Barb, this is fantastic - thank you so much, & I hope it's making you feel better ! Can't wait for the rest.

Have a good weekend.

Barb, which of these women came closest to being an actual friend and ally? Sad to think you couldn't be comfortable with even one of the Divas, but I admit, they sound like a weird collection.

HKP-I must admit, I am wondering the same thing, even though I am now very afraid to say so.

Reminds of a trip to the UP. DH without asking me invited a friend of his & his wife, who I only knew briefly. This was my trip from hell. Being my only vacation of the year I wanted to relax, hike and enjoy time away for the two of us. DH & his friend played a lot, which left me to entertain friends wife. After a couple of days of entertaining her, I need time alone. This set her off on a pouting trip & the rest of the trip was ruined. I had told her up front that this was my only trip of the year & I enjoyed hiking & alone time. To appease her we took her on two or three side trips, but she was like the exorcist. My trip was ruined & I could have killed DH.

I hope you understand that I am not bashing the Divas. I really debated about doing this report, or if I did to sugar coat it and just talk about what we did and where we ate and then I thought no. The real purpose of this board, I hope, is to inform other travellers about hidden dangers, good travel tips, etc. While all this was happening to me, I kept thinking absolutely no one is going to believe this really happened, but if it can happen to me, it could happen to someone else too. So.. this is my way of hopefully helping others to possibly prevent a similiar sitation. We (the Divas) are all still talking to each other, even D. Will I ever travel with any of them again, absolutely not. So, on to Sorrento...

It was great to see our limo driver with my name on his little card, he was all smiles and was a welcoming face. He was cute and very sweet. We were all very impressed with the limo/van, which looked new and had aircon and a drop down screen on which he had a video of Sorrento accompanied by music. Lovely introduction to the coast I thought. KIA, Eiffel and Scared are in the very back seat and D is in the front beside the driver. Poor guy, because she is now talking his ear off. KIA taps me on the shoulder and says that they can’t hear the guide. I try to explain that he is not a guide, just our driver. What did she expect for 90 E. But I hear her complaining to the others. Now I’m hearing D screach and the woops which usually follows it. I’m wondering what this man must be thinking.

We arrive at the Lorelei and everyone is ooing and ahing. It is truly a beautiful setting. Unfortunately, they all gave me their money and I am now paying the driver and thanking him as I watch them all hurry into the hotel. Consequently, I did not get the corner room which I had been hoping for, but my and D’s room did have a lovely little balcony with jaw dropping view. I could not help but notice that the two twin beds were about 6” apart and I’m really worried. KIA and J’s room is on the second floor with one side facing the street and the other side has a huge terrace and faces the side with a lovely view of the whole town and the Bay of Naples. I’m trying to hide my disappointment. J notices and tells me that maybe they will switch with D and me after 4 days, so we can enjoy the terrace too. I’m thinking this is really only fair, but I would not have asked her to do this. Eiffel Tower and Scared’s room is right next to ours and almost identical – bathroom is a little smaller. They hate it. Eiffel goes out and talks to the owner, who is not pleased and can’t understand why they don’t’ like it. The two young men who helped the Divas bring in their bags are now standing there with hands out, literally. One says 50 should be ok. D is ignoring them. Even though I brought my own bag in, I hand him 1E. He looks stunned and laughs, by this time, D has gone back out to the lobby and I give him 1 more euro. He is talking the other guy and I don’t understand what he is saying, but I know he’s not telling him what a generous, lovely woman I am. D comes back in and starts unpacking. I told her I wanted half the hangers, half the wardrobe and two of the four drawers and I immediately go into the bathroom and claim half the shelf and stake my claim on one of the towel racks. I think this might be a good opportunity for me to sneak away, knowing it will take D at least an hour to unpack and settle in. I wanted to go to Fauno’s Bar to call SeaUrchin and wish her a happy b’day and fill her in on what has been happening. I give directions to KIA and J on how to get there and we agree to meet in an hour. Walking down there, I’m thinking, maybe I will take the room next door if Eiffel and Scared move out and I’m glad I had not unpacked yet. I know this will cost me much more, but at this point it seems the only way to perhaps salvage what’s left of this vacation and maybe start enjoying myself. D, J and KIA meet me at Fauno’s and tell me that Eiffel has found another room at the Lorelei for one night and then she and Scared were moving out and finding another hotel for the rest of the time. They will meet us back at the hotel for dinner.

