Here’s a few basic things that may make your trip to Italy a little easier.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE, first double-check your passport is valid (hey, it’s happened). And, stash a copy of your passport and credit cards in another spot of your luggage or trade with your partner. I always carry important documents in a travel pouch around my neck under my blouse/shirt. Better safe, I say.
LABEL YOUR BAG with the Hotel Giotto address: Via Fontebella 41; 06081 Assisi; Perugia, Italy and phone number 39-075-812744. Put your name and address inside the bag- you can label the bag the reverse on the way back. That way, your bag can follow you if it gets separated!
ARRIVING at the international gate in Rome, you will exit through a glass door (just like in domestic airports) into the lobby. This is where a driver will wait for you with an Art Workshop International sign.
TO CHANGE MONEY, there are ATM machines everywhere, including the airport. Some credit cards are better than others - try to find one that has a commercial, not forex, rate of exchange and is set daily. There probably will be an surcharge, too. Brokerage firms tend to be better than banks.
IF YOU LOVE COFFEE, try one of the stand-up bars. You order and pay first at the cashier, then show your ticket to the barrista who will fill your order.
TO CALL HOME, buy a phone card. Don’t use it with a cellphone - it will still be expensive. Your family and friends back home can do the same, for example, with a www.nobel.com access code.
A few words can get you far - per favore (please), grazie (thank you), mi scusi (excuse me), buon giorno (good day), parla inglese? (do you speak English).
Most of all, relax and enjoy the differences!
Ciao, Chris Spencer

Small travel tip–call your credit card customer service number to alert them to the fact that you’ll be using it out of the country. Last year I could charge, but couldn’t withdraw money on mine because it was considered “suspicious activity.”

Barbara Shoup