Globus Tour, June 2007 - Who Were We With?

Enduring the Florentine heat are,(standing, Trish, Sylvia, Julia, Karen, Teresa, Joe, Lexi, Nicolas, Charly and Oly and seated:  Brittany, Paul, Curtis, and Ginger June 12, 2007.

Most of our fellow travellers were middle-aged to old. The youngest were Charlie and Oly, newlyweds from Australia.  They were very sweet, very solicitous of us elder folks.  Other Australians were Bob (small and wiry with an odd accent) and wife Elaine (I think I never heard her speak); Arthur (who looked like Magwich from Great Expectations) and his wife Brenda; Bev (short red-auburn hair who loved shopping) and her friend Trish (another avid shopper)- they were going on to France afterward to visit a WW I cemetary where lay a great-uncle of one of them.  Also sisters Sylvia (she will have a birthday soon) and her older sister Teresa (she had the most odd accent of all, to American ears:  Italian-Australian) - their parents had emigrated after WW II to Australia where Sylvia was born; and Frank (frequently in a daze, he seemed on the edge of dementia) and his very sweet, elegant, and patient wife, Julia. 

Sharon, Diane, Oly, Curtis, Charlie, Ben, Alex, Wes at our farewell dinner in Rome, June 23, 2007

 Wes, Ellie, George, Marie, Karen, Richard, Brenda, Arthur at our farewell dinner in  Rome, June 23, 2007

There are four Canadians:  Richard (very friendly & outgoing, born in Germany, holds Canadian citizenship, lives near Baltimore) and wife Karen (tall, slim, athletic-looking, kept to herself mostly); a big smiling man who had had heart surgery last year and his very quiet wife- - I never did learn their name,  but he might be George and hers Marie?

Joe, Maxine, & Fred on the Venetian lagoon dinner cruise, June 13, 2007

Maggie, her husband and grandson, both named Raoul

Americans were:  Wes (photo-mad and mostly interested in gadgets and in talking about his trips) and wife Ellie (liked to buy jewelry); Alex and Ben, both of Sicilian descent - - their grandparents came to America from the same Sicilian village and they were determined to find their relatives on this trip - -  and their wives Sharon and Dianna respectively - - always jolly and always talkative.  There was Cuban Maggie (loud voice, frequently late) and the two Raouls, one her husband, the other her college-age grandson.     And Maxine and husband Fred, who (like me) did not think much of the Bridge of Sighs nor the horrible dark, narrow corridors in the Venetian prison tour).

Paul  (w/cup) Julia Kelly (in white); Brittany (tan shorts), Lexi (in background), Ginger and Curtis Miller (leaning against the wall, June 16, 2007

And finally, the Millers who hail from Parkersburg, WV.  This was Curtis and Ginger and their daughters Brittany (college age) and Lexi (middle school age), and Ginger's parent, Paul and Julia Kelly.  Despite her name, Julia Kelly is first generation American.  Joe spent lots and lots of time talking with the Miller-Kelly group.  Brittany told me later that Joe reminded them a lot of Curtis's late father because they both could talk about anything and everything.

Frank is looking on as Oly and Charlie flank Nicolas (our guide) and Liborio (our intrepid driver), June 23, 2007

So, with Joe and me, there were thirty-five travelling with Nicolas and Liborio.