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Private Moments
08/08/2006
Sometimes, traveling for pleasure can be more stressful than just staying at home, especially when you’re trying to cram as much as possible into your limited vacation time. Whether you’re dashing from one monument to the next, scheduling activities on the hour, or trying to bond with your tour group full of strangers, it’s easy to forget to enjoy the journey.
The next time you’re traveling, try creating at least one special moment for yourself, a standout experience that is yours and yours alone. Your moment can run the range from an expensive, fully planned experience, to sweet talking a museum guide into letting you linger a few minutes after closing time, to simply taking in a spectacular view at just the right time - one that makes you feel like the only person in the world.
In the mood for a royal tour? Believe it or not, you can actually have lunch with a princess (for a price). For about $1,400, Abercrombie Kent (www.abercrombiekent.com http://www.abercrombiekent.com offer packages to Italy that include a walk through the gardens and home of Princess Maria Carla Borghese, and lunch with the princess by the poolside. However, you can also arrange your very own moment with a princess simply by emailing her directly at biviere@sicilyonline.it. Our email to this address garnered a response the very next day from the princess’ administrative office, confirming that you can “Fix a date in time for the garden and the house visit guided by the princess Borghese. The princess is available April 1 through June 30 or September 15 through November 6; lunch or dinner can be included, together with personal friends of the Princess.” A tour of the garden with the princess is $19, and having a meal together costs $386.
Of course, trying to arrange your own special moment doesn’t come with any guarantees but sometimes it may be worth a shot. When the Dalai Lama is in town, you can shell out about $100 for a ticket to see his public presentations with a crowd. Or if you get the invite, you can drop $2,500 for a private fundraiser that may include lunch, and hopefully some face time, with the Dalai Lama. But did you know that the Dalai Lama also meets with private audiences? If you’re interested in meeting with him, make a request to his office well in advance. If you’re visiting India, you can send a written request to the Tibetan Welfare Office in Upper Dharamsala, and if you’d like to see him while he’s traveling in the United States, contact the Office of Tibet New York. Include information on yourself as well as the specific reasons why you want to see His Holiness, and the office will review and evaluate your request. In reality, getting a private audience with the Dalai Lama can be extremely difficult due to his schedule, but for some, it may be worth a try. For more information, visit www.dalailama.com.
In other situations, paying full price to arrange a special experience may help ensure that things go smoothly, but it's not always required. For $1,500 per couple, Asia Transpacific Journeys can help couples renew their wedding vows in Bhutan, including Buddhist marriage rituals, a Bhutanese dance performance and a lunch reception for the entire village. But if you’re a smooth talker, you may be able to pull off something just as romantic and impressive. A traveler who traveled to Italy through Gate 1 Travel worked with his tour guides to arrange a surprise marriage proposal in the Sistine Chapel. “Your guides went through great lengths to get his wish accomplished with none of us knowing,” wrote the bride’s mother to the travel agency. “This was unbelievable as there was eight of us on the tour. They met him up in his room and kept his presence a secret while making plans to get him into the chapel ahead of us. They gave him a headset so that he would know where we were? What a romantic story and all thanks to your guides.”
In fact, there are some moments that only a tour company can provide - and may well be worth the cost. The Chicago-based agency Select Italy offers guided visits through Florence’s exclusive ?secret passageway, - aka the Vasari Corridor. This passageway winds above the streets of Florence and connects the Uffizi Gallery to the Palazzo Vecchio and the Palazzo Pitti. It was designed for Italian Renaissance royalty to give them easier access outside of the reach of common people, and is still officially closed to the general public. Through Select Italy, small groups can wander the private passageway, which houses a collection of painters? Self portraits, and offers views of Florence and the Arno River and its bridges. This service can be purchased as a private tour for $900, or you may join an existing small group tour for $93. For more information, call (800) 877-1755 or visit www.selectitaly.com.
However, if you don’t feel like shelling out extra bucks for a special experience during your travels, why not just create a personal moment you’ll never forget? Simply take some time to stop, breathe, and soak in the moment. The best part is, you can do that pretty much anywhere and it won’t cost you a dime. It could mean standing in the middle of St. Mark’s Square after all the restaurants are closed and the crowds have emptied; getting on a Ferris Wheel in the Tuileries and taking in the nightscape of Paris from the top; or taking a train through the countryside - wherever you are – and looking out the window. After all, this is what travel is all about.
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