My scorn about travel agents in this day and age seems to have been largely misplaced, as the emails I received today from my mother about my flight bookings show. My flight to Rome has been booked, as have my parents' flights out to Europe and so forth; the hotels are still being worked out some, I think. The rough draft of Europe 2011 looks like this:
Wednesday, September 21, 2011-Thursday, September 22, 2011: Alitalia from Boston Logan (depart 5:45 PM eastern time) to Rome Fiumicino (arrive 7:45 AM Rome time)
Arrive in Paris evening Sunday, December 4, 2011
Arrive in London sometime Friday, December 9, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011: Delta from London (depart 10:30 AM London time) to Boston Logan (arrive 1:45 PM eastern time)
I'm not quite sure of the details of the time in London, but there is a hotel booked for Paris and apparently appropriate flights booked between cities, which I have not seen yet. Regardless, possibly the best news of all is the fact that my flight to Rome and my flight back from London together cost only about US$800. Transatlantic travel for about US$400 each way? Not too shabby on the travel agent's part, assuming that these aren't totally crap seats. Alitalia's luggage policies don't seem terrible, per se, but I am extremely wary of trying to bring a bunch of stuff back on Delta from London, considering how I will be in Europe for 80-odd days and will probably accumulate some interesting things in my travels.
All told, I am glad that things in the logistics department are progressing well (and, so far, remarkably cheaply), considering that I have until mid-May before we get to meet our professors for the program and learn the nitty-gritty details of our academic time in la citta' eterna.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Little ado about everything
The Rome front currently is occupied with housing issues dealing with UChicago, actually, and where I live when I come back to campus next winter. (Current conclusion: there will be no conclusion on this issue until December. Nothing like a good, solid, timely resolution to all your issues.) I'll likely be claiming to want to move back into the housing system, and assuming that a room is available either in my house (ideal but relatively unlikely as it stands now), in my dorm (something I'd definitely take assuming that it's a single), or in a single in a dorm near where I am now or with a similarly acceptable proximity to food, I'll stick with the housing system. I will not stick with housing if my only options are a double (I'll have had enough of rooming with strangers after a quarter abroad) somewhere outside my current dorm or a slot in one of the first-year-heavy dorms with first-year-like cultures. The housing system is mostly first- and second-years anyway, but there's a world of difference between my current dorm and others on campus in terms of culture, and while different people work better in different cultures, I know what I want and don't want. A slightly neurotic, still-high-school-y culture works well for some people, but it is just not for me at this point in my college career.
If no housing system next year, then what? Staying in the International House on campus is a high option, assuming that they would likely still have rooms open on short notice (this is something to discuss with them, obviously.) This would probably require me to cook for myself, which hopefully is something I can sort-of handle after wrangling with my own food in Rome. If no I-House, then I could throw myself at the mercy of renters in the area, of whom I know a few. Transient subletting is a very undesirable possibility but hopefully one so low as to be able to be considered improbable. I could sell myself out as a maid or something to friends. Also extremely improbable, but I guess it's good to have options.
Besides domestic wrangling with various housing authorities and resigning myself to the fact that it's going to involve rolling the dice and hedging my bets, the Rome front is quiet. Parents are apparently beginning the process of making reservations for a) my flight to Rome, b) their own flights to Europe in December, c) our accomodations for touring Europe after my program ends, and d) our collective flight home from Europe before Christmas, something that all has to be finalized before May 16th. Since this is a complex transaction, my mother has indeed begun the process of engaging the help of travel agents instead of simply trying to trust Expedia or something similar. My father has also apparently expressed reservations about trying to cram three European cities into two weeks, so the initial plan I related in my last post may be modified to cut out London or something. This makes me a bit sad, but Paris is just as cool as London, and as my father and I are both neophytes in European travel, one is as good as another to us right now. I'll be glad to go just about anywhere in Europe.
If no housing system next year, then what? Staying in the International House on campus is a high option, assuming that they would likely still have rooms open on short notice (this is something to discuss with them, obviously.) This would probably require me to cook for myself, which hopefully is something I can sort-of handle after wrangling with my own food in Rome. If no I-House, then I could throw myself at the mercy of renters in the area, of whom I know a few. Transient subletting is a very undesirable possibility but hopefully one so low as to be able to be considered improbable. I could sell myself out as a maid or something to friends. Also extremely improbable, but I guess it's good to have options.
Besides domestic wrangling with various housing authorities and resigning myself to the fact that it's going to involve rolling the dice and hedging my bets, the Rome front is quiet. Parents are apparently beginning the process of making reservations for a) my flight to Rome, b) their own flights to Europe in December, c) our accomodations for touring Europe after my program ends, and d) our collective flight home from Europe before Christmas, something that all has to be finalized before May 16th. Since this is a complex transaction, my mother has indeed begun the process of engaging the help of travel agents instead of simply trying to trust Expedia or something similar. My father has also apparently expressed reservations about trying to cram three European cities into two weeks, so the initial plan I related in my last post may be modified to cut out London or something. This makes me a bit sad, but Paris is just as cool as London, and as my father and I are both neophytes in European travel, one is as good as another to us right now. I'll be glad to go just about anywhere in Europe.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Meeting #1: The works
Today was it, the first official pre-departure planning meeting, as they called it. We got a folder brimming full of all the info we could ever want to know, everything from lodging info (we provide our own bath towels but that's about it) to electrical adapters to money to public transportation to who else is in the program. Most of the things told to us were things I had already learned, thanks to my "recon" meeting with my ex-housemate who went to Rome this past fall, so there's actually nothing really new to pass on. Our professors were also announced, but I don't recognize any of their names in particular. I do recognize some of the people going from classes, but I don't actually know any of them. Some seemed to know each other already, so hopefully the trip won't be too cliquey or anything. I have faith, however, that it will go well.
