Day 11: On the Road again...

FCO --> EWR --> ATL --> MLI

Well, it's sadly that time again... good-bye's are no fun... so as I told the kids, it'll just be "See you soon!" What an amazing 10 days we have had during our Spring Break. Hard to wrap my brain around the fact that I have to be at work Monday morning at 8 am. Typically I have the summer to recover...guess it'll be about 9 hours instead. :) But, all worth it. Such a priviledge to watch how the kids changed, matured, came together as a mini-family over the 10 days...and to have been able to watch their faces light up at the amazing sites we saw.

We were the 1st ones to land here in Italy, and we're the last ones to leave. We had a 10 am flight out of Rome to Newark, so our wake-up call wasn't as early as Colorado's 3:30 am departure. Mario took us since he had a flight out at 10:15 back to Sicily. All checked in, but no boarding passes from Newark home...a hitch to deal with.

Sadly said our "See you later's" to Mario and thanked him for all his hardwork over the 10 days. The kids loved all his stories, his laughter, his singing, his joy of travel, and his love of Italy. A true master of his craft!


First flight was quite long - 10 hrs - Newark - got some sleep and watched a few movies. In Newark, after clearing customs, we had to go up to the 4th floor, recheck luggage and print boarding passes, then hustle off to security again and get to our gate...phew...

Had a few hours in Atlanta...which was extended another hour due to fixing a part on the oxygen tanks. Then, once boarded, they had to get a new pilot since ours timed out. Luckily we took off in time that the crew didn't time out...ay yi yi!

Made it home safe & sound, just an hour late. Kids were elated to see parents at the airport. Airports can be such a happy & sad place all rolled into one location...such a juxtaposition. Everyone's luggage showed - YIPPEE! So, we said our "See you in a few hours" and home we went for some precious hours of sleep in our own beds before our alarm clocks would wake us up to reality.

It was a super week - loved it all - possibly doing another Spring Break trip next year...am thinking Costa Rica!! Loved my Team Utah...oh, I mean Team Iowa :) Hopefully they are inspired to travel more in the future - I know I sure am!! :)

Thanks to all for reading our blog! You were with us there in spirit!
Hugs for now ~ steph :)

p.s. Next student trip is in June - we're off to Spain for 20 days!! :)
p.p.s. As for my streak...stay tuned!! I've got April figured out, but not May. June will be the 2 yr anniversary :)

Day 10: Capri

What another gorgeous day today! We have been sooooooooo lucky with weather on this trip - it's quite unreal.... actually we heard today that the icky weather is coming, so I guess it's time for us to go!
We grabbed a ferry out to Capri this morning from Sorento, did a boat cruise around the island to see the White Grotto as well as the Coral Grotto. Did a walking tour of the village, ending at the gardens below...

Had some free time to explore and go down to the beach to see the crystal clear water...amazing! Ferry back to Naples - Bus to Rome and here we are... packing and hoping to get some sleep before our 6:15 am shuttle to the airport.

We sadly said good-bye to our Colorado friends...first ones in, last ones out.

We've had a great time - we're all completely exhausted, a bit sunburnt, and broke, but such big smiles on their faces... good stuff!!

Excited to see you all & share stories!!

See you soon!

Wish us luck on our travels home!!

~steph :)

Day 9: Pompeii & Mt Vesuvius

Day 9 took us out of Rome, heading south to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. We went into the National Park and the drive up was spectacular!! Most of the kids grabbed walking sticks and headed up the volcano to see the crater and the view - amazing!!

After a quick lunch, Pompeii was next on our list. The kids LOVED it!! So amazing to see the ruins afte so many years...unreal...

Our hotel was located near Sorrento so that we can head to Capri tomorrow. After dinner, we took the kids down to the beach so they could dip their toes into the Sea...a bit chilly, but fun to watch them drawing in the sand and trying to skip stones.

Tomorrow we're off to Capri - pray for good weather!!
~steph :)

Day 8: Roma...part due

Today was a Free Day for us...which translates to a "Senorita Day." :)

We tried to hit a famous gelato place early on, but it was closed, so we were dropped off at the Piazza Venezia and had to be back by 6:15...so off we went. Saw San Ignazio church, then over to the Pantheon where the kids has a few hrs to shop, grab lunch, eat a gelato, etc...

Afterwards, we went over to Trevi to check it out in the day light, then up to Spanish steps, the Popolo, and then decided to a walk along the river...sigh...gorgeous...

So, basically our day was Piazza hopping, people watching, gelato eating, and a nice, leisurely pace...perfect!!

We sadly had to say good-bye tonight to the two groups not doing the extension with us. We are heading to Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri tomorrow and the TX and FL groups are not - just us & CO. My kids really bonded well with these 2 groups, so was a bit difficult to say good-bye, so we just bid them a safe trip and a "See you soon!"

