Celtic Tours in Italy With Diana Day 3

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where
every journey is a story waitingto be told.
I'm your host, z Michelson, andI'm so excited to take you on a
ride through the world's mostincredible destinations, hidden
gems and unforgettableexperiences.
Whether you're a seasonedtraveler or just starting to

(00:27):
plan your next getaway, you'rein the right place.
Each episode, we'll be divinginto everything from must-see
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and travel experts and sharingstories that will inspire your
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So sit back, relax and let'swander the world together, one

(00:51):
destination at a time.
Are you ready?
Let's get started.
Hi, and welcome back to the ZeeMartinson Travel Podcast, and I
am here again with Diana fromCeltic Tours.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Hello Zee.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
And you know we keep talking Celtic Tours.
Hello Zing, and you know wekeep talking Celtic Tours, but
now we're talking Celtic Tours.
Take you to Italy.
Yes, and you were talking aboutItaly.
We are now on day three of yourItaly tour.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
We are.
So where are we going today?
We are going to Pisa, and thenwe're going to this farm for an
amazing, what we call a lightlunch.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
A light lunch, and then to luca so again, you're
staying in the thing casa villagrande, villa casa grande, so
yeah.
So I mean, and this is abeautiful place, yeah, and it's
kind of like you're stayingthere for the entire several
days and you're there, yep, andthen just going out to all these

(01:47):
different locations, which iskind of cool.

Speaker 2 (01:49):
This way you can unpack.
Yeah, you can unpack and youstay in one place the entire
time.
It's a hotel spa.
It's actually almost a fivestar.
I mean it has a spa, pools,restaurants, two restaurants.
It's right there, by abeautiful little town.
I probably wouldn't even wantto go anywhere.
I just want to sit there andrelax and enjoy it.

(02:10):
Well, there are days where youhave some free time where you
can do that, you can just relax.
You can do the spa, you canrelax, enjoy the restaurants and
all of that.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
You also said that every day you get breakfast.
You do Breakfast daily, so daythree you had breakfast.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yes, we had breakfast , I go down and I get my
cappuccino.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Right, you got to have cappuccino, my double
expresso cappuccino.
Double, expresso Doubleexpresso cappuccino.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
So yeah, we went down , had breakfast and again the
breakfast is kind of a buffetstyle.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Which is nice.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, I mean, a lot of American food isn't typical
in Italy, but because this is ahotel that a lot of Americans
are there, so they kind of, youknow, catered to us a little bit
for the breakfast.
So we had eggs and sausage andthen you have your regular, you
know, muffins and breads and youknow, of course, I had to have
my cappuccino.
That was it.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Just to get you ready for the day, yeah, so now
you're all getting on the motorcoach.
Yeah, it's, fully airconditioned it is, and nice,
nice.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Very comfortable Wash .
You're right Nice.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Very comfortable motor coach and you're heading
to Pisa, pisa.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
The Leaning Tower.
We're at the Leaning Tower, yep, that's what it's known for.
And it's about an hour, an hourand a half drive from where we
were located.
So it was a little bit of adrive.
So beautiful just to watch theTuscany and see the countryside,
and even though you're on thehighways there's still so much
to see, and so it's a really,really beautiful drive.
I didn't I really don't mindthe drives and most of the

(03:32):
locations that we go.
Of course motor coach goes alittle bit slower than a car or
slower than a train, so thedistance from one place to
another is a little bit longer.
But again you're verycomfortable, the air conditioned
motor coach.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
very comfortable seats, some people, you know if
they had a long night.

Speaker 2 (03:50):
The night before they'll take a little snooze, a
little snooze, you know, or asnooze between locations.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
So it's very comfortable Now when you go onto
the motor coach.
How many people are with you onthis particular tour?

Speaker 2 (03:58):
This particular tour we had 27.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Oh 20.
Yeah, 27 people and it's stillnot a lot compared to some other
companies that do tours.
Yeah, and this was a privatetour, this was a private tour
that I put together for a clientyeah.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
So she wanted to keep it small and again, that's what
Celtic tours can do.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Yeah, If somebody wants to say, do a family
reunion type of thing, you know,say hey, we're going to go here
or we're going to go there, youcan actually do something like
that, yeah, and you don't haveto do a motor coach.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
You know we can do a small family group.
Multi-generational is reallyreally big right now.
So, yeah, very big.
So grandma can take the entirefamily with the grandchildren
and do like a Mercedes Sprinterand we can customize the entire
tour for them, so it's reallynice.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
It them, so it's really nice.
It makes it nice.
Yeah, so now you're in thismotorcoach, you're heading off
to Pisa and get to Pisa, andwhat are you doing?

