2 January 2011
I just returned home…technically it is after midnight and thus today really is 3 January, but let’s go with the second for continuity. For the first part of the trip home, all was uneventful, in fact even pleasant: The local airport hotel idea was wonderful, with the last day being a fantastic chance to unwind and enjoy a typical (“non-tourist”) point of view. The flights were uneventful, until Vancouver (i.e., Venice to Frankfurt was fine, Frankfurt to Vancouver was fine, save for being a few minutes late). Unfortunately, Travelocity did not allow enough time for the connection in Vancouver, which combined with the delay meant that I missed the flight from Vancouver to Seattle. That should not be a big deal as this happens every day, and I figured that a quick call to Travelocity would make everything right, as their ads proclaim. Instead, Travelocity gave me nothing but bullshit. Travelocity, in three separate calls, did not do one thing to help me with the rebooking, and in fact one of the three agents said they would charge me a minimum of $280 for a change fee, for a flight that THEY booked for me, and which I missed through no fault of my own. In any case, at the suggestion of—get this—one of the Air Canada reps, I took a bus from Vancouver to SeaTac, then Shuttle Express on home. Kudos to Shuttle Express for being there for last minute bookings, even as midnight approached.
Needless to say, I will never use Travelocity for any of my travels again. Their complete disregard for a customer of 10 years is unforgiveable.
Final trip thoughts: Well, I’m tired and will most likely have more thoughts in a day or so, but I do have to go back to what I said last year and push myself to remember that travel to Europe in December is risky, best case. Don’t get me wrong, this Mulligan turned out well, and I truly enjoyed the group I was with, so on balance I would give the trip very high marks, but I do have to recognize and remember that if I am going to travel in December (due to work needs), then I really should shoot for something in the southern regions: Middle East, Australia, South America.
At this time, I have a trip to Paris on the books for late May, and I will need to start planning that.
Saturday, January 08, 2011
New Year's Day in Venice
New Year's Day, 1 January 2011, Buon Anno
I did not quite see the new year in last night...we had our farewell dinner, which I did attend and had an awesome time, as well as giving the congratulatory toast for our guide. After that, we arrived back St. Mark's square around 9:00 PM....I walked around until about 11:30 PM, when I went up to my room and fell asleep. I did awaken at midnight thanks to the noise, so I was able to "hear" it in if not "see" it in.
Plastic bags are illegal in Italy as of today. At a minimum, those that are considered non-biodegradable are outlawed. I will be watching the situation, in the hope I can spot irregularities and thus claim the trip be a humanitarian tax-deduction.
I have to make my pilgrimage from Venice the island(s) to Venice the mainland in a few hours. Many of the tour group have already left, and that makes the hotel seem empty, for example, the Catholic family my room was "sandwiched" between appears to have gone, and it wouldn't be right to stay here any longer and see others in "their" room!
The weather has been cool, single digit celsius, but dry (no planks on St. Mark's Square), and nothing like the cold of five years ago. Still, this is the coldest part of the trip, as you would expect.
My New Year's resolutions revolve around drinking nothing for three months, eating less, and exercising at least a bit then evaluate if I do indeed feel better by the first part of April.
I have to look back and think on the children/young adults of the trip, and wonder, if not hope, that there is a sleeper effect….I am certain that for many of them, this was not especially fun--certainly not as awesome as, say, skiing or Disney World, yet I want to believe that in 3, 5, or 10 years they will look back on this and that the wanderlust will set in.
I took a 1.5 hour boat ride from Venice proper to the airport hotel, arriving at 2:00 PM. In many ways this is perfect: More of a "normal" Italian hotel, one that a family would stay in, not the large tourist type, but still had a couple of English TV channels, WiFi (10 Euros for 5 hours, a 5 Euro shuttle to the airport, a large sitting area, wine that can be purchased from the front desk, and--get this--an ice machine! This is the one and only place during this entire trip that I could get ice, yet I left my half empty bottle of vodka at the hotel in Venice proper. The hotel is in more or less a residential area, though there are a few eating places and even a supermarket (albeit most of the are closed today for the holiday. I did find one little bar/cafe open and am having lunch there. Yes, this is the best way to wind down the vacation far better than getting up at 4:00 AM with a hangover to get on the water taxi to catch the flight out.
