Pictures:
The "White House" of Rome
Group of protestors for education
Roman Forum
Colosseum
front shot of Roman Forum
Colosseum wall
Trevi Fountain
Pantheon
Giada
Thanksgiving dinner
Wednesday, December 1
Italy Day 3
Our nights sleep in the Golden Tulip in Rome was minimum. The beds were hard and uncomfortable. Oh well...we left the hotel around 0900 and visited the Colosseum, Pantheon, several Basilica's, Roman Forum, and finally settled for dinner at Opera Restaurant for Rome's version of the American Thanksgiving feast. Somehow as we were walking around the Roman Forum, I lost my ticket, so I was petrified that I couldn't get into the Colosseum. Gratefully, our tour guide gave me his ticket so I didn't have to buy a new one. We didn't have much Euro on us since we handed over 496 Euro the night before for what we thought would include the rest of the trip's excursions...well it didn't :(. So it was nice Andreas let me have his. When we went to the Trevi Fountain, we were able to find an ATM to take out Euro to last us the remaining 4 days. My favorite was after we were walking to the art gallery and I saw Giada De Laurentiis taking money out of an ATM, then walking through the streets of the gallery. My hubby called me the paparazzi and told me to stop taking pictures of her...LOL. I was so excited to see someone famous!
Pictures:
Pictures:
Italy Day 2
Day 2:
We started our morning at 0700 with breakfast in the hotel. At 0745 we headed to the island of Venice. We took a boat and toured St. Marc's square, St. Marc's Basilica, Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs, and a glass blowing workshop. We also took a Gondola ride. St. Marc's Basilica was beautiful inside, a lot of detailed art and structures. Seeing how they made glass figures was pretty interesting, but the prices were very pricey, so we didn't buy any. The Gondola ride...well, disappointing! We paid 60 Euros and were under the impression that we would have the boat to ourselves and envisioned we would ride like you see in the movies. Well, not so much...we shared the boat with 4 others, shared the bottle of champagne, didn't get sung too, and didn't go under the famous bridge :(. It was a fun experience, but NOT worth the price we paid! We left Venice around 1500 and arrived in Rome around 2200. First impression was not so good...it was scary, we stayed in the not so good area of town. Why would they put us up in that area?
Pictures of Venice:
We started our morning at 0700 with breakfast in the hotel. At 0745 we headed to the island of Venice. We took a boat and toured St. Marc's square, St. Marc's Basilica, Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs, and a glass blowing workshop. We also took a Gondola ride. St. Marc's Basilica was beautiful inside, a lot of detailed art and structures. Seeing how they made glass figures was pretty interesting, but the prices were very pricey, so we didn't buy any. The Gondola ride...well, disappointing! We paid 60 Euros and were under the impression that we would have the boat to ourselves and envisioned we would ride like you see in the movies. Well, not so much...we shared the boat with 4 others, shared the bottle of champagne, didn't get sung too, and didn't go under the famous bridge :(. It was a fun experience, but NOT worth the price we paid! We left Venice around 1500 and arrived in Rome around 2200. First impression was not so good...it was scary, we stayed in the not so good area of town. Why would they put us up in that area?
Pictures of Venice:
Our tour guide
hubby and I
St. Marc's Basilica
Trying to enjoy the Gondola ride
Italy Day 1
So we made it back home at 320 am on Monday, was I ever glad to be home! It was a fun trip to be able to see all the different historical sites, however since we took a tour, there were of course flaws that came along with the trip. We kept a journal of our trip:
Day 1:
We departed around 0540 with 24 families, couples, and travelers. Andreas, our tour guide is a German; he's been touring Europe since 1985, so he was suited well for this trip. We stopped and took several pictures of our drive through Switzerland. The mountain side and lake beds were snow-covered, but very beautiful. I think that the Swiss mountains and passageways we breathtaking, I loved it! We arrived in Italy around 1600; Lake Garda, the original destination was cancelled due to wintry weather, so we visited Verona instead. We toured the Capulet House where Romeo is said to have first set his eyes upon Juliet. A local pizzeria hosted us for dinner, and we toured the local ancient walls. We departed Verona for a two-hour drive to Venice. We spent the night at Hotel Antony, Room 118.
Day 1:
We departed around 0540 with 24 families, couples, and travelers. Andreas, our tour guide is a German; he's been touring Europe since 1985, so he was suited well for this trip. We stopped and took several pictures of our drive through Switzerland. The mountain side and lake beds were snow-covered, but very beautiful. I think that the Swiss mountains and passageways we breathtaking, I loved it! We arrived in Italy around 1600; Lake Garda, the original destination was cancelled due to wintry weather, so we visited Verona instead. We toured the Capulet House where Romeo is said to have first set his eyes upon Juliet. A local pizzeria hosted us for dinner, and we toured the local ancient walls. We departed Verona for a two-hour drive to Venice. We spent the night at Hotel Antony, Room 118.
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