Our second day in Rome! Had an amazing breakfast at our hotel, and then the excitement began. We waited and waited for our tour bus to come, but it couldn't get through our street because of the pedestrian area. After several phone calls and walking back and forth three blocks to find the tour bus, we finally connected an hour after the tour was supposed to start, only to find out our tour guide was MIA!!! We contacted the tour…
Went to the train station via water taxi and waited there awhile for our train. It was a little crazy when we got on the wrong car of the train and had to move quickly to go to the other side of the train, but we all got on the train in the end! We got to our amazing hotel in Rome right by the Pantheon — then we walked to Trevi Fountain, where we had an amazing lunch panini…
We started out with an early Bible study by Gary, followed by breakfast at the hotel. Then off to Doge’s Palace tour. It was amazing; we spent about 1.5 hours wandering around reading signs and exploring rooms. Then we went and caught a boat to Lido Island, where we ate lunch at a really good pizzeria there. After several slushes and waters, we made it to the beach. Mostly everyone went swimming, and a few people rented a boat with…
Today we had a GREAT start with a pretty nice European-style breakfast at the hotel. We then went on a half day walking tour of Venice and learned a LOT about the city. We walked everywhere, rode a gondola across the canal, and ended our tour at the Jewish Ghetto here. We got a wonderful lunch at another Italian restaurant! complete with Tiramisu then walked back to the hotel and split up and every one did some shopping, napping, island…
Venice is AMAZING. Took the train first thing this morning from Torontola-Cortona train station, then took a second train from Florence to Venice. When we landed, coming by water taxi to our hotel was so impressive. It is a sight you just never forget. We walked until we were all ready to drop. Took loads of pictures. We shopped and looked around for awhile then headed back to the hotel to get things together for tomorrow!
We got up soooooo early and made it to our hot air balloon ride! It was AMAZING to soar above the beautiful cities in Tuscany. We landed right near a huge sunflower field! We had an amazing lunch there after winding up the balloon, and then drove right back to be picked up for the bicycle tour! Everyone was EXHAUSTED and was SLEEPING trying to get l/2 hour rest in before the tour! We were SOOO tired, but the bicycle…
We were up at the crack of dawn again to catch an early morning tour leaving from Florence. Got on the tour bus and headed to Cinque Terra, where we did the amazing hikes to the different villages there. The hike was pretty demanding and it was very hot, but the views made it all worthwhile! Swam in the Mediterranean Sea and had lunch there, and walked around and toured the area. Took a boat ride back, caught a train,…
We got up VERY EARLY to get ready and get to the hot air balloon ride. We had quite a ride there, getting lost and going all over the place. Only to find out that the fog was too dense to go up in the air! A big disappointment, but we handled it well. We went back to the Villa and back to bed! When we woke up we went to Sinalunga for lunch and found an amazing pizzeria. We…
We had an amazing day. Started out with an INCREDIBLE family photo op now that Jesse and Amber are here. Great Bible study by Michael & Bethany on what God expects of US. Grabbed a fast breakfast here and then out the door to Monteriggioni. It was great to shop there, walk the wall a little, take some pictures and head out to San Gimignano. In San Gimignano we had lunch at an Osteria just inside the wall, split up…
What fun we had — started out with breakfast in Sinalunga, then grocery shopping, then back to Villa Scopetello. We then headed out to Montepulciano, an old walled town. We bought some pottery pieces there, had a good lunch and toured the town It was awesome to drive up the hill in our 15-passenger truck — hard to even pass a car since the roads are so narrow. It was VERY interesting when we ended up in a PIAZZA (square)…
