p.8 #1 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
chiron wrote:
What is the travel situation in Italy given the new covid variant? We are scheduled for Rome, Florence, Bologna, and elsewhere in Tuscany in late February and March. Our worry is that if even one of our group of three contracts the very contagious new variant, the required quarantine will kill the trip.
At this stage nobody knows what will happen in the next week, let alone in 2 months. There may be more restrictions (eg closed museums) or not, there may be more cases or not. If you are going ahead triple check your insurance and what it covers.
p.8 #2 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
chiron wrote:
What is the travel situation in Italy given the new covid variant? We are scheduled for Rome, Florence, Bologna, and elsewhere in Tuscany in late February and March. Our worry is that if even one of our group of three contracts the very contagious new variant, the required quarantine will kill the trip.
Honestly, nothing too different from what other European countries are doing at the moment. Back home it's more strict (full lockdown at the moment) than it was in Italy, ironically.
Currectly there isn't a lockdown in Italy and most museums are open as normal, and you're allowed to go in with a Covid Green Pass. Temperature checks are also very common. Some attractions or hotels might ask for a Super Green Pass though, which means that you need to be either fully vaccinated or have proof of recovery. Hotel spas or wellness centers also ask for that Super Pass.
Italy also didn't require a PCR test for us since we arrived from Switzerland (it was required there), but it's hard to say what will happen in the next two months. Governments are highly unpredictable and can change their policies weekly. There is a chance you will have to take a PCR test (with negative result), have the vaccine and boosters for example by the time March rolls around but it's hard to predict. That's what Austria requires already, if that's any indication.
p.8 #3 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
zz wrote:
Honestly, nothing too different from what other European countries are doing at the moment. Back home it's more strict than it was in Italy, ironically.
Currectly there isn't a lockdown in Italy and most museums are open as normal, and you're allowed to go in with a Covid Green Pass. Temperature checks are also very common. Some attractions or hotels might ask for a Super Green Pass though, which means that you need to be either fully vaccinated or have proof of recovery. Hotel spas or wellness centers also ask for that Super Pass.
Italy also didn't require a PCR test for us since we arrived from Switzerland (it was required there), but it's hard to say what will happen in the next two months. Governments are highly unpredictable and can change their policies weekly. There is a chance you will have to take a PCR test, have the vaccine and boosters for example by the time March rolls around but it's hard to predict. That's what Austria requires already, if that's any indication....Show more →
While Rome and Tuscany are still in the white zones (for the present), it looks to me like the wisest course is to cancel the trip for now. Even though we are all triple-vaxxed and very unlikely to get seriously ill, any of us getting quarantined for 10 days would destroy our plans and cost a lot of money for nothing.
p.8 #5 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
DaveFP wrote:
Wherever you go plan on delays getting home.
My daughter just spent two weeks in Argentina with her SO.
Tested positive at the airport and now stuck in Buenos Aires until she tests negative.
That is exactly the kind of thing I fear. Glad she didn't get really sick. A distant in-law went to Mexico unvaxxed, tested positive at the airport and was quarantined, sent his wife and kids on ahead, got very sick, wife had to come back to be with him. He spent two weeks in a Mexican hospital, was then med-evaced at an out-of-pocket cost of $25,000 to a a hospital in California. He has survived, but it was touch and go for about a month. Medically induced coma in California. 10 weeks in hospitals. Otherwise healthy 50 year old man.
I am not worried about that kind of horror story--he was unvaxxed--but more like what has happened to your daughter. I hope she is at least in a nice hotel.
p.8 #6 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
I‘ve not seen any forecasts for Italy but in Germany the peak of the Omicron wave is expected by mid / end February. I would expect a similar pattern in Italy +/- 1-2 weeks.
But these are just models and there are many factors that could change these outlooks and policies between now and then. Just impossible to plan ahead more than a couple of weeks right now..
p.8 #7 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
chiron wrote:
any of us getting quarantined for 10 days would destroy our plans and cost a lot of money for nothing.
That's the risk of traveling right now We almost had to cancel our trip because of the quarantine rules in Switzerland. Luckily enough for us those got lifted only days before we departed so everything could go ahead.
Thankfully we went by train and things aren't as tightly spaced on there as on a plane. Travelling is risky business at the moment though, especially if international flights are involved.
p.8 #8 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
chiron wrote:
That is exactly the kind of thing I fear. Glad she didn't get really sick. A distant in-law went to Mexico unvaxxed, tested positive at the airport and was quarantined, sent his wife and kids on ahead, got very sick, wife had to come back to be with him. He spent two weeks in a Mexican hospital, was then med-evaced at an out-of-pocket cost of $25,000 to a a hospital in California. He has survived, but it was touch and go for about a month. Medically induced coma in California. 10 weeks in hospitals. Otherwise healthy 50 year old man.
