Witnesses and Weddings

On Tuesday of week #2, I met my group for a night tour of Las Vegas. One of the couples, John and Ellen were very excited to report their adventure of that day. They were waiting for the Deuce, the bus that travels up and down the strip, on their way back to Freemont Street and our hotel to get ready for the evening tour. While they were waiting they were approached by a couple who asked them to be witnesses to their wedding at a Las Vegas chapel. It seems the witness they originally planned on had to catch a bus back to his hotel so couldn't stay for the wedding! So John and Ellen gladly volunteered to witness the nuptuals. They did the deed, shared a toast with the couple, exchanged adresses and caught the next bus back to the hotel! As they reported it to me they were so thrilled and excited that they had experienced such a unique event on their first trip to Vegas and America.

So that was a memorable event, and everyone enjoyed hearing the story and John and Ellen enjoyed telling it over and over.....until today when we were on our way to the Airport at the end of the tour.

It seems another couple in the group raised the ante on John and Ellen.

Teresa and Leslie actually got MARRIED! They didn't tell anyone but another passenger, whom they asked to be their witness. Before the tour they had a plan to do it but weren't sure it would happen because they didn't know if they could get a license or accomplish all the requirements. But they did bring their outfits and were able to get a license....this is Vegas after all!

So when I heard the news I made an announcement on the coach and dedicated Frank Sinatra's version of "Love and Marriage" to the happy couple, who look forward to getting back to England to tell their families!

Good luck with that, and have a happy life Teresa and Leslie!

Seeing Stars

It is the last day of the first tour, it's been a busy week including lots of travel time. We went to Hollywood and saw some stars, and we saw some star's stars. We even walked in the footprints of some stars.

After that we were off to a night in Laughlin Nevada to spend a night at the Aquarius Hotel on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Day 4 presented us with our best photo opportunities as we visited the spectacular Grand Canyon, which, no matter how many times I see it I am amazed again. Ironically it "never get old" for me. Definitely one of America's star attractions!

Las Vegas was the last destination on our tour. I haven't seen too much of my group since we got here...everyone has free time here so they are seeing shows, gambling, eating and shopping and shopping and shopping.
We are staying at the Four Queens Hotel and Casino on Freemont Street...very nice hotel and the "Freemont Street Experience" is an impressive light and music show that goes on for hours.
We're a short bus ride from the Las Vegas Strip so many of my group are venturing from Freemont Street by bus or cab to experience the spectacle that is "Disneyland for adults".
Tonight we finish up the tour with dinner and a show at the Plaza Hotel..."The Rat Pack is Back," ...Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. impersonators give us one more chance to see the "stars."

Westward Bound

I'm leaving tomorrow (Saturday, 5/15) for two tours beginning in Hollywood to check out the Walk of Fame www.hwof.com/tv, then we'll be traveling to the Aquarius Hotel and Casino in Laughlin NV for one night, then to the Grand Canyon AZ and finally 4 nights in Las Vegas NV. Its a busy tour packed with lots of great optional excursions.
I'll blog as often as possible to keep myself away from the slot machines!

Horsing Around

Before the tour I asked Steve, our driver, to find a ranch where we could take our guests horseback riding. He found the Rocking B Stables near Austin. So we offered horseback riding to them and we got 5 takers and about 15 passengers who wanted to go just to see a real working ranch.
So after we dropped off half of our group on Austin's busy 6th Street to shop, dine and explore the live music scene we took the "horse people" and the "horse lookers" as I called them to the Rocking B.
We met Bruce (the B in Rocking B) who showed us around the ranch...which raises goats, chickens and cows and boards horses. He then got our riders ready for their adventure. It took close to an hour to get everyone acquainted with their horses and saddle and bridle them up, (the horses, not the people) and then they went giddyup onto the trail for an hour while the rest of us relaxed under a big tree and waited for them to return. They returned with big smiles on their faces....and as far as I could tell the horses hardly noticed.
All in all it was a great adventure for everyone....when I asked Susan, the first-time rider how she liked the experience she said...."Brilliant!"

Stonehenge Texas Style

Today we visited San Antonio...everyone explored on their own. There were those who waited their whole life to see the Alamo, those who took a leisurely stroll along the Riverwalk, and those who took advantage of endless shopping opportunities at the Rivercenter Mall http://www.shoprivercenter.com/ and mostly everyone enjoyed the myriad of shops, galleries, arts and crafts displays and the multitudes of wonderful restaurants that can be found in this unique city.

