Hey It's Me!

What I
Learned

Tips
Where do I go for answers to all my travel questions?
Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door book. Seriously, I read this book backwards and forwards before I left and I was ready for Europe and all its surprises the minute I got off the plane. Buy one and you're set. It has all you need to know before you go.

Guide book sections
You need as much space and as little weight as possible in your pack. Take Rick's advice. Tear out parts of your tour book that you'll need. Especially if you're going on a Rick Steve's Tour you know exactly where you're going so you can be sure you won't be leaving anything useful behind. Break the spine of the book and if you are careful you can offen pull out the section while still keeping the pages attached. Most handy indeed!

Originally I hated the idea of tearing up my beautiful guide book. I was never one to write in books and have always held respect for them. That was until about day 2 of lugging around a big pack, you start to really look through it and see if there is any extra weight you can get rid of.

Another great advantage to this is that the little sections you pull out fit much easier into your day bag and they don't quite scream tourist as much.

Shoes
Bring two pairs. One really great, broken in, pair of walking shoes, and one pair for evening wear, but comfortable for walking. I had to wear my evening shoes for half the trip because the heel of one of my walking shoes collapsed half way through the trip! Thank goodness I didn't have to buy a new pair there.

Photos
Camera - all my photos were taken with a simple point and shoot digital camera with a great zoom lens. You don't need a fancy camera, just one you are comfortable with, and light in weight.

Bring Two Memory Cards - two because you'll take more pictures than you'd ever imaged you would. It's also good to have two in case of theft. Everyday I switched the card I was using. That way if my camera was stolen I would still have half my pictures. So don't store the second one in your camera bag or this won't work.

For Night Photos - buy a small tripod, the kind that fits in the palm of your hand. That's all you need to take great night photos.

Simple Compostition - when you are taking a picture always put the subject off center (either to the right or left of the center), this automatically makes for a better picture.

Dont' forget that you can take vertical pictures! It sounds silly but so many people miss out on really interesting pictures because they didn't think to hold the camera verticaly.

Get Excited!!
This is your trip!

Start looking into books and films from the region. Think about what you'll want to see on your free time.

Language
Pronunciation - be careful. A slip up in how it comes out could be offensive! A simple slip in pronunciation can be the difference in saying "with clams" and "up yours!"

Learn the Italian names for food. The quickest way to become humbled is to sit down with a foreign menu and have no idea what on earth you might be ordering! Plus if you're a foodie, like me, you'll want to know all your options.

Places
Varenna, Lake Como - get there a day or two before the tour starts. It's such a lovely place, treat yourself!

Alpi di Siusi - bring an umbrella just in case of hail!

Venice - you will get lost so carry a map at all times. Even if you have a good sense of direction, regular directions don't apply here.

Florence - wear good walking shoes, no heels please! A lot of the streets are cobbles, which makes them a bit tougher on your feet. Best place for art museums and shopping for leather goods.

Cinque Terre - best seafood ever! Find the little Sicilian Pastry shop in Vernazza and you'll find heaven. If you get these in the morning, the pastries are still warm!

Siena - enjoy every minute of this city and learn all you can about the Palio horse race here, it really adds another layer to this enchanting medieval city.

Umbria - Relax, you've earned it by now and this part of Italy has many beautiful places. Try the porchetta, it's a pork barbecue unlike any other!

Rome - decide before you go what you want to see, this city can be exhausting, have a plan. Bring or buy the book Rome, Past & Present, it shows how the ruins looked in their hay day.

Vatican City - Warning! St. Peter's Basilica contains dead Popes in glass cases for all to see. The history and art is wonderful.

Great Souvenirs
One of the hard things about traveling is picking the right souvenirs to bring home for yourself and family.

Puzzles depicting the art you can't take with you

Pashmina Scarves

Handcrafted Pocket Knives are great gifts for guys

Playing cards with pictures of your destinations on them

Sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, wine and olive oil

Magazines! They are cheap and you don't need to know the language, you can just enjoy the pictures. I like to pick up home decorating and fashion maagzines.

Cultural Observations
I think it's so important for people to travel outside their country. It helps you remember that your country isn't the center of the world, it's just a part of it, and that's not a bad thing.

Piazzas are wonderful. With a no traffic area, they become a natural place for people to gather with cafes to sit at. Plus, I don't remember seeing anyone rushing across one. It seems to slow the pace down. Just what North American culture could really use a dose of.

The food here is made simply with few but quality ingredients. Buy fresh quality ingredients and you'll notice the difference in your cooking at home. You'll find you won't need as much salt and pepper as you used to.

Site Dedication and Thank You
I dedicate this site to my cat, Scout, who sat by my computer as I worked away at it.

I would also like to thank the Rick Steves company for putting together such a great tour and of course to our tour guide, Ferdi, for making my first trip to Europe so amazing and unforgettable.

Lastly, Thank You to Mom, Doug and Dad for all your support.

Credits
All photos on the site were taken by myself. Except of course for most of the pictures including myself, they were taken by various tour members.

All text was taken from my journal and adapted for the web.

Site designed and built by myself, Sarah K. Russell,
of SKR Design LLC.

The Rick Steves' company has authorization to use my photos and site content if they wish.

Back