So…. can you believe this one – when we get back to the room, D says to me “Have I done something to upset you? you don’t seem like you want to be here with me”. Holy cow!! yah think!! I very calmly, picking just the right words, say to her “Well maybe it’s just because of the fact that I live alone, and mostly travel alone, that your constant talking is just a little unnerving to me”. She tells me that she is aware she talks too much, other people have told her this and she assures me that she will give me some space and then she tells me how much this trip means to her. Awww gee. She says if she starts talking too much to just tell her. I’m thinking, ok, maybe this might possibly work out. I’ll just be honest with her.

Dinner was hilarious – Eiffel and Scared are celebrating because they have found a great triple room at the Hotel Corso and yes, Eiffel has found the “shopping street” and their hotel is right on it!! She has found paradise. She orders wine!! Her special outfit for the evening is an orange tank w/matching orange jacket, black pants with orange cuffs, dangly orange earrings that look a little like pumpkins, hmm, maybe not, with lipstick and nail polish to match. KIA who can’t eat after 6:00 pm apparently stopped at the store on the way back to the hotel and bought some yogurt and an apple, so she’s not ordering anything but tea. I order calamari and a salad – D has strangely started ordering whatever I order and Eiffel orders a seafood salad. My calamari was ok, but Eiffel’s salad has now arrived and she’s staring at in disbelief. It’s various pieces of rather raw looking squid, octopus, little tiny intact fish on a bed of greens, not lettuce. She is speechless. She’s trying to get the young waiters attention – the same guy with his hand out earlier – She waves and says “Sin Your”. She says, where is the salad and where is the seafood – I can’t eat this!! He just shrugs and I think pretends he does not understand her and then UNBELIEVABLY, KIA says she’ll take it. We are all just staring at KIA. Eiffel orders lasagna.

Everyone seems to be in a good mood, and amazingly not tired, so we walk into town and down the shopping street and even wave at the web cam, well I did. By the time we got back to the hotel, I was tired, but I just wanted to sit on the little balcony, sip some limoncella I had bought on the shopping street and write in my journal. I had Andrea Bocelli playing in the background. D came out of the bathroom dressed for bed and I thought oh good. No… she comes out and starts talking. I thought I would just let her go on for a few minutes. She starts talking about how J has had such a good life, and no one really knows how hard she’s had it over the years. How North Americans have no idea, blah, blah, blah, and oh by the way did I ever tell you about the time in the South of France – gag!! I said D, I need some time here, would you like something to help you sleep. I actually gave her an Ambian and then I tip toed around the room, periodically peeking at her to see if she was asleep. I had this flashback of when the my children were small and I would tip toe around until they fell asleep and then peek in on them to see how they were.

With my stomach in knots, I take an Ambian too and go to bed.

Ira,

>>My suggestion is that you immediately find a reason why you have to cancel the trip with this woman.<<

That was exactly my thought as I was driving home after dinner. I want to return to Venice because I've only been there for 1 1/2 day and I want to explore it and really soak in the city. I'm afraid that if I'm frustrated by travel companions it's going to ruin Venice for me.....now, I've got to think of good reasons...luckily I have a year before this trip, but panic sure set in yesterday...especially after I'd been reading Barb all day.

So… the next morning we are in the breakfast room, eating our hard roll and lukewarm coffee – Scared, D and I are at one table and KIA and J are at another. Eiffel has not come down yet. Scared is saying that Eiffel really felt like she needed to have a room of her own and that Scared respected her feelings and then I don’t know how, or why, but it just came blurting out of my mouth – “I need to have my own room too”. D has this shocked look on her face, everyone is looking at me. I say to D, it’s not you, it’s me” – yah right!! Then she starts crying and says she knew she shouldn’t have come on this trip. She accused me of lying to her, blah blah, and that she couldn’t afford to pay for the room by herself. She had not counted on that and did not have enough money. The other guests are now starting to talk amongst themselves and those irritating waiters are also staring. J says, let’s go talk about this outside, actually D, J and I go to a little side parlor off the lobby. D is now sobbing and I’m trying to explain to her why – she’s saying between sobs, “I tried to give you your space”. I went out to talk to the owner to see if there were any other rooms, no, she had already booked Eiffel and Scared’s rooms. I tell D that I will go try to find her another hotel and she stops crying and states emphatically that she’s not moving out of that room – it is hers!! The rest of the Divas have now joined us. I whisper to J, please switch rooms with me – she said she just doesn’t think she can. I literally cannot believe this is happening – it’s a true nightmare. So… I just walk out – I leave them all behind and as I’m walking down the street, I can hear D sobbing and I hear Eiffel saying to Scared, we need to get our stuff and move, now.

