Barb

If you dare consider non-solo travel again. . . I think any number of Fodorites would be much better companions on your next Roman holiday. And we've barely left the hotel. . .

waiting to hear all the gory details

Hi Barb, I have been waiting for your trip report. Oh good grief, I could see the handwriting on the wall when you started describing the situation before you even left for Italy. I owe you an apology as I am sitting here laughing so hard, but remember I am laughing with you not at you.

OK, on to the next part of this trip with The Divas. I know we can all hardly wait!!

Barb: What a way for you to learn the "travel alone" lesson. Travel only with bosom friends you've known for a long, long time and never with mere acquaintances. I broke this rule once, went to London with a dear friend who invited three other women I did not know. Two of them were fine but the third one was not someone I wanted to break bread with. Suffice it to say, that I left London two days later and meandered around Europe using my Eurailpass, by myself. I still can remember the feeling of liberation and total freedom. My friend and her friends stayed in London. Unfortunately our friendship dissolved over this incident.

Wonderful story so far...My DH and I would love to travel with a couple of friends, but oh, after reading this I wonder....

(I'll have to pull up Maitai Tom's report if the above gets really serious). Or maybe I'll print out both that thread and this one and make it required reading for any potential travel partners!

Having just returned from a week in Italy with a friend (well, we were friends before we left) that I thought I'd thoroughly vetted for travel fitness, I'm really enjoying your report, Barb.

Diva EF has a certain ring to it, don't you think? :-)

Chuckling over the first two installments and waiting for the rest!

Lee Ann

Barb, Wonderful (for us but not for you)
Reminds me of the line from my favorite Glenda Jackson film, "Sunday, bloody, Sunday:
Some times nothing is better than something! write on!!

Treesa, even traveling with dear friends of long-standing is no guarantee. You don't know someone very very well until you travel with them.
We simply don't usually spend 24-7 with even our dearest friends and family, and all sorts of habits and quirks (our own as well) rise to the surface. What is mildly irritating on a once-in-a-while basis can inspire murderous thoughts while traveling, especially when travel time is long-planned, expensive, and otherwise precious.

My wise daddy once said to me," son, pick your life partner wisely, and your travel companions even more so".

Well, Barb, you are such a descriptive writer, I am glad we got along so well, lol. I am sorry I couldn't meet up with you again on this trip. Oh well, next September!!

And people ask me if I was scared and how courageous I am to travel alone!!! What you did took real courage...or optimism!

You really make me love my past two weeks through Europe!!!

Thanks all for the kind support. I am trying to figure out how to condense some of this, but it's hard - hope I don't bore some of you. Maybe I should mention before I go on, we are all still speaking - in fact I just got an email from D saying that they were all really grateful for my help and how it was a trip of a lifetime!! Oh no, now I am feeling a little guilty for having those murderous thoughts and telling the whole Fodors world about them. NOT!!

No, No , NO, and NO!!!!!!
Please do not condense - we want all of the gory details - even interested in the particular shade of orange Ms ETD was wearing. Your writing styleis too perfect please just keep going

Barb,
Love it just the way it is being told...don't condense anything!

Well, Barb, this a great laugh...for us, at least. Eiffel Tower Diva with Canadian flag. Too funny! Are we allowed to assess before we hear the ending? Well, here goes. You are too traveled and saavy for the group so for this to work you have to be the leader/guide as tripgirl said and does.
One of the reasons for the success of Cheleo's trip in Spain (great report!) was she was basically the guide/planner, and G was the driver who spoke Spanish and they negociated, but.. we know who was running the show, and someone has got to do it.

Ok, enough of my analysis and on with the show. We know this will get better/worse! You tell a great story!

Please, please, please, don't condense!! Just continue to break it up in paragraphs, that's all.

I have the feeling it's going to get "better" :-o

Oh Barb!!

I, too, was afraid for you when you mentioned the travel companions you didn't know in advance. I had the same experience years ago on a trip to France.

My two good friends and excellent travel companions + one travel companion from hell! Something tells me I am going to be reading all about her once again as you continue with your report.

It seems like some of us solo travelers really should link up and do a trip together - after careful discussion and planning of course!

Please go on...

Barb...I'm dying...gotta know what happens next...this reminds me so much of my former in-laws!

Barb, I love your report. Oh does it ring true! I went to Italy in June with four family members - you can check out my trip report on this forum for more details. On the whole it was wonderful - but there were moments...
For example, no one gave me any input before the trip, but objected to all the museums and churches once we were in Rome, Florence and Venice. It was a sensitive situation because we are family and because they considered me the expert.
I truely love traveling alone too and am very sure that my future trips will be solo.
Keep the report coming - it's great.

Yep, even going with a very close friend can be a disaster. Many, many years ago, I went to Greece with my BIL to take my late sister's ashes there (we were not related by blood, but fostered; I'm not Greek). She had been gone for 5 years so we weren't in the throes of serious mourning. He and I had been the very best of friends for 17 years, and had spent lots of time together, while S was alive, and after, too. He often stayed at our house, and we at his.

We have only spoken once in the ensuing 17 years, and that was some years later when I called him to apologize for my part in the debacle. Greece was the end of our friendship. We didn't even speak to one another on the plane home.

On a more cheery note: Barb, I love your report and can't wait to read more. I am sorry for your pain, but we are really have a great time reading about it. ;-(