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Oh, so we meet our guide Now.
Again, I mentioned, I think, inthe last couple of podcasts
there is a lot of walking andthere are still a lot of walking
because they don't drop us offright there by right in the town
center and in the center ofPisa.
So you do have to walk a littlebit.
So it's probably about four orfive block walk from where they
drop you off.
It's not bad, but you arewalking through some streets

(05:10):
cobblestone streets and so it'sa little bit of a walk.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
So I like to tell it Wear comfortable shoes, wear
comfortable shoes.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
This is not a fashion contest.
When you're going over toEurope, you know, and just make
sure that you're very, verycomfortable.
So we meet our guide and thenwe go ahead and we take a walk
and we go over to the historicalplaza, which is where the
Leaning Tower of Pisa is.
And, of course, the cathedralsquare.

(05:37):
The piazza is actually calledPiazza del Domo, so that's where
the cathedral is.
That's where the baptismal isand, of course, the famous
Leaning Tower.
Leaning Tower.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Yeah, everybody doing the pictures, oh my goodness,
yes.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
It's really really funny to just sit there and
watch you know, everybody try it, and they're doing it from all
over the place, you know.
So it's really kind of funny.
I actually took a picture ofsomebody who wasn't really into
the whole leaning tower, but asshe just kind of props her hands
up there, like here.
I am.
You know I made it, so it'sfunny.

(06:15):
Now tell me, can you go intothe leaning tower?
So you can.
You can go into actually all ofthem.
So this is the second time I'vebeen to Pisa and actually all
of them.
So this is the second time I'vebeen to Pisa and the first time
everything was closed.
We couldn't go into anythingwhatsoever.
This time everything was openthe baptismal was open, the
church, the cathedral was openand the walk to the Leaning

(06:36):
Tower of Pisa.
But to get inside Pisa, theycan only allow so many people in
at a time and the baptismal aswell.
They only allow so many peopleat a time, so I believe there is
a place where you can go gettickets, right, but you can
purchase the tickets to get intothose Now would Celtic Tours
help?

Speaker 1 (06:52):
if somebody says I want to go in and they would
actually do this for their, wecould do that for them?

Speaker 2 (06:57):
Yeah, if they wanted to do it for you.
But not everybody wants to gointo the tower because I think
there's oh my gosh, and I don'tremember exactly, but it must
have been like, I think, 270stairs or 280 stairs plus.

Speaker 1 (07:13):
I mean, I've been in the Statue of Liberty so I could
understand.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Oh, no, oh, not fun at all, but so, anyway, you can
definitely go in.
But the cathedral itself youcan walk into the cathedral, and
I did walk into the cathedraland they had an actual mass at
the time, so you couldn't go allthe way to the front Right,

(07:36):
because they had it blocked offfor the tourists, right.
Pisa was so crowded the daythat we were there because of
the Jubilee.
Oh yes, I could not believe howmany people were actually there
Right.
So I walk into the cathedralthey kind of have it roped off
and just to sit there and be inawe of this beautiful cathedral

(07:59):
and watch this religious servicegoing on, and the music, the
piping of the organ and thechoir, it was absolutely just
amazing and stunning.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
It does pull you in it really really does.
No matter what religion you are, and that's something people
should see, because they can seehow people celebrate things.
And again, these buildings areold.
Yeah, it's a very old building.
Oh, absolutely, and to see thatkind of architecture is amazing
, yeah, and so you did a lot ofrunning around Pisa.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
So yeah, our guide took us all over the place and
then she gave us some free timeto kind of walk around, before
we all just headed back to themotor coach.
So we walked around andeverybody took pictures.
Probably I would probably saywe were there about an hour and
a half to two hours.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
About two hours.
That's enough time.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yeah, and if anybody wanted to go into the baptismal
or they wanted to go intoanything, else they could.
But, like I said, it was very,very crowded this particular day
.
It was actually a Sunday, ohyes, so a lot of people were
attending the services andthings.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
Yeah, so yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
So now everybody's getting back on the bus, yeah,
we're all getting back on themotor coach, and then we're
heading to a farm town for whatwe call and I'm using air quotes
a light lunch.
Now, I will never use the termlight lunch again.
I use the term very, verylightly right now because it was
not light.
Let me tell you.
So we get to this farmhouse,right, and what town was it in?