After their free time we all enjoyed dinner at Mi Tierra, a Mexican restaurant full of colorful decor and delicious food. We were even serenaded by a 3-piece Mariachi band while we dined.
On the long trip back to the YO Ranch Resort Hotel in Kerrville, everyone was tired but very satisfied with the full day they had and the delicious meal they enjoyed so they wondered why we passed right by our hotel until I told them that we had a surprise for them.

In the town of Hunt, Texas there is a 60% scale replica of Ancient Druid Monument, Stonehenge, which is in England, and in fact most if not all of my UK guests have seen the original. So I thought it would be fun for them to see one Texan's version of this Ancient wonder. An area local, Al Shepperd had been given a slab of limestone, 5' tall and 8" wide, that was left over from a patio construction job. He placed it in his field near the road. After a while he began mowing larger and larger circles around it and in time he asked his friend, who had given him the slab, to build the riplica of Stonehenge. The result is a 92' diameter hollow plaster-covered steel replica flanked by 2 Easter Island statues.

Al died in 1994 and his ashes were sprinkeled on the grounds of Stonehenge II.

The group was surprised to see it and enjoyed wandering among the pieces and commented that it is not possible to walk among the pieces of the original Stonehenge so it was fun to get up close and personal!

Back in Texas!!

After watching and waiting and wondering what the Iceland Volcano would do to my UK group's chances of flying over the pond for our Texas tour, the suspense was finally over on Wednesday morning when I got word that the skies were open again. I think they were one of the first planes to take off from Heathrow Airport when the ban was lifted.
So here we are, after a greuling day of travel for them and for me, in the Lone Star State to see Texas in the Spring. Only one lady has arrived without her luggage. I have no idea how this could have happened since they were on a non-stop flight, one plane from London to Fort Worth. Her luggage is either still at Heathrow or it ended up on a plane to some other destination. Hopefully it will catch up with us at our first hotel in Fort Worth which is where we arrived last night at about 9:30.
Today we're headed for the the Fort Worth Stockyards via the Grapevine Vintage Railroad Train http://tinyurl.com/m57wx4
We'll spend some time at the Stockyards, then head into Fort Worth for dinner.
I've heard that three tornados touched down in Texas yesterday...I see no tornadoes but although it rained earlier this morning the sun is shining now and Texas is in full spring bloom. I'll post some pictures later.

Buses & Trains & Planes & Carts & Waiting

Our One-week tour of Tuscany ended with a lovely afternoon visit and dinner in Siena. We got back to our villas in Contignano at 8:00 PM, completed our packing by stuffing our final purchases in our luggage and went to sleep both dreading and looking forward to our return to the US. The trip home after a fun vacation is always a relief as well as a source of anxiety. This return trip turned out to be more anxiety than relief.
We got an early start, leaving La Montalla at 7:00 AM. The 2-hour bus ride to Florence was uneventful and so we were all feeling pretty comfortable and secure in the notion that all would go according to plan. Not so much.
We made it thru long security lines at Amerigo Vespucci Airport and finally arrived at gate 7 for our 50-minute flight to Rome with about 1.5 hours to spare. So we made ourselves comfortable and enjoyed some reminiscing about the highlights of our week. Before we knew it, it was 11:00 and we were beginning to wonder when they would announce the boarding time for our 11:30 flight to Rome. They didn"t. We waited some more. Finally at 11:40 an airline representative told us that due to high winds the plane that was to take us to Rome could not land in Florence and was deverted to Pisa.
So we wait for them to load our luggage onto 2 buses for a "quick" one hour and 15 minute bus ride to Pisa to catch our 11:30 flight to Rome.
We arrived in Pisa and had to wait in even longer security lines so we could be loaded onto a bus that would take us to the plane that would take us to Rome for our 2:30 flight to JFK. The bus got us to the plane at about 2:10, we waited on the plane till about 2:55 and began our 50 minute flight from Pisa to Rome for our 2:30 flight to JFK. We arrived in Rome at about 3:40 and were met by 2 attendants who were to walk us through endless terminals to catch our 2:30 flight which was waiting for us.
Most of the group followed one attendant but Peter and I brought up the rear with Peggy and her mom, Mary who with the help of her cane, was struggling to keep up. We walked through more endless terminals at Mary's pace until our escort got the four of us a golf cart for 3 which we piled into like so many college kids in a telephone booth challenge.
We rode the golf cart through still more endless terminals to the tram stop to board the tram at 4:00 to take us to our 2:30 flight from Rome to JFK. We thanked our escort and offered him a gratuity which he graciously refused stating that..."it's not over yet!"
We boarded the tram which wizzed us between endless terminals finally to arrive at gate 9 at 4:15 to board our 2:30 flight to JFK.
We took off promptly at 4:30.

Arrivederci Roma!

