Freelance Tour Manager for Rail Based vacations around the world
Our final full day so I took my clients up the volcano. We started early to avoid crowds and make the best of good weather. Nearly all of my clients went to the very top - I stayed as base camp Refugia Sapienza. To catch them as they came down and to defrost them (it …
The weather Gods are beginning to tire of tormenting us and were able to catch an early morning hydrofoil back to mainland Sicily. We arrived at Milazzo port and out faithful bus driver Salvatore transferred us to Messina for a short tour and a late breakfast. Looking across the Straights of Messina, the Italian mainland …
For those of you who believe that my life is one endless stream of basking in sunshine at poolside while being fed grapes by supermodels in skimpy bikinis, well… you are essentially correct. Unfortunately, into every life a little rain must fall, and it’s doing so today, rather heavily in fact. The weather has impacted …
One of the things that I love most about being is that here in Italy is that despite the usual Covid precautions, the place still feels like Italy. People are laughing, and talking, and gesticulating, just like They always do in Italy, and it doesn’t feel at all strange. It’s a wonderful change from the …
The WiFi and internet signals are a little hit and miss on this Tour - perhaps unsurprisingly since we’re on a moving barge in the middle of mountains and the remote French countryside. Today is our last full day on the Barge, so this post will be for both yesterday and today, and so slightly …
Having moored overnight at Saverne we started the day with a guided walking tour of this pretty little French provincial town. As we walked around Saverne the Church Bells started ringing - I always think this is such a pretty sound, and I was impressed that our Guide had arranged for them to be rung …
My cabin window is very close to the waterline, which doesn’t matter much when you’re travelling really slowly on a silky smooth canal. I woke this morning to see the canal surface steaming gently as the morning sun hit the water (that’s my poetic/romantic moment for the Tour all done in one paragraph). It was …
We woke to bright sunshine - there’s not been much of that this year in the UK so it took a moment to recognise the big shining yellow orb in the sky. We took a leisurely breakfast inside and finished our coffees outside because… why not? Our cruise takes us along the Canal de la …
So, for the first time in a very long time, TimOnTheTrain is off on an International adventure. An early start at St. Pancras meant that we had it almost to ourselves, and it never looked lovelier! In recognition of this return to the status quo, Great Rail Journeys had organised a glass of champagne in …
Bonjour Everybody. Unexpectedly, I've picked up another Tour after my Italy was cancelled. It's very different to my usual kind of thing, but I'm looking forward to it immensely. I'm going to be French, or actually, to be specific, I'm going to become an Alsatian. Fortunately, this doesn't mean that I'll be entered into Crufts …
Our final full day in Italy, before we fly home tomorrow. We visited the Italian town of Gallipoli, A walled island city at the end of a peninsular that sticks out into the Ionian Sea. We were back on the train today, and this time in air-conditioned comfort. Nardò Centrale station is a busy hub …
Continue reading "Gallipoli (no, not that one, the Italian one)"
Like a fool, and despite training, I lifted and twisted something today and now my back hurts. I’ve decided to have an early night with my new best friends, Ibuprofen and Paracetamol. Tonight’s post will be light on prose. Today we visited lovely Otranto, the most Easterly point in Italy. You can just see Albania …
Yesterday was a Free Day for my clients - so no Tour Manager chasing them around on and off trains and busses. They made good use of the time, walking, cycling, exploring and even going out on the ocean in a boat. They’re not supposed to have that much fun without me! Today we made …
Yesterday was a full day excursion to the large town of Lecce and or first opportunity to travel by Italian train. Our faithful bus driver, Mimino, picked us up and transported us to the station (tiny building, unmanned and closed) where we picked up the regional train to Lecce. Lecce’s more famous residents include Gerard …
It’s not NARdo. There’s an accent on the last ‘o’ so that’s where you put the stress. It’s narDO. And the ‘o’ isn’t rounded like at the end of Tomato - it’s flat, as in ‘Block’. You’d know that if you were an Italian, like me 😁😁 While I’m here, I’ve decided to improve my …
Well, we made it, and as I write I have now become an Italian. My hotel last night was the Premier Inn at terminal five. I’m usually rather fond of Premier Inns but they seem to be struggling a bit at the moment (who isn’t?). I went down to the bar in the hotel to …
Got a phone call today from Great Rail Journeys. A Tour Manager has become unwell and can’t operate his scheduled Tour, Puglia & The Salento Coast - All Inclusive. They asked if I would be happy to pick up the Tour at short notice; it leaves very early on on Saturday morning so I’ve got …
The second Tour that I have pencilled in for 2021, departs on 06th March 2021 and couldn't be more different to Sri Lanka. It combines history with rail travel. I'm something of a nerd when it comes to the Second World War; office shelves sag under the weight of military history reference books. Railways and …
I guess that'll teach me to try and be happy during lockdown. Shortly after my last post, the UK Government decided to put France on the Naughty Step, and as a result I've just been told that my Italian Tour to Sirmione & Lake Garda has been cancelled. For a couple of days there was …
It has been a long, and frankly, lousy Summer. All of my Tours were ultimately cancelled with the cancellations being drip-fed month by month as the situation changed, or rather, didn't. I was lucky enough to receive some financial help from the government, but this was rather soured by their laissez-faire attitude to support for …
TimOnTheTrain 