I'm always vacillating on the merits of an escorted tour versus an autonomous one. This tour actually turned out well, in large part because it really was an awesome group, everybody well-behaved and respectful of each other---a far cry from the group of five years back. These tours certainly get better financial bargains than you can get on your own, they "know the ropes," and can get you in many of the venues before the normal opening time, thus avoiding the queues and crowds; the Sistine Chapel, for example, was with only about a hundred or so people. Still, there is something to be said for the self-guided autonomous tour, the freedom it brings, and the feeling of accomplishment when you do it all on your own. There is certainly no right or wrong here, and I will undoubtedly alternate between both types, with my trip to Paris this next May being on my own.
This is causing me to think about that upcoming trip and debate whether I want to spend the entire time in Paris, or possibly other places: Spain, Czech Republic, Milan? One of the few things about this trip that was not perfect was that I had seen all of these cities before five years back, though I certainly was not able to experience them due to the illness.
I did not quite see the new year in last night...we had our farewell dinner, which I did attend and had an awesome time, as well as giving the congratulatory toast for our guide. After that, we arrived back St. Mark's square around 9:00 PM....I walked around until about 11:30 PM, when I went up to my room and fell asleep. I did awaken at midnight thanks to the noise, so I was able to "hear" it in if not "see" it in.
Plastic bags are illegal in Italy as of today. At a minimum, those that are considered non-biodegradable are outlawed. I will be watching the situation, in the hope I can spot irregularities and thus claim the trip be a humanitarian tax-deduction.
I have to make my pilgrimage from Venice the island(s) to Venice the mainland in a few hours. Many of the tour group have already left, and that makes the hotel seem empty, for example, the Catholic family my room was "sandwiched" between appears to have gone, and it wouldn't be right to stay here any longer and see others in "their" room!
The weather has been cool, single digit celsius, but dry (no planks on St. Mark's Square), and nothing like the cold of five years ago. Still, this is the coldest part of the trip, as you would expect.
My New Year's resolutions revolve around drinking nothing for three months, eating less, and exercising at least a bit then evaluate if I do indeed feel better by the first part of April.
I have to look back and think on the children/young adults of the trip, and wonder, if not hope, that there is a sleeper effect….I am certain that for many of them, this was not especially fun--certainly not as awesome as, say, skiing or Disney World, yet I want to believe that in 3, 5, or 10 years they will look back on this and that the wanderlust will set in.
I took a 1.5 hour boat ride from Venice proper to the airport hotel, arriving at 2:00 PM. In many ways this is perfect: More of a "normal" Italian hotel, one that a family would stay in, not the large tourist type, but still had a couple of English TV channels, WiFi (10 Euros for 5 hours, a 5 Euro shuttle to the airport, a large sitting area, wine that can be purchased from the front desk, and--get this--an ice machine! This is the one and only place during this entire trip that I could get ice, yet I left my half empty bottle of vodka at the hotel in Venice proper. The hotel is in more or less a residential area, though there are a few eating places and even a supermarket (albeit most of the are closed today for the holiday. I did find one little bar/cafe open and am having lunch there. Yes, this is the best way to wind down the vacation far better than getting up at 4:00 AM with a hangover to get on the water taxi to catch the flight out.
I'm always vacillating on the merits of an escorted tour versus an autonomous one. This tour actually turned out well, in large part because it really was an awesome group, everybody well-behaved and respectful of each other---a far cry from the group of five years back. These tours certainly get better financial bargains than you can get on your own, they "know the ropes," and can get you in many of the venues before the normal opening time, thus avoiding the queues and crowds; the Sistine Chapel, for example, was with only about a hundred or so people. Still, there is something to be said for the self-guided autonomous tour, the freedom it brings, and the feeling of accomplishment when you do it all on your own. There is certainly no right or wrong here, and I will undoubtedly alternate between both types, with my trip to Paris this next May being on my own.
This is causing me to think about that upcoming trip and debate whether I want to spend the entire time in Paris, or possibly other places: Spain, Czech Republic, Milan? One of the few things about this trip that was not perfect was that I had seen all of these cities before five years back, though I certainly was not able to experience them due to the illness.
New Year's Eve in Venice
New Year's Eve, Friday 31 December 2010, Venice
Nothing is planned with the group today, save for the farewell dinner this evening, and I might even bail on that as true "good-byes" are not a favorite of mine. The Globus itinerary has, for the most part, been well planned, albeit a bit slow for my liking, and I do regret that we did not make a swing back south through Naples, Capri and Pompeii. I remember it well from last time (one of the few things I do remember clearly since my illness was essentially cleared by then), but it is unfortunate that so many of the others who have never been to Italy before will miss it. The family from New Jersey will be staying a week and making the swing.
