Final checklist

In your carry-on (NOT in your checked luggage)....

• have your passport, tickets and any medications
• in a quart-sized zip-lock bag, whatever liquids of up to 3oz each, only what can fit in ONE quart sized bag
• other valuables, money, credit cards

Speaking of credit cards, have you notified your bank and credit card companies that you'll be in Italy?
And maybe do one last read of the posts labeled 'get ready' (just click on that label to the right under 'Topics')

A domani (see you tomorrow)!!!

Wet and mild

Here's This Weekend's Forecast for Assisi ... highs near 70 degrees, lows around 50, and a 30-60% chance of showers every day.

Hmm. I am bringing a winter raincoat... guess I'm going to go get a lightweight cheap plastic poncho, too.

We leave the day after tomorrow... can you believe it?!?!

Varia....

I have lots of things to throw at you today!

1. Italian Lessons part two: Joe, our intrepid teacher has agreed to come back and give you another lesson (and on his birthday, no less!)  That will be this Sunday, October 23 after the 11:30am Mass (so- about 12:40-1:40?). It will be in the Living Room of the CARE Center, and a couple people have already volunteered to bring some food. 

2. Interesting links on the US Airways website: Just looking around there today, I found "Tips for healthy travel", a list of movies (Video on Demand) offered in November and sample menus offered on the transatlantic flights.

3. Headsets: it took a lot of searching the US Airways website to find that there is a $5 charge for headsets - which are helpful if you actually want to hear the movie you are watching! However, I'm fairly certain that you can bring your own earbuds/headset along and plug it in. If any of you frequent travelers know that I am wrong, please correct me! And if you end up purchasing them, keep them for the return (and future) trip(s).

Come, flu away!!

I got my flu shot today. Have you gotten yours yet?

Considering all those hours on a plane with all that recirculating air, I'm taking every precaution I can to stay healthy for our pilgrimage.

Alerting your bank and credit card company

Before you leave for Italy, please be sure to contact your bank and credit card companies to let them know your will be out of the country. Otherwise, they might see attempted spending coming from a place they know you don't live and suspend or cancel your account!

That's generally a good thing, a safety measure to guard against someone running up huge bills on your card without your knowledge. But if it happens while you are away, and you don't have alternate options for money. Well.... that could get tricky!

So please, sometime BEFORE November 3, call the customer service number for your ATM and Credit Cards, and tell them when and where you will be away. (Don't bother bringing your DISCOVER Card, that's hardly accepted at all in Europe).

As a guide, here is a list you can tell the customer service rep:
November 3: Philadelphia
Generally, November 4-12: Italy (Rome, Assisi, Spello, (and if you choose a tour: Florence/Pompeii)
November 12: Rome, Philadelphia, return home.

If they want your list more detailed:
November 4: Italy: Rome, Assisi and points in between.
November 5-7: Assisi (Spello, Montefalco, perhaps-- near Assisi)
Nov 7-12: Rome
Nov 10: Rome and if you choose an optional tour, either Florence or Naples and Pompeii

Let me also encourage you to review the items listed as blog topic "get ready" (list at right), as you continue to prepare for our adventure!

Tips

Your fellow pilgrims are weighing in with ideas to help us all get ready!

Gary reports that:

I was at Bed Bath and Beyond (Crossroads) today and noticed that they have an excellent selection of travel items including toiletries and the "travel adapters for electric outlets" that were mentioned at the meeting.   The adapters cost about $20.
(Note: BB&B always has coupons in the mail, don't forget to use them!)

And Don has checked out AAA:

I checked into purchasing Euros at AAA since we are members, and there is no fee if fellow travelers are AAA members.  AAA also has passport and credit card safety holders for purchase – so our information cannot be detected by someone directing an electronic device toward us and scanning them.

In case you aren't sure about the 'scanning' part, new passports and some credit cards now have chips in them that could be scanned within a few feet, if someone with bad intention and the right equipment passes near you.  Have you ever stayed in a hotel with card entry and your door key stopped working? It was probably because you stored it in your wallet next to one of those credit cards with a smart chip and it messed up the code (I get the concept; I don't know all the technical words... oh: "RFID readers"). Anyway, there are now safety wallets that block those signals from being read. AAA, Bed Bath and Beyond, travel catalogs like Magellan's or TravelSmith have them, and I'm sure many other places!