Wednesday-Thursday...Pizza Night/Cooking Demo...Relaxing and Not So Much!

These 2 days were designed to be relaxing in the morning with two fun and delicious activities planned for the afternoon and evening. The guests at each villa would do each activity on alternating days. Our group is occupying 2 villas and we had scheduled a "Pizza Night and Tour" of Contignano's ancient wine making/olive oil production facility located in the basement of Giuseppe's home which is the castle of this small village. The "pizza night" part of the event was back at LaMontalla where Giuseppe and his wife Paola had presented all the ingredients for the making of individual pie--all we needed to do was choose the items we wanted on our individual pie and they then cooked them in the wood-burning oven in the main dining area.
The Cooking Demo took place at Fattoria La Palezzina in Radicofani under the direction of Silvano and his wife Eliana, she being the Italian-speaking chef and teacher, he being the interpreter. After we learned to make various pastas and tiramisu we sat down to a scrumptous dinner consisting of the things Eliana demonstrated, as well as a main course of pork fillets and fresh spinach cooked in olive oil and garlic. YUM
So on Wednesday of this 2-day event we had he morning to take a group of guests to the supermarket to get supplies, (no alarms sounded when I entered the store but I did sense many security eyes on me as I shopped).
When we came back with that group we spent the rest of the morning shutteling people to and from the town and to and from the 2nd villa (San Antonio) until it was time to deposit each of the groups at their planned event. Not so much relaxing but both events were a great success for each of the groups on Wednesday.
Now surely Thursday promised to be a relaxing morning because no pick/ups or drop/offs or supermarket trips were scheduled . Everyone was happy to stay at their respective villas until it was time to go to "Pizza Night" or "Cooking Demo Night".
So Peter and I left in the van to take care of some things we needed to do and returned to La Montalla to finally relax until the afternoon shuttle pick/ups and drop/offs were to begin---to get each of the groups at 2 villas to either the pizza night and tour or the cooking demo and dinner that they were scheduled for.
Everything was going nicely and everyone was relaxing nicely and looking forward to the evening's activities when someone came in and said..."Do you know that ther is a flat tire on the van?"
So much for relaxing on Thursday---I had to recruit 3 men in the LaMontalla group to help us figure out how to get the spare tire out from under its compartment of the 9 passenger van we had and then change the tire before we could move on to the pick/ups and drop/offs to either the pizza night and tour or the cooking demo and dinner.
Well the tire got changed and we got everyone where they needed to be....but not everyone had a relaxing morning...whatever.
I guess we'll relax on the flight home!

Larceny in Tuscany

We arrived at DaVinci Airport at 7:05 AM after a reasonably comfortable flight across the Pond. We met our Rome City Guide, Franco who was entertaining and informative, showing us the drama and history of the Colesseum and the remarkable site that is St Peter's Square at the Vatican. Time constraints did not allow us to go inside St Peter's but just the experience of being in that square stirred emotions so deeply that at least one of our group members was brought to tears by the magnitude of the historical significance and a lifetime of hearing, reading and seeing pictures and movies about it. Someone else was so moved to "walk in the footsteps of Tom Hanks, (i.e. DaVinci Code)!! LOL

So after our quick tour of the Eternal city came to a conclusion and everyone was greatful to sit down finally in the coach for the 2.5 hour journey to Tuscany.

Here's where the day's journey took a "larcenous" turn...when we reached the exit for Contignano we stopped at a supermarket so everyone could get supplies, snacks, food staples, wine, cheese, fruit and anything else they could load in their carts in the 30 minutes time I allotted them for the task.

Peter and I did our shopping too and when we were checking out, the cashier needed a price check on a bottle of milk we were buying. While that was being done and while I was distracted by someone's question the cashier proceeded to bag our entire order (except for the milk) and when I turned back to the counter, Peter had all the bags in the cart. I assumed he paid the bill, he assumed I paid the bill---do you see where I'm going with this? That's right-we left the market with our cartful of un-purchased groceries! We loaded our bags into the coach and everyone waited on the coach for the last 2 people to come out.

They were taking much too long so I went back in to find them (mother and daughter) and they were at the same check-out that we had just left. I walked them out with their cartful of purchases and got them onto the coach.

By now the driver, Marco was outside the bus in a heated discussion with the store manager and about 3 members of the security team--Marco called me out and after much sign language and attempts at translation between me, him, them, and us, I finally understood that we left the store without paying for our groceries. The mother and daughter were held up because the cashier was busy alerting security that Peter and I "escaped" without paying!!

After all the confusion was over I went back in with the manager and paid for my groceries, the cashier actually apologized to me for making the mistake of not having us pay for our purchases!! Talk about "the customer is always right"!