Love the story so far! I am not getting a thing done at work. But, as I read it, I can't believe you are all 50-somethings! It just reminds me of some of the crap that would go down on Spring Break. You would think rooming with 6 of your sorority sisters would be easy! Nope! Drama Drama Drama. Every freaking year! I definitely cannot travel with more than one person now (unless it is my family),

Oh,Oh, The Spit has hit the fan!!! :)

I rarely post anything on this web site, but can't resist this.

WHAT KIND OF FRIEND ARE YOU BARB???

You have violated the very fundamental principle of being a friend - TRUST.

You, Barb, are a BACK-STABBER.

While your on-line "friends" may be amused, I think it is clear that your travelling companions probably have their own horror stories to tell.

Why don't you suggest that they chime in with their version of events?

Oh My Gosh!

Well, I do have to say that if I hadn't already ditched the divas at this point (and I probably would have), I would SO be outta there right about now!!

karen Rodriguez,

I have some left over Xanax for a couple of years ago...would you like one? I think you may need it....or are you of the Divas? :)

for anyone else who is thinking of getting upset with Barb....she is telling HER side of the trip...this is nto a deposition where everyone needs to tell their side of the story....this is BARB'S STORY!! and a scary one I might add. :)

I think that now we all know who NOT to travel with....:)

How many more days of this trip are there? :-)

Do your friends check with website, Barb?

My what a story!!! This is better than reading Greek's, tragic soap opera..
I admire your patience and fortitude toward your traveling companions.

However Barb,by asking to have your private room you put your friend D in a monetary dilemma, perhaps she had a limited budget and could not afford to pay the full price ..you should have offered to pay your share of the room even if you switched to another.
waiting for the next chapter...:)

This reminded me to post my story about taking elderly parents on a cruise. You will find my story on the Cruise Forum. At least the Divas knew they were in Italy. My father-in-law kept asking which part of the building we were in.

Kismetchimera - that's exactly what I do, I would never dream of making her pay the whole thing. That's part of the dilemma of this whole fiasco. I really could not afford my own room, plus my half of her room too... stay tuned for the solution. BTW - I still have 7 more days to go, but I'm thinking I might shorten it up a little. It's hard because something happens each and every day. The worst is almost over though. For those who think I am bad-mouthing the Divas - as I said, I thought long and hard about doing this report. If I thought for one minute that they would be reading it, I certainly would not have done it. As I said earlier, when I almost begged them to read Fodors and they didn't, I doubt very seriously they are reading it now. If they do, well, the truth hurts I guess, but maybe they will be able to laugh at themselves a little and maybe their next trip will be different. As far as D is concerned -I have known her since I was 14. I care for her and I think she needs help. If she somehow reads this, hopefully she will know that no one knows who I am talking about, except her.

I was thinking of this thread for some time... debating whether to post or not, to wait till the end of this trip description or not...

I keep comparing this report to SharonG's trio of terror where everything was described in good humor and with good intentions. This report is so upsettingly different!

Somewhere in the beginning Barb said she couldn't say anything to the Divas because her son told her not to say anything what may destroy a friendship.

Does this mean her son knows something about her? She is mean? Some unpleasant argument happened before? I think he knew what and who he was talking about, and these were not the Divas but Barb.

Yes, it's not easy to travel with a mentally ill person, if this is what D is, especially if you don't know in advance. But come on, was it D who had some stomach problems somewhere in the beginning of this "report" and got no sympathy from Barb? How can you foresee food or drink poisoning?

I think SusanP (or who was that Fodorite she was supposed to meet) is fortunate not to meet Barb. Just imagine, you look forward to a dinner with a fellow Fodorite, and instead of exchanging the ooohs and aaaahs about Italy, you get a whining Barb! Try to enjoy a meal at that conversation!

And God forbid any of the Divas produces a tour book! How can any of those women question Barb's authority?

I still wonder why this trip was not cancelled before it even started? Financial reasons? Obligation? Or was Barb too sure she'll keep them under her thumb?

Saint Barb (can I call you that?), I believe the law does allow for premeditated murder in these circumstances.

It looks to me like they were expecting you to be a professional tour guide -- to make every last arrangement, know all the details, all the best places to eat, etc. I played that role once. Never again (altough mine story is not as horrific as yours). If somehow I am roped into it again, it will be with the understanding that I am going where and when I want to go. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome. Otherwise, do your own homework.

And I totally share the "your own room" philosophy. Unless I'm on the trip with my SO, I have to have my own room. I'm too sensitive to others' habits such as snoring to tolerate a room mate, added cost be damned. Gotta have my naked time.