Italy and Greece Trip Report

[stmartinfan]

I can't think of a time I've needed a credit card pin either during any of our overseas trips we've taken in the last several years. The nice thing in European countries is that they bring the credit card reader to your table, so you never have to hand your card to someone to take away and process. Eliminates the chance for the server to steal your number.

 

[DaveNV]

I can't think of a time I've needed a credit card pin either during any of our overseas trips we've taken in the last several years. The nice thing in European countries is that they bring the credit card reader to your table, so you never have to hand your card to someone to take away and process. Eliminates the chance for the server to steal your number.

Yes, that was what we experienced. Our credit cards were never out of our hands. I was surprised at how digital everything was. Even the smallest shop vendors had one of those tap-and-go machines. That, and free WiFi everywhere we went. It made everything very simple.

Dave

 

[TheHolleys87]

I forgot to post this. When we were in Turkey, we stopped at a rug weaver. They had a tremendous selection of beautifully handmade rugs. We bought this beauty.


View attachment 97696

Dave

Ah yes, we bought one in Turkey as well, after we toured Ephesus! It’s hanging on our wall, away from dogs’ claws and other dangers, and we’re really glad we bought it. Be aware, though, that for a year or more afterwards we received phone calls and emails from the company advising us that their representative would be in the US and would be happy to meet with us about buying another. After multiple attempts to stop the calls politely, we finally had to block them.

 

[DaveNV]

Ah yes, we bought one in Turkey as well, after we toured Ephesus! It’s hanging on our wall, away from dogs’ claws and other dangers, and we’re really glad we bought it. Be aware, though, that for a year or more afterwards we received phone calls and emails from the company advising us that their representative would be in the US and would be happy to meet with us about buying another. After multiple attempts to stop the calls politely, we finally had to block them.

Good to know. Jeff purchased the rug - so they have his contact info. We did a "Good Cop, Bad Cop" thing to get the price down. I was the Bad Cop. They didn't have a lot to say to me. LOL!

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

Good to know. Jeff purchased the rug - so they have his contact info. We did a "Good Cop, Bad Cop" thing to get the price down. I was the Bad Cop. They didn't have a lot to say to me. LOL!

Dave

I mis-spoke earlier. We didn't buy in Turkey, but brought one home from Morocco and nice silk one from China. The rug-merchants are relentless in following you through bazars. They'll have a pile of rugs 3+ feet high and happily take the whole thing apart to show you 'just one more'. Nobody talked about shipping, we hand carried them through multiple days and countries. I don't recall if we had to pay extra baggage for them, but that was the lesson NO MORE RUGS!!!!

 

[DaveNV]

I mis-spoke earlier. We didn't buy in Turkey, but brought one home from Morocco and nice silk one from China. The rug-merchants are relentless in following you through bazars. They'll have a pile of rugs 3+ feet high and happily take the whole thing apart to show you 'just one more'. Nobody talked about shipping, we hand carried them through multiple days and countries. I don't recall if we had to pay extra baggage for them, but that was the lesson NO MORE RUGS!!!!

We had the visit as part of our Ephesus tour, but didn't buy anything. I told them I didn't pay for the historical tour to sit through a forced salespitch to buy a rug. (My Tug hackles were up.) After we were on the bus and the tour was ending, the tour guide took me aside and said the same rug company had a shop near the cruise port, if we wanted to look at our leisure, after we were done. Jeff and I talked, and agreed to do that. After the tour ended, we went to the second location. We spent time with zero pressure, looked at a lot of rugs, and chose the one we bought. We got a very fair price, and as I mentioned previously, there was no extra cost to ship it to our house. Everything was somehow tied to Celebrity Cruises. Not sure how that works, but I'm sure somebody is getting a kickback somewhere along the way.

Dave

 

[stmartinfan]

We bought 2 hall runners on a tour in India about 15 years ago. We didn't know that exact length we needed, so emailed the dimensions after we returned home and got the rugs by mail several months later. At that time, local women would hand tie them in their homes. We are beautiful and I still love seeing them when we enter our house. We're had them professionally cleaned a couple of times and they still don't show any wear (except for a small edge where my daughter's dog gnawed a bit.)

 

[PcflEZFlng]

I can't think of a time I've needed a credit card pin either during any of our overseas trips we've taken in the last several years. The nice thing in European countries is that they bring the credit card reader to your table, so you never have to hand your card to someone to take away and process. Eliminates the chance for the server to steal your number.

