Hello everyone! My husband, my parents, and I just returned from our 'Italian Scene' tour late last night. We had a great time and I can't wait to tell you all about it.

This will be my first time creating an original tour tale, so bear with me. But I'm going to try and give as many details as I can for those of you going on this trip in the near future. Enjoy!

Day One - June 19th

This was a day of excitement and anticipation - we were leaving the United States to go for our trip to Italy! The day I'd been waiting so many months for had finally arrived!

My parents picked us up from the house and drove us to the bus station where we would catch our shuttle to take us to O'Hare airport in Chicago (we live in the Milwaukee, WI area). The bus picked us up at the station promptly at 9:50, however we hit a whole lot of wonderful Chicago traffic on the way down and ended up arriving at the airport about an hour late. Eek! No problems though - we had left plenty of time and were able to catch lunch before boarding our first flight to Cincinnati.

We had about a 3 hour lay-over there and enjoyed a slow, relaxing dinner. My Dad gets all anxious while traveling, so getting him to sit down and relax and eat was something of a challenge! While waiting for the plane, I noticed a group of people grasping Trafalgar bags. I approached them and found out that they were, indeed, booked for the same tour as us. This was their first tour with Trafalgar and they had tons of questions about what would happen at the airport, how they would find the shuttle to the hotel, etc., etc. (Obviously they had not found out about all of the wonderful help and advice available from all of you!) So, I reassured them as best I could and we boarded our flight to Rome.

As always, the flight was long and cramped, and the food on board was absolutely terrible (so glad I ate that dinner before we left!). We all tried to get as much sleep as we could so that we'd be ready for the day ahead - our first day in Rome.

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Day Two - June 20th

We arrived in Rome very tired and jet-lagged. I honestly have to say that I don't remember much about going through customs - just followed the crowd and went through without a problem. All I remember was that it was hot and crowded. After a short wait, we got our luggage and met up with the family we had connected with back in Cincinnati. Did I mention that my Dad gets anxious while traveling? Oy! After we got our baggage, he was charging around, cutting people off, trying to find his way to the Trafalgar rep. I don't think he realizes how rude he can be in these situations! Anyway, finding the Trafalgar rep was no problem. It was a little confusing though because there was one sign that listed Trafalgar and a whole bunch of other tour companies with just a few Italian ladies standing below it. You had to guess whether the person you approached worked for Trafalgar or not, but I guess we did okay because the person we found had our names on her list. Only about 5 minutes later (probably around 12:15), she led us and a whole group of tourists over to where the buses were parked. After making sure we were going to the correct hotel, we got on the bus and headed off to the Parco Tirreno hotel.

This is a pretty nice hotel and the rooms are HUGE. Its almost like an apartment - one room with a sofa, TV, and small kitchen, another room with the beds and a closet. The grounds at the hotel were lovely too, although be aware that they charge (8 euros I think) to use the pool.

We were notified by a very, very nice hotel manager that there were two tours staying in the hotel that night. We would meet our Tour Director at 4:30 that afternoon in the lobby. With the free time that we had, we decided to go for a walk to find something to eat.

The hotel is located on an extremely busy street in a relatively suburban, working class area of Rome. Not tourist-friendly at all. We walked, single file (as that's all the sidewalk would allow), to the left of the hotel. This is where jet-leg and culture shock kicked in. It was also very hot to add to the fun. Out of fatigue and frustration, I ended up buying a small carton of ice cream bars and a water and we headed back to the hotel to rest.

We met our TD, Romano, in the lobby at the hotel. He explained that he would be offering the 'Introduction to Rome by Night' optional tour for the first evening. At first I was a little disappointed by this because this optional does not include a dinner - something that a bunch of tired, hot tourists really want on their first night in a foreign city. But, as you'll read, this problem was easily solved. Romano also went on to explain the procedures for the next day and the other two optionals he would offer in Rome, and had us "sign up" for them at that time. The only thing I didn't like was that Romano issued some little comment to us about how we must have a lot of money when my husband and I indicated that we would do all three. Ironic, I thought, since he had just given us a giant speech about how doing the optionals with him would actually save a bunch of money! He gave us a few minutes to spruce up and then it was on to the bus.

Our first stop on the optional was a park where you got an awesome view of the entire city. Romano told us that this was his own special thing to take his tours up to this park, but who knows. Anyway, it was an awesome overview of everything. Then, we went down into the city and our next stop was at Piazza Rotunda where we saw the Pantheon. We made it just in time to be able to go inside before it closed. Romano then walked us over to Piazza Navona and gave us about an hour or so of free time to find something for dinner. Those who wanted to do so followed Romano to his suggested dinner spot - a great little pizza place just a block from the square. This turned out to be probably my favorite dinner of the trip. Most of the group had followed and so we ended up meeting a few other group members. The pizza was divine and the house wine was delicious. By the time dinner was done, the sun was starting to set and the Piazza Navona was absolutely gorgeous.

We loaded back on the bus and headed over to the Trevi fountain. It was beautifully lit up in the dark, but also SUPER crowded. After elbowing our way to the front to throw our coin in, we left the fountain to grab our first sample of gelato. Vanilla for me, caramel for my husband. Mmmmmm. I think this also ended up being my very favorite gelato.

