Dorlee, I am, indeed a gentleman willing to do what you request. Hence I am answering here your question about the discount cards. As for my jacket, let me try to answer that in the most gentlemanly terms possible:

SHOVE IT!

The Venice Card has to be ordered 48 hours in advance, although but if you will be in Italy at the time you can do it there.

Details can be found on post # 155 of this thread. There is also a link there to the Venice Card website.

I believe that you can also buy reduced price tickets in Venice that are good for one day or for 10 trips spread over several days.

From time to time, people in Italy go on strike. This is especially true of government workers. Often, there is no reason that anybody other than the strikers themselves can figure out. Sometimes, even they can't.

These strikes generally last for one day. There are no negotiations. There is no settlement. The next day they are back at work.

On Friday, there was such a strike of all local transport workers in Italy. As this includes the water busses, they were not running -- or swimming or whatever it is that water busses do.

Aren't you all glad they chose Oct 22 for his and not Nov 22?

Of course, this does not mean they won't do the same thing for one day while we are there. On the other hand, this need not come as a surprise to anyone: they usually announce them about a week in advance.

Ah, Italy!

Yes, I was the victim of just such a strike during my stay in Venice two years ago, as reported in another post on this thread.

Inconveniently for me, the one-stay strike occurred on the very last day of my stay, so (rather than paying inflated prices to share a watertaxi), I hoofed it all the way from my hotel in Dorsoduro to the train station, pulling my wheeled luggage along, over the steps of the bridges and all. Good exercise, anyhow! :p

And yes, there is such a thing as waterproof socks. I bought mine at REI and they work well -- when I remember to wear them! ;)

Two plastic grocery bags and rubber bands? (That's what I'm thinking of bringing, for emergency. ;) )

That would be some emergency. Presumably it is in case you meet an Italian lover who is too big for ordinary condoms.

Come to think of it, that would be some lover!

And yes, there is such a thing as waterproof socks. I bought mine at REI and they work well -- when I remember to wear them! ;)[/QUOTE]


Kathy what is REI? I keep seeing it referred to here on FT. I am in NW Florida, and I have never heard of it.

Unfortunately, there are no REIs in Florida (as well as metro NYC). I'm actually planning to go to one on my upcoming trip to the states but my destinations are NY, NJ and FL ...

The nearest one to my destinations will be near Philly :(

What is with that frown????!!!!

You have an excuse to go to Philly and you frown at it?

Hear me well, Grasshopper: Philly is the land of the Cheesesteak Sandwich, hot pretzels smothered in mustard and, most importantly, the Eagles.

You have been given the opportunity of a lifetime!

Seems like my trip to the USA will be on Continental and not KLM (I can get standard 100K BF reward including the FLL flights - using EWR as a stopover). This means no stopover in Europe, and unfortunately no possibility to mix it with a short VCE hop.

This is not final, but my chances of coming are going down rapidly... :(

Apirchik, if you can't make it we will miss you --but I will keep you on the "Possible" list until you tell me otherwise.

Ever hear of Google? Or other search engines?

It's high time you learned to use them when you have questions like that! ;)

e-mail from Marco Musco this morning
 

In response to questions from other FT'rs, Marco has stated the following:
1. All rooms at AiMori have safes
2. All rooms have bathrobes
3. Extra pillows are available

Marco has also informed me that he will be off until Tuesday and then in London from November 6-12. If you have any further questions, please e-mail me or Marco before November 6.

Dinner in VCE
 

Marco has confirmed a reservation for 30 people at
Vini di Gigio. This is a tiny restaurant about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. We will have a room reserved just for FT'rs. Sorry, Dov, this is the non-smoking room. We will have a fixed price menu which I will discuss with Paolo, the owner, when I arrive.
Please see following link from Fodors
http://www.fodors.com/rants/rrread.c...sort=name&pg=5

Wow, looks like a fabulous restaurant!
Do the rooms at the Ai Mori have high speed internet access? Also, Dovster posted a free subscription to some internet service a while ago....can this be posted again?