Spring Break in Italy
March 21, 2008 – We left the house early to meet the bus for our 8 day trip through Italy– only 18 people in total, so there was lots of room. Even before the first stop to change drivers, we passed through some heavy snow, both falling and on the ground. It was beautiful on the trees along the road, but not at all what I had in mind for our spring break vacation. The girls slept through the first pit stop, which was a good way to start a very long travel day.
Because of the bad weather and holiday traffic, our progress was slow so we had to stop for lunch in a small town where we ate in a restaurant similar to Munich’s hofbrauhaus. Then it was back on the bus to Innsbruck. We did a quick tour of the old town in Innsbruck, going to the cathedral, the Dom and around the pedestrian zone, giving us about 10 mins. of free time before meeting in front of the golden roof to head back to the bus. We grabbed some fries and McFlurries at McDonalds, a good toilet stop, and then got back in the bus for the trip through Brenner pass into Italy.
We got to the hotel in Rivea del Garda, had dinner and then went out for good gelato and walked around the town in a light rain. Saturday morning, we climbed on the bus for a trip down the east side of the lake on our way to Verona. It was sunny and beautiful for the drive along the lake and we saw lots of sailboats and windsurfers. In Verona, we had a quick walk through the old section of the city and then went off on our own to a store that sold embroidered aprons and the guy running a sewing machine in front quickly sewed the girls names onto slips of paper as a gift. We bought aprons for all of the girls and then wandered into the open market area, where the girls picked up a few more gifts for friends. Although the group had gone on to tour elsewhere, we wandered back to the area around the ampitheatre and had a wonderful lunch at a nice sidewalk café in front of the ampitheatre. On the bus ride back from Verona, we stopped in the town off Malcesne, where we had over an hour to shop before taking a boat from Malcesne to Limone, and then back to Riva del Garda.
Up very early on Easter Sunday to head across the country to Rome. The Easter bunny even hid a few candies on the bus. On the drive, dh began to feel really bad, and by the time we got to our hotel in Rome, he was really sick. He stayed in bed while we set out for our guided walking tour. While it was raining during the beginning of our tour outside the Colisseum, it was nothing compared to the mini-hurricane that hit while we huddled along side the Coliseum, hiding behind a porta-john. Huge trees feel, countless umbrella broke, an empty stroller flew by – it felt a bit like the Wizard of Oz. Once we were completely soaked, the storm stopped and the temperature dropped. We went into a café for coffee and hot cocoa, and then continued on our walking tour around the Colisseum and Roman forum. We returned to the hotel just in time for our 7 p.m. dinner, but everyone decided not to do the late night walking tour because we were all too cold and tired from the storm.
Monday morning, we were on the bus early for the three hour drive to Pompeii. It was fairly sunny and nice when we arrived in Pompeii, but shortly after we did a little souvenir shopping and bought our entrance tickets, a big storm blew in again, just like the day before in Rome. Pompeii is amazing, and was a great tour. It’s incredible how elaborate their buildings, bathrooms, baths, theatres, restaurants, and shops were for a society that was destroyed in 79 A.D.
When we arrived in back Rome, the bus let us off right near the Colusseum with the idea that we had free time until a 6 p.m. dinner and then evening walking tour. We made it just minutes too late to get into the Colusseum though, so we walked to the Pantheon, stopping at the Church of St. Ignazio and another small church on the way and then going into Navona Square, where we had dinner at a great restaurant.
Tuesday morning, we hit the road by 7:30 a.m. and began our trip via subway to the Vatican. We stood outside the Vatican in the long line for entrance for over an hour, finally making it inside the Vatican museum with our tour guide Emma. We went through the museum, starting outside with a description of the frescos in the Sistine Chapel. We saw a lot of lovely paintings, including the Raphael room, on our way to the Sistine Chapel, which was smaller than I expected. It was a small rectangular room, no pews, a few benches on the wall and wall-to-wall people. After leaving the Sistine Chapel, we walked outside and then into St. Peter’s Bascillica. It was incredibly large and very beautiful. We left Rome and stopped in Orvieto for a quick trip to the Duomo and then continued on to Florence.
Before breakfast Wednesday morning, dd#2 called our room to say she’d been up all night vomiting and had gotten the stomach bug that dh had. So, I sent dh, dd#1 and dd#3 on to Florence and stayed with dd#2 in the hotel all day. Everyone else went to Florence for a tour of the city and then a lot of free time for shopping. By 8 a.m. on Thursday, we were on our way to Lucca, also in Tuscany. We stopped in Lucca, walked the city wall, did some shopping and had pizza and then headed off to Pisa. After our stop in Pisa, we were back on the bus and headed to the Italian Riviera for our visit to St. Margherita. Friday morning, we had a beautiful day to walk around the town and then we had to be ready to load the bus by 10 a.m. to head back to Frankfurt, via Switzerland. It was a long day on Friday and we didn’t get home until quite late, all tired and sick of being on the bus, but it was a great trip.