So our first day in Tuscany has given us some unique memories and has caused my passengers to keep a closer eye on me when I shop. They also enjoy lots of "jail" jokes and police references at my "expense".

P.S. We never did get our bottle of milk!

Tuscany-Bound

Tomorrow, March 19th I am leaving for a one-week tour of Tuscany. I'm taking a group for Get Up and Go Tours, we're landing in Roma and taking a guided tour of the Eternal City. Then we will travel north to Tuscany, where we will stay at two villas.
We'll visit Florence, San Gimignano, Siena, Pisa, Montepulciano, Lucca, and Montalcino. I will post here as often as I can providing there is a good internet connection at La Montalla.
Ciao.

Philadelphia Flower Show, March 2010

A large group of amateur gardeners, flower lovers, and happy travelers decided to Get Up and Go with us to the Philadelphia Flower Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
The show was packed into 10 acres of indoor display space showcasing beautiful plants and the art of gardening.
We strolled through lush garden displays and explored creative garden designs and flower crafts.
The theme of the show this year was "Passport to the World", international exhibits of flowers, plants, and garden designs from around the world including Brazil's Amazon Jungle, Blooming Dutch Bulbs, Orchids of Singapore, Flowers of South Africa and many more.
There were opportunities to attend demonstrations of state-of-the-art techniques, cooking, organic growing methods and indoor and outdoor design tips. And of course there were plenty of shopping opportunities!

Tonto National Forest

Yesterday we took a road trip along the Apache Trail thru Apache Junction, past Superstition Mountain and thousands of Saguaro Cacti to Canyon Lake, known originally as Mormon Flat Lake,
which is one of the man-made lakes in Arizona formed by the construction of the Mormon Flat Dam (completed in 1925) and Roosevelt dam on the Salt River in 1911, which at the time it was built was the largest dam in America. It is the smallest of the four lakes in the Salt River chain. The other lakes are Apache Lake, Roosevelt Lake and Saguaro Lake.
We had lunch in the old town of Tortilla Flat (http://tinyurl.com/yhfhmgc) where every wall of the restaurant is covered floor to ceiling with dollar bills left by customers from all over the world.

Side Trip To California

I've been in Mesa, AZ since last Thursday, decompressing after Symposium. Spent some time visiting and relaxing and then got on the move again to Riverside California. The 4-hour drive through the desert seemed endless but Palm Springs showed off her Windmill Farm (http://tinyurl.com/yhwzzgr) and a beautiful view of snow on the distant mountains.

Some Visions of Arizona

Tucson: I spent the last 6 days at ElConquistador Hotel in Tucson, the ITMI Symposium has kept me busy networking and job interviewing but I did find some time to shoot some local scenes.

Desert Sunsets

San Xavier Mission

Into the sunshine....

It's 10:30 New York time, 8:30 Arizona time. I left Islip at noon on the 6 hour flight to Las Vegas, where I only lost $10.00 at a slot machine in the airport. Not bad.

Here's my first view of the Rocky Mountains and hopefully my last view of snow for the next two weeks.

It certainly looks beautiful from this distance, doesn't it?

I caught another flight from Vegas to Tucson and I finally got to my room at the El Conquistador Hotel in Tucson at 8:00 PM.

I'm pretty tired from the trip and all I have to say is..."Hello...Room Service..."

Arizona

Today I'm getting out of the cold of Long Island and into the warmth of Arizona. I'll be attending the 23rd Annual ITMI Symposium in Tucson at the Hotel El Conquistador http://www.hotelelconquistador.com/ for about a week and then spending some leisure time in Mesa. Check back here for details and pictures.

A Basket of Pears

When I first met with my driver, Steve, we talked about the route and plans for the tour. I asked him if he knew a city guide for Dallas as the tour company hadn't included it in the tour. Since I had scheduled 4 hours free I thought that a two hour tour would work nicely, still allowing 2 hours of free time. So Steve, being a local, happened to know a couple of city tour guides and was able to contact one and make the arrangements. I presented the plan to the passengers and all were willing to pay the small fee to pay the guide.
And so it was.
After the visit to Dealy Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum the guide met us and showed us the city. One of the stops on the tour was the Dallas Farmers Market.

