|
| Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 |
Italy Trip Planning - Introduction
|
Ok, so this write-up is going to cover a lot that has already taken place and should be a prelude to more detailed steps regarding my preparation for going to Italy next week.
History
Wow, next week, that feels so surreal. Here is a brief history on how this trip came about.
Word about trips to Italy started filtering in to me in September of 2006. At the time it was going to be a big extravaganza with ~12 people involved. The candidates included: me, my mother, my godmother (Peggy), Peggy's brother and wife (Pete and Lisa), their 3 kids and daughter-in-law, my aunt and uncle, and a few more.
The idea was to rent a villa in Tuscany for 2 weeks in September of 2007. Everyone would be able to do as they pleased and we could all share the cost of lodging and food when we were all together.
That plan didn't work out however. In November 2006 my mother bought a house causing her to change her plans; then Peggy and my Aunt and Uncle decided to postpone going as well. Then in the April timeframe, Pete's daughter-in-law got pregnant and that led to everyone else deciding to postpone their trip as well.
Now I was still set on going and Italy turns out to be an easy place to convince people to go to. A friend of mine and her coworker were going to try to go in December 2007, so I adjusted myself to their schedule and started planning.
Just like before, plans changed for them and I was once again left the only one able to go. This time however, I had already purchased tickets and booked hotel rooms.
I was able to back out of the hotel rooms since I wouldn't have the same room requirements going by myself. All I had left to do was figure out where I wanted to go and to get all the little details handled before catching my flight. And that's just what I've been doing.
All The Little Things
The next few entries will share the learnings from planning my trip. Let me be clear that I've been planning this trip with a "whatever happens happens" mentality. I plan on seeing Rome, Florence and Milan for sure. Everything else is up in the air.
The things I've had to make sure I do before I go are the following.
I hope everyone reading this can learn from my effort. I am open to suggestions and criticism. I've still got 9 days till I catch my flight and there's still so much to do.
Ciao
- Click here to Read The Actual Italy Writeup - |
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 7:11 AM [No Comments] |
digg this blog  | | |
| Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 |
Italy Trip Planning - Cell Phone
|
Since I'll be traveling alone, having a way to stay in touch will take away a lot of my concern. I don't need much, but being able to make a call if/when I need to will be a good advantage.
My Requirements
I want to have the ability to do the following:
1) Call home every few days and let my mother know I'm alive
2) Call local places to book hotels, check for info, etc.
2) Call home in an emergency
2) Call local authorities in case of emergency
It would also be nice to use my existing phone and to keep a US number so people can contact me if there is an emergency here in the states
The Options
Well, I had 2 options to choose from. First I can add an international plan to my account through AT&T. This will cost me $6 per month as well as $.99 per minute of talk time while I'm there.
Second, I can purchase an Italian SIM card for my phone (once I unlock my phone). That will run between $20 and $45 and will cost me $.60 for every minute of talk time to US and $.40 for calls within Italy. Incoming calls are free but I'll have an Italian number so it'll cost anyone calling me. - more info here -
The Solution
Well, determining what to do depends on how much I think I'll be talking. If I estimate 90 minutes of talk time, the bill would be ~$95 with AT&T and ~$75 with the SIM card. If that number falls to 60 minutes or below then AT&T will be cheaper.
Since AT&T has a US number and has the cheapest overhead ($6) I decided to go that route. That also means I don't have to unlock my phone and I won't get stuck with huge fees if I decide to go to Switzerland and need to make a call there.
I don't think I'll be using the phone that much. I sure hope I'm not spending $95 to use the phone while there. I know now though that if something happens I'll be able to call home. Besides, if I get to feeling all-alone then I can call back here for some good old-fashioned US gossip  |
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 3:39 PM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog | | |
| Thursday, November 29th, 2007 |
Italy Trip Planning - Packing and Bags
|
One of the things that I have been the most concerned with has been my luggage situation. I do not want to stand out as a tourist by having luggage and I don’t want to have the hassle of hauling around a lot of bags. I want a solution that will help keep my stuff as secure as possible while I’m there.
My Requirements
Well, I have to be able to take my laptop, camera (with lenses), toiletries, some replacement clothes, and a book or two.
I would also love to be able to take my valuables with me as I go and only leave my clothes and power cords in my room. I would also like to take only one bag. That will help simplify my travels from city to city.
The Solution
I spent about an hour at REI comparing bags and finally ended up with a travel bag by Eagle Creek. The Maiden Voyager – 70L has enough room for me to get everything I need into one bag. Its detachable daypack is large enough for me to take my laptop and camera with me when I’m out for the day.
There is one "downside" to getting a bag this big, I'll have to check the larger portion when I fly. It would be nice to keep everything as a carry-on, but 10 days worth of stuff just doesn't make that practical. So long as they don' loose anything, then that'll be a sacrifice I'm willing to make.
