The Beginning of Italy

This is my travel route on my recent trip to Italy.  You'll note we spent 2 nights in most locations.  We started our tour in Rome and ended our tour in Rome.  

We toured with Insight Vacations, The Art of Traveling in Style.  This is the 2nd time we've toured with this travel company.  This trip is billed as 12 nights and 13 days.  Traveling in Italy is more costly than when we traveled in Ireland and Scotland last year.  Italy is simply more popular, which I assume is the reason.  Tours are billed per person (PP).  $3,746.25 pp (that price included 3 discounts.  Once you travel with one tour company, it pays you to to continue with them, unless you're unhappy with your tour.  Repeat customers get a discount, ours per couple was $452.50.  Additionally, once you put down a deposit, you have  a window of time to pay for your trip early to receive the early pay discount which was 905.00 (per couple), and because we booked Italy within 60 days of returning from Ireland, we received a welcome home discount of 200.00.  7,492.50 divided by 12 nights is 624.37 per day per couple.  That price includes your travel, your hotel, and in most cases your buffet breakfast.........and some dinners.  All meals are typically not included.  Our tour included 7 dinners with wine.  That price also includes entrance fees to things like The Vatican.

We stayed in 7 different hotels, some better than others.  When traveling in Europe it's important you NOT expect things to be as there are here in the USA.  Two fold, it's rare that your room will be like others in the tour group.  Things vary a lot in Europe.  Bed sizes are typically smaller with King rarely being an option.  Often Queen is not an option.  More typically it's two twins vs a double.  We've found it a better option to do 2 twins, as did most on our tour.  You do not get washcloths in bathrooms.  We noted this in Ireland and Scotland last year and it was no different this year in Italy.  I don't remember if we had them in Spain 5 years ago, but think not.

Sheets!  A word about top sheets.  Again I don't remember about Spain, but we only had a top sheet one night during our Ireland and Scotland tour last year, and this year in Italy, we had a few.  The typical bed making in Europe does not include one.  A duvet is common places..........which is probably fine during cold weather, but a bit hot otherwise.

Our first hotel was in a good location in Rome, Hotel Romanico Palace, but our room looked nothing like what you see on their hotel webpage.

 The hotel was clean and comfortable, but not all that attractive.  I might call it delightfully tacky, lol

 Beware...bathrooms typically have a tub or shower, or combo, but ...you never have a full closure.  Typically you have half a door which makes showering without getting water on the floor a real challenge.  Most bathrooms have a bidet...which many Americans say work well for washing your feet, lol.  Seriously though if you look around the net the chances of spreading water everywhere in your bathroom and or burning yourself are substantial.  Bars of soap are also not readily available.  Only about half our hotels had them this trip.  They often have a bathwash-shampoo combo available and not one hotel had hair conditioner.........which I admit to forgetting.  I like not packing those items to save space, so had none this trip.

Also, carpet........isn't something you see much of.  None of hotel rooms had carpet.  Most were tile, or some other substance.  So, if you don't like your feet hitting cool floors, take slippers.  Personally, I thought the cold on the feet felt good after tromping around all day and putting miles on the dogs.

We, as a tour group spent 2 nights at this hotel, however hubby and I opted to go a day early and were there 3 nights.  Our above room was 180.00 Euro's, currently that would be around $208.00 US dollars.  Not a bad rate considering we were in an historic district walking distance to The Spanish Steps and The Trevi Fountain.

Hope to see you as I continue to blog about our wonderful Italian Adventure, Italian Escape.

Packing for Ease of Travel

This piece of luggage is called The Ghost Cruiser from REI. It's the luggage I took to Ireland and Scotland last fall (those posts were interrupted on this blog, by me during a blogging lapse). It weighs only 5 pounds empty and is a 27 inch rolling...duffel of sorts.

Trying to show the two openings here.  It's main compartment and a smaller top zip compartment.  It has a good study handle, and stand which keeps it upright nicely.

Empty insides show you two side pockets that zip that are good for a pair of shoes, or misc under things.  I am able to put a sandal and a dress shoe(flats) in each pocket.  I find not putting the pair together is helpful.  The sandals obviously are smaller and compact better than a dress flat, so one of each works well.  I've also been able to put panties, and footies in each of those compartments along with the shoes.  Additionally a top flat pocket with zip works well for file folders, rain gear, or jacket you want to have quick access to; as well as a dress you might not want to scrunch.

All of that packed nicely in above suitcase for a recent 2 week trip to Park City, Utah.  Notice 4 packing cubes, Zip lock bag of coffee, zip lock bag of yarn, ditty bag (red), zip lock bag of cooking spices (which I don't take on tours like Ireland, but do when we go to a timeshare vacation).  A few misc items like a hat, umbrella, and rain coat folded in a zip lock bag, and a Martini shaker (also not something I take on tour, lol).

Please notice the green cube, 2nd from the right.  It's the largest of the 4 you see and it contained 2 flare skirts, 2 dresses with flare skirts, 7 sleeves dress tops, 1 t-shirt, 1 bra and a handful of panties and footies.

Now I can't recommend this luggage, because they no longer make it, but they do have some that are similar.  REI (an outdoor store with excellent equipment fully guaranteed).  We've belonged to the co-op for years.  So even though you might blink at the cost of their equipment, it's very high quality that they stand behind....and as a member, you get annual dividends.  

I like a suitcase I can lift.  It's not possible to worry about weight with this suitcase.  You can't put 50 pounds in it.  I'm sorry it's no longer made, because both hubby and I have been very pleased with our purchase.

I plan to to use this suitcase again later this year when we go touring again in Europe, this time Italy.