This is a wonderful open-air market with lots of vendors selling beautiful and delicious-looking fruits and vegetables. So everyone scrambled around purchasing goodies to snack on while on the coach.
I bought a bag of green grapes and a basket (about 6) beautiful, delicious-looking pears which happen to be my two favorite fruits. We re-boarded the coach and I placed my purchases on my seat. I then had to return to the jump seat of the bus so Danielle, the guide could assume my seat behind the driver to finish the tour. She also placed her purchases on my seat.
And so it was.
When the tour was done everyone said thank you to Danielle for a terrific and informative tour and she picked up her purchases and said good bye and left the coach. As she was waving goodbye from the sidewalk I moved back into my seat behind the driver. I quickly realized that one of my bags was missing. I searched all around my seat, on the floor, under other things that were there and only found my grapes. I knew it was unintentional but Danielle had taken one of my bags when she picked up hers. I immediately took the microphone and announced, "She took my pears!" Naturally I got a lot of comic mileage out of this. Sometimes when things are quiet on the bus I will say, "I wish I had a pear," or " I can't believe she stole my damn pears," or "I hope you enjoyed the Dallas City Tour, all it cost was a couple of hundred dollars and a basket of MY pears!"
It has become a great theme of the tour....She stole my pears! Everyone has found some way to make reference to the event and we have had a lot of laughs over it.
And all it cost me was a basket of pears!

Rodeo!!

Everyone enjoyed an evening of Country Music, Dancing, a Bull Riding show, and of course The Rodeo at Billy Bob's Texas Saloon http://www.billybobstexas.com/, alledgedly the world's largest Honky Tonk, located at the Fort Worth Stockyards. This could be true because inside Billy Bob's is a stage with a live band, a dance floor, a restaurant, a gift shop, a museum, at least 3 bars, live bull riding shows, a "Photo Bull," a casino, an arcade, about a dozen pool tables, and they offer live concerts, this night featuring Travis Tritt. The club can accomodate 6,000 people...that ain't just big, that's TEXAS Big!

We also had a city tour of Dallas and one of the highlights of that was "The Herd", which is the world's biggest bronze monument. Forty nine Texas Longhorn Steer and three cowboys by sculptor Robert Summers sprawl down a realistic cattle trail, thru a running stream and a limestone cliff. It's quite an impressive work and you can walk right among them without getting stampeded, kind of like the real Cattle Drive at the Stockyards!

We visited the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza, a National Historic Landmark. It is a collection of photographs, articles, and news programs telling the whole sequence of events surrounding the assassination of JFK, housed in the School Book Depository from where Lee Harvey Oswald fired on the President's motorcade on November 22, 1963. There are two x's in the street denoting the spots where the presidents car was when each shot struck him. We also drove past the garage door where Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby on national TV.

It was a very moving experience to relive that terrible day right in the spot where it took place.

Stampede!!!!

We traveled to the little town of Grapevine, so named for the wild mustang grapes prevalent in the area, where we boarded the Tarantula Vintage Steam Train for our journey to the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/

which is a 10 block neighborhood that consists of cobblestone streets, raised wooden sidewalks and streetlights designed to resemble gas lamps. The whole area offers a glimpse of life in Texas a century ago when the Texas Longhorn Steer drove the economy.

There is a Cowboy Hall of Fame, weekend rodeos and a twice-daily "Cattle Drive" down the main street. We were expecting a stampede of Longhorn steer. What we got was a stroll down the street by about 15 of the most docile, bored, non-stampeding animals one could imagine. The "wranglers" made sure no one stepped into the path of these huge animals but I really think if anyone said "boo" to them, they would have turned tail and stampeded in the opposite direction.

Anyway the stockyards was the place where over a million head of cattle passed thru between 1887 and 1904 on their way to the rail lines further north, or the marketing and auction blocks for sale to the meat processing companies.

The town is full of western shops, restaurants, souvenir stores, and honky tonks. It was a fun day and at least 5 of my group came away with their official cowboy hats. I exect all 28 of them will have one by the end of the tour.

Waking Up in Fort Worth

After a full day of traveling, waiting for flights, finding my driver, meeting my new group, and getting to the Hilton Hotel after dark, this morning I found myself in Fort Worth, Texas and went for an early morning stroll to see where I am.

What a beautiful, clean and friendly city it is:

The Bass Performance Hall, home of the city's symphony orchestra, ballet, and opera companies. An awesome 2,000 seat theatre.

Detail of the side of the building: Gigantic granite angels blowing 6' trumpets. The building also features a cloud-filled 80 ft wide Great Dome which soars above the auditorium.

Today we take an antique steam train to the Fort Worth Stockyards to see among other things a Cattle drive down the center of town.

This tour will take us to Dealey Plaza in Dallas, the 6th Floor Museum at the Texas School Book Depository, Dinner and Line Dancing Lessons at Billy Bob's Texas Saloon, The San Antonio Riverwalk, The Alamo, The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and more.

This is Texas! This is a BIG tour!