I expected, even though the plane was an Airbus A320 instead of the promised A318. We were the window and middle seats on the port side, just behind the wing. The plane took off at 9:20 AM and I set my watch to 10:20 AM to correspond to Rome time, European Summer Time.

Even though we had a good window seat, there was nothing to see due to the solid cloud cover for the first ninety minutes. As we were crossing over the Italian Alps the clouds broke up and we got some great views of snow covered mountains.

They gave us "breakfast" on the plane. It was basically an egg salad sandwich and some juice. The juice was mango, which I do not like at all. Again, they made up lost time and we landed at Fiumicino (FCO) Terminal C at precisely the scheduled arrival time of 12:35 PM.

We had a perfunctory passport check and went to the baggage carrousel to await our bags. After about half an hour we had both our bags and I got a luggage cart for €1.00. There was no customs inspection. We donned our GCT nametags and went to the Meeting Place. Presently the GCT Representative found us, took us to a private taxi, gave the driver his instructions, and waved ciao to us.

As the driver got his Mercedes taxi clear of the airport congestion and started up the super highway toward Rome, he began to rapidly accelerate. Mary and I decided to fasten our seatbelts. The posted speed limit was 90 kph, roughly 55 mph, but we knew he was going much faster than that. I finally took a look at his speedometer just as it was registering about 180 kph.

After about forty minutes we were deposited in front of the Hotel Nova Domus. It was a rather nondescript building from the exterior, but the lobby, as we drug our bags into it, was fairly ornate. As soon as we entered the lobby we were met by our Program Director for the Rome Extension, Antonella Settimi. She welcomed us with a packet of information, part of which was homework for us, gave us our room keys, and pointed us toward our room, #204. It was on what the Italians call the second floor (segundo piano). There is a bar on the mezzanine level, the restaurant and some sleeping rooms on the first floor (primo piano), and then our floor. We would call it the fourth floor. A few minutes after we got to the room there was a knock. A surly bellhop literally threw our bags through the door and walked away.

We were to meet at 4:00 PM for a walk through the neighborhood of the hotel, and it was now about 2:00 PM. So we took a short nap. At 4:00 PM we met some of the other tourists and we followed Antonella, who likes to be called Nell, on a walking tour that took us on a circular path of about 12 or 15 blocks. The neighborhood is largely residential, but is almost in the shadow of the Vatican.

As we walked, Nell pointed out things we might be interested in visiting on our own. Mostly they were restaurants. Mary and I took special notice of the Supermarket. We planned to go there to by soft drinks, Diet Cokes, specifically.

Nell talked about the comprere, the tax one must pay for occupying a table. In some cases it is merely added to the price of whatever you purchase. In other cases it is disguised on your bill as bread (pane) and/or water (acqua). They are delivered to your table without you requesting it, and you pay for it, consume it or not. She said it was the law, not something the restaurant does on its own.

Nell also explained the difference between a trattoria and a café, either one of which might also be called a bar or a pizzeria. She pointed out the location of the banks and the bancomats, as well as the cambios (moneychangers). Her recommendation, and that of all others with whom we discussed it, was to us a debit card at the bancomat to obtain Euro currency.

She showed us the location of the Farmers’ Market and talked some about it. She stopped us at one intersection where the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica was very visible. By the time we returned to the hotel we were tired, but we had a much better feel for what was available in easy walking distance of the hotel.

We had left the United States with two €1 coins and one €2 coin. That was all we had left from last year’s trip to Germany and Austria. I had spent €1 at the airport to rent the cart. So we immediately walked to one of the bancomats and got €210, 3 – 50’s and 3 – 20’s. That gave us sufficient "walking-around money". When I first checked on September 29, 2006, the official exchange rate was 1 Euro for $1.27 US. With other fees added in, getting 210 Euro from the Bancomat would have cost about $270.00. By April 20, 2007, the rate was up to $1.36 and the 210 Euro cost closer to $287.00. The dollar was continuing to weaken against the Euro. As I write this paragraph, October 26, 2007, the exchange rate is one Euro for $1.44 US.

At 6:00 PM we all got together in the Giotti Room (Sala Giotti) for our welcome drink and formal introduction to each other. For this meeting the champagne was pretty good. Nell gave us some instructions and a toast. We then introduced ourselves to the group. One couple was on their fifteenth GCT (including OAT, Overseas Adventure Tours) trip, and nearly half were wearing the gold nametag, indicative of being an Inner Circle member. That meant it was their fourth GCT trip, at least.

