Celtic Tours Wraps up Italy Tour With DIana

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
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

(00:22):
plan your next getaway, you'rein the right place.
Each episode, we'll be divinginto everything from must-see
landmarks to off-the-beaten-pathtreasures, speaking with locals
and travel experts and sharingstories that will inspire your
next adventure.
So sit back, relax and let'swander the world together, one

(00:46):
destination at a time.
Are you ready?
Let's get started.
Hey, it's Zee.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Michelson here and I am with Diana and we are
wrapping up our Italy tour.
We're so excited.
We've been all around and wewere talking about the Villa
Casadrande that everybody stayedin.
Now today is kind of the lastday of Italy.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
I'm so sad.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Nobody wants to leave Italy.
No, but I hear they had a lotof fun on this last day.
It was a lot of fun.
So what happened on this lastday?

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, we did a cooking class and then we went
to Arezzo.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Oh, so we're doing cooking again, and is it Mama
Anna?
It's Mama Anna, yes.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
Mama Anna does a cooking class again.
So remember, the first one thatwe did was a pizza making class
, right?
So this one is actually acooking class with pasta, and
she actually made a lasagna, oh,and with the vachonel sauce, oh
, and then fricaccia andbruschetta, oh, and she made

(01:53):
this amazing chicken salad Iwant to tell you about.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Oh, wow, okay, All right.
So what everybody?

Speaker 3 (02:00):
got up that day and had breakfast.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Oh yeah, do breakfast , and I always suggest, even
with the cooking class, becausewe did meet at 10 in the morning
to start the cooking class, butyou're cooking for like three
hours, right, so you're a littlehungry, yeah, and especially
with all that food.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
And Mama Anna does not let you sneak a piece here
and there, no, no, no Fingerslapping.
Finger slapping, no nibbling,no nibbling, no nibbling.
So, yeah, you want to make surethat you start off with
breakfast and of course,breakfast is included in our
tours, all of our tours.
So we start off with breakfast,and then she met us all in the
lobby and then took us to thekitchen, which was there De La

(02:34):
Casa Grande.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
It's a fairly large room for cooking.
Yeah, we had 27 people total.
27 people total cooking in onekitchen.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
In one kitchen, but it's a huge kitchen.
It's a very, very large kitchen.
I would not suggest doing morethan 25.
A few people they didn't cook,they kind of just sat down and
sat back and watched everybody.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
I'd watch everybody cook and then I'd want to be the
official taster Exactly.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Exactly, exactly, but they did get to, of course,
enjoy the lunch.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
You know, as I sat there and watched everybody else
, she started doing.
What bruschetta first?

Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yes, bruschetta, bruschetta.
Now we get bruschetta, yeah,bruschetta, so, yeah.
So she went ahead and dividedup everybody and we started
chopping the tomatoes andcutting up the garlic and then
putting in the olive oil, theolive oil.
Yeah, the olive oil, and thenyou just kind of let that sit
aside.
That's all that was in.

(03:26):
It was tomatoes, olive oil andgarlic.
That was it.
That was all that was in it.
Wonderful.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Wonderful yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
And everything was fresh.
Oh yeah, Fresh tomato.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
Everything was fresh.
Even the olive oil was fresh.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
The olive oil comes from the villa, from they make
their own olive wine and theirown wines.
Wow yeah, so it was really good.
Okay, really good, now theymade the bruce head.
So it's sitting aside.
So it's sitting aside and it'sresting.
It's kind of absorbing all theflavors, right.
And she puts a little salt init as well, not too much, but
just a little.
Just a pinch.
Yeah, just a pinch.
Then we had to start on Thankyou so much.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
I don't remember how we were talking.
Is that a?

Speaker 3 (04:03):
brand?
Yes, it is, yeah, but it's avery, very long process.
So Mama Anne actually preparedthe dough ahead of time Because
it is a very long, long process.
Right, probably because thedough has to rise.
It does, it has to rise, andthen they have to put it out and
rise again.
So there was a lot to it, rightTo the it to the fricotta.