It turns out that for countries in what's called the Schengen Area (click for Wikipedia article--basically most of the EU, with the exception of the UK and Ireland), US citizens do not need a visa to travel or study as long as they are there for 90 days or fewer. The time spent studying abroad will be about 74-75 days, so I am set. (Over 90 days and you need an official visa.) However, the latest plan is actually to kind of do a mini-tour of Europe after the program ends on December 4th, with my parents, since I don't think my dad has ever been to Europe, and my mom hasn't been for 10+ years. As the plan *very* tentatively goes right now, my parents would arrive in Rome at the beginning of December and see some sights while I am finishing up my program, and then we would go together to Paris and then to London and fly home to the states from London on December 13th or so, which still keeps me inside the 90-day visa-free zone (my 90 days are up on December 20th, assuming I arrive in the EU/Italy on September 22nd).
I am very excited to go, of course, and also excited to see some more of Europe, assuming that works out; I have never been across the Atlantic to the Old World, and I'd like to see Paris and London too. That way if I ever go back at some point, I can concentrate on visiting some less commonly visited countries after having seen the "big three" (London, Paris, and Rome) sites of Europe.
Now to book flights; my mother is considering getting a travel agent to help. This surprised me in part because I did not realize that travel agents still existed as part of the travel industry. I suppose it makes sense, though, crossing so many country borders and staying in different places and whatnot.
It turns out that for countries in what's called the Schengen Area (click for Wikipedia article--basically most of the EU, with the exception of the UK and Ireland), US citizens do not need a visa to travel or study as long as they are there for 90 days or fewer. The time spent studying abroad will be about 74-75 days, so I am set. (Over 90 days and you need an official visa.) However, the latest plan is actually to kind of do a mini-tour of Europe after the program ends on December 4th, with my parents, since I don't think my dad has ever been to Europe, and my mom hasn't been for 10+ years. As the plan *very* tentatively goes right now, my parents would arrive in Rome at the beginning of December and see some sights while I am finishing up my program, and then we would go together to Paris and then to London and fly home to the states from London on December 13th or so, which still keeps me inside the 90-day visa-free zone (my 90 days are up on December 20th, assuming I arrive in the EU/Italy on September 22nd).
I am very excited to go, of course, and also excited to see some more of Europe, assuming that works out; I have never been across the Atlantic to the Old World, and I'd like to see Paris and London too. That way if I ever go back at some point, I can concentrate on visiting some less commonly visited countries after having seen the "big three" (London, Paris, and Rome) sites of Europe.
Now to book flights; my mother is considering getting a travel agent to help. This surprised me in part because I did not realize that travel agents still existed as part of the travel industry. I suppose it makes sense, though, crossing so many country borders and staying in different places and whatnot.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Me times 6
In preparation for Wednesday's meeting and the passing-in of much paperwork, I got my photo taken today (Monday, since I've begun this right before midnight but it has technically posted as Tuesday) at the ID and Privileges office on campus. ($8 will get a current student more passport-sized color photos than you ever imagined necessary, it appears.) I need a total of 5, but they only print them in batches of two, so that equals 6--the five needed plus one to spare, in case I ever want to look back on that moment at 10:30 central time this morning when they took my picture.
The photo is remarkably bad, in part because of my own lame attempts to be serious. With passport photos, they tell you not to smile (allegedly it distorts your facial features? something like that), and since I wasn't exactly sure for what these copies of me would be put to use (visas? something else official?) I took a similarly stolid, no-smile stance. Which just looks kind of foolish when combined with my hair, which was remarkably askew, probably still in protest against the annoying 9:45 a.m. fire drill we had this morning thanks to some jackanape in the dorm deciding to pull the fire alarm. (I was already awake when it went off, but it was less than pleasant outside.) A housemate of mine, however, who went to Athens last spring quarter believes the photos might be necessary for ID to get into ruins (we are going to Pompei, after all, at least so far as I know), which are strictly access-controlled in many countries. If so, it probably wouldn't have hurt to smile. At least they know I'm serious?
The rest of the paperwork is filled out; I just have to put it all together and get ready to see what is next in the process. I suspect flight-booking will be the (fun but absurdly expensive) next step, but I'm not going to put money on that or anything. We will see, we will see.
The photo is remarkably bad, in part because of my own lame attempts to be serious. With passport photos, they tell you not to smile (allegedly it distorts your facial features? something like that), and since I wasn't exactly sure for what these copies of me would be put to use (visas? something else official?) I took a similarly stolid, no-smile stance. Which just looks kind of foolish when combined with my hair, which was remarkably askew, probably still in protest against the annoying 9:45 a.m. fire drill we had this morning thanks to some jackanape in the dorm deciding to pull the fire alarm. (I was already awake when it went off, but it was less than pleasant outside.) A housemate of mine, however, who went to Athens last spring quarter believes the photos might be necessary for ID to get into ruins (we are going to Pompei, after all, at least so far as I know), which are strictly access-controlled in many countries. If so, it probably wouldn't have hurt to smile. At least they know I'm serious?
The rest of the paperwork is filled out; I just have to put it all together and get ready to see what is next in the process. I suspect flight-booking will be the (fun but absurdly expensive) next step, but I'm not going to put money on that or anything. We will see, we will see.
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