Our last stop was a picture perfect view of the Vatican and St. Peter's basilica at night with 5 minutes to get out of the bus and snap a few shots.

Then it was back to the hotel so that we could crash into our beds at last.

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Day Three - June 21st

This morning, for those of us going on the optional tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums, breakfast began at 6:30a. It was a descent sized buffet-style breakfast - a croissant and hot chocolate and I'm happy!

We boarded the bus to head to the Vatican. Still no mention whatsoever of seat rotation on the bus - I was starting to find this a bit odd. We disembarked outside of the Vatican and met our local guide. She gave us a pretty good explanation of things on the outside of the museums as speaking inside of the Sistine Chapel would not be permitted. Then, we walked through the Vatican museums - saw loads of paintings, statues, tapestries, etc. And the ceilings throughout this area were insanely ornate. Then, we entered the Sistine Chapel. To tell you the truth, I wasn't that thrilled. I know, I know. I'm going to get seriously berated for saying so, but I think I've seen better, more ornately painted ceilings than that. Like at Versailles for example. I don't know... maybe I'm just biased for France. Anyway, with a little time left to spare, our local guide took us down to the catacombs below St. Peter's bascilica. We got to see Pope John Paul II's tomb, as well as that of St. Peter. Then, we met up with the rest of the group and went inside of St. Peter's itself. Wow! It is bigger than I could've ever imagined. After a little commentary from our local guide we had free time to explore and take pictures. We met back up with the local guide and she took us outside to see the front of the basilica and the Papal apartments - the Pope was, indeed, in town while we were there.

The local guide showed us the gift shop and cafeteria. We ate a quick lunch (pizza and soda), quickly browsed the gift shop, and then went back to the outside of the basilica to take some more photos. It was amazing to be standing there in the huge Vatican square. Just awesome.

After following Romano and our local guide out of the Vatican through some creepy (but cool and less crowded) underground passageway, we loaded back onto the bus to make our way to the Colosseum and the Forum. THIS is what I had been waiting for! The local guide gathered us around to give us a quick orientation, then we were free to explore the area. I was disappointed to find out that there was an entrance fee to the Forum. I would've probably paid it, except that we didn't have enough free time to really do the whole thing. Plus, we wanted to see the Colosseum a bit too. None the less, we were able to walk up a little way (through the exit of the Forum area actually) and got a hilltop view of the amazing ruins. We walked around the Colosseum a little bit and got some photos. As it was a Saturday, there were many brides and grooms coming to the area to get their photos taken in front of the Colosseum. That was interesting enough to watch in and of itself!

It was extremely hot that afternoon (I think around 38 degrees Celcius) and so I must admit that we were ready to get back on the bus and head to the hotel for a rest.

After relaxing for a little while, my husband and I decided to make our way to a grocery store that was just about two blocks from the hotel. We went with the intention to buy just some soda, water, and snacks. But, let me tell you, if you are looking to buy limoncello and/or wine as souvenirs for people - this is the place to go! We got a great big bottle of limoncello for 4 euros, and the wine was about the same. We also got 4 bottles of water, 4 bottles of Coke and some candy and left the store paying only 18 euros for all of it. What a deal!

By this point, I was starting to become very disappointed in our TD. He talked a lot about modern-day life in Italy, but didn't really have much of anything to say about history. It was like he assumed that you knew the history already. Again, there was STILL no mention of a seat rotation by this point, no name tags, no talks with us about food preferences, and none of the nice little booklets/maps that we all received on the previous tour.

After our rest, we joined the group for another optional. This one was kind of our TD's own made-up version of an optional - it was similar those listed, but a little different. 52 euros was the price he charged for it. First we walked down the Via Veneto (extremely expensive shopping area) and saw the Spanish steps. Unfortunately for us, there was some kind of a military band concert going on, so the area around the Spanish steps was very crowded and no one was allowed on the actual steps. We had some free time, but really didn't quite know what to do with ourselves (we are not the type of shoppers who frequent Feragamo or Gucci).

After this, Romano walked us through the streets to Piazza del Popolo and to the restaurant where we'd have our fancy dinner. The restaurant was very nice - extremely modern. We were seated in an outdoor garden area that was nice except a little enclosed (couldn't see the square at all). I was disappointed with the dinner as I'm a picky eater, but I'm sure others probably found it good. For antipasti there were steamed vegetables. After that, spinach ravioli with cream cheese. Next, a kind of spaghetti with onions and some unidentifiable meat mixed into the sauce. The meat course was supposed to consist of ham and veal, but my husband and I had requested chicked instead. There was a lemon cake dessert and coffee to follow. The good news was that the wine was included and the musical entertainment was great - lots of classic Italian songs. Everyone was in good spirits and some got up to dance.

After dinner we walked back to the bus. On the bus ride home, Romano played a mix of the most awful 60s/70s american music. After hearing all of the great Italian classics at the restaurant, it was like, HUH? Tina Turner? For real? Don't get me wrong, I love music from the 60s and 70s, but it was like he had gone through a collection of music and picked out the most awful songs from the era. Terrible! What a way to ruin the atmosphere!

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Day Four - June 22nd

This day started out with bags out and breakfast at 6:30a. As this was our second night at the Parco Tirreno, the breakfast was identical to the day before.

