Ahhhh, Italy, the home of pizza, pasta and good wine (along with tons of history, amIright?) Loaded with culture and some downright beautiful terrain, how could one not want to visit this magical land? I've long wanted to visit Pompeii and when Cindy found a nice package tour that included Pompeii as a stop it was a no-brainer to book it. We booked a guided tour with Globus Journeys through our travel agent, Will Luke, that would start in Venice and end in Sorrento. Although we could have Globus also book our air transportation, and thus provide an airport transfer, we decided to book our own air travel to and from to allow us the maximum flexibility.
With so much to see and so much to write about, I will make each major stop its own installment in a series. I will provide links in each installment to help you navigate to the other installments with just a click of a mouse button or a tap on your phone.
image from Google search
For my new readers, and as a reminder to my faithful readers, any link (in blue) will open in a new window. You won't lose your place here. Also, clicking on a photo will display a larger format of it without taking you away from this page.
While exploring the many different itineraries that Globus offered, we picked one that covered everything we wanted to see and kept our trip to around ten days. We knew our dog Higgins would be in good hands no matter how long we decided to tour, but neither Cindy nor I wanted to spend too much time away from that adorable little fur baby.
Our itinerary
image from Globus website
Once Will booked our trip, we started looking for the optimal air transportation to and from Italy. We originally thought about flying into Rome and taking a train to Venice, but the timing would be really tight for us that way. Our tour would officially begin on Saturday night, 3/16 with a "Welcome Dinner" at the hotel. Ultimately, we chose Delta Air Lines from Houston Hobby to Venice. By leaving from and returning to Hobby, we could just Uber there and not have to pay for parking at the airport.
Our friends Keith and Barbara who we know through our scuba club decided to join us on this trip so they met us at our house the night before. They live a few hours from us and by staying the night at our house we could split the cost of an Uber and they wouldn't have to get up so early on what would be a lonnnnng day.
Those who know me will know what's coming next. Yeah, I know, but it really is a lifelong passion of mine, so I beg your indulgence. Hey new readers, do you like "aviation nerd" stuff? I hope so, as you're about to get your fill of it. That's just how I roll (or fly). Please feel free to scroll past this if it isn't your cup of tea.
HOU to ATL
DL 1509
N919AT (B717-231)
Depart rwy 22, arrive rwy 28
The B717 looks like a miniature "Mad Dog" and, in my opinion, is essentially a glorified RJ, but still a comfortable ride. Our flight up to ATL left on time and was smooth and comfortable.
We had almost five hours in Atlanta before our Amsterdam leg, so I arranged to meet my "adopted little brother" Sergio to catch up on everything. He was enthusiastic about meeting us at the airport, so once we were in the terminal, I texted him, and we met for lunch. Those couple of hours just flew by, no pun intended, and we soon had to part ways. What a nice visit! I can't think of a better way to start such a fun trip.
Myself and Sergio
Since we met outside of the secure area, Cindy and I had to go back through security. No problem, as TSA pre-check got us through quickly. We got to the international gate about half an hour before boarding and met back up with Keith and Barbara. The next leg would be our longest, with about 8.5 hours in the air.
Our ride to AMS
ATL to AMS
DL 72
N809NW (A330-323)
Depart rwy 27R, arrive rwy 36C
This was my first time on an Airbus widebody, as my last flights overseas so many years ago were either on a B747 or a DC-10. For this segment, we picked the "Premium Select" seats, and I am glad that we did. These were wider seats with more recline and a footrest. Delta provided noise-canceling headphones for inflight entertainment ("IFE"). I can see us picking these seats again on our next international flight.
Boarded and ready to go!
LOTS of options for our IFE
As in Houston, we pushed back right on time and soon we were on our way to Amsterdam. About 30 minutes after takeoff, our cabin crew announced that our "dining experience" would begin soon. I thought most of us just call it "dinner." Even though this wasn't first-class seating, the meal service definitely felt first-class! I've never had white tablecloth service in flight before.
Wow, nice!
Dinner is served
Appetizer: farro & cucumber salad
Entree: lemon chicken leg with broccolini
For being mass-produced "airline food," I thought it was all delicious. Everything was packed with flavor and visually appealing. Delta most assuredly did themselves proud with these selections. After this satisfying meal, we enjoyed the IFE with a post-dinner libation until we got sleepy. Our flight wouldn't land in Amsterdam until after 9 am local time, so both of us tried to get some sleep and adjust our body clocks to the local time. While not the best sleep, we did manage a short nap. With so many other people around, ringing the call button or opening and closing the overhead bins, a deep sleep wasn't possible. No worries, we'd make do one way or the other.
As I was scrolling through the flight tracker map, I noticed we were flying over the Emerald Isle. It was still dark, though, so I really couldn't see anything outside until the sun started rising.
