Things that worked, things that didn't

Things that worked, things that didn’t
One of the best purchases I made for my trip was this:


Big enough to handle Euro notes and a bunch of coins, with “grabby” enough material to be secure in a front pocket.












Those who know Ms. Packratty and her tendency to carry large heavy purses will be astounded to hear that many days she carried no purse at all and that when she did the little Pacsafe 100 she purchased held her camera, maps, guidebook and notebook perfectly.

Ms. Packratty took her Dell netbook with her , although she did not manage to download any library books before she left, which she regrets not doing since she did run out of reading material before the end of her stay. While the apartment did not have Internet service, Ms. Packratty did find it handy to have the netbook to sit at the little table and write. However, given how inexpensive the Internet point down the street was, it’s pretty much a tossup whether she would bother on another trip. The bulky voltage converter she bought on Amazon and left behind in favor of space and weight for gifts was handy and did its job.
Ms. Packratty did not buy her Nikon Coolpix for this trip, but it was the perfect size for the use she did put it to. While there were a couple of times she wished for a telephoto lens, she was more interested in being where she was than of concentrating on the next picture.
Ms. Packratty did not use her MP3 player at all, not for music, not for books on tape, nada. It’s small and light though, so it wasn’t a major waste of space or weight.
Ms. Packratty’s Lucas luggage did a great job, especially considering the bangety-clatter of travelling over Roman cobblestones
Things that did not work:
First and foremost was the American Express Prepaid, which was a giant FAIL in all aspects – functionality and customer service. I don’t know which was worse. After being home almost a week, Ms. Packratty is now almost calmed down enough to call American Express and convey her utter disappointment in their product and their service. Fortunately, Ms. Packratty had planned for something to go wrong.

The only thing that was less effective and useful than the American Express was Italian deodorant. There’s a reason that Italians reek and that’s because their deodorants don’t deodorize. Ms. Packratty had elected to buy toiletries in Italy vs. packing them and dealing with possible leaks and the TSA etc. Never again. She might buy her shampoo and toothpaste over there, but she is never ever leaving her trusty can of Sure behind. Even though it was chilly, with the mileage she was putting on her pumps, Ms. Packratty was nearing Roman levels of pong after 4 days, despite twice daily washing up, and vigorous use of two different Italian deodorants. She could not locate anything like a Dial analog, either.




Being a fussy sort who bathes very frequently and can’t stand to be pong-y, the fact that Italian deodorant neither inhibited sweat nor deodorized was distressing and Ms. Packratty was quite thankful that she did not end up wearing any of her cashmere sweaters as she is afraid the pong might have been hard to wash out.
The New Balance shoes were a disappointment. While her older pair never seems to cause foot cramps from pressure, this pair did even without socks. Maybe they needed more breaking in.
More to come, including pictures.