Because of the bad weather and holiday traffic, our progress was slow so we had to stop for lunch in a small town where we ate in a restaurant similar to Munich’s hofbrauhaus. Then it was back on the bus to Innsbruck. We did a quick tour of the old town in Innsbruck, going to the cathedral, the Dom and around the pedestrian zone, giving us about 10 mins. of free time before meeting in front of the golden roof to head back to the bus. We grabbed some fries and McFlurries at McDonalds, a good toilet stop, and then got back in the bus for the trip through Brenner pass into Italy.
We got to the hotel in Rivea del Garda, had dinner and then went out for good gelato and walked around the town in a light rain. Saturday morning, we climbed on the bus for a trip down the east side of the lake on our way to Verona. It was sunny and beautiful for the drive along the lake and we saw lots of sailboats and windsurfers. In Verona, we had a quick walk through the old section of the city and then went off on our own to a store that sold embroidered aprons and the guy running a sewing machine in front quickly sewed the girls names onto slips of paper as a gift. We bought aprons for all of the girls and then wandered into the open market area, where the girls picked up a few more gifts for friends. Although the group had gone on to tour elsewhere, we wandered back to the area around the ampitheatre and had a wonderful lunch at a nice sidewalk café in front of the ampitheatre. On the bus ride back from Verona, we stopped in the town off Malcesne, where we had over an hour to shop before taking a boat from Malcesne to Limone, and then back to Riva del Garda.
Up very early on Easter Sunday to head across the country to Rome. The Easter bunny even hid a few candies on the bus. On the drive, dh began to feel really bad, and by the time we got to our hotel in Rome, he was really sick. He stayed in bed while we set out for our guided walking tour. While it was raining during the beginning of our tour outside the Colisseum, it was nothing compared to the mini-hurricane that hit while we huddled along side the Coliseum, hiding behind a porta-john. Huge trees feel, countless umbrella broke, an empty stroller flew by – it felt a bit like the Wizard of Oz. Once we were completely soaked, the storm stopped and the temperature dropped. We went into a café for coffee and hot cocoa, and then continued on our walking tour around the Colisseum and Roman forum. We returned to the hotel just in time for our 7 p.m. dinner, but everyone decided not to do the late night walking tour because we were all too cold and tired from the storm.
Monday morning, we were on the bus early for the three hour drive to Pompeii. It was fairly sunny and nice when we arrived in Pompeii, but shortly after we did a little souvenir shopping and bought our entrance tickets, a big storm blew in again, just like the day before in Rome. Pompeii is amazing, and was a great tour. It’s incredible how elaborate their buildings, bathrooms, baths, theatres, restaurants, and shops were for a society that was destroyed in 79 A.D.
When we arrived in back Rome, the bus let us off right near the Colusseum with the idea that we had free time until a 6 p.m. dinner and then evening walking tour. We made it just minutes too late to get into the Colusseum though, so we walked to the Pantheon, stopping at the Church of St. Ignazio and another small church on the way and then going into Navona Square, where we had dinner at a great restaurant.
Tuesday morning, we hit the road by 7:30 a.m. and began our trip via subway to the Vatican. We stood outside the Vatican in the long line for entrance for over an hour, finally making it inside the Vatican museum with our tour guide Emma. We went through the museum, starting outside with a description of the frescos in the Sistine Chapel. We saw a lot of lovely paintings, including the Raphael room, on our way to the Sistine Chapel, which was smaller than I expected. It was a small rectangular room, no pews, a few benches on the wall and wall-to-wall people. After leaving the Sistine Chapel, we walked outside and then into St. Peter’s Bascillica. It was incredibly large and very beautiful. We left Rome and stopped in Orvieto for a quick trip to the Duomo and then continued on to Florence.
Before breakfast Wednesday morning, dd#2 called our room to say she’d been up all night vomiting and had gotten the stomach bug that dh had. So, I sent dh, dd#1 and dd#3 on to Florence and stayed with dd#2 in the hotel all day. Everyone else went to Florence for a tour of the city and then a lot of free time for shopping. By 8 a.m. on Thursday, we were on our way to Lucca, also in Tuscany. We stopped in Lucca, walked the city wall, did some shopping and had pizza and then headed off to Pisa. After our stop in Pisa, we were back on the bus and headed to the Italian Riviera for our visit to St. Margherita. Friday morning, we had a beautiful day to walk around the town and then we had to be ready to load the bus by 10 a.m. to head back to Frankfurt, via Switzerland. It was a long day on Friday and we didn’t get home until quite late, all tired and sick of being on the bus, but it was a great trip.
posted by Barb Deane @ 8:07 PM
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