Anyone going on the August 13th Simply Italy trip?

I'm going on that trip as well.  What airport are you leaving out of??

Amanda

Hey Amanda, I'm flying out of LAX in Los Angeles.   What about you?

Earl

I live on the East Coast and so I'm going to be leaving the US out of Newark and then a straight trip on to Rome.  Have you ever been to Italy before?

Amanda

My connecting flight to Rome leaves Philly around 6 on the 13th.  No, I've never been to Italy.  I took the Contiki London and Paris trip over ******mas break and had a great time, so now I'm ready to get back over to Europe and see some more.  What about you?  Ever been to Europe?  Italy?

earl

Hi Guys!

I'll be on this trip too.
I'm brazilian and I've been to Europe before (Spain / France and England) but it's my first time in Italy too.

Arnaldo

Hey guys,  this will be my first time to Europe and I'm very excited!!  I'm leaving the states at about the same time as you and scheduled to arrive early in the morning in Rome.

Amanda

Hey guys, I'll be arriving at 8:40 a.m. in Rome if anyone wants to share a cab to the hotel.    Amanda, you are going to love Europe!  Make sure you bring a digital camera with a few extra memory cards for the hundreds of pictures you'll take.  Arnaldo, did you travel with Contiki on your other trips to Europe?  The Contiki trip to Spain will be the next one I plan to go on. 

earl

My flight information is not yet confirmed because I'm still planing to add a few extra days to my trip.
I just can't go to Italy without at least stopping by Ferrari's museum and Monza Speedway.
The plan so far is to get to Madrid at 07:30 AM and finally arrive Rome(FCO) at 09:50AM.

Earl, I have always traveled with friends, planning everything on our own, booking everything through the net, etc...
I can give you some really good tips about Spain.
It's a beautiful country, you're gonna love it.

I choose Contiki this time for several reasons:

1 - I couldn't find anyone to join me at this time. All my friends who are able to afford a trip to Europe (wich is really expensive for brazilians) are in Germany because of the World Cup.

2 - I don't speak Italian. I learned from trip to France that when you're traveling on your own (**** happens, hehehehe!) you'll want people to understand you.

3 - Italy is an expensive country.

If someone has a different view, please share it now, before it's too late ... hehehehe

Arnaldo

Nice to "meet" you, Aussie24.
I think this will be a great trip!

About the different dates, my travel agent said that:
Aug 13th is the date when they leave the U.S. (for those who bought Contiki's air tickets)
Aug 14th is the date the tour starts in Rome (for those who are going Rome some other way)

Arnaldo

Hey Aussie24,

As Arnaldo said, the tour actually starts on August 14th.  I believe we meet up at 6 p.m. at our hotel.  Because he is flying from Brazil and I am flying from Los Angeles, we lose time flying to the different time zones.  Rome is actually 9 hours ahead of Los Angeles so I have to leave a day early.  I'm not sure where you are in Australia, but Rome is 8 hours behind Sydney so you can probably leave later than us and get there at the same time.  Do you know what time you arrive in Rome?

earl

Hi Arnaldo and of course Earl (again)!
This is the first time I will be traveling without going to a travel agent.  We'll see how it goes.  I've been to Italy before, and in fact, on almost an identical tour of the one we will all be on starting August 14th...  So we'll see how things go.
I too have also been to Spain, France and England...
I traveled Spain on my own by renting a car.  It was a blast.  Everything was great and the Spanish people were wonderful. 
France was a little different and you're right, best be ready for unexpected things...specially in a place like France where people are not willing to work with you.
As for Italy, I was there before the Euro was the currency...  so we were lucky because things were not expensive as they are now.

One thing for sure, I'm keeping my eye on the currency exchange rate, and luckily for those of us from the U.S.A., the dollar is gaining back some of its value...

In terms of the Ferrari museum, I'm there with you!  I'm actually planning on renting a car to learn how to drive manual speed while in Italy... crazy idea : ), since I was able to get a automatic when in Spain.

I suggested to Earl to meet up at the airport or the hotel to drop off the luggage before we start exploring the city on our own... until we meet everyone at the hotel at 6:00 p.m.

What are your thoughts...?

Hey Arnaldo and Alterego,

I went on a Contiki tour to London and Paris last ******mas break and it went real smooth.  Alterego, do you have a direct flight from LAX to Rome?   I have to connect in Philly but I definately arrive at the same time.  I'm in for dropping off the bags and exploring Rome.  Does anyone know how far our hotel is from the airport? 

earl

Hi Earl and Arnaldo!
No, I do not have a direct flight to Rome... my connector flight is out of Chicago.  In terms of the hotel distance, I have attached two different web sites that have information on our first day hotel in Rome... The hotel name is Torre Rossa Park Hotel.  Distance, travel time and travel method from airport to hotel are mentioned in the websites. 
Hope it helps... By the way, I have the list of all of our hotels for all of the cities. 


http://hotel-rates.com/italy/rome/torre-rossa-park-hotel.html
http://www.nycerome.com/accommodation/rome-hotels/torre...-park-hotel-map.html