(04:27):
So what she did is she wentahead and divided up again and
took the dough and let everybodykind of play with the dough.
She gave everybody the recipe.
Of course you know how it wasmade and all that.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Oh, so everybody gets the recipes, of course they get
the recipes.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
They're going through a cooking class, of course.
Then they went ahead and sheshowed everybody how to actually
lay out the dough, and it wasvery, very specific, you know of
how you had to push the doughwith your fingers and lay it out
.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
She did, she did.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
But this was like you had to spread it out onto the
pans and you had to put yourfingers on it and kind of spread
it.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
It was very, very specific.
I know when making dough, ifyou don't do it right, it gets
too hard, right?

Speaker 3 (05:04):
So yeah, yeah, so I can understand that Very, very
specific on how it had to bedone and prepared.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
So what were you using the focaccia for?

Speaker 3 (05:11):
Well, that was part of our meal.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
I'll tell you more about focaccia.
So you know, it's a bread.
It's a bread, yeah, it's abread, so it was part of our
meal.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
So then we stretched it out, laid it out in the pan,
and then with her fingers andeverything, and then she had to
put it on top of the ovens,because she does have a large
oven there.
She put it on top of the ovensto let it rise again, Rise again
.

Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
So there was a lot of , like I said, a lot of things
that she had to do ahead of time, so it was good.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
And I do understand that because I make my own
Italian bread and to make thatit calls for a lot of flour and
a lot of rising, Like three orfour times.
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, and there is this specific flour that you
have to use with focaccia, right, it's like it's not all the
same, it's like one is like azero flour and the other is like
a zero, zero flour you know,and it has to be perfectly
proportioned.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
And it just.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
I don't know if I can ever make it again, I don't
know that I will try, but I wasgoing to go back to the lacoste
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (06:08):
Well, you'll have to twist my arm, I'll be there,
yeah.
So then we went on to makingthe pasta dough for the lasagna.
Fresh dough, fresh pasta, freshpasta dough.
So again with the Italian flourand the eggs, and how she
actually puts it in a littlemound with the eggs in the
middle, and how you had to forkthe eggs.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
I was going to say because I always see when
they're overseas and the Italianwomen are cooking, they put the
flour right on the table andthey, you know, they don't put
it in a bowl or anything, it'sright there on the table.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
Is that how she did it?
That's exactly what she did.
She just put in.
Everybody did it.
The class is divided up liketwo, three people each, so
everybody had their little moundand doing the eggs and she's
telling everybody how to do it.
And then she's tellingeverybody how to knead it with
the fingers and the hands andpush it through.
And it was very, veryinteresting.
I did not do that, I did notpartake in that, but it was

(07:00):
interesting to watch everybodyelse really really get involved
in it, really get into it.
Yeah, what a good advice, yeah.
And then she gave after thedough was all done.
She gave everybody a littleball and everybody had to roll
it up, because this is lasagna,right, you know.
So we didn't use a pastamachine.
We actually, you know, rolledout the dough and it had to be
cut out in strips for thelasagna.
So they actually cut the strip,yeah, and it had to be really

(07:23):
really thin, very thin, wow, andthey do not cook it ahead of
time.
It's actually cooked with thelasagna.
Oh, so it wasn't.
So once, yeah, so once thedough was done, we just went
ahead and set it aside and wewent on to the bechamel sauce.
Oh, wow, yeah, which was oh mygosh.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
Which is going to be used for?

Speaker 3 (07:44):
the lasagna.
That was for the lasagna.

Speaker 2 (07:46):
Oh, now what exactly is?

Speaker 3 (07:48):
bachemin, it's a butter, flour and milk and there
was a secret ingredient, sobutter flour and milk.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
That's kind of basic, yeah, very basic.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
So she mixes it up.
That's what Italians do.
They're basic.
You know they don't put a lotof stuff in their recipes.
It's very, very basic and youcan taste the difference in it.
Yeah, so it was just theBéchamel sauce, and she went
ahead and actually made meatahead of time as well.
She kind of did the ground meat.
So, and the secret ingredientfor the Béchamel sauce was

(08:22):
nutmeg.

Speaker 2 (08:23):
Nutmeg Never would have who would have thought
Right Now, was she making thesauce in a pot or pan?

Speaker 3 (08:29):
Yep she was blending it and cooking it.
Yep, she cooked it in the panand she showed everybody how to
do it, and you know how it wasactually prepared Right, because
that's very tricky.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
It is you know butter and cream and cooking it.
It is, it's a hurdle?