So today the tour is over, and tomorrow night I have my post-night at the VCE airport hotel. The accommodations work out well for me in that tonight's hotel is right in back of the NYE festivities at St. Mark's Square, and if I am a bit hungover tomorrow morning, all I have to do all day long is to figure out how to get from Venice proper to the airport hotel, with an eye on my flight home Sunday morning. Surely, even if I am a bit "under the weather" tomorrow morning, I can figure out how to make the short migration over the course of the day! Tomorrow night will be a bit melodramatic, bringing the trip to a slow wind-down rather than a crescendo. Still, it is far preferable to the alternative of (attempting) to stay up until midnight, then needing to awaken at 4:00 AM to catch a water taxi to the airport for a 6:30 AM flight.
As always, New Years Eve is a time for reflection and introspection, and being in a foreign country, with a quiet agenda for the day, certainly drives that home. It's 8:30 AM local time, and I am not yet sure what I will do with the day. This evening, I would like to take advantage of being so close to St. Mark's Square and see the new year in, though I have been falling asleep fairly early all trip long, probably due to the cold. (I'm not sure if it is a hibernation instinct or not, but cold weather usually has a somnolent effect on me.) More than likely, I will read the second Bernard Haisch book a bit, then have a couple of drinks and take a nap mid-day, with the hope that will tide me over till midnight.
I find these trips a bit odd at this point in my life: I'm by no means the oldest, and in fact I am probably still below the median age, yet it is bittersweet to see the young people--high school and college age---realizing they could be my children, yet also feeling it was only a short time back that I was that age. The youngsters are friendly enough, though somewhat shy and awkward at that age, so conversing with them only comes in short soundbites. With that in mind, I do look back at that young American woman in the Rome bar with awe, her confidence apparent, yet also very approachable and receptive. She will be one of those unexpected gems I remember for the rest of my life, one which no tour itinerary can ever promise as a highlight.
I'm more convinced than ever that I would truly enjoy living in Europe (or at least having a job that requires extensive travel), yet I am not sure how to make that come to pass. Add to that the notion I have not one but two properties in Washington at this time, plus the fact this is not a great time to sell, and it makes the European connection seem even further off. I still remember having the special visa for the UK (the HSMP visa), and the decision I had to make: Living for at least a year in the UK, possibly even becoming a UK citizen, or moving to Seattle and keeping the dogs. In hindsight, I do not regret the decision to keep "the boys," though I definitely wonder what my life would be like at this time had I gone the UK route instead. Possibly, it would not be all that different, in that I might not have been able to find work and could well have wound up needing to return to the US at the end of the year. Of course, there is no way of knowing what would have transpired had I gone with the other choice, with the only certainty being that it was one of those handful of truly strategic decisions we make in our lives. Sure, job choices and the like do ultimately have an impact on the future, but few junctures are so sharp, so poignant, as deciding whether or not to migrate to a foreign land. Along that same line of briskness: Buying a business, (which I actually do regret, though had to do) joining the military (which I have never doubted) and getting married (which I have never doubted).
Nothing is planned with the group today, save for the farewell dinner this evening, and I might even bail on that as true "good-byes" are not a favorite of mine. The Globus itinerary has, for the most part, been well planned, albeit a bit slow for my liking, and I do regret that we did not make a swing back south through Naples, Capri and Pompeii. I remember it well from last time (one of the few things I do remember clearly since my illness was essentially cleared by then), but it is unfortunate that so many of the others who have never been to Italy before will miss it. The family from New Jersey will be staying a week and making the swing.
So today the tour is over, and tomorrow night I have my post-night at the VCE airport hotel. The accommodations work out well for me in that tonight's hotel is right in back of the NYE festivities at St. Mark's Square, and if I am a bit hungover tomorrow morning, all I have to do all day long is to figure out how to get from Venice proper to the airport hotel, with an eye on my flight home Sunday morning. Surely, even if I am a bit "under the weather" tomorrow morning, I can figure out how to make the short migration over the course of the day! Tomorrow night will be a bit melodramatic, bringing the trip to a slow wind-down rather than a crescendo. Still, it is far preferable to the alternative of (attempting) to stay up until midnight, then needing to awaken at 4:00 AM to catch a water taxi to the airport for a 6:30 AM flight.