^This. I wish everyone did that here (only some do). And I never needed my PIN during either last year's trip or the one I just returned from.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

Yes, that was what we experienced. Our credit cards were never out of our hands. I was surprised at how digital everything was. Even the smallest shop vendors had one of those tap-and-go machines. That, and free WiFi everywhere we went. It made everything very simple.

Dave

Most of the time, I never even had to pull out my CC. Maybe only a couple of times. Almost every reader took ApplePay.

 

[DaveNV]

Most of the time, I never even had to pull out my CC. Maybe only a couple of times. Almost every reader took ApplePay.

Good to know. I don't use Apple Pay.

Dave

 

[Glynda]

They weren’t bad. This was actually at a second location, after the tour.

It seems apparent to me that the cruise lines, tour operators, even the tour guides on the buses, get some sort of kick back if they take you to certain places. We experienced it particularly in Greece and Turkey. But even out walking on our own in Greece, if we window shopped, a salesperson would come outside, start a conversation and invite us in for water or wine and to look. They were polite and a no was a no. In Turkey, however, once we stepped off a tour bus, we were immediately surrounded by a group of people pressing in on us while waving things in our faces. We couldn't move. As we walked into the Bazaar in Istanbul, we were approached by shop people in a much more forceful and annoying manner than in Greece. It was frightening. We also went into a rug store in Ephesus. It started out nicely but ended with a lot of pressure.

 

[DaveNV]

It seems apparent to me that the cruise lines, tour operators, even the tour guides on the buses, get some sort of kick back if they take you to certain places. We experienced it particularly in Greece and Turkey. But even out walking on our own in Greece, if we window shopped, a salesperson would come outside, start a conversation and invite us in for water or wine and to look. They were polite and a no was a no. In Turkey, however, once we stepped off a tour bus, we were immediately surrounded by a group of people pressing in on us while waving things in our faces. We couldn't move. As we walked into the Bazaar in Istanbul, we were approached by shop people in a much more forceful and annoying manner than in Greece. It was frightening. We also went into a rug store in Ephesus. It started out nicely but ended with a lot of pressure.

That must have been annoying. I only had one experience of a vendor getting too aggressive. That was in a street market in Florence. Jeff looked at a leather duffle, and made the mistake of touching it. He shook his head, and said "No, thanks" and we walked out. The guy followed us down the block, shouting after us in English, until I finally turned around and shouted, "F*CK NO!!!" in his face. He got the hint. I'm not proud of myself, but he was relentless.

Dave

 

[WinniWoman]

Most of the time, I never even had to pull out my CC. Maybe only a couple of times. Almost every reader took ApplePay.

I might try that. I was always a little skeptical about the security of Apple Pay,

 

[TheHolleys87]

Re vendors in Turkey, when leaving Ephesus the path to the bus passed through a gauntlet of sellers (fortunately not very annoying) advertising “genuine fake Rolex watches”! Yes, one of our favorite memories!

 

[DaveNV]

Re vendors in Turkey, when leaving Ephesus the path to the bus passed through a gauntlet of sellers (fortunately not very annoying) advertising “genuine fake Rolex watches”! Yes, one of our favorite memories!

I saw a shop sign that said that. I laughed out loud.

Dave

 

[PigsDad]

I might try that. I was always a little skeptical about the security of Apple Pay,

It's actually more secure than using a physical credit card, since your CC number is never seen or transmitted; Apple Pay transmits secure one-time use info for that transaction.

Kurt

 

[rickandcindy23]

Dave, I’m sitting here in pain with a newly broken shoulder and I have to say your post lifted my spirits, and reminded me there are good things to look forward to.

We have a trip planned for the fall of 2025 to Spain and France. We now might add a cruise to the mix . Thanks for the inspiration to start planning and thanks for all the time you spent writing such a detailed and thoughtful trip report. Just wonderful!

So sorry you are going through this. I broke my shoulder on 3/26/2023 and I remember the pain so distinctly. I can empathize. Prayers for your healing.

Still today, if I sleep wrong, I have pain in that right shoulder. It's a dull pain and doesn't require even ibuprofen. It's a gentle reminder to be more careful, but I may be a little too careful now. I worry about falling all of the time.

 

[sun starved Gayle]

Thank you Cindy, that is very sweet of you.