What we will attempt to do in this book is to tell you the story of our trip. Hopefully, if I do my job, it will be told in such a way that you will be crying with us as we are going through our first Near-Death experience up in the mountains in Tuscany, and you will feel some of the same jaw-dropping, OMG emotions that we had when we got our first glimpse of The Sistine Chapel in Rome or Michelangelo's David in the Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence or The Leaning Tower in Pisa. We also hope that you pick up on some of the little details and nuances that we did not know about, so with this knowledge, you will be able to overcome some of the little hiccups and road-bumps that we encountered along our journey. And while this is not necessarily a travel guide, but more of an adventure story, we still will be giving some travel tips up front because we feel that seeing how we prepared for our trip was all a part of the total adventure, in addition to the actual recounting of our various trials, tribulations, and triumphs.
Carol, Landrum: - "Carol Landrum was born in St. Andrew, Jamaica, in the mountains surrounding Kingston, as Carol Charles. She majored in Public Health and became one of the first female Public Health Inspectors on the island. She subsequently represented the Public Health Department in the Miss Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation pageant (KSAC), and was a runner-up. The following year, she was selected to act as a contestant chaperone for the Miss KSAC pageant. Carol migrated to the United States with her daughter Suzette in the mid-1980's. She was living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, when she met her future husband, Warren Landrum. The couple recently celebrated their 28th year of matrimony. Sharing a love of travel, Carol and Warren have had the opportunity to cruise and visit several of the Eastern, Western, & Southern Caribbean islands, and Hawaii and have also spent time together in Asia and Europe. Their most recent trip was to Italy, and that is what inspired the writing of this book. This is Carol's first book as a co-Author, and it is Warren's fifth. Carol also loves to cook and was featured recently in the local magazine, Mansfield Now, in an article entitled, "In the Kitchen With Carol Landrum." She is also currently working on her first solo book, a cookbook that will include some of the recipes she has developed over the years. Carol also pursued a career in Nursing after coming to the States. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Nursing and has been an RN for 19 years. Carol and Warren currently reside in the Mira Lagos subdivision of Grand Prairie, Texas, after having spent 12 years in Ahwatukee, Arizona - a suburb of Phoenix. They are the proud grandparents of their first and only grandchild, Mia Marie."
Landrum, Warren: - "Warren G. Landrum, Jr. was born in East Chicago, Indiana. He went off to college to Purdue University, from which he graduated with a degree in Information Systems and Computer Programming. He later received a B.S. in Management from the University of Phoenix. Warren served in the U.S. Air Force, both at home and abroad. It was during that time that he first became exposed to overseas travel, a passion that he would pursue at every opportunity. While stationed in Germany, he was able to travel throughout Europe, experiencing the various cultures and lifestyles in Holland, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and England. Warren continued his traveling ways upon entering corporate America. He had assignments in Bermuda, Taiwan, Bangkok, Thailand (12 trips); and back to Europe again, this time experiencing Paris, Milan, Munich, and the London-Reading area. All of those experiences, along with his leisure travel to various parts of Mexico, Canada, The Caribbean, and throughout the US, along with being married to a Jamaican wife, have truly given Warren a global perspective and insight in regards to both observing and living life!! Warren's other passions are fishing, which he inherited as part of the Landrum gene-pool/DNA, basketball, and performing as a singer. He founded the Sun Valley Revues, a sextet of talented singer/entertainers that performed 'old-school' R&B music for around two years in the Phoenix area in the late 1990's. Warren is also the author of four books that have been published - "The Heart & Soul of a Black Man," "Let's Go Home to Indiana Harbor: Reflections From Mid-Town America," "Texas Politics - Grand Prairie Style: Campaign 2013." And the latest one, "Stroke of Grace: The Juaquin Hawkins Story," the autobiography of former NBA and Houston Rockets basketball player Juaquin Hawkins, which he co-wrote with Mr. Hawkins. Warren works as a Systems Engineer for Baylor, Scott & White Healthcare and has been an IT professional for about 33 years. In the area of Civic involvement, he ran for City Council in Grand Prairie in 2013 and is also currently a Library Board member for the city, a member of the Rotary Club and a past Grand Prairie YMCA Board member. He is also a member of the Mayor's Roundtable, a select group of citizens hand-picked by the Mayor, who meet periodically with the Mayor to advise him on issues and needs of the citizenry, in addition to making suggestions that can serve to benefit the city, if and when implemented. Warren is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the first Black Greek Letter Fraternity. Warren and his beautiful wife Carol recently celebrated their 28th Wedding Anniversary and are the proud parents of one daughter, Suzette, and a two-year old granddaughter - Mia."