**I highly recommend using packing cubs.  Different colors is helpful too.  Perhaps I'll go into more detail on that in a different post.  

***I should also mention all the above weighted 39 pounds...well beneath the 50 pound limit, which includes several things I purchased while there, including an extra pair of shoes.

Ring of Kerry, Jaunty Car, Castles and The Blarney Stone

 Blarney Castle sits on over 60 acres of gorgeous parklands.  There are gardens, walk paths and more.  Plenty for those who may not be up to the physical task of climbing up and up in The Castle where the narrow circular steps are quite step and one way.  A bit of challenge also if you're claustrophobic.  I had to keep concentrating to move quickly up where there would be openness.  The view from the top is breathtaking.  You can look in all directions...even if you don't plan to kiss the stone.  This is hubby below.

 He wanted to kiss the stone.  That also is rather physical, and you're pressed for time, as the long to do so is quite LONG.  We did fairly well, as our tour guide got us there at an off time.  You lie on your back, bend your neck and head down to kiss the stone which is beneath you.  I wasn't keen with the position, as a person with some back issues.  Our friend who's pictures are in this post (her's were better than hubby's), wasn't keen on kissing a dirty stone where hundreds of thousands have put their lips.  I would guess about 1/3 of our tour group kissed the stone.  There were 39 of us.  I think about 2/3rd's climbed to see the sites.

 This is the estate house.  No longer lived in.  Beautiful flower gardens all around.

 Not a view you see often, or at least we didn't.  We do not have on rain coats, and I actually had removed my jacket and pushed up the sleeves.  We had a nice lunch outside and it was comfortable.  The ONLY meal we were able to do that.  This was after the kissing of the stone and walking the grounds.

 Another view of Castle, giving you an idea of it's height.

 One cool morning we left (optional excursion) our hotel early with about 2/3rds of our party for a Jaunty Car trip through gorgeous park lands.  The Killarney National Park is quite large and very pretty.  Martin was our driver.  A senior citizen who'd been doing this job a very long time.  He told us his Father had also been a Jaunty Car Driver.

 We were bundled up, but enjoying the ride.

 Later in the day we traveled throughout the Ring of Kerry.  Lots of pretty landscapes, sheep everywhere.  Stone walls everywhere.  And Green, Green, Green.

 Jane in the foreground, me right behind her in one of the narrow passages; but you can see here we weren't closed in.

King Puck and Oliver Cromwell in Killarney

 The British are Coming!  Does this look Paul Revere?  This statue is King Puck with his crown, but every year in County Kerry a goat is honored.  Don't scratch your head, I shall explain..  An old festival, in fact the oldest in all of Ireland honors a goat.  Once a year a male goat (a puck) is captured and honored for 3 days in town squares.  The goat is well fed, and put high on a scaffolding to survey his territory.

 The goat is crowned King by The Queen Puck, who is not another goat, but an honored school girl chosen.  Once she crowns the King, the festivities begin.  There is music, food, and of course drink.  There is dancing.  The local pubs stay open later than normal.  At the end of the 3 days, King Puck is returned to the wilds to resume his normal life.

It is not known how long this festival has been in existence or perhaps how it all began, but......it is believed to be a result of The attempt of England's Oliver Cromwell's Raiders to over take Killarney, (Killorglin).  The goats were in the fields as Cromwell's Raiders tried to make they way to town, they spooked the herd of goats.  One said goat made it to town, tired and bedraggled.  Towns people immediately knew something was afoot.  They were able to fortify the town and ward off The English Invaders.  The Paul Revere Goat, certainly something to be celebrated.  The 3 day festival starts every year on August 10th.

*the 2nd and 3rd picture are a small town square where our tour bus stopped briefly.  No scaffolding there, and it wasn't the time of the festival, but apparently some towns/villages honor goats throughout the year.

Cork, Lusitania and The Easter Rising/Rebullion

Memorial to all who perished in The Lusitania.  This is Cork.  This is located in the town square.

 A very pretty little seaside town, lots of pretty flowers, and lots of little pubs.

 A sidewalk memorial to those executed in The Easter Rising/Rebellion.  Their names are Capt Mick Leahy, Seamus Fitzgerald, Paddy Wheldon, Jack Stack, Joe Reid, Ernie Fowler, James O'Connell, William O Regan, Donald Healy, William Ralph, Bunny Reid, Liam Ahern, Jack O'Connell, also Pat Curran IRB, John Dowling ICA, Liam O'Brien IRB

The back of the stone.  If you look directly across the street, you'll see the ticket office which is directly in front of the long locked harbor where the Titanic departed from.

The Easter Rising, also called The Easter Rebellion started on Easter Monday, April 24th 1916, and ended on April 29, 1916.  It took place primarily in Dublin, but also in Meath, Galway, Louth, Wexford and Cork.

The Rebellion was against The British.  The leaders of the rebellion hoped for help from Germany since Germany was against The British in WWI.  They did obtain one shipment of firearms from Germany.  They also expected their fellow Irishmen to join them once the fighting started and they declared a free Irish State.  Most Irish did not support them.  There were approximately 1600 followers of the cause.  A small number easily handled by The British is a handful of days.

Somewhere around 2,000 were killed or injured during the standoff.  The leaders were than executed.  Once the leaders were executed The British continued with martial law, and arrest some 3,000 citizens they believe had been involved, or supported the rebellion in anyway.  Those arrested did not have any trials to determine their guilt or innocence.  The British sent about 1800 of those 3,000 to England where they remained prisoners, never having a trial.  The quick executions, mass arrests, and imprisonment turned many Irish against England.  This made those executed Martyrs of the Cause.

**These aren't my pictures, but my friends Jane's.  Her's were better than mine.