FATTORIA VOLTRONA WINERY

Fattoria Voltrona was the wonderful winery where we ate lunch. Check out the link above. Click the British flag for English.

DAY 3 VATICAN

Last night my roommate put our passports in the safe in our room. She was the safe operator since I couldn't figure how to work it. She asked if anyone had a flash light. At first I thought no, darn I ment to bring one, I did have one. I handed her my lighted 5x magnifier to us. The safe was in a closet without a light. She also kept up with all the room keys. This hotel had a key attached to a small heavy knob. We left it with the desk everyday. Today we left early to the Vatican City. We met our new tour guide. I couldn't hear her well until someone fixed my "Italian ipod" system. Each group had a guide who would talk to you as they pointed out important points of interest.

DAY 3 FLORANCE

Today we are off to Florance - the city of flowers and Montecatini.
Ok here is where the shopping got serious. We had free time today to walk and explore. So we pushed on with more walking. Did I say we walked about 10 miles a day? Our hotel was in a charming town. We sat on the porch at night and watched the crowns walk by.

DAY 2 ROME

This morning I was ready with cane in hand to visit Rome. I went downstairs for breakfast. There was a wooden ramp over part of the steps. What do I do, walk on the steps and almost fall. This wouldn't he good at this stage of the trip. We loaded the bus to see St. Paul's Cathedral. We were warned about the beggars in the street. We did see a few so I was afraid I would trip over them. The main reason I wanted a cane for this trip was to make sure someone didn't run into me on my right side which I can't see out of. The church was really pretty. We had 20 minutes so I went straight to the courtyard. Some of the remains of the Collosiom were displayed there.

DAY 1 THE HOTEL

Our first hotel reminded me of a country club because it had grand rooms with hardwood flooring. You could imagine it hosting elaborate weddings and dances. The elevator was small but not the smallest on the trip. I shared the room with another woman in our group. We knew to bring a converter for the outlets but that was the least of my worries. Where was the light switch? How do you turn the lamps on. Our room was cute with its hardwood floors and furniture. The bathroom was long and skinny with white tile. I was happy it had natural lighting in it. We had a tub, and it was the last one I would see on the trip. The tub was tall and skinny with an old glass panel on the left side. I hit my shin trying to get in. At this point I wondered if they had handicap equipped rooms. All the light switches were mounted on the side. We never figured out the thermostats.

Photo above is switch similar to Italian style.

DAY 1 ROME

After we arrived we were taken to the sites of Rome. What amazed me so much is that I was walking were men and women walked centuries ago. Because I grew up in a building supply and construction family I was amazed at the architecture I was seeing up close. The structures were so large. Since I didn't have my cane and the streets were thousands of year old they were hard for me to manage. You know the game where you avoid the cracks in the concrete. That's what I was doing. Everyone on the trip was so kind to help me up and down the many, many steps in Rome. The Colosseum was awesome. They actually have an elevator but I never saw it. Our guide in Rome was the best one from the entire trip. We had four different well-educated guides at each town we visited. We had lunch at a cute outdoor cafe. I ordered pizza since the menu was in Italian. We were 'worn out" when we arrived at our hotel late that evening. Our boys were not ready for bed so they hung out.

DAY 1 ARRIVE IN ROME

We meet Flavio to take us to the bus. Our driver puts all the bags in the bottom of the bus. After a long trip and time change my brain isn't functioning so well. I have three bags with me. The largest one has my cane in it because I could get around the airport pretty well, so I had packed it on the bottom. Let me just say most of the time I was the straggler in the group. I attempted to grab it, but I was sitting on the curb while everyone else was on the bus. At this point I wonder "where is my son who is supposed to help me". I sat on the bus with my large purse and small suitcase. Flavio quickly notices this and inquired about my purse. It's large so I can buy more in Italy. Really I have all my low vision aids in it. Binoculars, 5x magnifier, 4x glasses and camera. Flavio greets us with jokes and vital information and a bag of maps which I never opened. I had friends to find our way to the sights of Italy with their maps. I was never good with directions and maps. So we are on our way to the Coliseum of Rome.

Pictures above are our bus and my son.

HARVARD SPORTS

Our trip was arranged with Harvard Sports. Link below.


http://harvardsports.net/hs/home.php

Contact Us to Plan Your Team’s Trip of a Lifetime!
1-866-764-4355

Italy Trips
http://www.italiantourism.com/

DAY 1 ATLANTA AIRPORT

After packing our bags we are off to Atlanta for our trip to Italy. My husband drop my son Phillip and I off at the door so we didn't have to walk. Little did I know this was the last time in 11 days I would have that luxury. I brought a cane with me to help get around. Without thinking it through I put it inside my check-in bag. I'm used to traveling by plane so getting around the airport was ok. We did see Comedian Steve Harvey in the Atlanta airport. We flew Air France so we went through security. I brought my half empty toothpaste with me which was taken in Atlanta. At least I had two same tubes in my bag. On the long flight we were able to watch movies and TV shows or play games. This was a treat for me to see a movie close up on a 6 inch monitor. The instruction panel was easy to use. I was in the last seat of the plane and the headphones they gave us were hard to hear the movie. I did sleep some of the 9 hour flight unlike my son. The second flight was a short one from Paris to Rome. We thought the bathrooms in the Paris airport were bad until we got to Rome. When we arrived in Rome we were met by our wonderful tour guide Nicoletti "Flavio". So off we went to our home for the next 10 days - the tour bus.

PARIS

On the way to Italy we flew into Paris for a short layover. I was on the last seat on the right side. Out the window we could see the Effel Tower as we landed. It was an awesome sight. The picture I posted is similar to what I saw from the plane.

TALKING SCALE

Here is the talking scale I have. It greets you with "Hello", "I'm Ready , "Weight", and "Good-bye". I just love this scale now I don't have to bend over to see the scale. It is on sale at Maxiaids for $59.95 item number
1502671

REIZEN Talking Weight Scale

"Hear Your Weight in English, Spanish, Lbs or Kgs"

Features

• Weight in Kg or Lb up to 150kg or 330lb
• Bi-lingual - English or Spanish
• Speaks in a pleasant, female voice
• Big LCD screen - 3-1/4 wide x 1-1/2 high
• Auto power on and off and low battery indicator

TRIPS

Two years ago I started planning a trip to Italy with my son's soccer team. Since I was traveling overseas for the first time since I lost vision in my right eye I wanted to be well prepared. In the last few months the Commission for the Blind have aided me with many tools. I hope my experience will help others who have low vision not be afraid to travel. I have a talking scale which my son used to weight the suitcases the morning we drove to the airport. We were allowed one bag which could not exceed 50 lbs. Our suitcase weight about 35 lbs each. I had to laugh when I heard the scale announce the weights. Phillip weight all the bags and himself several times. So we were off to Atlanta to meet our group for our adventure.