(09:34):
Do you remember?
You know it was between and Idon't, it was between Pisa and
Lucca.
Oh, ok, so it was right betweenthe two.
Yeah, so it was kind of on ourway to Lucca and we go and we
meet somebody and they take usto the vineyards to show us the
vineyards and they show us theolive trees, where they make the
olives and they kind of explainhow the process works with

(09:58):
their fresh olive oil and theyexplain the process with the
wine.
They have six different winesthat they offer.
Did you get to taste the oliveoil?

Speaker 1 (10:04):
I did, of course, I bought olive oil.
Again the shopper here and meGreat.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Got to shop.
I bought two bottles of wineand I bought some olive oil and
a couple other things.
So anyway, but then we go aheadand they take us to our own
table.
It was a very, very long familystyle table.
We're back all by ourselves,and then they, you know the
bread on the table with theirolive oil.
So you can have the bread withthe olive oil and of course I

(10:32):
put a little bit of balsamicvinegar in it, with a little bit
of pepper.

Speaker 1 (10:35):
You got to spice it up a little bit, exactly, and
olive oil must have tasted, sofresh it's just absolutely
amazing olive oil.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Just amazing because it comes right there.
I mean, they make it rightthere, right there, let me bring
our first course.
It was a Bolognese pasta withthe thick, and I'm not going to
try and butcher the names ofthese dishes, you know, because
I will.
I unfortunately don't speakItalian, but it had the really
thick noodles with a Bologneseand, oh my goodness, was this

(11:08):
amazing?

Speaker 1 (11:09):
And I like how you said the first course.
First course For this lightlunch, for this light lunch.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
Yeah, yeah, again, I use air quotes light lunch.
And we were expecting that,because that's what we were told
.
It's going to be a light lunch.
So yeah, then comes the secondcourse.
Right, and they have differentcheeses.
They bring different cheesesand meats and, like an appetizer
, then they bring meats, anassortment Trays of meat Chicken

(11:42):
, ribs, beef.

Speaker 1 (11:49):
It was just an assortment of all of this meat.
And now people should realizewe, as Americans, we're always
rushing our meals.
Yes, you know, if we can eat ameal in five minutes, we're good
.
Overseas in Europe, people liketo enjoy the food, so they take
their time enjoying whatthey're eating.
Yes, so all these courses thatare coming at you are something
to be savored and enjoyed.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
Oh, absolutely.
And, of course, don't forgetabout the wine that's flowing
and the wine right, because theywant us to sample their wine
right, that they actuallyproduce there at the farm, and
the wine was just, and I'm surethey had a different wine with
the different meals coming atyou yes and no, yes and no.
You know, they kind of just say, okay, they put, they put the

(12:31):
light white and the light red inthe beginning and then they
bring the darker ones out withthe meat.
you know they have a darker, adarker red reserve that they
served with the meat.
So it was, but oh, my goodness,this, it was so much so much
food.

Speaker 1 (12:45):
So we had the pasta in the beginning, then we had
the assorted cheeses.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
Then the assorted meats.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
You can't tell me they didn't serve a dessert.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Well, no, they gave us a dessert, but it was a
dessert liqueur, and I think Imentioned this in one of my
podcasts.
This is very, very typical forItaly.
They have what's called adigestiva, so it's grappa.
Grappa, which is a liqueur, anItalian liqueur, and you pour it
into like a whiskey glass abouta quarter of the way full, and

(13:15):
then you take a biscotti and youdrop a biscotti in it and leave
it in for about 10, 15 seconds,and then you eat the biscotti
and it's supposed to be adigestiva.
Now I had five of thosebiscottis I'm not sure it was a
digestiva at that point and thentwo glasses of the grappa.

(13:36):
So I'm not sure how much of adigestiva that was it was good.

Speaker 1 (13:40):
It was an after meal, it was A little sweet.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah, I mean it's really really good, because the
liqueur is not real sweet, ithas a bittersweetness to it and
dipping the biscotti in it withthe almond taste from the
biscotti, it just soaks it rightup.
And it just really really givesit a great flavor?

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Yeah, I would imagine it would.
I love biscotti.
It is very tasty and now you'redipping it in this and can
taste the element.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yeah, it really brings out the cookie flavor.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
So you're having all these other things and you're
having a very light dessert.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, Well, I mean, it was supposed to be light
until I just kept eating themand eating them you know, that's
the thing with family style.
You know, when you're in Italy,everything is family style.
So you got family styles.
Everybody's passing the pusRight, exactly, and everybody's
passing the meats and thecheeses and the wine and the
grub.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
And it makes it nice because everybody's having a
conversation.
They're talking about the dayyou know if they did shopping
M-T-Zero or whatever.
They're talking about what theydid and that makes you fun.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:45):
And then you know when you're on these tours.
Even though a lot of the peopleon the tours don't know each
other in the very beginning,they wind up knowing each other
at the very end.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
Oh yeah, I mean, we did so much bonding as a group.
It was really, really nice.