We were on the road, on the way to Naples, by 7:30 am. By this point everyone was racing to get on the bus as early as possible because there was no seat rotation system in place yet. Finally, while driving to Naples, our TD briefly indicated that we would start seat rotation the following day. He stated that after we made our bathroom stop, everyone should get back onto the bus so that they were seated with their families. My parents were seated apart from my husband and I on this particular morning, so when everyone was getting back on the bus, I tried to convince people to switch so that we'd be together. No one was cooperating. The first-time travellers just were not getting the concept that if they were seated across from one another, they would not end up together as the seat rotation proceeded. I was very aggravated at our TD's lack of involvement in the matter, but figured I'd leave it to be settled later on.

We met our local guide for the day, Nancy, at the docks in Naples just in time to catch the ferry to the Isle of Capri. This local guide was absolutely superb - just loved her - she kept referring to herself as 'Big Mama' . We met a really nice Italian man while riding the ferry who explained the history of a huge looming castle in Naples and how all of the industrial boats were lined up in the waterways because they were on strike. Good thing, I thought, to have met this man since our TD told us nothing about any of this!

The views from the ferry were awesome. Mt. Vesuvius, the Amalfi coast, and the Isle of Capri were all shrouded in an early morning mist that just made everything look so neat. Immediately when we arrived in Capri we were ushered off to our optional cruise around the island. Once again this optional differed slightly from those listed as it did not include lunch. But on the other hand it was cheaper than what was listed - just 27 euro.

The cruise was well worth it. Nancy's commentary and the spectacular views of the caves and cliffs were exactly what I was looking for! Would've been great, however, if our TD had warned everyone to wear sunscreen today - everyone was completely burned by the end of these two cruises.

Once we were back on solid ground, we crammed ourselves in the line to take the furnicular up to Capri. We were feeling a bit famished and hot by this point, but decided to follow Nancy to a great garden spot with a spectacular view. Afterwards, with our free time, my husband and I decided to wander the streets of Capri a little bit. We picked up some gelato (chocolate chip for both of us) and did a little souvenir shopping. I had a wonderful experience standing in line for the ladies room - met a group of older Italian ladies and we did our best to communicate - them not speaking a word of English and me not speaking a word of Italian. We ended up getting our messages across and had fun in the process - you never know when a moment like this will pop up!

We made our way through the huge, hot crowd to take the furnicular back down to the Marina Grande area to explore. I collect sand everywhere I travel, so I was thrilled to find a small patch of sandy beach amongst the cliffs and pebbles. We met back up with Nancy and Romano and boarded another ferry (indoor and air conditioned - thank goodness!) that would take us to Sorrento.

When we arrived in Sorrento, we were ushered into the inlaid wood working factory. The demonstration was very short and sweet and we were just grateful for the air conditioning in the supreme afternoon heat. Afterwards we had a bit of time in Sorrento and so we just walked around town a little.

When we boarded the bus, I made sure that my parents were seated in front of us so that we would rotate together. The family that we had met back in the airport got mad at me because I "stole" one of their seats - I tried to explain that they didn't actually WANT to be seated across the aisle from one another anyway as they would end up going in opposite directions the following day, but there was no use. I accepted their anger and figured that they'd get it once we started the rotation the following day (they did). Still, all of this would've been completely unnecessary if our TD had done a decent job of explaining this.

On the way to the hotel (back near Naples)we got stuck in some really terrible traffic. Instead of arriving at the hotel at 7:00, we didn't get there until 8:30. Didn't miss much though as this hotel was just horrendous. No bugs, thank goodness, but just poorly cared for. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the air conditioning didn't work properly, there was rust around the bathroom and air conditioner, and the metal shade in our room would not go up (would've been kind of a big deal if there was a fire or something). Also, the TD failed to explain how sometimes its necessary to stick your room key into a slot in order to get the electricity to run, so we had to help one another out in this area.

Worst yet, when we finally did arrive for our included dinner, the waitstaff must've been really ticked off at our tardiness because they were extremely rude to us. The tables weren't completely set, so we had to ask for glasses and plates, and for some not-so-stale bread. It took a long time for the food to come, and I'm pretty sure that I saw our TD sitting in the corner getting served before we did. Not once did he get up to check on how things were going on our half of the room.

The dinner finally started with two kinds of pasta - a spaghetti and a manicotti in a broccoli sauce. The next course included pork and potatoes, and finally some cake. I don't like pork, but I wasn't going to press my luck by asking for anything different by this point in the game! After dinner, I was really looking forward to nice shower to cool my sunburn, but this proved problematic as well - the water would fluctuate between icy cold and scalding hot with no happy medium. Despite the negatives of a poor TD and a lousy hotel, it really was an awesome day. I just loved Capri.

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Day Five - June 23rd

During the previous evening there was a soccer/football match between Italy and... I don't remember who (sorry guys!). Well, Italy must've won the match because around midnight or so there were fireworks galore just outside of our room. My husband slept right through it while I was peering through the metal gate over our window trying to figure out what was going on half the night!

