Here is the start of trip report to Italy from plmn..."My Travels with Mom & Dad"
Oct 31st, 2004, 05:38 AM
#161
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PLMN,
I am loving your post!
I am going to Italy next April with my adult daughter and anticipate some similar moments, but from the other perspective. How crazy will we make each other?
Keep writing. You make us hungry for more.
Judy
Judy
I am loving your post!
I am going to Italy next April with my adult daughter and anticipate some similar moments, but from the other perspective. How crazy will we make each other?
Keep writing. You make us hungry for more.
Judy
Judy
Oct 31st, 2004, 11:55 AM
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OK, I'm coming to the thread a bit late (over 162 posts so far) so please forgive my many comments.
PLMN, I must say that I've never been to Italy and don't plan to go for at least 2 years so I tend to eschew the Italy threads. HOWEVER, I was alerted to your report from another thread and knew I'd have to read it. Glad I did, because it's hilarious and infectious! I now plan to copy the report to a Word doc so that I can use it to figure out how to maneuver around Rome. You write detailed reports like I do; my 9-day trip produced a 20-page report. I've seen some negative comments about people writing all the minutiae into their reports, but those are exactly the details that I seek out! You just don't get that level of intimate knowledge in guidebooks. I'm so happy that you didn't listen to the naysayers. Some people WISH they could write as effusively and entertaining as you.
As far as the ear pain on the plane thing, I suffer ear problems, too, and have done so for years. For next trip, I would suggest taking a cough medicine with guaifenesin in it (think Robitussin DM) for at least 3 days prior to the trip with LOTS of water and then wearing earplugs the entire trip. Sudafed (pseudophedrine) while great for sinuses (because it dries you out - per my doctor) doesn't really work with the ear pain because it keeps the eustachian tubes from draining well. Guaifenesin turns whatever would be plugging up your ears into a liquid and allows it to drain better down the tubes. It's the plugging of the ears, the pressure, that's causing the pain.
My son & I are cracking up over the exchanges between Ira & jdraper! Ira, since I never wrote up my 1st 2 trip reports then I can correctly assume that that's why my computer crashed utterly twice? Too bad, Fodor's never gave me the warning!
Jackie, sorry about the sad goings-on in your life. My sympathies.
Ahem! PLMN? Can we ALL get the info from that wine dealer?????
We collectively promise (I realize it's dangerous to speak for the group here but I takes my chances) to order only cases.
LOL - your mother leaving notes with all the guards in the Sistine Chapel! Priceless!! She may be a brilliant artist/architect/builder but she is STILL a mother!!
You don't look a bit matronly in that dress and you don't look like Bette Midler either! Fran Drescher really would fit the bill better.
PLMN, I must say that I've never been to Italy and don't plan to go for at least 2 years so I tend to eschew the Italy threads. HOWEVER, I was alerted to your report from another thread and knew I'd have to read it. Glad I did, because it's hilarious and infectious! I now plan to copy the report to a Word doc so that I can use it to figure out how to maneuver around Rome. You write detailed reports like I do; my 9-day trip produced a 20-page report. I've seen some negative comments about people writing all the minutiae into their reports, but those are exactly the details that I seek out! You just don't get that level of intimate knowledge in guidebooks. I'm so happy that you didn't listen to the naysayers. Some people WISH they could write as effusively and entertaining as you.
As far as the ear pain on the plane thing, I suffer ear problems, too, and have done so for years. For next trip, I would suggest taking a cough medicine with guaifenesin in it (think Robitussin DM) for at least 3 days prior to the trip with LOTS of water and then wearing earplugs the entire trip. Sudafed (pseudophedrine) while great for sinuses (because it dries you out - per my doctor) doesn't really work with the ear pain because it keeps the eustachian tubes from draining well. Guaifenesin turns whatever would be plugging up your ears into a liquid and allows it to drain better down the tubes. It's the plugging of the ears, the pressure, that's causing the pain.
My son & I are cracking up over the exchanges between Ira & jdraper! Ira, since I never wrote up my 1st 2 trip reports then I can correctly assume that that's why my computer crashed utterly twice? Too bad, Fodor's never gave me the warning!
Jackie, sorry about the sad goings-on in your life. My sympathies.Ahem! PLMN? Can we ALL get the info from that wine dealer?????