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Yeah, absolutely, and with the flour on top of it
yeah, I could definitely getinto like chunks, you know.
So, again, didn't get involved,just let Mama Anna do it,
because I didn't want to ruinthe entire thing of lasagna, you
know.
And then her secret ingredientin the sauce was the nutmeg, and
yeah, Well that's aninteresting ingredient, I know,
I know, I know who would havethought no, I was like okay, wow

(09:03):
that's interesting.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
It must bring out the taste.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (09:08):
That's pretty interesting.
Yeah, Everybody was making thesauce and they made the lasagna
noodles.

Speaker 3 (09:13):
Yeah, they made the noodles.
And so then, after everythingwas said and done, and again,
like I said, mama Anna crematedthe meat, the ground meat ahead
of time and then they startedlayering.
Everybody started layering thelasagna, the ground meat.
You put a little bechamel sauceon and then you put layer the
dough for the lasagna.
You just layer it and you justlayer it up and that was it, but

(09:37):
it's not a red sauce no.
And they do not put ricotta noricotta.
Cheese no ricotta in theirlasagna.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
I can understand, because the bechamel sauce it's
almost like a pitcher sauce,Right exactly.
And it's not red, it's not ared sauce.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
It wasn't a red sauce when we go here to the
restaurant and you order lasagna.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
you're seeing a red sauce Right.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
It's like a bolognese or a meat sauce that you
typically get here when youorder a lasagna.
This is not.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
Not there.

Speaker 3 (10:05):
And again I think I mentioned this in the last
cooking class the things thatyou learn over there when you're
doing these cooking classes.
It's just really amazing.
But the different places inItaly the north, the south, the
east, the west Everybody doessomething differently.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
They have their own little spin on stuff.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
They have their own way of doing things, so this was
their way of doing it.

Speaker 2 (10:26):
In Tuscany and I know the Tuscan region does have a
different way of making dishesthey do, they really do.
So that's interesting.
So now, everybody did that andthen the lasagna went.

Speaker 3 (10:37):
Yeah, they did sprinkle parmesan fresh parmesan
, ground parmesan.
So they did it between thelayers, but just sprinkled it.

Speaker 1 (10:43):
It wasn't like covered, so it wasn't like.
Again you get the lasagna herewith all of the cheese dripping
from it or anything like that.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
It wasn't anything like that, so just a little bit
of sprinkle.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
I have a friend who doesn't particularly care for a
lot of Italian foods because shedoesn't like all of the cheese.
This is something she made looklike.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah, and then once it went into the oven actually
during that whole process of usdoing the lasagna she put the
focaccia into the oven.

Speaker 2 (11:09):
So that way we have the focaccia.
Picturing it in my head howmany ovens she must have in this
kitchen.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
Well, really, she doesn't Really.
She only has two ovens Really,and they're not that large.
Wow, probably I would say, Idon't know, maybe 10 feet or
something.
So, like one industrial size.
Yeah, exactly, I think it's twoof them Exactly.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Wow, yeah, that's pretty good.
So now the lasagna's in theoven.

Speaker 3 (11:34):
So the frittata is done, the frittata is done.
Actually, she takes out thefrittata and then we put the
lasagna in and we cut thefrittata and then we put the
lasagna in.
The lasagna only cooked forabout 15 minutes, right.

Speaker 2 (11:42):
So it was really nice , just to make sure, the noodles
, the noodles, all the pastanoodles, or however we're
folding it is done.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
Now, we had to put something on the frittata right,
so we already made thebruschetta Right, so we're going
to put that on the frittataRight.
Then we're going to go aheadand make something else,
something else to put on there,and where were we?
So we are actually making achicken salad, a chicken salad.
She took a chicken breast Okay,a chicken breast, right, and
she fried it up, right, withsome olive oil, right?

(12:10):
Not one seasoning or anythinglike that, just fried it up.
Then she took a bottle of pearlonions.
Now, pearl onions are hard tofind over here.
Ask me why?
Why?
because I tried to make thischicken salad I tried to make it
curl onions anywhere they werevery popular in the 50s.

(12:30):
They were very popular so, butit was really difficult.
So, anyways, curl onions,chicken and mayo, and you, just
that's it.
Regular mayo, regular mayo, notmuch mayo, just enough, you
know, to give it a little youknow Exactly, and you put it all
into the food processor, yougrind it up and you have an
amazing chip and salad.