The next morning, breakfast was an equal disappointment to the dinner the night before. There was no hot chocolate and not even any O.J. I had a croissant and that was about it. Then we met the bus for our optional tour of Pompeii. I think almost everyone went on this excursion. I have to say that this was one of things I was most looking forward to on this tour and I was not disappointed. Pompeii was far larger and more amazing than I could've even imagined! And apparently a great deal of the city is still underground, not yet excavated. The local guide that we had for this optional was extremely knowledgeable and did a wonderful job. I think my jaw hung open with every new turn that we took. I also enjoyed the wild dogs that showed up promptly at 8:30, when the gates to Pompeii are opened each day - apparently they are well-fed by the tourists!

Just as it was beginning to get blazing hot again, we finished our tour, had enough time to grab a cool drink and head back onto the bus. Despite his previous deficiencies, I have to say that our TD, Romano, showed a great deal of improvement on this particular day. As we drove to the Monte Cassino Commonwealth Cemetary, he gave a great of background on the many soldiers who died in Italy during WWII, and how the vast majority of the families of Americans who died during the war chose to have their loved ones buried in Italy (in a different location, however). The stop we made at Monte Cassino was very brief, but also very scenic. Romano also pointed out a huge basilica on the hill above the cemetary where a saint is buried (for the life of me, I cannot remember which saint now..).

We stopped for lunch at an Autogrill (pizza, fries, and soda for both of us) and drove through Umbria, which was absolutely gorgeous. We stopped for a bathroom break in the afternoon just before we reached Assisi. We also made another quick stop at the foot of the hill in order to take advantage of a great photo opportunity. Romano gave us a great deal of background on St. Francis which was really nice. Once we reached Assisi, we had about an hour and a half to explore. The basilica has three parts - an upper church, a lower church, and then the lower tomb where St. Francis is buried. We viewed all of this and made a quick stop at the gift shop where my husband bought me a charm for my charm bracelet.

After exploring the basilica itself, we stepped outside and enjoyed the gorgeous views of the Umbrian countryside - just breathtaking, I must say! Romano had informed us about a temple to the Goddess Minerva in the center of town, so we set off (uphill, of course) to see this. Unfortunately, the temple has been transformed into a modern church, but the pagan influence was still obvious and it was very much worth a visit. We stopped inside a few gift shops on our walk down to the bus and met up with Romano who answered a few of our questions along the way.

We stayed in the Abacus hotel, which is not located directly in Assisi, but instead in the nearby town of Santa Maria degli Angeli. It was a very nice, modern hotel. Very clean and nice. Our room was a bit odd as it was located in the attic of the hotel, so our roof was slanted. But compared to the night before, let me tell you, I was thrilled with it! The included dinner at the hotel started with a pasta in a mushroom sauce, followed by turkey roasted with veges. There was some kind of custard thing for dessert which was okay.

After dinner we decided to walk to the basilica in Santa Maria degli Angeli per the recommendation of our TD. We would be visiting the inside of the basilica the following morning, but he had suggested seeing it all lit up at night - and it was, indeed, gorgeous. When we returned to the hotel, my parents went up to bed, but my husband and I decided to sit awhile and enjoy drinks with some of the other people on the tour. It was, overall, a very enjoyable day.

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Day Six - June 24th

Our bags were out by 7:00 am this morning, but unfortunately, due to another tour group, the hotel was not ready for our breakfast until around 7:15 (hey, I would've taken the extra 15 minutes of sleep!). The breakfast was very nice though - not a buffet for once. We each got a croissant and a roll, and yogurt was also available. Coffee was placed at every table and I was able to get some hot chocolate on request

We got on the bus and drove the very short distance to the Santa Maria degli Angeli basilica. This visit had a personal flair to it, as this was where Romano and his wife were married - I thought it was rather nice that it meant so much to him that he wanted to share it with his tour group. Anyway, inside of the huge basilica is a small chapel that was reportedly hand-built by St. Francis himself. Apparently, to step inside it is to be in one of the most holy places because everything inside were things that the saint himself saw and touched. Romano gave us a very nice, in-depth tour of the basilica and the rose garden where thorns no longer grow on the roses. As an added bonus, Romano made a special effort to pick up a whole stack of a special souvenir that the gift shop at the basilica sells - leaves from those special rose bushes. We were told that if you truly believe, the leaves have been known to provide miraculous healing power. The whole experience this morning was especially nice.

As we drove through the countryside on the way to Venice, Romano decided to explain the rest of the optionals that he would be offering and to start taking care of the billing for them. With a painful cut to our wallets, we decided to just go ahead and do ALL of the optionals. We stopped for a quick mid-morning bathroom break and snapped some amusing group photographs with a group of polizia that were lounging around the gas station. Hee hee!

We drove along some more and then stopped for lunch at another gas station (not an autogrill, but something similar). We decided to try the buffet option - ended up with gnocci in cheese sauce, cheese and bread, and chocolate mousse cake dessert. Yum! On the way to the hotel, Romano took a slight detour so that we drove along the River Brenta and could see all of the wonderful old villas.

As is the norm with a Costsaver tour, our hotel was not located in Venice, but in one of the 'suburbs' on the main land. It was actually a pretty nice hotel though - our room even had a small balcony. After some time to freshen up, we boarded the bus to take our first optinal tour in Venice. For this, Romano combined the gondola serenade with the water taxi ride for 60 euros. As some of you know, I was a bit skeptical about doing the gondola ride in Venice - just seemed to be almost too touristy for my taste. But, I have to say, I really did enjoy this. Each boat was given their own bottle of champagne to share, music played, and we all cruised through the alleyways of Venice until we reached the magnificent grand canal. I must admit - there is no better introduction to Venice that this!