Mary and I went to the Trattoria della Toscanila, or something like that, for dinner. Nell had pointed it out and it was near the grocery store we wanted to visit anyway. Mary ordered a Diet Coke, called Coca-Cola Light in Europe, and it was not good at all. I ordered a beer, and it was okay, but kind of warm. We were the first customers for the evening. At 7:00 PM we were at least an hour early for dinner by Italian standards. Mary had fettuccini ragu (with meat sauce) and I had steak and mushrooms. They were both okay but not really very good. The bill, with tip, was €27.

Then we went to the grocery store. Because of the bad experience with Diet Coke at the restaurant, and the fact that the Pepsi Light was on a special sale, we opted for Pepsi Light instead of Coke. We also got some Snickers bars for dessert, and Mary got a tube of toothpaste to replace the one confiscated at IAD.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to sleep off our jet lag. The hotel is pretty nice but not posh. The room is small but comfortable. We both took showers. The shower stall is rather claustrophobic and the curtain does not keep the water in, but it works. Our room was facing one street, Via Savonarola, and close to the main drag, Circumfera Triumfola. The air conditioning was not on so we had the window open for ventilation. The traffic noise was pretty loud. Later it cooled down enough in the room for us to close the window. The room was much quieter after that.

Sunset on this date in Rome was about 7:15 PM, with darkness about 8:00 PM. The Moon, with just a bit more than half of the surface illuminated, did not rise until 1:00 AM the next morning. All of the time we were in Italy was from six to three weeks before the Summer Solstice, approaching the longest day of the year. There was over 16 hours of daylight and fewer than 8 hours of darkness each day. Sunrises were just after 4:00 AM and sunsets just before 8:00 PM. The Moon, which was just a little more than half visible when we arrived, waned to a new moon on May 16, and then waxed back to almost full by the time we returned home.

I had been planning for about $30 for lunch for two and about $60 for dinner for two. That would equate to a little over 25 Euro and 45 Euro, respectively. From what I had heard, that was likely a little low for Rome and Sorrento, but just about right for Tuscany. But then those rates were for full meals, and we seldom ate a full meal.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 09:54 PM

Day 3 (of the extension), Thursday, May 10, 2007 – Rome on Our Own/Illumination Tour

We had a pretty good sleep. The beds were hard but fairly comfortable. Hard is definitely better than soft. We went to breakfast about 8:00 AM. I thought the buffet was pretty good. It had scrambled eggs, bacon, a variety of pastries, yogurt, fruit, cereals, juices, and coffee.

At 9:30 AM we met to hand in our optional tour orders, get some other directions, and get our "Whispers." They were little radio receivers that hung around our necks. They had an ear bud through which we could receive the comments of the tour guide, even in crowds and noisy environments, without standing on top of the guide. Only the guide had a microphone, although there was a microphone jack on each unit. They could probably be configured for two-way communication.

For our optional tours we decided to take the tour of the Vatican and the "Rome of the Caesars" tour. We decided to skip the "Angels and Demons" tour. Each of our selected tours was $60 per person, so we owed $240. We would pay that by credit card on the last day of the Rome extension.

At 10:30 AM we left the hotel with Nell leading us on another walk. This time the Farmer’s Market along Via Andrea Doria was open, and we spent a few minutes looking at the stalls. We walked through the Market for about three blocks. At times the dome of St. Peter’s and the Vatican Wall were visible. Even though we were quite spread out, we could all still hear Nell’s commentary quite well on the Whispers.

At the end of the Market we were quite near the Cipro Metro stop. That is the subway station nearest our hotel, and it is pronounced "cheep-row". With Nell’s assistance, we purchased tickets. The tickets cost €1 and are good forever until validated. Once validated they are good for one subway ride and/or unlimited bus rides for 75 minutes. It’s a semi-honor system. They will spot check occasionally, and if you are riding without a properly validated ticket, the fine is rather steep. If you have the money on you, you can pay the officer €52 on the spot. If they have to send you the citation in the mail, the fine is €100. You need a lot of free rides to make up for getting caught once without a validated ticket.

Nell suggested that the end cars, beginning of the train or end of the train, were likely to be the least crowded, We went to the first car. Nell had earlier warned us about the Gypsies and their pick-pocketing activities. As we walked to the train she pointed out a Gypsy in the station. But this one, a fairly young adult female, was working for her money. She carried a small, portable karaoke machine, and she sang songs for us. Then she held out her cup. I didn’t want to give her €1, so I gave her the only other coin I had, a €0.10 (ten cents).