As always, New Years Eve is a time for reflection and introspection, and being in a foreign country, with a quiet agenda for the day, certainly drives that home. It's 8:30 AM local time, and I am not yet sure what I will do with the day. This evening, I would like to take advantage of being so close to St. Mark's Square and see the new year in, though I have been falling asleep fairly early all trip long, probably due to the cold. (I'm not sure if it is a hibernation instinct or not, but cold weather usually has a somnolent effect on me.) More than likely, I will read the second Bernard Haisch book a bit, then have a couple of drinks and take a nap mid-day, with the hope that will tide me over till midnight.
I find these trips a bit odd at this point in my life: I'm by no means the oldest, and in fact I am probably still below the median age, yet it is bittersweet to see the young people--high school and college age---realizing they could be my children, yet also feeling it was only a short time back that I was that age. The youngsters are friendly enough, though somewhat shy and awkward at that age, so conversing with them only comes in short soundbites. With that in mind, I do look back at that young American woman in the Rome bar with awe, her confidence apparent, yet also very approachable and receptive. She will be one of those unexpected gems I remember for the rest of my life, one which no tour itinerary can ever promise as a highlight.
I'm more convinced than ever that I would truly enjoy living in Europe (or at least having a job that requires extensive travel), yet I am not sure how to make that come to pass. Add to that the notion I have not one but two properties in Washington at this time, plus the fact this is not a great time to sell, and it makes the European connection seem even further off. I still remember having the special visa for the UK (the HSMP visa), and the decision I had to make: Living for at least a year in the UK, possibly even becoming a UK citizen, or moving to Seattle and keeping the dogs. In hindsight, I do not regret the decision to keep "the boys," though I definitely wonder what my life would be like at this time had I gone the UK route instead. Possibly, it would not be all that different, in that I might not have been able to find work and could well have wound up needing to return to the US at the end of the year. Of course, there is no way of knowing what would have transpired had I gone with the other choice, with the only certainty being that it was one of those handful of truly strategic decisions we make in our lives. Sure, job choices and the like do ultimately have an impact on the future, but few junctures are so sharp, so poignant, as deciding whether or not to migrate to a foreign land. Along that same line of briskness: Buying a business, (which I actually do regret, though had to do) joining the military (which I have never doubted) and getting married (which I have never doubted).
Venice
Thursday 30 December 2010, Venice
The day started off with a glass blowing tour early this morning---these tours definitely like to take you into the high end shops for a "free" tour, yet I am certain there is some sort of an arrangement back to them for whatever a member does buy. As with the leather shop in Florence, this was definitely on the pricier end of the Venetian shops.
We also saw Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs, from the inside looking out (not much of a view!)
Boat ride to and lunch in Burano; very colorful and brilliant town, I had never heard of before.
Spent a great deal of time on the boat ride back from Burano talking with an Army major and his girlfriend/fiancee. People really have been very friendly in this group, something which does not always happen.
Bought a (small) bottle of Absinthe and drank half of it...no real impact on me, but that is really nasty tasting stuff!
The day started off with a glass blowing tour early this morning---these tours definitely like to take you into the high end shops for a "free" tour, yet I am certain there is some sort of an arrangement back to them for whatever a member does buy. As with the leather shop in Florence, this was definitely on the pricier end of the Venetian shops.
We also saw Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs, from the inside looking out (not much of a view!)
Boat ride to and lunch in Burano; very colorful and brilliant town, I had never heard of before.
Spent a great deal of time on the boat ride back from Burano talking with an Army major and his girlfriend/fiancee. People really have been very friendly in this group, something which does not always happen.
Bought a (small) bottle of Absinthe and drank half of it...no real impact on me, but that is really nasty tasting stuff!
Florence to Venice
Wednesday 29 December 2010, Florence to Venice
We stopped in Verona (as in Romeo and Juliet) on our way to Venice, and I was able to find "the" balcony, as well as a chance to rub Juliet's right boob, something of a tradition which is supposed to bring good luck (the bronze boob was literally a different color than the rest of the statue due to all the fondling!) Additionally, in Verona, I saw the Arena, their version of the Colosseum. This is our last day on the bus, so at the end of the ride I gave the driver a 20 Euro tip.
Venice:
Hotel: Residence Palazzo Selvadego
Hotel location is awesome, literally right in back of St. Mark's Square.
Cold, even had to pull out this skull cap, but not as bad as that time five years ago.
This is like the hotel "annex" and not as nice as the main one, but it is fine, and location could not be better. First time on this trip I have had a real "single" room, though it is not terribly small (albeit view is of a wall). My room is sandwiched in between the two rooms housing the Catholic family I had dinner with on the first night, three kids in one and the parents in another.
