Day 16: Capri

Our last day of touring...can hardly believe it's been over 2 weeks!
Today we got up early, packed the bus, and headed to the ferry port to catch our ferry from Sorrento to the Island of Capri. It was a quick ride (30 min) and then we literally walked off of our ferry and got on a private boat that took us around the islands, saw some caves/grottos, amazing rock formations...just enjoyed an hour on our boat.
Once back to the mainland, we hopped on the funicular and went to the village at the top. We wandered the streets, enjoying some window shopping, seeing the beautiful flowers along the way, and ending at the other edge of the island for an amazing over-look.  Wow...pretty close to paradise! We grabbed some paninis for lunch and had about 2+ hrs of free time, so we headed to the beach.  Finally!  Some 'leisure' on our 'Europe at Leisure' tour!!
After some more gelato, we boarded our Ferry to Naples (1hr).  Once in Naples, our driver Salvatore picked us up and back on the road to Rome we went.  We had dinner upon our arrival in Rome and then off to the hotel.  Had a nice farewell meeting with Mario, sharing our favorite moments, places, etc...
Then, we got the fun news of our changed flights.  Due to a fire in Terminal 3 in Rome over a month ago, we were rebooked and now fly direct into Chicago!  Quite excited for a direct flight!!

Until the next post...which will be from the USA!!
~Señorita :)

Boat ride

Capri

What a great last day in Capri!

Chillin' on the rocks!

Nicole enjoying some reflective time

Day 15: Vesuvius & Pompeii

We said good-bye to the Arkansas & Florida groups, boarded the bus with our Utah friends, and off we went!  Today we are heading south to Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii.  The kids got some great napping in on the drive, and with the entire bus to ourselves, we could spread out!
Our first stop was Vesuvius and the drive up the mountain was the most entertaining part as the roads are quite narrow and there are buses going up & down.  Once we got parked, off the kids went for the last 200 meters hike up the top of the volcano to put their mouth in the mouth of the volcano. lol
After the hike, we grabbed lunch on the slopes of the volcano & then headed to Pompeii.  We met our local guide who took us through the ruins. It's so amazing to see buildings, hear the stories, see the molds of the people who died...wow...
We headed to our hotel in Sorrento, had dinner, and then wandered looking for some Wi-Fi and gelato!  We found some gelato...as we always do!  :)

Off to the island of Capri tomorrow!!

Until the next post...
~Señorita :)

Nick on the top of Vesuvius

Kyle on Vesuvius

My little mountain goats

Pompeii...with Vesuvius in the background

Nick & Hannah hugging the pillars

Whipping around Europe

Abbey Road wanna be's

Lauren made a new friend

Day 14: Rome...round 2

Today was our last day in Rome and we spent it well!! Our morning consisted of a tour of the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica.  I think the most comments I heard were that they were surprised at how small the Sistene Chapel was.  Guess they expected it to be bigger. We grabbed some lunch, hopped on the bus, and headed to Trevi Fountain.  Sadly, it’s all under construction and the glass walkway that was there in February is gone, so we had to throw our coins in the lame mini-pond.  After that, the kids went off shopping, hit the flower market, and did some great people watching in the Piazzas.  We met back up and headed off to a great pasta dinner, and then back home to our hotel a bit early.  Tomorrow we head to Pompeii, but 2 of our travel buddy groups are not.  The Florida & Arkansas groups are heading home so we had some good-byes.  The kids have just been chillaxin’ in the hotel on the Wi-Fi, and getting packed up for our last hurrah!  Can’t believe we left 2 weeks ago…London feels like it was months ago.