We got off the subway at Barbarini Station and walked to Trevi Fountain. Nell pointed out other points of interest on the way. There was a large crowd at Trevi Fountain, so we took some pictures but did not try to get close enough to throw the coins. Besides, we’re not real sure we want to return to Rome.

From there we walked on to the Spanish Steps. There was almost universal disappointment there. We may have been expecting too much. The piazza was teeming with vendors, and they were aggressive. They were also almost all from Eastern Europe, Romania, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslav nations, and Albania. They were not Gypsies. Gypsies tend to "earn" their living by begging and stealing, not by selling.

Nell then gave directions to those wanting to tour on their own, and then she left us. Mary and I were tired of walking, so we, along with several others from our group, got on the subway at Spagna Station and rode it back to Cipro. Our Gypsy entertainer on this ride was a young man who played a guitar and sang "La Bamba", over and over. I didn’t have any small coins and I didn’t have any inclination to encourage him.

When we got off the subway, and on the way back to the hotel, we stopped again at the grocery store to get some more Diet Pepsi. Then we went to a small pizzeria near the hotel and got some pizza to go. This we carried back to the hotel room to eat. The lunch and a short nap revived us and prepared us for the evening’s activities.

About 6:30 PM we got on a bus, Claudio was the driver, and went to dinner. We saw a lot of sights on the way. Nell was narrating using the bus’ PA system. The restaurant, Quo Vadis, was out of town, outside the wall, and on the Appian Way. It was a nice big restaurant that exists primarily for serving tour groups. Besides us there were an Irish group and a Japanese group there at the same time. It was a six-course dinner with bottomless bottles of wine. I don’t know what GCT paid, but by Roman standards, to buy the meal individually would cost over €50 per person.

We had antipasta, pasta, soupa, insalada, and a main course. I had eggplant Parmesan, Mary had chicken Marsala, and the other options were veal or salmon. Then we had a choice of four or five desserts. I had something like a cheesecake with berries. Mary had a chocolate cake that was a lot like Boston cream, but with chocolate pudding instead of vanilla.

While we ate we were entertained by Ansel on guitar, an accordion player whose name I didn’t catch, and Sonya, an operatic soprano. They were entertaining. I tipped them €5 and Sonya sang a special song just for our table.

We were seated, by luck of the draw, with Larry and Virginia Loeffler from Sacramento, California, and Barbara Saxton from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Barbara’s traveling companion had to cancel when her mother got seriously ill. Virginia had a very upset stomach and was unable to eat anything at the dinner.

The ride back to the hotel was pretty spectacular. They called it the "Illuminated Rome" tour. We saw castles, baths, the Coliseum, the Circus Maximus, etc. Nell was narrating all along. When we got back to the hotel we were ready for bed – maybe more than ready.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 09:57 PM

Day 4 (of the extension), Friday, May 11, 2007 – "Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica Tour" / Independent Touring of Rome

We kind of slept in and had a late, leisurely breakfast. Then we went to and walked through the Farmers’ Market. Some of it looked interesting, but a lot of it, especially the "fresh" fish stands, looked and smelled kind of disgusting. We skipped lunch.

At 12:30 PM we boarded one of two minibuses for transportation to the Vatican. There was no line so we walked straight inside. This was the first of our optional tours. Probably half of our tour group went along.
We actually entered the Vatican Museum, which takes up probably half of the total area of the Vatican. Once inside we met Paolo, our guide for the day. He was good but gave us TMI, "too much information", at some of the stops.

The statuary, paintings, tapestries, and mosaics in the Vatican Museum were spectacular, but the Sistine Chapel was the highlight. It was rather crowded, but we eventually got a seat from which we could view the ceiling frescos in relative comfort. The frescos had gone through a cleaning that took some ten years or so, so it was very bright. A couple of small patches had been left uncleaned to offer visitors a contrast with the restored sections.

Then we went on to St. Peter’s Basilica and, to me it was even more impressive than the Sistine Chapel. First of all, it is huge! But it is so beautifully proportioned that you need a frame of reference to realize the actual size. We did not climb to the dome, but there were several tourists up there. From the floor you had to look carefully to even detect that they were people.

Then we went out into St. Peter’s Square, and that was hot! To date, the weather had been almost perfect – all sunshine and no rain. The daytime temperatures had been running 75° to 80° F, and the morning had been around 60°. But standing in the Sun while Paolo talked about St. Peter’s Square got quite uncomfortable.