A necessity? No. Just for your information.

While looking at the Magellan's website, I found this page on safe travel tips. Now, there is no need to get paranoid and uber-cautious, but a read-through wouldn't hurt, either!

Getting to and from the airport

Have you thought about how you are getting to and from RDU yet? 

• Maybe you are lucky and have a family member or friend who will drop you off and pick you up!
• Or maybe you plan to drive yourself and pay for parking?
• Or maybe you are considering a taxi service?

If you are considering one of those last two options, I'll make a couple suggestions here, but would also like to hear from you, if you know of better ways to do this economically. Now- by mentioning specific companies, I am not necessarily endorsing those companies - they are simply options I am familiar with, to get you thinking on your own!

Drive and park yourself.

• You COULD use any of the airport parking lots, and of course, the further from the terminal you park, the cheaper per day it is. The cheapest rate is $6 per day. I used to do this, but got frustrated by how infrequently the shuttles seemed to run. That's an inconvenience on the way home, but if you are running a little late arriving at RDU, it can make anticipating checking in on-time a nail-biting experience.
• There are now a few companies that have private lots near the airport and operate frequent shuttle service, picking you and your luggage up at your vehicle, and delivering you back to it upon your return. Most also have a 'rewards' program, that give you a free day for every 8 or 10 days paid, and average about $5/day. Pre-flight charges a slightly cheaper rate if you do not use covered parking, Fast Park has all covered parking and offers a free car wash upon your return. Both often have coupons in the newspaper or in those coupon mailings.

Use a taxi/limo service.

Admittedly, I have little experience with this, but when I went to Italy 6 years ago, 6 or 7 of us parked at one couple's house and we all rode one van to and from the airport together. We used White Horse limo company and my foggy memory has it costing each person about $15, roundtrip. Their website has a place to punch in details and get a price quote. Of course, there are other taxi companies and rates vary depending on distance.

Calling you frequent travelers: what are your tips for getting to and from RDU economically?!

Buying Euros

Please check your email for a message about group purchasing of Euros (in order to split the service charge).

Guide books

Being part of a tour group in one sense reduces the need for guide books. After all, for the majority of the time the day's activities are already planned out, and even the transportation is arranged for you!

Still, it can be nice to have a guide book to give you a chance to read up on an area, or reflect back on what you've seen. For instance, if time is limited in a huge basilica, you could go in there already knowing that you want to search out their baptistry, or a particular mosaic, etc., rather than realizing later that evening just what you'd missed.

But books get heavy and bulky. So carefully choose the one whose style fits your own.
Unless you already own a kindle, nook, ipad or other e-reader. You can go to the various e-book download sites (e.g., iBooks or the amazon kindle website) and search for Italy travel books. Often you can download a sample of the book before purchasing, giving you the opportunity to decide if you like the way information is presented by Fodor or Frommer, Rough Guide or Lonely Planet, Mobile Reference, Rick Steves or any other publisher. Downloading an e-book adds no added weight or bulk, if you were planning to bring your e-reader along, anyway!

Again, you do NOT NEED a guide book, this is just a suggestion if you've been thinking about getting one!

Learning about the country

Wikitravel has a lot of good information about many aspects of Italy-- history, food, shopping, city overviews.
If you've got some time, I encourage you to check out this link.

PLEASE NOTE: We have had a few last-minute cancellations that opened up spots for new pilgrims to register! You/they have until August 31 to decide to join this great adventure! Please see the "Itinerary" link to the left.

Luggage (Bagagli)

One of you asked for some clarification on the carry-on size listed in the "Travel Reminders" mailing you were sent by Catholic Travel.

Here are the actual luggage size/weight restrictions for US Airlines:

• Your first (and hopefully only!) checked bag is free, and may weigh up to 50 pounds.
• You may also take one carry-on plus one personal item (e.g., purse or laptop case). 
• The dimensions of the carry-on (height plus width plus depth) can add up to 45 inches (e.g., 14"x9"x22") and weigh a maximum of 20 pounds.