Speaker 2 (12:50):
That is, you add any salt or pepper into it.
Nope, nothing else, just theonion, the chicken.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
The pearl onions, the chicken and the mayo.
Yeah, it was.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
So she made it almost like a sip.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah, yeah, and she put that on the fricaccia, oh.

Speaker 2 (13:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Yeah, so it was very good.
And pieces of bread, becausenot everybody wanted fricaccia,
so she put it on also, like thebruschetta bread, a little piece
of bread.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
So yeah, wow, I know Okay.
So now they've made thebruschetta, they made the pasta
dough from the lasagna, theymade the lasagna, they made the
sauce for the lasagna and it'scalled bachamel Bachamel,
bachamel Bachamel sauce.
Yeah, that's an interestingword.
I know, I know I'd never heardof it before.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Something like flour and milk.
I've never heard of it before,but anyone who cooks would.
They know exactly what that is.
It's like a flour, it's madewith flour.
They all made the chicken salad, and then they made the chicken
salad and then everything wasdone.
They went ahead and brought itto the little restaurant area
where everybody was able toenjoy this wonderful meal and

(13:56):
their creations, and they wereable to, of course, have some
great wine with it Because,remember, mama Anna is a
sommelier Right.
So she was able to tell okay,let's try this with this and
this with this.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
So she is Right because she had the chicken on
the bread but she had regularmeat in the wasabi Right,
exactly, ground beef, yeah, verynice, very nice, and I'm sure
she probably just ground themeat.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
Yeah, she didn't tell us that was already pre-done.
Again, right, it was one ofthose things and I think it was
just.
Honestly, I just think it wasground meat.
I don't think it had anythingelse in it.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Well, I know a lot of Italians mix pork meat with
beef meat when they're doing thecrumbles in the insanis, I
think this, and I will be backto tell you exactly what it was.
So now everybody was eating.
It must be probably aroundlunchtime.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
Oh gosh, it was after 1 o'clock because we started at
10.
So 10, 11, 12.
It was 1 o'clock 1.30.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Right lunchtime.

Speaker 3 (14:55):
Yeah, lunchtime.
So yeah, it was lunchtime, andthen everybody ate and enjoyed
and got nice and full, nice andfull.
And then I said okay, everybody, all right, top, top, let's go.
We're going to Arezzo.
And they looked at me likewe're going, what, what, where
are we going?
Come on, I just ate this bigmeal.

(15:16):
So I can tell you that noteverybody went with us to Arezzo
.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
And again, I want to remind everybody that it's
Celtic Tours that is putting allof this together for people,
and Celtic Tours is very easilyreachable Celtictourscom Yep.
Very piece of cake.
Or call your travel advisorsYep the travel advisor.
You tell them I want to go here, I want to meet Mama Anna, yeah
, and Celtic Tours will get youthere.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
Yes, yes, absolutely You're getting everybody who's
full.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
I want a nap.

Speaker 3 (15:47):
We did, yes, we put them on a butter cushion which
was fine because Alenzo is, itwas about a 45-minute drive, so
some people did fall asleep, butsome people decided again not
to go and they stayed back andtook naps or you know whatever
they did, because Dilip FaisalJandik and they stayed back and
took naps.

Speaker 2 (16:04):
Or you know whatever they did Because Villa Tesla,
john, has a lot of things to dothere.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
They have the pool, they have the jacuzzi, the spa,
they have the spa.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
And again, you can walk around the town.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
You know which is right there.
So for those who didn't want tonap but wanted to walk, around,
they could do that.
So yeah, but I went to Orenzo,we went to Orenso.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
We went to Orenso.
Now we pile on the motor coachand we're going to Orenso, which
is about 45 minutes away, andI'm sure the ride around these
areas must be gorgeous becauseit's all billy.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
It is, it is, it's beautiful.
I mean, tuscany itself is justabsolutely beautiful.
If you've never, ever been toTuscany, I highly recommend at
least making it over there once.
Just all of the hills, themountains, the ruins.
As you're going down thehighway, you see all of these
old homes and some of the ruinsand it's just, it's a beautiful,

(16:50):
beautiful landscape.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
And again, you had the motor search that you were
taking, which you were with Yep,which Celtic tours provided.
Yep, you had tour guides whenyou went into these towns, which
again Celtic tours provided,that's right.
And you also had a train.
If you wanted to go on a train,yeah, yeah, we could, yeah
absolutely so.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
For example, I think I said in one of my other days
that I just decided I'm going togo into Florence in the
afternoon, right?
So I went into Florence, andthe train station is about a
five to ten minute walk,depending on how you walk.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
It's not bad at all, yeah.