We then had about twenty minutes in the Vatican Gift Shop. We bought some post cards and stamps, quickly wrote cards to the Gogols and the Callahans, and mailed them so that they would have a Vatican postmark. Then we got back on the minibuses and were back at the hotel about 5:00 PM.

We rested some and then went out about 7:30 PM to get dinner. We went to Trattoria la Fiorentina, one of the restaurants recommended by Nell. Several other members of our tour group were either eating or had just finished when we got there. We took a table outside, although it was still enclosed with plastic. That was the smoking section but it was not objectionable.

We had to pay the comprere tax for occupying the table. It was listed on the bill as pane (bread), €3.00, and water, €2.00. We had fried mozzarella for an appetizer. Mary had a ravioli dish and I had the Roman Triumvirate, three different pasta dishes. I also had 370 ml of the house red wine, a pretty good Chianti. The food was good but not great.

Larry and Virginia finished and left just about the time we were served our appetizer. A little later I saw the waiters pick up Larry’s jacket from his chair. The jacket was not needed that night, but Larry had brought it just in case. I told the waiters I knew him and would deliver his jacket to him, so they gave it to me.

After we finished eating we like to never got the bill. We told them we did not want dessert, but still they would not bring the bill. Only when we very specifically told them we wanted the bill and actually stood up as if to leave did they bring the bill. It totaled €55.50. That included a service charge of €7.50. I put the €55.50 on the USAA MasterCard and left a €2 coin on the table. We bought two small chocolate gelatos on the way out and ate them as we walked back to the hotel.

I delivered Larry’s jacket to him and he was very appreciative. He didn’t figure he would need it in Italy, but they are going on to Austria and Germany after the Italy tour is over. They will be taking the GCT river cruise we took last year, but in reverse. Larry thought he might need his jacket there.
We went to bed and were asleep by 10:30 PM.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 09:59 PM

Day 5 (Last full day of the extension, first day of the basic tour), Saturday, May 12, 2007 – Self-guided Touring of Rome

This was a full day at leisure for us. We decided that we did not want to take the optional Angels and Demons tour. We wanted to see the Pantheon, but did not want the long discussion of the DiVinci Code that was likely to accompany the visits to the various historical sites.

At breakfast we chatted with a young (40ish) couple from Australia who had been in Rome for a few days with a Globus tour and who were moving on to Sorrento for a few days there. He (Tom) is an engineer for an electric generating station that burns brown coal. We discussed coal mining, mostly.

After breakfast, about 9:30 AM, we left for the city. We bought Metro tickets, rode the subway from Cipro to Barbarini, and walked to Trevi Fountain. It seemed much closer with just the two of us than when we went with the mob. The crowd at the fountain was much smaller, too.

But we wanted to see the Pantheon, so I looked at the map and decided on a street to take. We stopped at a tabacchi (tobacco shop) and bought a few post cards and stamps. We then spotted signs for the Pantheon and followed them.

The Pantheon was very impressive, even more than I remembered. Of course, just across the square, in front of the Pantheon, was a McDonald’s. The "golden arches" on this one were smaller, and were indeed gilded, not just painted yellow. Nell had told us that McDonald’s had the best public restrooms and you could use them without buying anything. So we did. If that’s the best, the rest must be really bad!

We then started back. We walked in what we hoped was the general direction of either Barbarini or Spagna Metro stations. Part of the walk was along Via del Corso, a main shopping street. We went down some steps thinking it was a pedestrian walkway to cross a busy street. It was, but it was also a large bookstore. It was fun looking at kid’s books written in Italian. Some of the characters we recognized.

We knew we had to turn right off Via del Corso at some point, so we did. When we finally got our bearings we on Via Condotti. It is a street filled with designer label stores, all very expensive. But it led us to Piazza de Spagna and the Spanish Steps. I took Mary’s picture on the steps.

Then we caught the Metro from Spagna back to Cipro. It was very crowded, the most I had seen. There was no chance to get a seat. The same Gypsy guitar player as two days before was on the train and he sang the same songs.

It was just about noon when we exited the Metro. We went to the supermarket and got some more Diet Pepsis. On the way to the hotel we met Nell. She said she had left directions on the bulletin board by the GCT Hospitality Desk. They were to a good place to go for dinner. We would have to take a taxi.

