Ask tour guide Marie Rizziello to sum up Italy in a few words and you’re bound to hear, “It’s the center of the universe.” While you may or may not agree with her (not that Marie particularly cares, as she states this as fact, not opinion), it is this absolute passion for the country she now calls home that makes traveling with her such an interesting experience. I first traveled with Marie to northern Italy for my birthday in 1999, and I was captivated by her casual, traveling-with-a-friend style of touring.
Hogwarts, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Muggles, Quidditch: if you’ve heard any of these strange-sounding words from your children or grandchildren, chances are they are fans of the best-selling Harry Potter books. Our 9-year-old grandson, Marcus, greatly enjoyed them and he and I read most of the series together. Five of the books have been made into successful motion pictures, and Marcus and I traveled to the London area in April ’08 to visit some of the locations used in the films.
A large gate filled the arch, which gave access to the hotel’s front garden. “Would they have room for us?,” I mused. My wife, Flory, and I had been biking from Amsterdam, Holland, to the French Riviera. It was 4 p.m. and we were tired. We had been riding since 6 a.m. I quickly ran up the steps to the reception desk. We were in luck. They had space available. [...]
Hi, Jay! We are planning a 30-day trip to Europe and plan to use a Eurail pass. We have a few questions. If we use the Global Pass, is the train service good enough that we could tour a lot of things every day like we did in the 1980s with the BritRail Pass or would we end up with a problem like we had in Paris, where it would be difficult to see only one attraction in a day and be able to return to the central location to spend the night? Which countries or regions would be good to see using the Global Pass? Which countries or regions would be best to avoid? [...]
Published every month for over 30 years, ITN’s 100+ page issues are an invaluable aid to high-frequency overseas travelers, covering budget to luxury travel for both independent adventurers and group tour takers.
The December ‘07 issue is now online, bringing the archive to a total of three fully searchable years of ITN. December features:
A tour of Finland’s Lake District, featuring religious sites, unique art and the annual Savonlinna Opera Festival, begins and ends in Helsinki
A haunting tour of the historic graves of Kensal Green, London’s foremost necropolis
Intrepid independent travelers seeking to connect with the natives begin their overland journey in Mali
Robert and Dorothy Pine reflect on their lifetime of experiences abroad as the “world’s most traveled couple”