Getting closer
Sunrise
About an hour out of Amsterdam, our cabin crew served us a hot egg and cheese breakfast pastry. This was a nice little treat to wake up to and soon enough we were making our approach into Amsterdam's Schipol Airport. One more leg to go!
We arrived on time, and deplaning went smoothly and efficiently. Even though our bags were checked from Hobby to Venice, we still had to clear immigration in Amstderdam as this was our port of entry into the European Union or "Schengen Area." Since both the Netherlands and Italy are part of the EU, that flight would be considered a domestic flight. The lines were quite long but moved quickly enough. We had just over two hours in Amsterdam and by the time we cleared immigration we needed to make our way to our next gate. Schipol is a huge airport and I recommend that if you fly into Amsterdam, try to make your way to immigration as quickly as possible to give yourself plenty of time. At least this walk was a good way to get the circulation going and wake up. The cappuccino I had didn't hurt, either.
I've never flown with KLM, nor have I been on this particular Embraer, so it was another couple of firsts for me again. We got to the gate area with half an hour to spare and found that we would actually board a bus from the terminal to an outlying stand where our aircraft was. Apparently, this is pretty common for several domestic flights out of Amsterdam.
AMS to VCE
KL 1653 (KLM Cityhopper)
PH-NXO (Embraer E195-E2)
Depart rwy 36C, arrive 04R
Our bus from the terminal
Selfie time!
Yes, I think we do look a little more tired than our first selfie, but we were now in the homestretch. Another couple of hours to Venice and we could make our way to the hotel. This RJ was more roomy than I thought it would be. Once airborne, our cabin crew served drinks and a snack. The hot coffee and egg salad sandwich hit the spot and gave us a nice energy boost. The sunshine helped, too, and with some broken clouds, the view was beautiful.
The Alps?
As in Amsterdam, our aircraft parked at a remote stand and a bus took us to the terminal. Our bags arrived quickly and we made the short walk to the taxi stand. It was about a 15 minute ride to the dropoff point. Our hotel is inside the city center, on the Grand Canal, where no vehicles are allowed. Not a big deal, as it was just a five-minute walk from there to the hotel. By the time we walked into the hotel's front door, it was time to check-in. Excellent! We dropped off our bags and immediately went out to explore for a bit. We still had a few hours before our welcome dinner with the Tour Director and other members of our group. The last thing I wanted to do was give in to the temptation for a nap! That would NOT be helpful in adjusting to the time change (6 hours ahead of home). Our hotel was "old school" in that our room key was a real key, and not just a plastic card. Not only was it a real key, but it had a heavy brass keychain.
Our home for the next 2 nights
Lots of brass here
Only three of the six hotels we stayed in had key cards. The rest were variations of the above. Another unique rule was that we had to turn in our key when leaving and retrieve it when we got back. No problem! That heavy chunk of brass could stay with the hotel for all I cared.
As we explored the local area on Venice Island, we decided to sample the famous Limoncello Spritz. Yes, it's as delicious and refreshing as you think it would be, especially after two of them (or three, but who's counting). The myriad of sandwiches and pastries on display were really tempting but we wanted to save our appetite for dinner.
Limoncello spritz
One of the best things Globus did for us was to have this "notice board" that the Tour Director would post and update as needed. This gave us everything we needed to know for the next couple of days, including the all-important times for various activities. We were allowed one suitcase per person that a porter would bring from the bus to the hotel or from the hotel back to the bus. Yes, you could have another suitcase, but you would be responsible for moving it to and from the bus.
Take note!
We returned to our rooms with enough time for a quick, refreshing shower before dinner. We met Simonetta our Tour Director and the rest of the touring group. Simonetta passed out our "radios," which were a receiver and ear bud that we would use throughout the tour. Our guide would have a transmitter and microphone and could speak in a normal or quiet voice, and we all could hear it no matter where we were in the group. She made it a point that punctuality was critical to keep us on schedule. She emphasized that we should consider this more of a "tour" than "vacation" as there would be several early mornings. Yes, we set our own wakeup times, but take a look at the above photo. You'll see in upcoming installments that this would be typical.
During dinner, Simonetta has us all introduce ourselves and say where we were from. Naturally I had to flash a "hook 'em Horns" sign when I said I was from Texas. I got a good laugh as expected and we enjoyed a good meal. About this time both Cindy and I were starting to hit our wall and we were ready for bed. After dinner, we made a little small talk with a few of the group and called it a day.
The next installment will cover our time in Venice, which you can find by clicking here. I hope this gave y'all a good taste of what will be coming and look forward to your comments. I will provide links to the other installments as I post them.
Until next time.....
carpe cerevisi
