If you click on my page entitled W.I.N.G.S. you will notice that I've started a division in my business dedicated to women traveling in groups. I had the priviledge for the last year of helping a fabulous group of ladies plan a trip to Italy. We called them the Bellas. They had monthly planning meetings, they took Italian classes, they attended lectures about Italy....they were ready. I'm just not sure if Italy was as ready for them.
We had pre-arranged all flights, hotels and car rental. They departed for their two week adventure with no husbands nor kids.... only a couple of travel guide books in hand. They had all my contact information in case they ran into a problem. I will mention that planning trips for family is not easy and in this particular group I had my oldest sister Denise (first one on the right side) and my sister-in-law Annmarie (3rd one on the left) to please. Admittedly, I did think about turning off my cell phone and email while they were gone....just in case but I had full confidence in the tour operator that I had chosen for them. Daily I checked my messages and nothing...... they didn't call once! There were a couple of Facebook messages but even those stopped after a couple of days. I was beginning to worry. What would I tell their husbands... that I had sent them off to Italy and they weren't coming back? I happened to be online one afternoon and I noticed Denise was logged into Skype. We connected and they passed the laptop around so all could say hello. It felt like a scene from Charlie's Angels where the Angels would all sit around with Charlie on the phone giving them their next assignment.
They visited museums, they rented bikes, they ate gelato in every city (apparently basil gelato is excellent), they said they only drank wine one time? It appeared to be a bit more often from the pictures I saw but .... I'm not judging....just saying! What happens in Italy.... doesn't get shared on a blog. They were serenaded. They attended the opera in Venice along with the musician Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler who were in attendance.
For me, it was an honor to help share in the planning of this once in a lifetime trip for these women. They commented that it was exquisite, trip of a lifetime, ranked in the top 5 of life experiences. I'd like to take the credit for this experience for them but I must be honest. Sometimes, the travel destinations and the traveling companions make all the difference in the world. I'll let their photos do the talking....
We had pre-arranged all flights, hotels and car rental. They departed for their two week adventure with no husbands nor kids.... only a couple of travel guide books in hand. They had all my contact information in case they ran into a problem. I will mention that planning trips for family is not easy and in this particular group I had my oldest sister Denise (first one on the right side) and my sister-in-law Annmarie (3rd one on the left) to please. Admittedly, I did think about turning off my cell phone and email while they were gone....just in case but I had full confidence in the tour operator that I had chosen for them. Daily I checked my messages and nothing...... they didn't call once! There were a couple of Facebook messages but even those stopped after a couple of days. I was beginning to worry. What would I tell their husbands... that I had sent them off to Italy and they weren't coming back? I happened to be online one afternoon and I noticed Denise was logged into Skype. We connected and they passed the laptop around so all could say hello. It felt like a scene from Charlie's Angels where the Angels would all sit around with Charlie on the phone giving them their next assignment.
They visited museums, they rented bikes, they ate gelato in every city (apparently basil gelato is excellent), they said they only drank wine one time? It appeared to be a bit more often from the pictures I saw but .... I'm not judging....just saying! What happens in Italy.... doesn't get shared on a blog. They were serenaded. They attended the opera in Venice along with the musician Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler who were in attendance.
For me, it was an honor to help share in the planning of this once in a lifetime trip for these women. They commented that it was exquisite, trip of a lifetime, ranked in the top 5 of life experiences. I'd like to take the credit for this experience for them but I must be honest. Sometimes, the travel destinations and the traveling companions make all the difference in the world. I'll let their photos do the talking....
Sunset in Sorrento
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Look at that view of the rocks of Capri!
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View from the Villa Pitiana in Tuscany.... they stayed in a monastery built in 1000 A.D.
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The canals of Venice
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