It wasn’t the cheapest solution (set me back $200) but it will hold everything I need to take with me and it’s a comfortable fit. I should be able to travel the whole day without a problem. Fully loaded the bag comes out to be just under 30 pounds.
And, yes, yes, I know, I got a woman’s pack, but 60L was too small and 90L was too big. The change in form-factor shouldn’t affect me since everything on the bag is adjustable anyway.
That’s one more thing taken care of.
|
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 3:05 PM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog | | |
| Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 |
Italy Trip Planning - Blogging
|
This trip is going to have a lot of firsts. It'll be my first trip to another country alone. This is the first trip overseas since I've picked up better photography gear. And this will be the first time I've taken a trip with the opportunity to share my experiences while they happen.
In addition to having my cell phone for emergencies, I'll have everything I'll need to update this website with pictures and videos from each day of the trip.
Now it's no secret that I'm a huge dork, just ask anyone. Therefore it's no surprise that I'm really eager to put these gadgets to the test. From the GPS and video camera to the iPod and website, I'm hoping I have everything I'll need to keep myself entertained and share all the juicy details with you all.
 In order to share everything better, I've invented StoryLines. Basically a storyline is just a group of blogs that are all about the same event. You can read more -here-. This has made it simple to share my trip. I've set up a simple link that I can just hand out to everyone: http://www.4tay.com/Italy
Feel free to share the link. The more people I have reading along, the less homesick I'll feel. I hope this will be an even better trip log than the writeup I did for the cruise I took with Tyler, John and Stephen back for spring break 2004 |
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 12:17 AM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog | | |
| Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 |
Italy Trip Planning - GPS and Maps
|
So one big aleviation of concern is to have the ability to know where I am when I'm over there. I know that I can get maps from the Tourist Information stands when I'm in a city, but I want to have something that I know I can rely on before I leave.
I was able to pick up some maps from Pete and Lisa. I had a full map of Italy as well as one of Florence. (never used these on the trip) There were also maps located in Rick Steves' Italy guidebook. So I had the basics down now, but...
...a lingering thought has been to have a GPS unit while I'm there. That would be the ideal solution, to have a way to both see where you are and tell you how to get to where you want to go. There were some special sales going on for the holidays, so I started to shop around.
Best Buy had a deal on the Magellan Maestro 3200 for $180. I decided to go for it and that's when the drama started.
I purchased the unit on November 19th, the Monday before Thanksgiving. On Wednesday I was in the office for a few hours and when I left I discovered that the 2 day old device had been stolen out of my car. So now I was out a unit and had to pay for a window.
I was going to forego the GPS until my mom told me that she was going to be getting me one for Christmas, so I picked up another Magellan from Best Buy. Then I find out that the device does not support expanding maps, so it would be worthless to me in Italy. I was just going to stop there until my roommate found some deals online for some Garmin units that supported European maps. I took the Magellan back to Best Buy and rush ordered a Garmin Nuvi 200w ($220). Then I express ordered their map of Italy and Greece ($140). The stress here came from the fact that the GPS was supposed to arrive on the 3rd, the maps were supposed to come on the 4th and I was leaving on the 5th. Talk about cutting it close. And then when the GPS arrived, it had such a hard time locating a signal that I thought it was broken.
Anyway the unit came and I took it and the maps with me. I'll admit that even though the unit could almost never find a signal, it was nice to have an interactive map that I cold search. It was also nice to be able to run in 'simulation' mode that would actually let me say where I was on the map and get directions to wherever I wanted to go.
Since this was a substitute for maps when I needed it, I would say it was worth the hassle, but it would have been better if it was as good at detecting the satellites as the Magellan was. |
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 7:54 AM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog |
Italy Trip Planning - Money
|
My pre-trip money plan is to get a few hundred euros from the bank and then take care of everything else I need with my credit card. I knew that I would owe the hostels I was staying at a total of 120 euros, so I would need at least that much in cash with me, anything else I take would be for food and trinkets I want along the way.
In actuality, I wasn't able to get euros before I left, so I just planned to convert my cash when I got there. I got a little suckered at the airport once I converted my money. I only got around 70 euros from $160. I would have been much better off if I had just pulled cash from the ATM like I did the rest of the trip.
I think in total I stopped at the ATM 3 times and pulled out about 400 euro. Everything else was put on the credit card. It was easy to get what I needed once I was over there. Being able to use the ATM over there just like over here.
Now all I have to do is pay off the credit card bill, oh joy. |
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 10:29 PM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog | | |
| Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 |
Italy Trip Planning - Where to Stay
|
Like so many other things with this trip, I waited until the last minute before I started booking my rooms.
I learned from planning back in August what hotel rooms were going to cost. 2 people for 10 days would come out to be around $1000 per person for the trip. That was staying at fairly nice hotels in Milan, Florence, Assisi and Rome. Since it was just me now, I decided that I would have more interaction and pay less money if I did the hostel thing, so that's where I started looking.
