Hello all,

I have posted some photos from my Globus - The Best of Italy tour starting July 4th, 2005 at the following site:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/prashanth_nyer/my_photos
--
Nyer

I'd love to see your photos but can't find your site. (I copied and pasted the site you listed.)

I posted the original link as Guest since I had forgotten to log in. I found a small error in the URL above. Could you remove the space immediately after 'yahoo.' and just before 'com'? I have tried reposting the address without the space but then when I view the address on this message board the space appears!

Has anyone else been able to access the photos?

nyer-

The photos are FABULOUS!!! I had no trouble at all finding them with your first address. I never noticed the spaces.
You are a wonderful photographer-I loved my trip this past June 26th. My room in Capri on the third floor was directly looking out at the rocks!!

It was a wonderful trip. Who was your tour director? Bus driver?

Thanks again for sharing!

nyer, I also enjoyed the photos. We are looking forward to the same tour on 10/11/2005.

Cheers

General Max

Suzanne and General max, thanks for the reply. The TD was Franco Frattini (I am not certain about the spelling of his last name) and the driver was Oscar. Apparently Oscar is a professional skier and from what we saw, a great dancer and a good singer.

General, here are some tips. If they offer an optional canal cruise in Venice, skip it and do it on your own. A bunch of us caught the local bus (I have forgotten the bus number, but ask at the front desk of your hotel) to Venice from the hotel in Mestre. The fare was 1Euro. In fact buy two tickets per person so that you will have a ticket for the return trip. Tobacco shops sell bus tickets. Once you reach the bus depot in Venice (last stop) the Piazzale Roma ferry stop is but a minute away. Buy a 10Euro (24 hour) ferry ticket which is good not only for unlimted rides on the Grand Canal but also for ferries to Murano and Burano.
Take the #1 ferry which runs the entire length of the Grand Canal. Get off at San Marco or San Zaccaria stops to visit St. Mark's Square. We had dinner at a outdoor cafe right along the canal near the Rialto. Later we bought a bottle of inexpensive but delicious wine from a liquor store and drank it out of gelato cups (the wine store did not have plastic cups) sitting on the bank of the canal behind the Rialto. To get back to the hotel catch the #1 ferry going towards Piazzale Roma and take the bus back to Mestre.

Since my wife and I are not into shopping (that is why we can afford to travel!) we were able to go to Burano the next day after the mornings tour was done. The 10Euro ferry ticket we had purchased the previous evening was still good and we caught the #14 ferry from San Zaccaria to Burano. The TD did not offer us an optional to Burano - and even if he had we would not have taken it since my wife is a vegetarian and thus would not enjoy a sea food lunch/dinner. We were able to see Burano on our own. The #14 ferry runs every hour. The ferry takes 60 minutes to 75 minutes each way, but it is an enjoyable ride. Once we got back to Venice we spent some more time in St. Mark's Square and we had dinner at an Italian restaurant run by Chinese folks. The food was great and the price very affordable. We skipped the included dinner at the hotel that night.

General, I saw on another thread that you will be staying an extra day in Rome. There are many things that you could do that day. We went back to the Roman Forum (since the included visit the previous day was cursory). . From the hotel we took a taxi to the Victor Emmanuel Monument (fare=8.5Euro)and then walked to the Piazza del Campidoglio, and then through the Roman Forum (also taking time to visit the Imperial Forum, Trajan's Market etc) to the other end. Then we walked along the Palatine Hills, cut across the Circus Maximus to the Santa Maria in Cosmedin (the Church is being renovated, but the Bocca della Verita is open). . After a siesta we went back to visit the Pantheon and the Piazza Navona for dinner.

The church above the Spanish Steps is being renovated. The Pantheon is being renovated, and while you can enter the Pantheon, there are ugly looking scaffolding on one half of it. In the Pantheon be sure to see the tomb of Queen Margerita whose chef 'invented' the original Pizza Margerita for her guests. Her tomb is right next to Rafael's tomb.

nyer, thank you very much for your ideas on spending time in Venice and also with our extra day in Rome. We are staying the extra night at the Globus Hotel which I assume will be the Visconti Palace. Mrs Max already wants to visit the Vatican Gardens on our extra day so we also have to fit in that time. I think it will be from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon.

Cheers

General Max