Mary went to the hotel room with our stuff while I went to the pizzeria to get lunch. We ate in the room. Then we both napped for a couple of hours. My feet hurt, but not nearly so much as I would have expected. I took a shower to get rid of the sunscreen and then shaved, which I had forgotten to do in the morning.

About 5:30 PM we went out. First we went to the bancomat where we got another €210. We didn’t think we would need that much, but we would be giving Nell €40 tomorrow as well as a few Euro to the step-on guides, like the €2 I gave Paolo yesterday.

We weren’t very hungry and Mary decided we should see what an Italian McDonald’s was like. We really didn’t remember where it was but we knew there was one nearby. We walked on some streets we had not been on before. They were busy shopping streets with lots of Italians and few if any tourists. We were on Via Leone IV and Via Condia Viale. We then cut back to Via Andria Doria and we were right back at the bancomat.

We went a block down the street where we got some gelato that we ate as we walked along. We got back on Circumfera Triumfale, went past the hotel, and on to Piazza Clodia where we finally found the McDonald’s. We shared a deluxe cheeseburger combo (# quarto) with patatine (French fries) and Coke Light. I also got something like little pizza rolls. It was all tolerable. There was a burly security guard keeping a close eye on the group of teen-aged boys hanging out front.

Back at the hotel we nearly collapsed from all the walking. The weather, however, had been perfect. At one point I saw a temperature sign on a farmacia that read +25° C. That translates to 77° F. After showers and a discussion of what was happening tomorrow, we went to bed.

**Captain Larry** · 10-29-2007, 10:02 PM

Day 6 (Transition from extension to basic tour), Sunday, May 13, 2007 – "Rome of the Caesars" Tour/End of Extension/Beginning of Basic Tour

I was up a little after 6:00 AM. My back was kind of sore and I’m not sure why. I got Mary up about 7:10 and we went to breakfast about 7:45. A little before 8:30 AM we met in the lobby to join our "Rome of the Caesars" tour group. We paid $65 each for this tour but were supposed to get $13 each back. Admission is free to the Coliseum and the Forum today.

We rode the bus to the Coliseum area but first went to the St. Peter in Chains church. The statue of Moses by Michelangelo is the main attraction. We walked a couple of hundred yards up hill to the church.

We then walked about half a mile back down the hill to the Coliseum. We met our guide, who was Paolo, the same guide we had at the Vatican two days ago. We then spent a fairly hot and miserable three hours touring first the Coliseum and then the Forum.

My back got worse with every step. It would help some if I sat down, but those opportunities were rare. The tour was interesting but almost unbearable physically.

On the bus ride back to the hotel we saw a young mother riding a bicycle. Her 3-year-old was on a small seat in front of her while a 5-year-old rode in a seat behind her. She was riding in heavy traffic while talking on her cell phone. She stayed in front of the bus until one of us turned off. It was a rather frightening sight, and even Nell and Franco, the bus driver, were amazed by it.

Back at the hotel we went straight to the room, got a drink, undressed, and took a nap. We did some packing in anticipation of changing hotels tomorrow. Mary checked on the schedule for the rest of today and tomorrow. Our Program Director for the rest of the time in Italy was to be Pilar. She would meet us for drinks and diner in the hotel restaurant at 6:30 PM.

Antonella would collect her Whispers, evaluations, and gratuities between 5:30 and 6:30. We were to have bags out by 7:15 AM tomorrow and board the bus at 8:00 AM. We’ll planned to go to breakfast about 7:00 and then go back to the room for a final look around before vacating. We had done nothing to incur additional charges, so our checkout should be perfunctory.

After walking down the street to get our daily fix of gelato, we gave Nell back her Whispers, evaluations (all excellent), and gratuities (€40). Nell was born in Italy, Naples, to be precise, but grew up in Richmond, Virginia. She graduated Virginia Tech, went to Italy to work for the summer, met and married her husband, and has been in Italy for 25 years.

We went to dinner at the hotel and met Pilar. She’s a crazy Scot who has lived in Italy for 25 years or so and is married to her second Italian husband. The meal was tolerable but not up to what we had come to expect. We sat with Van and Barbara Lott from Cape Cod, MA, or The Villages, FL, depending on what time of year. Also at our table were Andy and Bessie Anderson from Bel Aire, MD, who have done 15 previous GCT tours. The "newcomers" were Ed and Sandy Hoover from Lancaster, PA. They had just arrived and had not been on the Rome pre-trip extension.

After dinner we went to bed to get ready for the big bus ride tomorrow.