After the gondola ride, Romano walked us through some of the back streets of Venice, stopping along the way to explain this and that. Then we reached St. Mark's square and we had about 30 minutes to walk around and enjoy it. Romano pointed out an awesome picture spot where there was a 'parking lot' of gondolas. After our free time, we boarded the water taxis which were to take us down the grand canal and back to where we started. As much as I was impressed by the gondolas, I was totally disappointed by the water taxis! Each water taxi had an outdoor seating area for four in the back, an outdoor seating area for four in the front, and then an enclosed seating area between the two. Guess where we got stuck? On the inside! We couldn't see a darn thing from in there, and since everyone who had seats on the outside kept standing up, they completely blocked any air from getting inside the stuffy compartment that we were stuck in. It was like torture, seriously! I'd peek my body out of the hole every once in awhile in order to snap a picture and get some fressh air, but there was no room for me to linger out there for long. It was so aggravating to be stuck in there while everyone else was enjoying the gorgeous views, floating down the grand canal. No one offered to switch with us at any point - can't say I blame them, I don't know that I would've either! After the ride, I went up to Romano and told him how terrible an experience this had been for us.. he shrugged his shoulders and turned around to walk away without a comment - grrrrrr! I guess I didn't really expect him to DO anything, but just some acknowledgement would've been nice.

We were thankfully cooled off by the time we returned to the hotel for dinner. The dinner tonight consisted of salad, potatoes, pork, peas, and cake. Even those who like pork were seriously starting to loathe it by this point! We spoke to a few other people at dinner who had experienced the exact same torture on their water taxis as we had in ours - something about this optional needs to seriously be fixed so that EVERYONE who pays their good money for it can truly enjoy it! After dinner we went to the hotel bar to drink some Armaretto and then we were off to bed.

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Day Seven - June 25th

Our second day in Venice. No need to have the bags out as we stayed two nights in the same hotel. My husband and I slept in a little and didn't get down to breakfast until about 7:20a. This breakfast was buffet style and included eggs, some fruit, croissants, rolls, cereal, etc.

By 7:40a, we were on the bus and on our way into Venice. We parked the bus on the 'parking island' and boarded a really nice boat which took us to St. Mark's Square. Our TD provided commentary of what was what along the way. Very nice. Once we reached solid ground, the first thing we did was walk through St. Mark's to the glass blowing factory. The demonstration was interesting and ended just as I was starting to get bored. But, WOW! The prices are extravagent. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that buying a piece of genuine Murano glass is an investment, but it just wasn't in the budget for us!

After the demonstration was finished, we had about four hours of free time in Venice. The first thing we did was to get into the line to go inside of St. Mark's basilica. The line moved quickly and it was definitely worth it - the mosaics inside are just amazing. To think of someone patiently placing each little tile piece - just awesome. When we came out, there was some kind of military demonstration going on in the square. The polizia were keeping all of the tourists off to the sides of the square. We decided that this would be the perfect time to make our way AWAY from the square, so we headed to the Rialto Bridge. We stopped along the way to pick up a mid-morning gelato - lemon flavor for me, chocolate chip for my husband. We got a little lost trying to follow the signs to the Rialto, but that was actually kind of fun because it took us to some of the less traveled areas. Anyway, we finally found the Rialto and took in the views from there. We decided to walk a little ways along the grand canal before turning back into the streets to head back to St. Mark's. When we reached the square, the military demonstration was still going on. My husband and I departed from my parents as we decided that we would like to go up into the bell tower. It cost 8 euros per person to go up in the tower, but let me tell you, this was absolutely worth it! There is a very nice elevator that takes you to the top, but the way. The views of Venice were magnificent and there was a nice cool breeze coming through that just made the whole experience relaxing and wonderful.

Finally, by the time we came down from the tower, the military demonstration was just finishing up. We stood and watched them march out and then - time to feed the pigeons! I had taken a super-stale roll from breakfast that morning and tucked it in my purse. As soon as I started dropping the crumbs, a whole crowd of pigeons came around. One pigeon landed on my arm, we got the picture, and that was enough. I dropped the roll for their eating enjoyment and off we went!

By this time it was probably about noon and it was getting to be very hot. My husband and I decided to walk along the open water, hoping to catch a breeze. Without enough time to really do anything else, we decided to sit down in a cafe and relax for awhile. We ordered a couple of Cokes and sat back to watch the world go by. When 1:00 came around we made our way to the meeting spot where Romano was going to board us on the boats for our optional tour of the other Venetian islands and, more specifically, Burano.

The boat ride was wonderful. Romano gave a great deal of commentary, pointing out the various islands along the way. It was so interesting! We boated by the former home of Cassanova and finally docked at Burano. I found Burano to be absolutely adorable - I just loved it. My husband, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled - just really didn't think it was anything special. After a short walk through the island, Romano took us to our lunch spot - a very cute restaurant where the owner allows artists free boarding in exchange for a painting. As a result, the restaurant was lined with all sorts of eclectic pieces of art. I might add that SOME of these paintings are for sale, and a couple of families in our group made some purchases. When I inquired about a piece that I had my eye on, I was told it was not for sale. Figures!