Off to the Amalfi Coast tomorrow - need some sleep!!
~steph :)

Day 7: ROMA

So, our internet went out on us last night after we had just gotten back from our Rome day, so sorry this is a day late...

Well, lucky number 7...what a day!!! We saw, in 8 hours, what it took over 24 centuries to build...yowza! Overwhelming and awesome all at once!

We started out our day at the Colesseum, then over to the Roman Forum...a break for lunch, and then came Round 2!

Round 2 consisted of the Vatican museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. Had an early dinner and back to the hotel...exhausted!
Rome is such an amazing place - the history, the architecture, the people, the food...awesome!
Needless to say, it was an early night for us. :)

~steph

Day 6: Assisi and Rome...by Night :)

Today was pretty much a bus day...but what a break it up but a stop in Assisi, the birthplace & burial of Saint Francis. Such a magical place with it's cobblestone streets, winding alleyways, beige monotone buildings, and it's 2 story basilica set up in the Tuscan hills. Amazing! Father Michael from Pennsylvania took us around, showing the amazing frescos and arches of this amazing building. Everyone enjoyed it...such a magical place!

We continued more onto Rome and did a quick dinner & hotel check in and then off to see Rome!1 First stop - Trevi Fountain, where we all threw in our coins and made our wishes...plus we had to eat gelato. Other pit stops included the Colesseum and Forum as well as the Vatican. Can't wait to tour them tomorrow!

We have a busy day ahead of us on Wednesday...some might call it a day from hell...but that's not possible in this Eternal City! We're going to see, in less than 24 hrs, what was built in over 24 centuries...good stuff! Better stay tuned!!

~steph :)

Day 5: Florence & Siena

Another fabulous day in Italy for the Iowa kids!! We started off with some 'free time' in the morning in Florence, so we hiked up to the Boboli gardens for some amazing views of Florence. After lunch, we boarded the bus & headed south to Siena for an afternoon. What an amazing town! Such a quaint Italian village. This is where the Palio takes place every year...the big horse race between the different families of Siena. They race around this square below and even if the jockey falls off, the horse that crosses first still wins...We also went into the cathedral...amazing black & white striped marble and the most amazing original frescos I have ever seen....unreal... quite breathtaking... Course the kids had to get gelato and took off before I could get a group photo.

On our way back to hotel we say the most amazing sunset...well, I did...think the kids were sleeping. Will try to get a pic up soon...breathtaking...

Got back to hotel and off to dinner we went - here's a pic with some of our new FL friends having margarita pizza...delish...and the kids were so pooped after dinner that they didn't even want to go out for gelato...that should tell you how tired they were! :)

All in all a great day was had by all!! Tomorrow we're off to see a pottery demonstration and then to Assisi before ending in Rome.

Thanks for all who are reading this - we are loving the Italian way of life!!

Ciao Ciao ~ steph :)

Day 4: Florence and Pisa

What another great day!! We are all completely exhausted right now...so that makes for a great day! We sadly had to say good-bye to Venice and head west to Florence. We went to a leather demonstration, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and took a wonderful tour of the lovely city of Florence.
Saw the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, and the Duomo...amazing!! Below, behind me and my masked crusaders is a statue of Neptune. Had some free time for shopping...and gelato at one of the best places in Florence, Grom...had to stand in line for a good 20+ minutes...totally worth it.
Our hotel is out in Montecatini, so after we checked in, had dinner, we headed to Pisa for a private night tour. It was great! So beautiful lit up at night. We had basically the whole magical square to ourselves and a lovely guide explaining it all.... Amazing!!
All in all...we're pretty exhausted...but all for a good cause!
The weather has been absolutely amazing! Now that we've moved away from the water, it's gorgeous - sun shining, barely a cloud in the sky!!

Tomorrow consists of some more time in Firenze, and then off to Siena.
Hope all is well in your neck-of-the-woods! Hard to believe we're almost half-way through our trip!! One week to go... hope it goes slowly as we're having too much fun to think about home!

Hugs ~ steph :)

VENEZIA

What a day we had in Venice!! Not a cloud in the sky - absolutely gorgeous!!

We took a ferry to the island of Milan to watch a glassblowing demonstration. Then off to Venice where we met our local guide, did an amazing walking tour through all the narrow streets and alley ways, saw a lace-making demonstration, grabbed some lunch and headed out for a gondola ride along the canals...sigh.... Had some time to shop as well as check out the Doge's palace - amazing! More gelato. :)
All in all, an amazing day... lots of bridges = lots of steps :)

This was our view as we left Venice tonight...sigh...