Speaker 3 (17:23):
And it'll take you right to Florence.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
And at all, and it'll take you right to Florence.
And again, I remind everybodythat when you go into these
places, wear comfortable shoes.
Oh please, because there iswalking involved.
Yeah, and some of the streetsare cobblestones.
Yes, so, don't wear your highheels, don't wear high heel
sneakers.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Wear comfy shoes that you can walk around in.
Yeah, I highly recommend very,very casual.
Don't bring any dressy, dressyclothes or anything like that,
because it's not necessary.
It should be very casual.
You should just be able toenjoy your vacation.
It's nothing where you have todress up or anything like that.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
Now, when you went to Arezzo, what did you do there?

Speaker 3 (18:02):
So we did a guided tour again.
So as soon as we got off thebus the guided tour was there
and we did an entire tour ofArezzo.
We were only there about threehours, so our tour took probably
about almost two hours.
Then we had a little free time,so what is Arezzo known?
For so it is actually known asthe city of gold in high fashion

(18:24):
.
Gold, Gold, I like that Gold.
Oh yeah, Jewelry stores, youknow these shopping, you know
because I'm all about theshopping.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
Right.

Speaker 3 (18:34):
So really had a lot of artists in the Renaissance
period that lived there in Orenz, they couldn't afford to live
in Florence.
So back in again.
We're looking at the 18thcentury Romance.
It's like a barter colony?
Yeah, exactly, it's exactly whatit is, and even to this day,
when you walk in the streets,you'll see a lot of street

(18:55):
artists that are doing things onthe street.
Yeah, so it's a beautiful,beautiful town.
Again, we had a walking tour.
She told us all about theRomans and 311 BC, and then she
talked about Napoleon Bonahart,who actually conquered Arezzo
One of his reigns yeah, one ofhis reigns.
And then she talked about theGermans and how the city was

(19:16):
impacted back in 1944.
So, again, I don't want to givetoo much information because I
want people to go visit andlearn the history of it.
I heard this already.
Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.
She even talked about PopeBenedict XVI, who actually went
to visit there.
So it's one of the mostbeautiful cities in Italy, I
have to say.

Speaker 2 (19:35):
So people are living there.
There must be shops there.
Oh yeah, now you say also highfashion.
You know, when you think ofItaly and you think of high
fashion, you don't think aboutit.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
No, Well, that's what it was known for back in the
day.
I mean, they still had littleboutique shops and things like
that.
But I don't know that it'sstill known for that.
It was just known for that backin the day of the Renaissance
period.
So the gold and the fashion.
You know how different littletowns like Paris is known for
fashion.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
Right.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
So this arezzo was also done for that back in the
day.

Speaker 3 (20:10):
Wow, and again, when you're there in the town and
you're getting your tour guide,we said the actual tour itself
was about two hours and then youhad some free time to wander
around, had a little free timebefore we all met back at the
motor coach, which was alwaysnice because people enjoy the
free time of wandering and wehave some shopping that they can
do?

Speaker 2 (20:26):
There's some wandering.
Does the tour guide stickaround?
Okay?

Speaker 3 (20:32):
No, they excuse themselves.
They'd say thank you, Thank youfor your time you know.
Thank you so much.
If you really really liked yourtour guide, we do suggest
giving them a couple of euros.

Speaker 1 (20:41):
I was just about to hear that Giving them absolutely
.

Speaker 3 (20:44):
I always, always tip my tour guide just because it is
a nice courtesy to give themsomething.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
A little extra.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
Yeah, it doesn't have to be a lot.
I give them usually three tofive euro, so it's not.
It doesn't have to be a lot,right.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
You know, considering a bunch of people are doing the
same thing, absolutely.