Those who wanted it got a 13-course seafood dinner. My husband and I, however, chose the meat option instead (my husband is allergic to shellfish and I don't care for seafood). We had salad caprese, pasta, lasagna, salad, chicken, steak, pork, french fries, and dessert. All of the wine, soda, juice, and water that you wanted were also included. Needless to say, everyone was stuffed by the end! After lunch, we had only about 30 minutes to explore Burano (could've definitely used more time!) before we boarded the boat back to St. Mark's. On the way back, Romano took us by the place where they are building the dam that they are hoping will save Venice from future problems with flooding. Very intersting to see. Then, we picked up the few people who didn't come along on the optional, made our way back to the bus, and finally back to the hotel. I have to say that I really, really enjoyed Venice and was sad that we wouldn't be returning again.

We went down for dinner at 7:30 even though we were not too hungry. They served pasta with red sauce, potatoes, green beans, and... PORK yet again. The highlight was chocolate and vanilla gelato for dessert. After an entire day in Venice we were wiped and turned in for an early night.

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Day Eight - June 26th

We were on the move again this morning and bags had to be out by 6:45a. We went down to breakfast (a repeat of the day before) and were on the bus by 7:40a.

We arrived in Verona around 9:30a. Romano gave us a brief introduction to the city as we were driving in, then we got off the bus and followed him to "Juliet's balcony". Romano pointed out some interesting things along the way, including ruins from the old city walls. We arrived in the courtyard of Juliet's balcony and Romano gave us a demonstration of the proper method to use in rubbing the right breast of Juliet's statue (its supposed to bring good luck). Now, I don't want to spoil the fun or anything, but I read in my guide book that there is absolutely no proof that anyone by the name of Capulet or anything similar ever lived in this particular house. None the less, the setting was very pretty and could see where the idea sprang from. We opted not to take part in the rubbing of the statue's breast, however!

After this, my husband and parents and I walked to see the arena in Verona. Very pretty. Along the way back, we ducked into a few gift shops and an electronics store to buy a new, bigger memory card for the digital camera. We loaded back on the bus for a couple of hours and stopped for lunch at an Autogrill just outside of Milan. Pizza, soda, and french fries for me and I my hubby.

Back on the bus, we began to drive toward Stresa, taking a very scenic route along the lake. When we arrived in Stresa, we boarded the boats that would take us on the Isola Bella optional tour right away. What a gorgeous boat ride! The beautiful houses, the Alps in the background, etc. We were close enough to see Switzerland in the distance! We arrived on Isola Bella and got an introductory tour of the Borromeo family palace from a local guide. Wow, to have that kind of money! Just amazing! The palace was gorgeous and it was hard to imagine that the family who owns it only makes use of it for 2 weeks of the year. Nice of them to open it up to the public though, I guess. After the tour of the palace, we had free time to wander through the gorgeous gardens and gawk at the white peacocks. It was so funny to watch all the groups of tourists doing whatever they could think of to try and get those peacocks to open their feathers!

After our visit, we were back on the boat to the mainland and Stresa. My Dad and husband decided to go for a beer, while my Mom and I walked around and did some shopping. There was a sort of open-air market/fair going on, so shopping was a lot of fun. Very nice atmosphere in Stresa.

We got back on the bus and drove a little farther than I expected to our hotel in Biandronno. We got all excited because Romano had told us that the place had a pool - no luck, the pool was closed because they had just dumped a ton of chlorine into it. So, we had some free time to freshen up and rest a little before dinner. Romano had offered a really nice service to everyone on our tour - he could take the memory card from our digital camera, temporarily moved the files to his computer, and then copy them to a disk for us. The result, of course, was that we had more free space on the digital memory card to take more pictures. So, during this free time, we met up with Romano and took care of this business. Just a really nice thing! He said that we were his test subjects and that he'll probably offer this service on future tours.

The hotel in general was very nice. Our room was very spacious and the A/C worked really well. We did find a few ants in the bathroom, but nothing to be concerned about. I definitely enjoyed the large counter space in the bathroom and the larger shower. Dinner tonight at the hotel included choice of pasta or soup, chicken, green beans, potatoes, and creme caramel. For some reason coffee was not included with this meal, so we had to buy some from the bar for my mother afterwards. We sat outside for a little while, but the mosquitos drove us inside and to bed.

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Day Nine - June 27th

Bags out by 6:45a again today. The breakfast was buffet-style and not very good. Apparently food was not this hotel's specialty! They only offered packaged croissants and I guess the yogurt was sour. No hot chocolate, and apparently the coffee was terrible. They did have applesauce (something different) and cheese and the rolls were good.

My husband and I didn't see the bus that was parked around the corner, so we sat in the lobby for awhile chatting with Romano. His wife is a Psychologist, and I am a School Psychologist, so this interested me. It was kind of funny though because once we got him talking, he wouldn't shut up and I don't think he even heard anything that I added to the conversation (like "Oh really, I work with kids too", etc.). Hee, hee, just a funny little moment. Meanwhile on the bus, my parents were fighting a battle to keep us from losing our seat. Apparently there had been a slight problem with the seat rotation all along, but it did not catch up with us until we reached the back of the bus. See, we had a total of 48 people on tour, with a bus built for 49. That meant the only seat that should've been left empty during the entire tour was the middle seat on the back bench. However, there was one family of five and one family of three - each family had one passenger who sat alone each day, leaving the group one double-seat short. So, each day one couple had to break up in order to fill in the two empty single seats. Now, if our TD had been on top of this and had handled this situation from the beginning (like by seating the family of three and the family of five next together), this would never have been a problem. Anyway, lucky for us, my parents were on top of it, and we did not get separated.

