UPDATED ONCE AGAIN!! 1-11-15: Trip review: Viva Italia, May 25- June 2nd, 2015

[carpenta]

We had a similar situation about being "bumped" off a flight and had arrived a number of hours later. After coming home I had discussed it with my TA and after calling the insurance company he stated that since it was not a 24 hour delay I could not file any claim. After all the horror stories of airline travel it confirms why the population as a whole dreads airline travel. I hope it works out for you Rapunzellover.

 

[sayhello]

We had a similar situation about being "bumped" off a flight and had arrived a number of hours later. After coming home I had discussed it with my TA and after calling the insurance company he stated that since it was not a 24 hour delay I could not file any claim. After all the horror stories of airline travel it confirms why the population as a whole dreads airline travel. I hope it works out for you Rapunzellover.

That really depends on the insurance policy. Some will pay after as little as a 6 hour delay, others, it needs to be 24 hours. That's something to check when you buy the policy.

Sayhello

 

[Rapunzellover]

Part 1 continued

So, I wandered the Vatican museum a bit, and then made my way to meet my next tour, at 3pm. It was another vatican tour-- of the secret rooms. The vatican has so many many rooms and most are closed to the public, even tour groups like ABD. This secret rooms tour, available on viator .com, goes into a few of these rooms.

I figured this would be another thing to do that would show me stuff at the vatican that Disney wouldn't. My group was small, and we met our guide David and we were off. City Wonders, the company offering this tour through viator, was pretty well
organized. This was a VIP tour that got us straight in. We saw several secret rooms and did a general vatican highlight reel too.

The secret rooms and fast track entrance were VIP, but the rest of the tour was like a regular busy vatican tour. The place is wall to wall people. The secret rooms made up for the crowds though. We literally had a guard with a key opening these
rooms for us and shutting behind, with people trying to sneak in with
us. It was great to see the guard shoo those folks behind the ropes!

The best secret room of the three was the Bramante staircase, used by Pope's to enter the palace. SPECIAL NOTE: the Bramante staircase is NOT
the one exiting the museum! That exit staircase is a much much much larger copy. The real one is locked in a room. And we went in and climbed it. Very cool.

The secret rooms tour also came with after hours Sistine Chapel visitation. The tour started at 3:15, and since the Vatican museum closes at 6, they shooed people out and we were left alone with 10 minutes to ourselves to enjoy and even hear commentary from David and take pictures! This private visit however, was not as awesome as the ABD visit, which I'll explain later.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Part 1 finished

After the secret rooms, I caught a taxi (right next to the Vatican exit) and headed to piazza Venezia, which I wanted to see for it's history. I was also meeting my final tour of the day there: a night tour of the colosseum!

I know ABD goes to the colosseum, but I thought a night tour would be special. It was a walks of italy tour; the guide, Guido, met us in a timely manner, and showed us Palatine hill before taking us to the colosseum. As he did, we saw part of the forum. It was a great feeling going into this important building after hours. We went to the arena floor, the underground, and second tier.

It was a magical first day in Italia. But more is to come!

End Part 1

 

[sayhello]

Sounds like a spectacular start to your trip, even given your travel woes! And the ABD hasn't even started yet! Looking forward to more!

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

You were not messing around with your tours during the pre days! Again, I had not heard of a night tour of the colosseum. So it sounds like you would recommend the night tour? It definitely sounds very unique.

 

[Rapunzellover]

No I do NOT mess around. I'm very much not a mosey around kind of person on vacation, at least not on vacation overseas.

And yes, I'd recommend the night tour. The colosseum is crowded during the day. And the place is just fab at night.

 

[tufbuf]

Hi Rapunzel! To reiterate my earlier question, do they still giveaway the folding duffel bag? We will be leaving for our ABD next week and I just want to know if we need to bring one to the trip. Thanks!

 

[Rapunzellover]

Tufbuf-- you missed where I already answered that question. Yes, they do still give away the duffel.

 

[tgeorge]

Glad to hear the night tour of the colosseum was great! I'm planning things that I can do when I finally get to take this ABD and that was one of the things I ran across as something to do one night pre-trip. Thanks for posting about it. Now I now I can add that to the 'yes' column...when I can actually take the trip Great review! Keep it coming....