We collectively promise (I realize it's dangerous to speak for the group here but I takes my chances) to order only cases.LOL - your mother leaving notes with all the guards in the Sistine Chapel! Priceless!! She may be a brilliant artist/architect/builder but she is STILL a mother!!
You don't look a bit matronly in that dress and you don't look like Bette Midler either! Fran Drescher really would fit the bill better.
Oct 31st, 2004, 02:44 PM
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Dear Beatchick,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write me. I so wish I had the information on the earpain before leaving on my trip. I will definetely give your suggestions a try before my next flight.
As for the wine dealer, I need to find his card. It is mixed in with all my other papers. If you would really like it I will hunt it up. All I know is that the wine I drank in Italy was far superior to any I have had in the states. I did not get one single headache or hangover from ANY wine consumed in Italy.
I tend to be quite verbose in trip reports. I too wrote a 20 pager once. It was for my week-long honeymoon cruise. That was a doozey
Thank you all for the support and I will post my next installment in the next 24 hours.
Love Ya,
Plmn
Thank you so much for taking the time to write me. I so wish I had the information on the earpain before leaving on my trip. I will definetely give your suggestions a try before my next flight.
As for the wine dealer, I need to find his card. It is mixed in with all my other papers. If you would really like it I will hunt it up. All I know is that the wine I drank in Italy was far superior to any I have had in the states. I did not get one single headache or hangover from ANY wine consumed in Italy.
I tend to be quite verbose in trip reports. I too wrote a 20 pager once. It was for my week-long honeymoon cruise. That was a doozey
Thank you all for the support and I will post my next installment in the next 24 hours.
Love Ya,
Plmn
Oct 31st, 2004, 04:00 PM
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PLMN, am eagerly awaiting the next installment!
Yes'm, if you can find the time between work and writing this wondrous missive to locate the wine dealer's card then I'm sure many, many of us would love to have the info! I think the headaches have something to do with the sulfites that we use here in the US???
I only wish I had seen your request on how to deal with ear pain prior to your your trip.
And you surely didn't write EVERYTHING about that honeymoon trip
(just mimicking the naysayers). 
Yes'm, if you can find the time between work and writing this wondrous missive to locate the wine dealer's card then I'm sure many, many of us would love to have the info! I think the headaches have something to do with the sulfites that we use here in the US???
I only wish I had seen your request on how to deal with ear pain prior to your your trip.
And you surely didn't write EVERYTHING about that honeymoon trip
(just mimicking the naysayers).
Nov 1st, 2004, 11:11 AM
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Smiley, I find that it's most helpful when you wear the earplugs when the plane ascends & descends. After the plane has been up for a while I'll take the earplugs out but put them back in before I go to sleep. Another very helpful tip is the hold your nose and blow so that your eustachian tubes pop open. Even on the ground I have to do that periodically to help them drain. I've heard that chewing gum on the plane helps but it doesn't help me.
Nov 1st, 2004, 11:43 AM
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Interesting comments about wine made in Italy vs wine made in USA;
I never have a problem with either but my SIL who is from Rome always gets a headache when he drinks American wines but never does with Italian wine.
I always wondered why.
I never have a problem with either but my SIL who is from Rome always gets a headache when he drinks American wines but never does with Italian wine.
I always wondered why.
Nov 1st, 2004, 03:56 PM
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Next chapter:
We left the museum/cafe and tried to get back to the hotel without getting lost again. Hah. I did finally see the Spanish Steps on this endless journey. To tell you the truth I didn't get that ooh, ahh feeling that others have described in regards to this location. Someone at work said if I had walked up the steps I would have felt differently, maybe next time. (In case I haven't mentioned it, THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME, you can bet your bippy.)
There is a time line problem in here somewhere, but sometime between our pastry outing and returning to the hotel we made the call to my mother's bank in CA. The main woman my mother usually deals with was not on duty.
However, another lady that sometimes deals with my mom was in. (It seems the lady that was on duty and my mother don't always get on well with one another. Mother had to be somewhat forceful with her because the lady was trying to put mom off. (Of all the nerve, being busy with another customer! )
Mom, in her fully exasperated tone, explained to the woman what had happened with the credit card and told her we needed it reactivated and that it was an emergency. Apparently reactivating cards that were reported lost is not normally done. The woman said she would try. We would need to try to use the card the next day and see if the system accepted the reactivation request.
Whatever the bank rep did worked. Because the next day mom was back in business. Thank G-d!