Also, right by the Hard Rock! Had the steak and mashed potatoes, incredible, hostess was cute and friendly, quizzed me on how much Italian I knew, and I did finally get to use "Sei davvero bellissima."
No WiFi available! Kindle works fine, albeit drops to GPRS.
Prices vary widely paid 4 Euros and change in a very nice place, with waiters in tuxedos, for coffee and whiskey, then 8.50 Euros in a tacky American Snack Bar.
Bought a bottle of vodka for the room (will store it on the window ledge since ice cannot be had). 14 Euros in one store, 28 in another.
We stopped in Verona (as in Romeo and Juliet) on our way to Venice, and I was able to find "the" balcony, as well as a chance to rub Juliet's right boob, something of a tradition which is supposed to bring good luck (the bronze boob was literally a different color than the rest of the statue due to all the fondling!) Additionally, in Verona, I saw the Arena, their version of the Colosseum. This is our last day on the bus, so at the end of the ride I gave the driver a 20 Euro tip.
Venice:
Hotel: Residence Palazzo Selvadego
Hotel location is awesome, literally right in back of St. Mark's Square.
Cold, even had to pull out this skull cap, but not as bad as that time five years ago.
This is like the hotel "annex" and not as nice as the main one, but it is fine, and location could not be better. First time on this trip I have had a real "single" room, though it is not terribly small (albeit view is of a wall). My room is sandwiched in between the two rooms housing the Catholic family I had dinner with on the first night, three kids in one and the parents in another.
Also, right by the Hard Rock! Had the steak and mashed potatoes, incredible, hostess was cute and friendly, quizzed me on how much Italian I knew, and I did finally get to use "Sei davvero bellissima."
No WiFi available! Kindle works fine, albeit drops to GPRS.
Prices vary widely paid 4 Euros and change in a very nice place, with waiters in tuxedos, for coffee and whiskey, then 8.50 Euros in a tacky American Snack Bar.
Bought a bottle of vodka for the room (will store it on the window ledge since ice cannot be had). 14 Euros in one store, 28 in another.
Florence Day
Tuesday 28 December 2010, Florence
We had a tour of the Florence Museum today, with a chance to see David, followed by a short walk around the old part of Florence. The tour was over by noon, and the rest of the day was on our own. We had to find our way from the end of the walking tour back to the hotel on our own, and this is one of those cases, again, where having the hotel along the riverside has been a real advantage. You can't get too lost if you just need to find the river then turn the appropriate direction till you get home.
Florence is known for leather goods, so I did pick up two jackets at a very good price of around a couple hundred Euros each. The leather goods store that the tour brought us into was very expensive, with jackets going for around 550 Euros, compared to about 200 Euros for the same product in most other places. There has to be some sort of a kickback scheme in place for the shops that provide "free" tours for groups such as this.
I also decided to try something I never did before, stopping in a real haberdashery, where I bought three dress shirts and two ties. The prices were a bit high (OK, very high, at 70 Euros apiece for the shirts!), but the experience, the way I was treated, was worth the money. The proprietor took a real pride in his business, spending a great deal of time with me, insisting I try on the shirts to make sure they fit well. This isn't simply a financial matter to people such as this, but truly a matter of pride. BTW, European-cut shirts are much trimmer than their US counterparts. In this style, I take an 18" neck, but the body is tapered perfectly for me with a great fit; in the US, an 18" neck would mean that you would be wearing a tent around your waist.
General thoughts on the tour and Italy in general:
• Tour pace is slow as I have mentioned before. I'm not complaining, but I think the next time I book one I will select something that is a bit more "go" oriented.
• Pizza: Single topping, thin crust pizza seems to be the norm. You can, occasionally, find a pizza with a couple of toppings, but you cannot find the "mega everything" type that you can in the US. The tour guide confirmed this, and she said that in Greece pizza was more like what we were used to in the US.
• Pay toilets seem to be the norm in most public places.
• Weather is not bad last two days: single digit Celsius, but sunny with no rain.
• Group in general is much better than the trip of five years ago.
• Shutters and laundry hanging on balconies
• 4% unemployment in Venice, 25% in Naples
We had a tour of the Florence Museum today, with a chance to see David, followed by a short walk around the old part of Florence. The tour was over by noon, and the rest of the day was on our own. We had to find our way from the end of the walking tour back to the hotel on our own, and this is one of those cases, again, where having the hotel along the riverside has been a real advantage. You can't get too lost if you just need to find the river then turn the appropriate direction till you get home.