Speaker 3 (21:02):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Just, you know, it's just alittle something.
I saw people give two euro, youknow, and this tour guide made
out a little bit better becausethey were the last tour guide,
so people were trying to get ridof because you know, in euros
in Europe are coins, Right?
So they were trying to get ridof their coins.
So the one euro is in all theextra change and the two euro,
you know.

(21:23):
So they were trying to get ridof all of their extra.
Yeah, they didn't want to bringit back to the state.
Exactly, exactly.
So this tour guide kind of madeout a little bit.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
It's nice to be the last tour guide.
This particular tour guide wasa woman.
Yes, correct.
She gave you the hall and youstill had the whispers.
Yep, still had the whispers.
Yeah, which was fabulous.
And now what happens is this isthe end of their tour.
And now what happens is this isthe end of their tour.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
It is.

Speaker 2 (21:48):
The end of their time in Italy.
I mean, now they're gettingback on the motor coach and
they're heading back to thevilla Yep, and there they go,
back home.
Now, did any of them go?

Speaker 3 (21:58):
to dinner tonight.
So, yes, again, freetown, right.
So some people were still full,a couple of people, a couple of
people, A couple of people.
I was one of those.
I did not have dinner thatevening.
But a few people actually wentto the little cafe and had a
gelato or something and a lentil, so they weren't hungry.
When they got back A lot ofpeople were okay, I just need to

(22:19):
pack, we got early flights, youknow that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
So now, because it is a tour, people will have to go
to the airport together, whetherthey're flights at 9 o'clock in
the morning or 6 o'clock atnight.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
Correct.
Yes, that can happen.
Now we did have some people andthis can all be arranged
through Celtic Tours as well whowent heading to the train and
went to Milan, or they went toRaleigh and spent a couple of
days in Raleigh.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
So they're doing a post-tour.

Speaker 3 (22:48):
Well, I know that while you're in Europe, you
might as well take advantage ofit, right?
So we did have some people whodidn't leave that day, but they
were leaving the villa, so theywent to other locations, other
places in Italy, and again wejust made those arrangements for
them.
We booked the additional twonights here or all of that, so
it was really nice.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
So if they don't want to go that day, they can go to
the next stop, just like KeltonTours.
Now, I'm assuming that it'sbeen all arranged before they
even got to the villa.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Of course, yeah, you have to do that before the villa
?

Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yes, so they would talk to their travel agent, or?
Their travel advisor and sayokay, I want to go to the
Village Festival, I want tospend seven days there doing the
whole thing, but then afterthat I want to spend another
five days in Italy, and thenCeltic choice is okay, what do
you want to do?

Speaker 3 (23:36):
Let's get it both.
Yep, absolutely, and we can dothat for you.
Train station again, super,super easy.
There is an app that you canactually download for those who
are savvy, or you can just go tothe train station and get the
ticket there, so you don't haveto be app savvy.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
Now a lot of people do ask how easy it is to
communicate with the locals.

Speaker 3 (23:57):
So easy they actually I mean, I didn't even have to
communicate when I went to thetrain station.
Oh nice Because they havelittle kiosks and it's in
English.
You just push English and it'sin English, so you can actually
go ahead and get your tickets.
You don't have to speak toanybody.
But it really really is quiteeasy.

Speaker 2 (24:11):
A lot of people speak English over in Italy and I
always recommend learn a fewwords.
Oh, please, thank you.
Please, can you help me?
Where is Things like that?
Where's the bathroom Exactly?

Speaker 3 (24:24):
Exactly, or how much?
How much If you shop a lot likeI do.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
So now they're done for the day, they're tucked in,
and now the next morning,keltychers is going to provide
Zebrazoi full transport.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
Correct.
Correct, it is one transport.
So if you are leaving, we didhave a.
I did have a few people wholeft.
I don't know why they did this,but their flight was at 6.30 in
the morning, so they had to bein Florida.
It's about a 40 minute drive,right it could be a little bit
longer by medical coach, right,but they had to be leave at 3,
3.30 in the morning, but there'sno train at that time, no, so

(25:11):
we had to do a regular cab.
So I don't know that they do.
I don't know that they do havean Uber, because I asked one
gentleman.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
He says no, we don't do Ubers here?

Speaker 3 (25:16):
He said that the services there, the taxi
services, I guess they oh.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
I don't know the whole story, but yeah we
arranged.