We drove a long way on the bus this morning, stopping only at a gas station to use the restroom. We drove by Genoa and other coastal towns. We arrived in Pisa around lunch time. Romano loaded us onto a little train that drove us into the "touristy" area. Then we followed him for a brief introduction to the leaning tower area. Then we were free to explore. We took a few pictures, used the restroom, and then sought out some lunch.

We found a nice little cafe that was very tourist-friendly (I imagine they had to be) and quick. I ate a hot dog and my husband had a hamburger. They were surprisingly good... actually one of the best, most pleasant lunches we had on the trip. My husband and I finished off our lunch with some gelato (I had chocolate chip and we never did figure out what my husband ended up with). Then we met the little train again and we loaded back on the bus.

That afternoon we arrived in Florence. We met up with our local guide and went for our optional tour of the Academy of the Fine Arts. Our local guide was pretty good, but the collection of art was relatively small. We saw the David, of course, as well as Michaelangelo's unfinished statues. Again, I am sure it'll upset some people to hear this, but I wasn't overly impressed with the David. I don't know - its really big and was made of marble without practice. But, maybe its just that there are so many pictures and replicas out there, that seeing the actual statue was no big surprise. After the Academy of the Fine Arts, the local guide walked us to the Santa Maria del Fiore church and the adjoining batistery. Wow, this church was huge and stunning. After seeing the church, we walked through some side streets until we reached Piazza della Signoria. There we saw the current Palace of Justice, the replica of the David, the Fountain of Neptune, and several other original works of art just sitting out in the open. Amazing! A short walk down some more side streets and we were standing in front of Santa Croce where Michaelangelo is currently entombed.

We were all pretty tired by the end of this walking tour and so Romano took us back to the bus to head to the hotel. We stayed at the Wall Art hotel, located about 45 minutes outside of Florence. It was a very nice hotel. Our room had awesome modern decor and was very spacious and comfortable. We had dinner a short while later which included lasagna, roast beef, green beans, potatoes, and creme caramel. Unfortunately, the roast beef was extremely rare and most people chose not to eat it. My husband and parents and I chose to go for a walk after dinner, hoping to find some food for me and some soda/water to pick up for the next day. Well, we walked a long way and found that most everything was closed. We did find a little shop that sold soda and water, but I never did get much to eat that night. Oh well - more room for gelato tomorrow!

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Day Ten - June 28th

Bags were out and breakfast available at 6:45a again today. The breakfast at the Wall Art was the typical buffet-style meal, only there was nearly-raw bacon and runny eggs available too - what a treat!

We boarded the bus at 7:40a and drove back into Florence. Before going down into the city, Romano took us to Piazzale Michaelangelo - a hill and park that overlook the entire city. It was just gorgeous in the morning mist and I was very happy that we stopped there. Then we drove down into Florence and started out where we had left off the day before - in front of Santa Croce. Romano gave us a brief re-introduction and pointed out were various things were in relation to the church. Then, we were free - we could either go off and explore on our own, or we could follow Romano to a gold shop and leather shop that he "recommended". Since we had about 5 hours of free time in Florence, we decided to go ahead and follow Romano. Most of the group did the same. The gold shop was okay - the salesperson gave a very quick overview of the things they had available (maybe 10 min). And the things there were, indeed, absolutely gorgeous, although a little outside of our budget as usual! The next stop was at the leather shop. It started out okay - there was a 10 min demonstration of how the leatherworkers attach gold inlay to their work. However, the sales pitch didn't stop there! We followed the man into his gold shop and heard another sales pitch on that topic, then we followed him to the leather coat department and heard another sales pitch about that. By this time I was about ready to go, and sure enough, the salesman picked me out of the crowd in order to model his leather jacket. Oh, I just HATE stuff like that! I did my duty and then took off the expensive jacket ASAP. Thankfully, I was not the only person from the crowd that he chose to model. Once the sales pitch was finally over and about an hour of our time was wasted, we used the restroom at the shop and then made our way back out onto the streets for our free time in Florence.

Our first priority was to go and see the Ponte Vecchio. We crossed over the bridge and went to the Palazzo Pitti - the former home of the Medicis. It wasn't much to see, really, from the outside and none of my little group wanted to venture inside, so we turned around and went back to Piazza della Signoria where we had been the day before. We wandered through some shops and side streets and eventually made our way back to Santa Croce. From here, we went to a wine and olive oil store that Romano had recommended. We did some wine and oil tasting and my parents bought some goodies (I was glad to have bought my wine at the grocery store which was much much less expensive).