Florence is known for leather goods, so I did pick up two jackets at a very good price of around a couple hundred Euros each. The leather goods store that the tour brought us into was very expensive, with jackets going for around 550 Euros, compared to about 200 Euros for the same product in most other places. There has to be some sort of a kickback scheme in place for the shops that provide "free" tours for groups such as this.
I also decided to try something I never did before, stopping in a real haberdashery, where I bought three dress shirts and two ties. The prices were a bit high (OK, very high, at 70 Euros apiece for the shirts!), but the experience, the way I was treated, was worth the money. The proprietor took a real pride in his business, spending a great deal of time with me, insisting I try on the shirts to make sure they fit well. This isn't simply a financial matter to people such as this, but truly a matter of pride. BTW, European-cut shirts are much trimmer than their US counterparts. In this style, I take an 18" neck, but the body is tapered perfectly for me with a great fit; in the US, an 18" neck would mean that you would be wearing a tent around your waist.
General thoughts on the tour and Italy in general:
• Tour pace is slow as I have mentioned before. I'm not complaining, but I think the next time I book one I will select something that is a bit more "go" oriented.
• Pizza: Single topping, thin crust pizza seems to be the norm. You can, occasionally, find a pizza with a couple of toppings, but you cannot find the "mega everything" type that you can in the US. The tour guide confirmed this, and she said that in Greece pizza was more like what we were used to in the US.
• Pay toilets seem to be the norm in most public places.
• Weather is not bad last two days: single digit Celsius, but sunny with no rain.
• Group in general is much better than the trip of five years ago.
• Shutters and laundry hanging on balconies
• 4% unemployment in Venice, 25% in Naples
Assisi to Florence
Monday 27 December 2010, Assisi to Florence
We had a very short ride (just over a couple of hours) from Assisi to Florence, arriving at the Starhotel Michelangelo around 11:00 AM. The hotel is a much more modern version of theie Rome counterpart, with this one done in a book scheme (yes, coffee table type books all over the lobby and bar lounge). There's actually acoffee maker in the room, and again I have a double room (all three hotels so far have given me a double, not a single). Believe it or not, there is an ashtray in the room--how quaint!--though I cannot smell any cigarette smoke. The only downside appears to be the location, in that we are on the very outskirts of town, on the southwest side along the river. When I handed the bus driver a map and asked him where we were, it actually took him five minutes (no exaggeration!) plus the help of the GPS to locate us. I have no idea how he can drive this huge bus around without incident, yet he does not know where we are on the map; this might be one of those mysteries best left unanswered.
It's kind of a slow day, with the pace of this tour very much on the "plenty of free time" side rather than the "cram in as much as you can" type. The only thing we did as a group was a tour to San Gimignano castle, a real fortress, about 45 minutes outside of Florence proper. I had a late lunch in a real Italian restaurant--not a tourist type establishment, but rather a small place on a side alley where they did not speak English, and where they did not seem thrilled with a real "Americano" amongst their ranks. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but it is the one and only place thus far that I felt a palpable resentment. Most places are very welcome of tourists, worst case neutral, so the attitude here is a bit surprising. Oh well.
We arrived back from the castle in the late afternoon. Back in the hotel bar I had a few drinks, and I have noticed that a small tip leads to huge gratitude. I realize tipping in Europe is not a prevalent as in the US, so even with a 1-2 Euro tip, the waiters seem to treat you like a king.
We had a very short ride (just over a couple of hours) from Assisi to Florence, arriving at the Starhotel Michelangelo around 11:00 AM. The hotel is a much more modern version of theie Rome counterpart, with this one done in a book scheme (yes, coffee table type books all over the lobby and bar lounge). There's actually a
It's kind of a slow day, with the pace of this tour very much on the "plenty of free time" side rather than the "cram in as much as you can" type. The only thing we did as a group was a tour to San Gimignano castle, a real fortress, about 45 minutes outside of Florence proper. I had a late lunch in a real Italian restaurant--not a tourist type establishment, but rather a small place on a side alley where they did not speak English, and where they did not seem thrilled with a real "Americano" amongst their ranks. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but it is the one and only place thus far that I felt a palpable resentment. Most places are very welcome of tourists, worst case neutral, so the attitude here is a bit surprising. Oh well.
We arrived back from the castle in the late afternoon. Back in the hotel bar I had a few drinks, and I have noticed that a small tip leads to huge gratitude. I realize tipping in Europe is not a prevalent as in the US, so even with a 1-2 Euro tip, the waiters seem to treat you like a king.
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