Speaker 3 (25:24):
We arranged it for them.
I actually went to the frontdesk and just made sure they got
it.
And so we had actually severalpeople who were leaving.
I had one that was leaving at730, so he shared the ride with
them.
So we had, I think, about fivepeople.
So they just shared one shuttleand they split the cost.
So it was very cost-effectivebecause the transfer that's

(25:45):
included to and from the villais one transfer.
So if you want to come early oryou want to stay later or
something like that, thetransportation would be on your
own, okay.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
So if the transportation was included,
that transport was at what time?
6.30 in the morning, 6.30 inthe morning, correct?

Speaker 3 (26:04):
So if you had like a 10.30 flight, you would be good,
correct, correct, and we kindof arranged that.
I arranged the transfer to makesure that it was convenient for
everybody.
So we didn't really haveanybody who's leaving later in
the afternoon.
So we had I think the latestflight was like at 11.30, 12.
So we had plenty of time to getthere.

(26:29):
And I do suggest, when I'mtalking to the travel agents or
to people, that they book theirflights within the transfer
window.

Speaker 2 (26:33):
Yes, that makes a lot of sense, right, because you
don't want to get your transportat 630 in the morning and not
fly out until 730 at nightbecause you're sitting there at
the airport tweeting.

Speaker 3 (26:42):
Exactly, exactly.
So you don't want to do that.

Speaker 2 (26:44):
Yeah, you want to book it it's not a private
transfer.

Speaker 3 (26:47):
It is one shuttle, one motor coach.
Transfer Right, one motor coach, yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
So now you also said that they got a little box
breakfast.
Do they eat it on the box?
So some did it.

Speaker 3 (26:59):
I did not.
It was just a box lunch withlittle snacks and you know
things like breakfast.

Speaker 2 (27:06):
you know A little munch.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
I said yeah, box breakfast, not box lunch.
But, yeah, so they just hadlittle munchies and it was
nothing hot or anything likethat.
It was.
The restaurant is not open thatearly so they made sure to give
everybody a little boxbreakfast it had.
I think I had like a pineapplejuice in there with a package of
nuts and some cookies and youknow little things yeah exactly,

(27:30):
exactly it was, it was, so ittied you over to the airport.
Only thing I had was thepineapple juice, so I really,
really needed coffee.
I needed coffee.
They didn't have coffee, so Ihad to get to the airport have
coffee, because, remember, I'vebeen drinking a double espresso
latte every morning.
So here I am jonesing for myRight, because you had to be up

(27:51):
and running quite early?

Speaker 2 (27:53):
Yeah, exactly, because if the bus was leaving
or the motorhose was leaving at6.30 in the morning, you had to
be up and running prior to that,absolutely.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Yeah, I was up about 4.30.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Oh yeah, so yeah, long travel day, so you had
quite the adventure in Italy.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
It was such an amazing, amazing experience.
This is not my first time inItaly, but my first time
actually exploring Tuscany andseeing everything that Tuscany
had to offer, and it was justsuch an amazing adventure.
I look forward to going backand showing everybody everything
all over again.

(28:29):
That would be wonderful.
It's just such a beautiful,beautiful country that would be
great Historic scenic, lots ofwine, lots of food, you know,
lots of shopping.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Lots of shopping, lots of shopping.

Speaker 3 (28:39):
So it is a country that needs to be seen at least
once, and Tuscany it just itdelivers.

Speaker 2 (28:47):
That's great, that is really good.
And again, celtic Tours makesit easy.
Yes, you can pack and I'll pack, and just contact your travel
advisor and say I want to go onCeltic Tours, I want to go and
see this villa, I want to gohere, I want to do this, and
Celtic Tours can put it alltogether.

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yes, yeah, and it'll be all taken care of for you all
in one nice little package witha ribbon on it Packed, and
don't worry about a thingExactly.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
I like that Well again, thank you for telling me
and sharing your Italyexperience with us.

Speaker 3 (29:19):
I can't thank you enough for having me on this
journey.
It's just been amazing speakingwith you, so thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
You're welcome, and I can't wait to hear what Delta
Tours has for us next.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
Yeah, something special, I'm sure Great.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
Well, that's it for today's episode of the Zine
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

(29:57):
and don't forget to share yourfavorite travel moments with me
on social media.
I'd really love to hear aboutwhere 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.