I am not worried about that kind of horror story--he was unvaxxed--but more like what has happened to your daughter. I hope she is at least in a nice hotel....Show more →
Thanks. She is not sick at all; just positive.
I am not sure if she will be quarantined while there.
They can afford a nice place to stay so that will be OK.
They do have to come back to NY to work after the holidays so that's an issue.
We cancelled all our international plans once Covid hit.
We were looking forward to resuming in '22 but no reservations made at this point.
"See the USA in your Chevrolet" might be our theme song again next year.
p.8 #9 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
Italy not as fussy as France about travel restrictions; given recent ban of British tourists by France. The best time to travel to Italy in the Spring or Autumn. However that rather depends on US airlines if they can fill their flights. Suggestion; check local Rome travel guides on Instagram about the travel situation. Last October American tourists everywhere in Rome. Enjoying the cuisine; more restaurants per head in Italy than any other European country. Get mobile-phone (verbal) language translator.
p.8 #10 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
Richard-BB wrote:
Italy not as fussy as France about travel restrictions; given recent ban of British tourists by France. The best time to travel to Italy in the Spring or Autumn. However that rather depends on US airlines if they can fill their flights. Suggestion; check local Rome travel guides on Instagram about the travel situation. Last October American tourists everywhere in Rome. Enjoying the cuisine; more restaurants per head in Italy than any other European country. Get mobile-phone (verbal) language translator.
Yes, we booked for February-March to avoid the crowds. If we cancel, we will re-book for October--nicer temperatures but more rain and other tourists.
p.8 #11 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
We had on and off rain on our mid February trip to Italy several years ago. No guesses about travel restrictions, etc. My impression from some local travel here in the Southwest US is that there seemed to be more travel going on, off season numbers up some? Maybe just a response to people finally being able to get out and travel some.
p.8 #12 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
naturephoto1 wrote:
It looks like I won't be going on the trip after all but the others will even though I have purchased a lot of the gear. I will use the purchased gear for other travels next year and into the future though.
Thanks everyone.
Rich
I'm sorry to hear that, Rich. I sincerely hope you get to Italy in the future. It's such a diverse and beautiful country.
p.8 #13 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
We all ae traveling in the same boat.
I planned a trip in NYC but had to cancel.
At least be aware that if you get sick here in Italy all assistance like hospitals, medicines and so are free of charge.
p.8 #14 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
scalanc2 wrote:
We all ae traveling in the same boat.
I planned a trip in NYC but had to cancel.
At least be aware that if you get sick here in Italy all assistance like hospitals, medicines and so are free of charge.
Is that true for non-citizen tourists? A friend of mine was hospitalized in Rome for several days with a badly fractured leg after tripping over something near the Spanish Steps. He required some surgery to repair the break. He got a bill, though it was for less than the expected cost in the U.S.
p.8 #15 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
Mhh, possibly you are true.
I was thinking of EU citizens.
For extra EU citizens it depends of Regional regulations. But they are not for free.
I apologize.
p.8 #16 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
It looks like I may be back on for my trip to Italy in March. We have all of our tickets to and from Italy and are making the rest of the arrangements for our accomodations. However, we are really concerned as to the situation here and in Italy with Covid. We all have been vaccinated and have had booster shots. But, with so much Break Through, I have real concerns. And we are not spring chickens at this point.
In the mean time I have continued to aquire some gear for the trip. Yesterday the NPS-10 Nexto Photo Storage unit was delivered from B&H. I installed the Crucial MX500 2000GB 2.5 inch internal SSD into the unit and charged up the battery. I also purchased some cases to be used to protect the NPS-10 Nexto Photo Storage unit and the SanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD V2 external drive. I have to check out the operation of this kit and become aquainted with the operation. It is such a small, light, and powerful system for me to use. It looks like this should work very well for this upcoming trip and other travels which will allow me to download my photos without carrying a Laptop. I have to say that the SanDisk SSD is amazingly small. It is amazing how small the unit is compared to my WD My Book External Desktop hard drives.
Because I expect to take so many images on this trip I am probably going to have to think about moving all of my RAW images (my worked LR files are storred on external drives already) but keep my LR catalogs on the Laprtop with back-ups off my old Laptop to an external drive and have to decide if I want a regular Desktop HD or a small in size SSD like the SanDisk drive.
p.8 #17 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
Hi Rich, greetings from Italy! I’ve been stationed here for 8 months and projected to stay here for 3 years. When traveling here, be sure to have a COVID test within 24hours of arrival. If not they will direct you to get tested at the airport and it’s not cheap! Ensure you have N95 masks for all transportation here OR they will kick you off. I would imagine you have your CDC card to prove your vaccination status. In the highly tourist areas they know what that is. However, if you go to smaller towns they won’t accept CDC card rather prefer “green pass”. It’s a EURO vaccination card that is digitized and they scan it to verify it’s legitimacy.