 

[tufbuf]

Tufbuf-- you missed where I already answered that question. Yes, they do still give away the duffel.

Oooops! Sorry!! I guess when I went through it didn't notice. Thanks for answering it a second time!

 

[Rapunzellover]

PART 2--

Part 2- Pre-day #2: I was so happy to wake up in Rome. Before I begin, a quick note about food: I am NOT a foodie, so you will not see much food description, discussion, but when you do, it's because it's fantastic! Or really really awful

Now, pre-day 2 started with a trip to the hotel buffet for breakfast. I slept
in and went down. I had eaten breakfast the prior day after arriving (because I missed my first night, it was included). It's a typical continental buffet, nothing to write home about, but served in a very
lovely location. The Grand Melia is a
beautiful place.

On today's agenda, I had a car coming to take me to Pompeii, where I would meet my guide, and tour Pompeii and Herculaneum. The car
was on time, very comfortable, and after a short 2.5 hrs, we were there. I booked through Livitaly. com, and the driver, Alessandro, spoke enough
English that he pointed out a few
neat things on the way.

At Pompeii, I met my guide, Maria. She was a very lovely young guide, who showed me all the highlights of Pompeii, and I had such a wonderful time exploring the city with her.
Pompeii is huge, and a guide really makes things easier. Fortunately, the weather was fantastic, cool and almost rainy (it had rained the night before) and it was not unbearable hot, which I gather must often be a
big issue there.

After about 2.5 hours of touring, we made our way back to the car to head to Herculaneum. I chose to do this tour over Pompeii/Vesuvius, and I was SO glad I did! The weather was
so cloudy you could barely see the
top of Vesuvius, so I'm betting if I had a tour up there it would either have not gone due to fog/mist, or been too cloudy for a good view anyway. But more important, I am glad I did this tour cause Herculaneum is AWESOME!

It is a town devastated by Vesuvius like Pompeii, but it is better preserved, and prettier, imo. It is set almost in the ground, and really cool. Maria showed me all the sights, and I enjoyed conversing with her and
learning all the historic information she shared. After Herculaneum, it was back to Rome, and I arrived at the hotel in time for room service for dinner. A great second day.

Part 3 will be soon-. I'm back now, so the review will come faster.

 

[Cousin Orville]

I've had a chance to go to Pompeii, but not Herculaneum. I'd love to see it. Sounds like you had another great Pre day!

 

[LoveMickey]

Looking forward to the rest of your trip. We are on that Adventure in September. Getting very excited about the trip. We scheduled a food tour the day of our arrival, which is a day before the adventure begins.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Part 3- Day 1 of ABD.

The first actual day of my adventure was a busy one. I woke up, had breakfast and headed out to St. Peter's. I booked, through Walksofitaly.com was a tour that would take through the basilica and give me my first spectacular view: the cuppola of St. Peter's! I really wanted to climb the cuppola of St. Peter's and my guide, a young woman whose name I forget (Claudia, I think) really made the climb special. We had to go through security, but then took an elevator to where the climb began. If you do this climb, don't let the elevator fool you: there's still a 300+ steps climb. Claudia told me about all the sights I was seeing from the top of dome, which was informative, and the weather was still pretty cool, so it wasn't too hot. After the climb, we spent some time in the basilica. I lucked out because there was actually a wedding happening! We stopped to watch them open the wedding chapel and admired the bride and groom. They were apparently an Australian couple. The guide told me that there's a six year wait, so if you wanna get married there, be prepared for a long engagement.

Part 3 continued later

 

[OKW Lover]

The guide told me that there's a six year wait, so if you wanna get married there, be prepared for a long engagement.

Our guide told us that some women get on the waiting list before they even have identified a potential husband!

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Rapunzellover, I would love to know who your Disney Guide is/was for your trip. I'm still in touch with my Disney guide from my Backstage Magic trip this past February and I know he's one of the guides giving tours in Italy right now.

 

[Rapunzellover]

The guides were Marco B and Troy

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

The guides were Marco B and Troy

You missed him by a week. He's there now doing a tour.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Which guide?