Our next objective was to find "Vivoli" - supposedly some of the best gelato available. Romano had given us some directions to this shop, but apparently none of us had paid very good attention. We got a little lost along the way, but had some fun trying to ask for directions in Italian. We did eventually find it, and it was a nice little break from the ever-increasing heat and humidity outdoors. I tried their chocolate mousse gelato and my husband had chocolate/coffee flavor. It was very good, but I don't think that it was any different than any other gelato I tasted. After our gelato break, we decided to wander around and do some souvenir shopping (this is our last day - uh oh - got to find a gift for the nieces and nephews!). My husband and I like to buy a piece of original art work from wherever we travel, and as it turns out, Florence was the perfect place to buy this. We found an artist doing some wonderful, affordable paintings of various scenes in Florence and decided to pick one up - we just loved it and the man did a really, really nice job of wrapping it carefully in cardboard for us so it would not bend.

After this, my husband and I considered paying the entrance fee to go inside of Santa Croce. We found out that it cost 5 euros and we decided, given the time we had left, not to do so. Instead we did a bit more wondering around until we met up with Romano and our group at 1:00. We walked back to the bus and drove through beautiful Tuscany. We stopped at an autogrill along the way just for a bathroom stop and eventually reached our hotel in Rome. On the way to the hotel, Romano gave his informational speech about airport transfers, tipping, email lists, etc. He also handed out the evaluations. We filled ours out based on our opinions of Romano's performance - good and bad comments included. But what a waste of time - Romano did NOT hand out the individual envelopes to put our evaluations in! This meant that he had the ability to read through each one and decide whether or not he wanted to send it into Trafalgar or not. I have the feeling that ours did not get sent!

Anyway, we arrived that the hotel around 5:30 and had a little free time to freshen up and prepare our bags for the travel home. We met in the lobby and handed our tip envelopes to Romano and our driver, Giuseppe. It was difficult to decide how to tip - we gave our driver the full recommended amount for each day as he had truly done a great job. Romano was a little more tricky - some days he had done an excellent job, other days he was sub-par. So, I sat down and figured out which days he did good, which days he did poorly, and tipped him an amount that I felt was appropriate for each day.

Then, we boarded the bus again for our final optional - a pizza party dinner. The restaurant was not in the older part of Rome, but instead was in a relatively suburban, residential area. Still, the location was gorgeous - a huge outdoor patio with olive trees and the sunset in the background. Everyone was in a very good mood. The appetizers included bruscetta, fried rice and cheese balls, and fried potato balls. There as also a very thin pizza crust covered in herbs and oil, as well as prosciutto and salami on the side. The drinks included red wine, white wine, beer, soda, champagne, and water. Romano gave a kind of a farewell speech in-between the courses and then the music began. An accordeonist and two opera singers. They were amazing and it really set the atmosphere! Lots of people were taking group pictures and another member of the tour stood up to give his own farewell speech. Then came the pizza - HUGE pizzas that had different toppings on each part - there was sausage, prosciutto, spinach, or plain cheese. Just when we were stuffed, out came the salad that was served family-style. And finally dessert - chocolate and vanilla gelato. MMMMmmmm!

The evening finally had to end and Romano loaded us back on the bus, and back to the hotel. He played some more of his terrible disco music on the way back, but by this time it was far more amusing than it had been during the rest of the trip and everyone was joking about how terrible it was! We got off the bus at the hotel and said our good-byes to everyone. We decided to go for one last drink as the hotel had a pretty nice bar area near the pool, but we couldn't convince Romano to stick around and join us (he lives in Rome and I'm pretty sure he went home to his family that night). After that, we turned in for our final sleep in Italy.

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Day Eleven - June 29th

Finally, the day had arrived when we had to go home. According to our brochure, airport transfers were supposed to occur at 7:30a and 9:30a. Our flight was not supposed to leave until 1:15p, so we figured on catching the 9:30a transfer. Well, Romano rearranged things for his own convenience and the transfers he offered were at 7:30a and 8:30a instead. So, we got up at 6:00 and had our bags outside our room by 7:30.

We went for breakfast, which was the typical buffet-style. Most of the food was pretty bad, but I was happy to see hot chocolate available. We loaded the bus by 8:30 and Romano gave us final instructions regarding which terminal each of us should exit at (apparently there is now a separate terminal for anyone departing on an American-owned airline). Then, without accompanying us to the airport, he exited the bus, got into his car, and drove off. I don't know if this is typical or not - but I felt bad for our driver who had to manage everything at the airport on his own.

As it turned out, Romano's early transfer worked out well for us - we were able to squeeze in on an earlier flight that flew us back to Cincinnati instead of to JFK in New York. However, the plane ended up landing about 45 minutes late which put just about everyone on board into a tizzy about missing their connections. There are just so many steps to going through customs that its enough to drive anyone crazy! As it turned out, our connection was delayed by about an hour and so we made our flight into Chicago without a problem, and still arrived earlier than we had originally planned. We caught our bus back to Milwaukee, got home, and ordered some yummy, American-style pizza that we had missed so much!

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Hi Laura,
welcome back! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your tour tale. Wasn't it great to meet up with some people on your tour in the US before getting to Italy? I know I would always look around at the airport and on the plane, wondering if someone was going on the same tour that I was.
I'm sure your father was very excited to be travelling to Italy, I hope he relaxed enough to be able to enjoy it! It sounds like he is a take charge person and was only trying to make sure things got done. How did your Mom cope with this, I sure hope they came back talking to each other? It sounds like a fun time and one story you will be able to re-tell over and over.