Speaker 1 (15:01):
Now, I'm sure now, after you've finished this
wonderful lunch, this lightlunch, and you get back on the
bus, how many people were stillawake?

Speaker 2 (15:11):
Not many.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Not many.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
So you were heading out to Lucca.
Yeah, then we went to Lucca andit was thank goodness it was
only a short drive, you know,I'd probably say about a half
hour drive.
So it wasn't too far from thefarmhouse.
So then we went to Lucca.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
And Lucca is known for its Renaissance era.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
Oh yeah, just a beautiful city.
And the city walls are allRenaissance and some of the
current buildings are built intothe city walls, so it's really
just a beautiful, beautiful city.
It's very well preserved, a lotmore preserved than I thought,
considering how old the cityactually is.
It's amazing.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
You know, we know all about World War I and World War
II and a lot of these places inItaly and in Germany and all
over have been destroyed andrebuilt, but some of these
places have survived.
Oh yeah, and to know that andsee it is amazing.
Yeah, Now, Luzer is known fortheir Renaissance period,
apparently, and their building.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah, the city actually dates so far back 56 BC
.
Wow, when Julius Caesar andPompey and Crassius I think I'm
saying that, right, crassius,anyway they actually formed a
political alliance.
They are in Lucca, so it'sactually known for that.
It's one of the things it'sknown for that I learned while

(16:28):
we were on our tour, yeahbecause our tour guide, the same
tour guide who met us, you know, in PSA.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
she met us in Lugansk , so that was really nice, so
the tour guide does not get ontothe motor coach.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
No, no, she just meets us there.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Now is this tour guide hired by Celtic Tours?

Speaker 2 (16:42):
They are, yeah, fabulous.
Yeah, we take lot of peopleworried that they won't
understand.
But and we had our littlewhispers.
You know the little things inthe ear, you know better.
They call whispers so you canhear.
So if you fall behind, youdon't have to be right on top of
her or on top of him.

(17:02):
There's a lot of people go whenthey say yeah, yeah, yeah so you
didn't have to worry about thatbecause you do have your little
ear buds, so that makes it niceas well.
So, again, luca was more of awalking.
It was a walking tour where wewent into the different piazzas
and talked about the history,and I don't want to give too
much information because I wantpeople to go there and visit
themselves.
Well, we need a little bit, butI will tell you that is also

(17:25):
today very, very well known forits summer festival.
Every year they have this hugeLuca summer festival and they
have famous artists and some ofthe past artists have actually
been like Eric Clapton, tracyChapman and Santana Wow, and
every summer that happens inLuca.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
And do they have a name for it?
Is it called the Luca summer?
It's called the Luca summerfestival, that's what it's
called.

Speaker 2 (17:47):
Yeah, very easy.
Luca Summer Festival yeah, cool, and that's every year.
Yeah, every year, yep, yep.
And you just missed it.
Yeah, I just no, no, we haven'tmissed it, we haven't missed it
.
Yet it's coming this summer.
Well, you missed it, I missedit, I missed it, I I don't know
who was performing this year,because I didn't find out about

(18:08):
it until I was there.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
Oh, but they have them there.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Where are they performing?
They're in the Piazza, in thePiazza.
Napoleon it's actually calledthe Piazza Napoleon, which is
one of the main piazzas in thearea it's an open air.
It's very open air.
Yeah, they put up the stage andthat's where everybody performs
.
That's a fun thing.
They're also believe it or not,they're also known for hosting
a comic and games festival everyyear, which I had no idea.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Like a.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
Comic-Con, like a Comic-Con, yeah, for comics and
beans, and it's actually thelargest in Europe.
How big is this?
It's quite large.
It's quite large, yeah.
So after our tour andeverything, we all had some free
time, so I decide that.
You know I'm gonna wander, so Igo off and wander and I'm doing
some shopping and I get lost.
So it's well.

Speaker 1 (18:56):
I usually tell people to get lost in there, so they
can experience it, but youreally want to get lost.

