@Yehuda's Israel/Eurotrip Honeymoon

[EJB]

Didn't check till just now - USPS Sunday Delivery. First time I'm actually happy that Amazon sent via USPS.

+1
Also got USPS deliveries from amazon yesterday and today. But last week had a package "unsafe to leave outside door" (soap or something like that) returned to the post office after 1 attempt. That was annoying.

[@Yehuda]

+1
Also got USPS deliveries from amazon yesterday and today. But last week had a package "unsafe to leave outside door" (soap or something like that) returned to the post office after 1 attempt. That was annoying.

For a while the USPS delivery guy was definitely not even attempting to ring my bell. I was home all day and he didn't ring, just left the slip in my mailbox. I don't get why in the world he wouldn't at least ring the bell. I ended up getting my local USPS coordinator's (or something like that) direct number and had her twice find my packages and get them redelivered. She said it happens often enough and she can't figure out why the drivers don't even attempt to ring the bells. Maybe they don't even bring the package off the truck. They know if they leave you a slip, they don't have to come back for a redelivery unless you request it, as opposed to UPS who comes back automatically. I mean even laziness isn't the right word for that.

[ilherman]

For a while the USPS delivery guy was definitely not even attempting to ring my bell. I was home all day and he didn't ring, just left the slip in my mailbox. I don't get why in the world he wouldn't at least ring the bell. I ended up getting my local USPS coordinator's (or something like that) direct number and had her twice find my packages and get them redelivered. She said it happens often enough and she can't figure out why the drivers don't even attempt to ring the bells. Maybe they don't even bring the package off the truck. They know if they leave you a slip, they don't have to come back for a redelivery unless you request it, as opposed to UPS who comes back automatically. I mean even laziness isn't the right word for that.

Welcome to USPS!

[SOS]

Right. So I have to calculate what'll be more expensive. Paying for the B&B and paying for cabs into town, or staying at the hotel for free, but paying for cabs to the Shul.

i thought you were trying to do all hotels on points (even using 14k ur in gib just for bragging rights) it should be a easy decision to use points

on a different note i am waiting to see what you'll uncover in the venice thread

[@Yehuda]

i thought you were trying to do all hotels on points (even using 14k ur in gib just for bragging rights) it should be a easy decision to use points

on a different note i am waiting to see what you'll uncover in the venice thread

Yeah, so that's pushing me but if the GIB situation meant a technical loss of about $50. Here, if I want to go to Shul for Mincha/Maariv, Shacharis, and Mincha/Maariv, I'll be paying $70 in taxis per trip. That's a much larger loss. At the same time, though, if I stay by a B&B at the Shul, I have to estimate about $70 x 2 nights, plus the taxis to downtown - assuming downtown is where the attractions are. So far, from what I've gotten from the Ireland thread, the attractions are hours away from downtown, so I'm kinda lost with this whole thing anyway right now. lol

Other than trying to find a hotel in Dublin, I realized I was all over the place with planning this thing. So besides for lightly looking into my Dublin hotel options, I decided to go back to the beginning of my trip and plan the itinerary from there. I have a general layout for Israel and now I'm up to the 4th day in Europe.

[Yehoshua]

Other than trying to find a hotel in Dublin, I realized I was all over the place with planning this thing. So besides for lightly looking into my Dublin hotel options, I decided to go back to the beginning of my trip and plan the itinerary from there. I have a general layout for Israel and now I'm up to the 4th day in Europe.

You're replanning the Italy stuff? In what order are you doing the cities in Europe?

[@Yehuda]

You're replanning the Italy stuff? In what order are you doing the cities in Europe?

No, not replanning anything. Just going back to day 1 and hammering out my plans. When I get to Italy, I'll already have a lot of info in my notes, and I'll just build my itinerary around that. Spain then Italy.

[Yehoshua]

Spain then Italy.

What about the rest?

[@Yehuda]

Can I get thoughts on Jewish tours? Seems like every city has one (Rome even has a few options) and if you're going the same day as others or work out some sort of discount, you can often get the price down to 45-50 eur pp. (Obviously the tours that cost 300+ eur, like Toledo, are out of the question.) That's great compared to the advertised price of all these tours, which are closer to 100 eur. Additionally, all these European Jewish tours have raving reviews here in the forums and online.