Please do not pack more than one checked bag- all of our luggage will have to be loaded onto one bus, and the hotel bellhops are only expected to transport one bag per traveler.

Speaking of luggage...
if you haven't flown much in the past ten years, it's an understatement to say that things have changed! So while airport security now wants to be able to open your checked bags, we all still want to be able to LOCK it! (And we want to be able to lock our luggage while it's in our hotel rooms, too.)

Here's how to have it both ways: be sure that your little luggage lock has a symbol on it like this:
It doesn't matter what brand you buy (and you can get the locks at Target, AAA Travel, etc), but look for that little red diamond TSA-approved symbol. (They are made so that security can open your lock if needed, without destroying your lock.)

And if you have any old 'unapproved' locks, you could throw one or two inside your luggage (and their keys!) for the hotel. Now, we will be staying in nice hotels. And- it's just best to reduce temptation when you can, right?

Thinking ahead: packing

Many hotels in Europe do not provide washcloths.

So, add THAT to your packing list!

But here's an idea... if you have an old washcloth or two that are wearing out, you could bring it along and throw it away at the end of the trip (or, one for Assisi, one for Rome!) That way, there is just *that* much more space in your luggage for souvenirs on the way home.

This also works for old underwear... although I'd suggest not wearing those on the day we fly... just in case you get that *extra* special patdown!

You know what else works great for traveling/packing? Those mesh sponge pouffy things:

You can squish them down to almost nothing. Just bring a small plastic bag in case it hasn't dried fully when we have to move from one hotel to the next. (And again, keep it or toss it at the end of the trip)

Airline Miles

We will be flying to Rome (through Philly) on US Airways. It is a member of the "Star Alliance" frequent flyer program family, which also includes United and Continental, among other international companies. If you are already a member of one of these programs, you can just give your member number at check-in at RDU to get credit for the miles.

If you are not yet a member and would like to join up, here is a link to join US Airways Dividend Miles program. The process just took me all of about 3 minutes to complete. Remember to enter your name as it appears on your license/passport/official ID .... air travel security these days is all about precision, as far as your name goes! At the end of the process you can print out a paper copy of a membership card.

Shoes (scarpe)

So, it's just over 15 weeks until we leave for Italy. Have you thought about your shoes? During our trip we'll be doing a good bit of walking, and while they may be fashionable, I would not recommend that you wear anything like this:

OUCH!

Of course you could wear them to dinner, but do you really want to take up that space in your luggage?


Here's the (minor, very minor) dilemma: Italians- men and women - tend to dress very well,

and we American tourists... well, don't:

White Sneakers= American tourist

Oh, excuse me, I got off track there.

SHOES.

Look, no one's ever accused me of being a fashion goddess. But I do know that if my feet hurt, I'm miserable. So, I've already started trying out good and faithful walking shoes, to see which one(s) will make the trip, and keep me a happy pilgrim. And oh, the considerations.... which will give good support, but not be too heavy, too clunky, or just too hard to get on and off in airport security?

{Since we're going in November, I'm not that concerned about having sandals... it'll probably be about 70 degrees during the day.... no need for extra ventilation! But I do want shoes that'll do well if we run into rain showers/puddles.}

So, I know our trip seems like a long way off, but let me encourage you to give a little thought to your footwear. Walk around for a mile or more (or wear the candidates all day on an active day) to be sure they feel good and are in good shape and don't tire you out (I had an old pair nearly disintegrate on the streets of Chicago once. But I digress.). And if you decide you need/want to buy a new pair, now is the time to break them in (don't let Day 2 of the Pilgrimage be your first time walking in them, or I predict Day 3 will find you grumpy.) (And if white sneakers fulfill all your criteria for good footwear, so be it! Just don't be surprised if they hand you the tourist menu when you stop for lunch! Seriously: well-fitting shoes trump 'fashion' on any day that involves lots of steps.)

Take the stairs (scala, le scale)

Here's the trip tip for today...  between now and November, if you have the choice to take the stairs...

... go ahead and climb them!

 That way, when you see the 138 Spanish Steps in Rome,
you'll laugh as you quickly ascend to take in the view from the top!