Bring as light kit as you can. Lots of hills, stairs, and cobble stone! When I take my kids out I only carry a 35 and 20 prime. March is the perfect time. Not too hot or cold. If you have any questions feel free to message me and I’ll do my best to answer them. Lastly, if your boosted I wouldn’t worry as much - go out and enjoy this awesome country.
p.8 #18 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
Raiser6 wrote:
Hi Rich, greetings from Italy! I’ve been stationed here for 8 months and projected to stay here for 3 years. When traveling here, be sure to have a COVID test within 24hours of arrival. If not they will direct you to get tested at the airport and it’s not cheap! Ensure you have N95 masks for all transportation here OR they will kick you off. I would imagine you have your CDC card to prove your vaccination status. In the highly tourist areas they know what that is. However, if you go to smaller towns they won’t accept CDC card rather prefer “green pass”. It’s a EURO vaccination card that is digitized and they scan it to verify it’s legitimacy.
Bring as light kit as you can. Lots of hills, stairs, and cobble stone! When I take my kids out I only carry a 35 and 20 prime. March is the perfect time. Not too hot or cold. If you have any questions feel free to message me and I’ll do my best to answer them. Lastly, if your boosted I wouldn’t worry as much - go out and enjoy this awesome country. ...Show more →
Thank you for the input.
I am planning on getting a Passport and CDC Vaccination combination holder for traveling. I am not sure how we would get the "green pass". We would expect to get our Covid Test and have the results before traveling to Italy basd upon the requirements. We will try to get the necessary masks before we leave and have some in our carry on luggage and have more in our checked baggage.
As to the camera gear, I am trying to keep it down to 5 or really 6 lenses (including the tiny Minolta 40mm f2 CLE MC M-Rokkor lens). I intend to normally carry only 4 lenses (they are small and light with the Voigtlander 50mm f2 Apo-Lanthar Asph being the largest) with 2 camera bodies- my Sony A7rII Kolari Vision Ultra Thin Sensor modified and Sony A1 cameras. I also expect to carry a Leofoto travel monopod and a base most of the time. I hope to carry the cameras and 4 lenses in 2 pouches on my chest with a waist/chest strap and neck straps along with my Mindshiftgear 26L Backlight backpack for all of the other gear (this is also my carry on). In the pouches, a lens will be mounted on each camera and the other 2 lenses will be in one of the pouches. I will also pack my small Leofoto Tripod with parts which can be added and subtracted as needed to use for specific outings (this will be kept in my checked bag) and my small Leofoto table top tripod.
p.8 #19 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
naturephoto1 wrote:
Thank you for the input.
I am planning on getting a Passport and CDC Vaccination combination holder for traveling. I am not sure how we would get the "green pass". We would expect to get our Covid Test and have the results before traveling to Italy basd upon the requirements. We will try to get the necessary masks before we leave and have some in our carry on luggage and have more in our checked baggage.
As to the camera gear, I am trying to keep it down to 5 or really 6 lenses (including the tiny Minolta 40mm f2 CLE MC M-Rokkor lens). I intend to normally carry only 4 lenses (they are small and light with the Voigtlander 50mm f2 Apo-Lanthar Asph being the largest) with 2 camera bodies- my Sony A7rII Kolari Vision Ultra Thin Sensor modified and Sony A1 cameras. I also expect to carry a Leofoto travel monopod and a base most of the time. I hope to carry the cameras and 4 lenses in 2 pouches on my chest with a waist/chest strap and neck straps along with my Mindshiftgear 26L Backlight backpack for all of the other gear (this is also my carry on). In the pouches, a lens will be mounted on each camera and the other 2 lenses will be in one of the pouches. I will also pack my small Leofoto Tripod with parts which can be added and subtracted as needed to use for specific outings (this will be kept in my checked bag) and my small Leofoto table top tripod.
I live in Italy full time. You cannot get a green pass as a tourist. Your CDC card should be accepted but there is a chance that some places will not. You can easily get the required FFP2 masks when you arrive and the price has been set by the government at €.50/ mask.
I did not read the entire thread as it is quite long. I live in Torino and if you have any specific questions feel free to send me a PM.
p.8 #20 · Photo Equipment for a month long? trip to Italy
I did the Rome, Florence and Venice trip for two weeks and found wider better than longer lenses (for me) worked best. At the time it was a Sony a6000, 16-70 and a 10-18 lens. I did a recent trip (Viking Grand European) and only took my Sony A7r3 with a 24-105 and was very happy with the results and not having to lug around a bunch of equipment was nice. I also had a 20mm 1.8 which helped out in churches and is fairly light. I didn’t use it that much though but had it when I need it. Have a great trip as Italy is quite beautiful.
zz wrote:
We almost had to cancel our trip because of the quarantine rules in Switzerland. Luckily enough for us those got lifted only days before we departed so everything could go ahead.