So, my question is: how do you know if it's worth it? I'm sure every tour really will be great. But we're talking $120-140 per couple per tour. The real thing that's bothering me is that it's not all or nothing here. We can walk into the Shul/museum in Florence or in Barcelona and look around ourselves for a fraction of the price. Obviously, we'll be missing out on the tour experience, but is that worth all the money that could otherwise be spent on food and other activities?

Hmmmm.....

[sky121]

I'd say that's really a decision you're going to have to make. If you want to save money I'd definitely do some of your own 'tours' and history research so you know what you're seeing. In general if you go on a highly rated tour you should be getting a lot out of it.
Other benefits may include skipping long lines and entering places you can't otherwise enter.

I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with not doing every single tour. Especially depending on what your time is like.
Save something for next time.

[@Yehuda]

I'd say that's really a decision you're going to have to make.

I knew that, I just like thinking aloud in public.

If you want to save money I'd definitely do some of your own 'tours' and history research so you know what you're seeing. In general if you go on a highly rated tour you should be getting a lot out of it.
Other benefits may include skipping long lines and entering places you can't otherwise enter.

I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with not doing every single tour. Especially depending on what your time is like.
Save something for next time.

My uncle is a huge history buff, so he would love walking around by himself. But, I don't think I have time/interest now to start researching the different places we're going. So for that reason, I think I'll opt for more tours.
That was a lot of double-negatives, but I got what you're saying Time is not really an issue. In fact, I like the tours because they give definite times/structure to my day, and I can more easily plan things around them.

Haha not sure there will be a next time - kinda why I'm trying to get all of Europe into 1 trip while we're here anyway. I think future vacations (iy"h with kids and such) will more likely be to vacation-ier places.


I think a good idea is to take tours (these are mostly Jewish tours) of places that have a richer Jewish history, like Rome, and pass on places like Florence, where there isn't famous history and just opt to visit the Shul there myself.

[sky121]

Sounds good to me. At the end of the day you have to remind yourself that places are too big and too packed to see everything. And if one city you get more history out of and in another you spend more time just soaking in the people or the architecture that's ok too.

When do you leave again?

[@Yehuda]

Sounds good to me. At the end of the day you have to remind yourself that places are too big and too packed to see everything. And if one city you get more history out of and in another you spend more time just soaking in the people or the architecture that's ok too.

When do you leave again?

Right right. Agreed.
2 weeks 

[@Yehuda]

First week planned! (With a few follow-up things still to confirm.)
On to Italy iy"h tomorrow!

[SOS]

Finally

[@Yehuda]

Finally

Yeah, no more time to procrastinate. 

[@Yehuda]

I'm staying at the Eliott Hotel in GIB for 1 night (Friday night). I was hoping to get late checkout till after Shabbos but they said housekeeping ends at 5PM, so if I want to be able to checkout after Shabbos ends, I have to pay for another night.

Any ideas? I can't be the first person to ever stay at a hotel just for Friday night. What have you done/said in the past to not pay for Motzai Shabbos?

[lunatic]

Right right. Agreed.
2 weeks 

I hope we are going to be getting lots of reports along the way

[sky121]

I'm staying at the Eliott Hotel in GIB for 1 night (Friday night). I was hoping to get late checkout till after Shabbos but they said housekeeping ends at 5PM, so if I want to be able to checkout after Shabbos ends, I have to pay for another night.

Any ideas? I can't be the first person to ever stay at a hotel just for Friday night. What have you done/said in the past to not pay for Motzai Shabbos?

Not sure about that specific hotel but ...
You can try emailing the manager now. Might be better off waiting though....
Also, a tip never hurts.
Some hotels will charge you a small amount. But even then you can talk your way out of it usually.

[@Yehuda]

I hope we are going to be getting lots of reports along the way

Along the way of planning it? I'm probably just going to post what day/city I'm up to. During the TR I plan to post all the details.

Not sure about that specific hotel but ...
You can try emailing the manager now. Might be better off waiting though....
Also, a tip never hurts.
Some hotels will charge you a small amount. But even then you can talk your way out of it usually.

So, I emailed the hotel, but the response came from the Reservations Manager, who may not be the GM there. I'll call the hotel directly and see what I get. Thanks for the ideas, I'll try to play off them when I speak to them.