I discovered a website called www.hostelbookers.com that had maps, reviews, pictures, ratings and services for a huge number of hostels. Given this comparison, I felt like I could make a good decision about where to stay.
My first learning about hostels was what the definition of "private room" was. I had thought it was a private room, like a hotel room. Well, it's actually a private room if you have a group, basically it's a private room of beds that can be reserved versus getting a bunch of beds with a few strangers in it. Since I wasn't willing to pay for 4 beds just to get a room alone, I would be going the more traditional route.
On December 3rd I made my reservations for Rome. I was thinking of staying at a hostel called The Yellow (click here). It seemed fun, clean and a great place to meet people. But then, while looking on flickr and youtube for more information, I found this video and it made me realize that I wanted a place that would be a little more toned-down. I wasn't on this trip to party, so the Yellow may not have been for me (even though I heard while in Florence that it was pretty dead there).
Instead I found a higher ranked place that seemed a little more toned-down, the Alessandro Downtown. I booked for the 3 nights that I would be in Rome, at 25.50 euro/night, and then called it quits for the night. Most places had a 24 hour reservation rule, so I knew I could book future hotels when I was in Rome if I had to.
On December 5th, I finally booked the 5 nights I was going to be in Florence. After looking on hostelbookers, I found the Albergo Paola it had high ratings, but what put me over the edge were the reviews. Page after page of reviews raving about the owner Clara and how good the breakfast was. I decided that it was good enough for me, so I went with it. I spent 30 euro per night for the rooms (actual cost there was 20 euro).
Hostelbookers only took 10% up front with the remainder to be paid at the location.
It did feel nice knowing that I had a place to stay for the first 8 days of the trip, but booking somewhere for Milan was a lingering concern throughout the trip until I decided to just find a hotel once I got there.
Post trip Followup
I actually ended up staying one more night at the Albergo Paola in Florence and ended up getting a 70 euro/night room at the Hotel Florida for the one night I was in Milan.
My grand total for the 10 days I was in Italy came out to be $122 for Rome, $272 for Florence, $112 for Milan. Resulting in a grand total of $506 or half of what all hotels would have cost me.
Knowing what I know now, I would have just booked my rooms when I got there. With it being down season, I would probably have saved at least $75 by not going through HostelBookers. But I wouldn't risk that other times of the year.
- Read more about Alessandro Downtown here -
- Read more about Albergo Paola here - |
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 7:10 AM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog |
Italy Trip Planning - Where To Go and What to See
|
Talk about putting things until last minute, my final schedule has waited until now to come together. I have all the flexibility I could want, so each days activities are up for debate, but here is the basics of what I plan to do. (check the embedded calendar below)
I have relied mostly on the recommendations from the book Rick Steves' Italy 2007.
Rome
I will be in Rome for 3 days. (Dec 6th - Dec 9th)
The plan is that the first day I'll visit the following:
The second day is devoted to Vatican City where I will be seeing:
Florence
I will be spending 5 days in Florence. (Dec 9th - Dec 14th)
I'll be there for 5 days for 2 reasons. First, since the major attractions are closed on Monday, I'm using that as an 'off day'. Secondly, I can easily use Florence as a hub to travel other places like Pisa or Assisi.
Milan
My last day in Italy will be in Milan. (Late Dec 14th - Dec 16th Fly out Early)
There isn't much I want to do in Milan, so I'll only be spending a day there before I fly back home. I don't have anything planned, I'll probably just do a little shopping and enjoy my last day in Italy.
|
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 9:05 AM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog |
Italy Trip Planning - Train Tickets
|
This was the part of pre-trip planning where I devoted the least amount of time. Rick Steves' advice was to simply get tickets when I get there and the procrastination side of me doesn't mind that one bit. In fact that is exactly what I did; I simply purchased the tickets I wanted when I needed them.
I decided to go back and see if I made the best decision financially so I went to the eurail website to see what a pass would cost me.
Eurail passes are sold by the number of days you need them. I traveled by train on 4 different days (to Florence, to/from Venice, to/from Cinque Terre, to Milan) and here are the cost breakdowns.
| what I did | $355 | | eurrail 2nd class adult (4day) | $235 | | eurail 1st class adult (4day) | $295 | | eurail 1st class adult (5day) | $325 |
Since I went with 1st class tickets where available, I would say I didn't do too bad. If I had known that I would need exactly 4 days of tickets then I could have saved $60 by getting the eurail pass. With the 5 day pass that drops to a $30 saving.
I would suggest picking up a pass if you think you'll be doing more day trips. If you'll be staying in a few cities then picking up tickets there may be cheaper. I'll be sure to check out the pass before I go next time though. |
| |
| Posted by aparker @ 10:00 PM [No Comments] |
| digg this blog | | |
| |
|
| Future Events |
There are no future events |
|
