La Dolce Vita

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After joining a tour in China (after Chunna's Wedding) I decided to apply for job with the same company. They were looking for leaders in Europe and here I am in Tuscany after finishing my initial training. My job as a leader is to take a group to all the places, book the accommodation, transport & activities and do some guided walks myself in the locations. I'm quite nervous about public speaking but I will only have groups of 12 or less normally so its not too bad. There is a lot of paperwork & accounts too and I'm a bit worried when I will have the time to do everything! I'm staying in a place called Lucca and it is a lovely place near Pisa. This week has been hard work. We've been starting classes at 8.30am and finishing at about 6pm but then doing research in the evenings so not much rest! However part of our training has been to take a group on an activity. I had to take a group to Pisa by train and talk about the Leaning Tower. Luckily I was one of the first to do this practical session so I could relax a bit later in the week when I was one of the "passengers". It was pretty nerve-wracking though because we were assessed on this and the trainers tried to be awkward passengers by asking tricky questions & getting lost etc (mind you they weren't too badly behaved on my trip, I felt sorry for some of the other trainees - two trainers pretended to get into a fight, have something stolen & be sick!). I was a passenger on an orientation walk around Lucca, a bike ride in Lucca & again a passenger in Pisa. We had some cold & rainy weather on these activities so actually for me they weren't so enjoyable - something I'll have to remember when I do this for real!
We finished our training on Friday and now we are all splitting up for further training in our own regions. Yesterday I went to Florence to see where the sights & hotels were with another trainee & a leader. He gave us some recommendations about the practicalities. It was a working day but it didn't feel like it for the first time and being in such a lovely location made me remember why I came here! Today I have a day off but I'm going to need to do some reading. Tomorrow I will go to the Cinque Terre (on the coast) & then possibly to Asti, Milan-Como and Venice if we have time. This is the route which I will be taking customers when I am on my own but this time I will go with other trainees & another leader. After that I'm going to shadow another leader on a real tour from Rome down to Naples & the Amalfi Coast. Then I'm on my own doing a real trip called La Dolce Vita (= the sweet life - hopefully that's what it will be!)from Rome to Venice via Tuscany and the places above which I mentioned. It's going to be a bit scary!
Fingers crossed x

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