Speaker 2 (19:02):
I got lost and you know, thank goodness for maps
you know, because it tells youwhere you need to go.
But I completely got lost andI'm following maps and I'm
following maps and it's nottaking me where I need to go.
So I'm texting somebody hey,where are you, where are you?
You know, help me.
So I walked all over the city,but it was really nice because I
walked all the way to the otherside of the city where they had

(19:24):
a beautiful little park with acarousel, and the carousel must
be about 300 years old, oh mygosh, I mean.
So I love when I do things likethat, because I get lost and I
explore and I'm able to come upon things that nobody else would
have seen.
I love when people get lost,but not really.
You're not really lost, youreally can't get really lost.

(19:44):
I mean, the city is a verylarge city, right, but I mean,
if you just contact somebody,say hey, where are you?

Speaker 1 (19:51):
We'll help you get back, yeah exactly, we help you
get back.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
So, you wound up seeing more things.
I did that wasn't even on thetour I didn't do a lot of
shopping because I was worriedabout getting back to the
medical town.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
Not any shopping done there.
Well, I ended up on the otherday.
Yes, of course I did.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
I did shop at the farm and I told you I got my
wine.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
So you know, I got some olive oil and I got my
olive oil and some cheese.
Oh and cheese too.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
And some cheese yeah, because you can bring back
cheeses.
Yes, you can't bring back meats, but you can bring back cheeses
, amazing, amazing.

Speaker 1 (20:24):
So now we went to Pisa.
We had our light lunch, we'rein Luka and now.
Almost five o'clock, so nowwe're heading back.
We are heading back to thevilla, correct?

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Yeah, so everybody meets at the motor coach and we
all get back to the villa andfor an evening on your own.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
So tonight everybody's on their own if they
want to stay and eat or if theywant to go and wander.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Yeah, you can do whatever they want.
Yeah, and a lot of people wouldgo into town because, as I
mentioned, the town is likeright there, it's a couple
blocks.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
And there's some nice little restaurants.
There's things to do in there.
Yeah, I think a lot of peopleactually went to a little
pizzeria right around the cornerthere.
I was not hungry in any way, Iwas going to say was anybody
hungry after that?

Speaker 2 (21:04):
No, I was not hungry.
I just went down to the lobbygot myself a bottle of wine,
right, because, as I mentioned,you can go down to the lobby and
they'll open a bottle of winefor you for only seven euros, I
know.
I know it's a great deal.
So I went and got of wine and Isat outside and just enjoyed
the evening.
Yeah, but I did.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
That makes it nice.
I like to be able to run aroundand see things and then I like
to come back and relax.
Yeah, and that's exactly what'sgoing on with this in
particular tour, becauseeverybody's coming back to the
villa and chilling yeah, andthat makes it great.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah.
So I mean, and again, thisgroup bonded so well that a lot
of them say, hey, let's go tothe pizzeria, Right?

Speaker 1 (21:41):
And Regina started paying.
I think 10 of them just went tothe pizzeria.
It's nice.
Yeah, it was very, very nice.
Yeah, it gets to be cozy.
Yeah, you know, even thoughthere's 20 some odd of you, it
gets to be cozy.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
It does.
It does and not everybody.
We understand that noteverybody clicks or whatever,
but you tend to do mingle withlike people.
Yes, so it's nice, and if youdon't want to mingle, I had
guests who just went back to theroom and went back to bed.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Right, Because it was a long day for them.

Speaker 2 (22:08):
So yeah, so you don't necessarily have to do that.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Now we are going to go to day four on X podcast.
Yes, so what are you going totease me with for day four?

Speaker 2 (22:19):
Well, let me tell you we are going to do some cooking
, Cooking.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Now, I hate to cook, but I don't mind watching people
cook and I don't like eatingwhat they cook, but I hate to
cook.
So cooking is going to beinteresting and you're going to
be doing this at the villa.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
We are doing this at the villa.
Very fun, very fun.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
So again, diana, thank you for joining me today.
Thank you Telling us all aboutPisa, Luta and that little tiny
lunch that you had.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Thanks so much, Z.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
Well, that's it for today's episode of the Z
Michelson Travel Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed our journeyand found some new inspiration
for your next adventure.
Remember, the world is full ofstories and sometimes all it
takes is a plane ticket to startyour own adventure.
If you loved today's episode,be sure to tune in every week

(23:13):
and don't forget to share yourfavorite travel moments with me
on social media I'd really loveto hear about where you're
headed to next media I'd reallylove to hear about where you're
headed to next.
So until next time, keepexploring, keep discovering and,
as always, keep traveling withyour heart wide open.
I'm Zee Michelson and I'll seeyou on the next adventure.