Day 1 - Our Journey to Rome

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After completing travel to the lower 48 states by motorcycle, and finishing Alaska and Hawaii by cruise, Jody and I decided it was time to tackle Europe. I have been to a few European countries during my time in the military back around 1975 (England, Germany, Italy, Turkey), and I have been on a short business trip in the early 2000's to Scotland and Germany, but in 1975, I was too young to appreciate anything more about Europe than the local beers, and in the 2000's there wasn't really any time to explore. Jody has never been outside the United States, so it's all new to her. Since we have been on many cruises, we considered cruises to Europe, but dismissed them for the most part as we wanted to actually experience staying in local hotels and seeing some of the countryside. After traveling the US on a motorcycle for so long, we are not afraid of living out of a suitcase. We may use cruising to visit the Greek Isles, or Scandinavia, and we plan to do a river cruise next year to try that type of exploration, but for this year we decided to try a traditional bus tour.

We looked at traditional Globus and Trafalgar, and they looked good, but the tour sizes were large, and we wanted something a little smaller. We looked at Rick Steves, but it was just a little too rugged. So we settled on Insight Vacations. Tour size is about 32-40, accommodations are just a little more upscale, but not enough to drive the prices much higher than any of the others. We were originally planning on visiting the UK, but with the uncertainty of Brexit going on, we were just concerned that it might impact our trip. So the next logical choice was Italy, of course. We picked a 12 day leisurely tour called Italian Elegance that begins in Rome, wanders through northern Italy and ends up in Venice. There were other tours that also included parts of southern Italy, but they just seemed a little too hectic, so we will save southern Italy for a separate future tour. The entire package was booked through Grand European Travel, and they handled the airfare and airport transfers also. Best price on flights was through Air Canada with a layover in Montreal on the way to Rome, and Toronto on the way back from Venice.The only complaint about Air Canada is they do not allow free seat assignment until 24 hours before boarding. So rather than run the risk that we would not be able to sit together, we went ahead and paid for the reserved seating.

We got up early yesterday morning, and finished packing our bags. We're only allowed 1 mid-sized suitcase each along with a small carry-on bag for the bus. We had plenty of room in the suitcases, and should be able to fill the rest with t-shirts and souvenirs. We left around 9:00 AM for a 12:05 flight, which gave us plenty of time to check in past security and get some breakfast. Unfortunately, Air Canada is in terminal B at Orlando Airport, and there;s no good breakfast restaurants in Terminal B. So we settled for breakfast sandwiches from Starbucks. The plane was also a little late, but no big deal, we have enough layover in Montreal. We had TSA Pre Check, so Orlando security was a breeze. Customs in Montreal was also a breeze, so in no time we were in Montreal Airport looking for some dinner. Everyone in Montreal was switching back and forth between English and French as easily as people switch between English and Spanish in Orlando.

The flight between Montreal and Rome was good. With a 6-hour time change and an 8-hour flying time, it was as comfortable as we could be since we left Montreal at 8:00PM and arrived in Rome at almost 10:00AM. It was a Boeing 777, so it had the entertainment computer in the back of the headrest. I'm sure it would have been entertaining IF IT WORKED! Unfortunately, mine had a bad touch screen, so while everyone else on the plane was enjoying picking out their favorite movie, TV show, or music, I was watching the various screen menus popping in and randomly selecting stuff. By the time we got to Rome, we were tired, as it's just really hard to sleep on a plane, but excited to begin our new adventure.

Customs in Rome went quickly and easily and we also easily found the transportation desk for our transfer to the hotel. We had a couple of hours before the shuttle, which gave Jody the time she needed to get sufficient mass quantities of coffee ingested so she would again be a functioning human being. When we arrived at the shuttle area, there was already a bus waiting outside but fortunately it was not ours. I'm not sure why, but it had a huge picture on the side of Kim Jong Un shaking hands with Donald Trump. I'm not sure what was the political statement, but we're on vacation from the political bombardment, and were glad that it was not our bus. By the time our shuttle arrived, the were 2 other couples waiting to join us.

The bus took the 6 of us to the Grand Hotel Palatino where we met Anna Targett, our tour director. She's English, speaks fluent Italian, and will be with us for the entire tour. These tours are supposed to have 32-40 people, our tour has just 32. Before giving us keys to our room, she gave each of us a map of the local area and pointed out a few areas of interest that would not be part of our tour. That would give us some places within walking distance to explore on our own. We visited a bunch of little shops around the hotel, and headed over past the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, through the tunnel to the Fontana di Trevi. Along the way, the architecture is a mixture of old, new, and ancient. It really is just beautiful. The Fontana di Trevi is beautiful also, with people everywhere taking pictures of the fountain and themselves in front of the fountain, so of course, I had to take a picture of Jody in front of the Fontana di Trevi and post it on Facebook.

We stopped at a number of shops, bought a couple of t-shirts and diet cokes and headed back to the hotel for a little rest. As we took a little rest, Jody must have been really tired since she actually ended up taking a nap. At 6:30, we headed downstairs to get together and meet the other 30 members of the travel group. Everyone seemed really nice. We have a couple of Canadians, a couple of New Zealanders, a half dozen Australians and the rest from the US. The age mix was also great, younger, older, couples, singles, even mother daughter. Anna walked us through what to expect, as while most seemed to be experienced tour travelers, and a few couples had toured with Insight before, there were several like us who had never toured before. It sounds like this is going to be an awesome trip!

After the briefing, we headed over to the restaurant for dinner and it was delicious! Rigatoni in tomato sauce for an appetizer, chicken cacciatore with green beans and potatoes with some excellent bread. For dessert we had some sort of berries and cream along with a delicious cup of coffee. We met a few really interesting people at dinner, and I am looking forward to getting to know some more as we go along. Tomorrow is going to be one of the busier days, as we visit St Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum, and have dinner in the Vatican Museum after all the other guests have left. We can hardly wait!

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