Tomorrow we sadly these this lovely town and head to Florence...and a side trip to PISA!!! :)
Kids are having a blast - taking oodles of pics to share - eating mucho gelato.

Que bella italia :)

~steph :)

Welcome to Italy!!!

Welcome to Italy!!! We had some rough flights from Minneapolis to JFK as well as JFK to Milan...but this is what we woke up to...sunrise over the Alps...sigh...look at those colors...amazing!

We met our Tour Director, Mario, as well as our driver, Pietro, and we were whisked away to a lovely town, Arona, just along the Lake. A bit chilly, but the sun started to come out. We grabbed an Expresso at this lovely little cafe as well as Crepe...Welcome to Italy!!
Back to the airport we went to meet up with the other 3 groups on our bus: Texas, Colorado & Florida. After loading all on the bus, we headed to Verona.
Got to see Juliette's house/balcony...see all the love locks...all the messages... We wandered around the lovely town....and had Gelato!!! :)

Overall a great day! We're currently just outside of Venice along the sea and heading into town on the Ferry tomorrow. A great day planned with glassblowing, San Marco's square and a Gondola ride...stay tuned!

~Steph :)

Spring Break: BELL' ITALIA

MLI - MSP - JFK - MXP

"From the Cities of Milan to Capri
We'll conquer them one by one.
Exploring the sites & eating gelato,
We're ready to have some fun!
Here we go!!!!"

This post is a bit earlier than previous years as we are doing a Spring Break trip to Italy today! It will be my 13th trip taking students around the world and I couldn't be more excited! It's an 11 day tour throughout Italy including the amazing cities of Milan, Venice, Siena, Florence, Assisi, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri....yes, all of that (and more) in 11 days! I have a 4 students and 3 adults traveling this time and we are paired up with 3 other groups from Texas, Colorado & Florida. Our Tour Director, Mario, was our Tour Director this past June, so it will be nice to have him lead us around his country.

Wish us luck! Pray for us...and for great weather!
We'll be in touch soon!!

~steph & the gang :)

February 2012: Portland

My annual President's Day Weekend in Portland, OR, was a blast again!!
My friend, Sarah, just bought a house and so I went out to visit her and her family for the 2nd year in a row and a good time was had by all! Ate some delicious food, saw some interesting sites...Keep Portland Weird!

On Saturday we took a tour of "Underground" Portland - a tour of the city's shady history... fascinating! Went into Chinatown - saw the famous "Hung Far Low" sign... lol :) Learned there were many 'seamstresses' back in the day who would offer to 'sew on the button' for a gentlemen... up in her room! :)

We also saw the 24 Hour Church of Elvis... you could actually get married here if you wanted... or just put in a quarter and watch Barbie work out :)

We went to the Irish Bar, Kells. Here's a picture of the bar & ceiling. Those are dollar bills. Give the waitress a dollar and 2 quarters. She folds the bill around the coins and tosses it up to the ceiling...and magically it sticks. Every year, just before St. Patrick's Day, they take down all the money and donate it to charity. Cool stuff!!

Here's my Portland family: Judy, Sarah & Tom. I met Sarah & her mom on my Dubai trip last New Years.

A great weekend it was! Perfect weather, perfect company, hilarious conversations, great flights! That's what I call a success!! :)

~steph :)

Happy New Year from Hong Kong!

In keeping the streak alive, I headed to Hong Kong for New Years! What a fascinating place! Much English, due to the British rule for years... they even accepted the dollar in many places!

While it was a short trip, it was jam packed! The hotel was located right next to where the old aiport used to be. Now, it's out on land that has been reclaimed. We went to a temple, which was all decorated in anticipation of the upcoming Year of the Dragon.

Besides touring all over the city, up to the highest heights, I also was able to stick my feet into the South China Sea. :)

On New Year's Eve, we headed to Lantau Island to see the Tian Tian Buddha, or the Big Buddha. Had to take a very, very long cable car to get there, then walk thru the village which was playing Christmas music (?!), then walk up the 240 steps to see the Big Buddha. HUGE!! Afterwards we had a Vegan lunch in the Monestary and headed back to town to get ready for the New Years celebrations!

We found a spot downtown between the fancy hotels - one even had a stage out front with entertainment. We watched all the people filing down towards the Clock Tower - they were in such an orderly fashion. Many stopped for pictures with all of us - guess we looked like celebrities! The building pictured below even put a countdown on it and then BAM! Fireworks! :) Pretty cool! I would guess their Chinese NY celebration was more elaborate, but this was pretty good!!

While the flight was long...14 hrs... it was worth it. I luckily didn't have any jet lag and it was a fascinating city to explore and another great location to ring in the New Years!

~steph :)