Thursday, June 26, 2008
Remote posting test
This is a test to see if I can post directly via email as opposed to logging on to Blogger.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
New feature: slide show
I have figured out how to add a slide show of photographs to the blog so I can upload all photos taken during the trip. In addition to posting larger individual pictures (see earlier test post) on which I can comment specifically and in more depth, I hope to maintain a running montage to the left.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Eurail Italy Pass Saver
In addition to putting money aside well in advance for our housing, we have also bought a short duration Eurail Italy pass that is good for 4 days within 2 months. Because we will always be traveling together, we qualified for the Saver Pass which is valid for groups of 2 to 5 persons traveling together. Similarly, I made reservations for seats on specific trains to ensure we get to where we want to be when we want to be there. The reservations cost money too, but during high travel season, it's the only way to guarantee we'll get seats on a train, or get to sit together. I could have booked each individual leg of the trip separately, but if we lost any one of those tickets, we would have lost the whole price of that trip. This way, if we can make an earlier or later train, we've only lost the nominal price of the reservation--the pass preserves our ticket price. While we are planning on taking additional side trips around Rome and Florence, our transportation between cities (Rome-Pompeii return, Rome-Florence, Florence-Venice) is already taken care of--that's our four days right there. Anything else we decide to do, we'll pay for out of pocket.
Like the AAA Spiral Guide (I mentioned in an earlier post) that gives suggestions what to do in Italy, the inside jacket of the Eurail Pass folder offers a sillier selection, including:
Make gargoyle faces
Sniff out a truffle
Wink at the conductor
Get chased out of town on a goat
Chum for mermaids in the Baltic
Given the opportunity, I would like to do those things. Others, however, seem more realistic:
Miss your stop on purpose
Visit a town you've never heard of
Climb an ancient stairway
Take soccer too seriously
Get lost
I say, Let the journey begin.
Like the AAA Spiral Guide (I mentioned in an earlier post) that gives suggestions what to do in Italy, the inside jacket of the Eurail Pass folder offers a sillier selection, including:
Make gargoyle faces
Sniff out a truffle
Wink at the conductor
Get chased out of town on a goat
Chum for mermaids in the Baltic
Given the opportunity, I would like to do those things. Others, however, seem more realistic:
Miss your stop on purpose
Visit a town you've never heard of
Climb an ancient stairway
Take soccer too seriously
Get lost
I say, Let the journey begin.
Dove si trova la banca?
Or "Where is the bank?"
The days of traveler's checks have disappeared. The last two times I was in Europe (Italy and Ireland '06) I relied on my bank card and credit card to pay for things. If I needed cash, I went to an ATM and got my limit for the day. If I wanted to keep my cash and make a larger purchase, I used a credit card. I had notified all of my banks and creditors before I left, so wouldn't risk refusal at a critical time. The result felt like I hadn't really left home: no fumbling with many strange, but colorful bills, no waiting in line at exchange kiosks or in crowded banks. Not that I missed those inconveniences. I was just waxing nostalgic for the days of my first trips when those errands had to be built into my day.
Back in April, when the dollar was dropping in Europe, I took some available cash and headed to AAA to purchase some traveler's checks in Euro to lock in the exchange rate before it fell any further. Despite the fact that I hadn't been using the checks on recent trips, I still thought they existed. They don't. But now AAA sells the real thing. So, over the past couple of months, I've been taking a portion of my paycheck up the road and buying cold, hard Euro for the trip as a hedge against inflation. Now, I've got all of the money for our housing set aside and have a few hundred dollars put away as spending money. This makes me feel a little as if I've won the lottery, because I'm not going to have to pinch my pennies as much as I would have if I waited until I got over there to budget. In essence, I feel as if the rooms are going to be free because I've been paying for them slowly over time. I know it's not that way--some of the rooms, especially the one in Florence, are quite expensive. But, I'm not usually a saver for tangible things (like the way I am for retirement), so I'm quite satisfied with myself this time around.
The days of traveler's checks have disappeared. The last two times I was in Europe (Italy and Ireland '06) I relied on my bank card and credit card to pay for things. If I needed cash, I went to an ATM and got my limit for the day. If I wanted to keep my cash and make a larger purchase, I used a credit card. I had notified all of my banks and creditors before I left, so wouldn't risk refusal at a critical time. The result felt like I hadn't really left home: no fumbling with many strange, but colorful bills, no waiting in line at exchange kiosks or in crowded banks. Not that I missed those inconveniences. I was just waxing nostalgic for the days of my first trips when those errands had to be built into my day.
Back in April, when the dollar was dropping in Europe, I took some available cash and headed to AAA to purchase some traveler's checks in Euro to lock in the exchange rate before it fell any further. Despite the fact that I hadn't been using the checks on recent trips, I still thought they existed. They don't. But now AAA sells the real thing. So, over the past couple of months, I've been taking a portion of my paycheck up the road and buying cold, hard Euro for the trip as a hedge against inflation. Now, I've got all of the money for our housing set aside and have a few hundred dollars put away as spending money. This makes me feel a little as if I've won the lottery, because I'm not going to have to pinch my pennies as much as I would have if I waited until I got over there to budget. In essence, I feel as if the rooms are going to be free because I've been paying for them slowly over time. I know it's not that way--some of the rooms, especially the one in Florence, are quite expensive. But, I'm not usually a saver for tangible things (like the way I am for retirement), so I'm quite satisfied with myself this time around.