I'm not sure what we did about dinner this night, as I said my time line is messed up. I do know that gelatto was involved somewhere. And since I haven't mentioned it yet...YUUUUMM gelatto! How come we can't get that stuff over here? I'm not sure we even hit what is considered the "best" gelatto places, but even the gelatto that may have been considered below par was better than any ice cream I have had in the US. And I have tried many, many kinds. I LOVE ice cream
It was so good, that even though it was dripping all over me from the cone, (picture two year old) couldn't put a damper on the rejoicing that was going on all over my taste buds. It was on my shoes, on my pants, in my hair. The napkins were getting stuck on me as well. Good thing I bought the travel shirts from Travel Country, they cleaned right up.
Eventually this day ended and we hit the sack. (I hope I have covered Monday and Tuesday because Wed is the last full day we had in Rome and Wed is the day we did the Arnaldo Pomodoro, "Novecento" exhibit on the way to the Jewish Ghetto where dad thinks we were taken advantage of at the La Taverna del Ghetto. This little tale involves a bottle of wine.
I do know that Wed is the day I made the trek to find the travel agency so that I could by our tickets for the train to Venice. (Thank you kind stranger for the help!)
WED report to come!
We left the museum/cafe and tried to get back to the hotel without getting lost again. Hah. I did finally see the Spanish Steps on this endless journey. To tell you the truth I didn't get that ooh, ahh feeling that others have described in regards to this location. Someone at work said if I had walked up the steps I would have felt differently, maybe next time. (In case I haven't mentioned it, THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME, you can bet your bippy.)
There is a time line problem in here somewhere, but sometime between our pastry outing and returning to the hotel we made the call to my mother's bank in CA. The main woman my mother usually deals with was not on duty.
However, another lady that sometimes deals with my mom was in. (It seems the lady that was on duty and my mother don't always get on well with one another. Mother had to be somewhat forceful with her because the lady was trying to put mom off. (Of all the nerve, being busy with another customer!
)Mom, in her fully exasperated tone, explained to the woman what had happened with the credit card and told her we needed it reactivated and that it was an emergency. Apparently reactivating cards that were reported lost is not normally done. The woman said she would try. We would need to try to use the card the next day and see if the system accepted the reactivation request.
Whatever the bank rep did worked. Because the next day mom was back in business. Thank G-d!
I'm not sure what we did about dinner this night, as I said my time line is messed up. I do know that gelatto was involved somewhere. And since I haven't mentioned it yet...YUUUUMM gelatto! How come we can't get that stuff over here? I'm not sure we even hit what is considered the "best" gelatto places, but even the gelatto that may have been considered below par was better than any ice cream I have had in the US. And I have tried many, many kinds. I LOVE ice cream
It was so good, that even though it was dripping all over me from the cone, (picture two year old) couldn't put a damper on the rejoicing that was going on all over my taste buds. It was on my shoes, on my pants, in my hair. The napkins were getting stuck on me as well. Good thing I bought the travel shirts from Travel Country, they cleaned right up.
Eventually this day ended and we hit the sack. (I hope I have covered Monday and Tuesday because Wed is the last full day we had in Rome and Wed is the day we did the Arnaldo Pomodoro, "Novecento" exhibit on the way to the Jewish Ghetto where dad thinks we were taken advantage of at the La Taverna del Ghetto. This little tale involves a bottle of wine.
I do know that Wed is the day I made the trek to find the travel agency so that I could by our tickets for the train to Venice. (Thank you kind stranger for the help!)
WED report to come!
Nov 1st, 2004, 06:04 PM
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I was also a child watching laugh-in, and I distinctly remember that it was "You bet your SWEET bippy!"
(Can't remember the monthly orthodontist appointment for #3 child, but I can remember that errant bit of information--go figure.)
(Can't remember the monthly orthodontist appointment for #3 child, but I can remember that errant bit of information--go figure.)
Nov 2nd, 2004, 05:10 AM
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Hi PLMN
>...gelatto! How come we can't get that stuff over here?<
Real gelato is available at IL Gelato, just off Rte 441 in Watkinsville, GA.
'Laugh In' is on weekdays at 10:00 AM on the TRIO channel. It is just as funny as it was 40 years ago.
>...gelatto! How come we can't get that stuff over here?<
Real gelato is available at IL Gelato, just off Rte 441 in Watkinsville, GA.
'Laugh In' is on weekdays at 10:00 AM on the TRIO channel. It is just as funny as it was 40 years ago.