Until the next post…

~Señorita :)

St. Peter's Basilica

Throwing in the coins in hopes of returning

Day 13: Rome, round 1

Sorry for missing the last post – I was just plain tuckered out last night.  We had an amazing first day in Roma.  We had a free morning, so our group headed to Castel San Angelo & climbed up to the top of the turret for some amazing views of Rome. We then headed to the Pantheon area and grabbed some lunch.  We then met up with the entire group for a tour of the Colosseum and Forum.  Soooo amazing and awe-inspiring! The architecture is just impressive! 
It was a hot one today – umbrellas were super helpful blocking the sun.  We then had some free time to check out the Pantheon & Piazza Navona…and eat gelato.  We should definitely put ‘gelato eating’ on our itinerary as we’re becoming experts!

We had some amazing pizza for dinner and then set off on our Rome By Night tour, partially walking and enjoying the atmosphere in Trestevere.  We then jumped on the bus and got to see some amazing sites at night.  The bonus for me was a pit stop at the Colosseum.  As the Trevi Fountain is under construction, we didn’t stop there but the Colosseum and the Vatican.  Gotta love how different a city looks and feels at night.

Until the next post…
~Señorita :)

P.S. getting pics loaded from the past few days...enjoy!

Castel San Angelo

My Roamin' Spartans conquering the Roman Colosseum

Day 12: San Gimignano & Assisi

Today we left Montecatini/Florence and headed to Rome.  We made 2 pit stops on the way in 2 amazing Italian town:  San Gimignano and Assisi.  First stop was San Gimignano, a quaint little towered town nestled in the Tuscan hills. It’s surrounded by rolling greens, olive trees and sunflower fields…seriously looks like a painting.  We spent a few hours wandering, eating gelato, grabbing lunch, and were entertained by a medieval parade & festivities.

Next up was Assisi and a visit to the Basilica.  What an amazing final resting place of St. Francis!  The Basilica has two floors which are quite distinct from each other. Part of the upper chapel was damaged in an earthquake in 1997.  There are a few cracks still in the walls that you can see.

Back on the road for our last long bus ride as a group of 50…2 of the groups are not joining us on the extension to Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri.  We arrived into Rome in time for a late dinner…but with bruschetta, salad, lasagna & tiramisu, who care what time we eat?!?!  It was delicious!!!

Tomorrow we have a free morning so we’re going wandering, Señorita style, and then off to see the Colosseum & the Forum as well as Piazza Navona, the Pantheon before doing a Rome by Night tour.

Until the next post…
~Señorita :)

 p.s. internet is pretty good, but slow for pics.  will try to load some tomorrow

Assisi

Day 11: Florence & Pisa

Today we toured 2 amazing cities…Florence & Pisa.  We headed into Florence, met our local guide and off we went. Saw the Duomo, the Tower & Baptistery, walked to D’ante’s house, the Piazza with the fake David statue, and the Arno River where we stood on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and got some amazing shots.  At the end of our tour, we stopped at a leather store where they talked to us about good leather & bad leather and then the kids got to shop.  We headed for lunch & then afterwards had some free time.  Most got some gelato..the first of many. We wandered, shopped, enjoyed life in the hustle & bustle of Florence.  Boy, were there a lot of cruise ships in town and on tours.

We boarded the bus and headed an hour to Pisa. It’s kind of obnoxious to get in to the Piazza as there are oodles & oodles of street vendors annoying you to death to buy stupid stuff. And, just when you’ve had enough, you enter the arch way and KABAM!  There’s the Leaning Tower of Pisa!  We met our local guide and first toured the Baptistery where we heard them chant and listened to it echo & reverberate off the walls.  Next up was the Cathedral before finally checking out the Leaning Tower…and it actually leans pretty good.  The kids took some hilarious pics, so wait until you see them!!

Dinner was some good ol’ Italian pizza with some more gelato afterwords!!

Tomorrow we pack up & head to Rome, but we’re making 2 pit stops on the way: San Gimignano & Assisi!

Until the next post…

~Señorita :)

**pics will be posted later - horridly slow internet

Laylon and his new friend

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Cedric stole all the phones at dinner

Day 10: Cinque Terre

We sadly said good bye to Switzerland, but they sent us out in a grand way with some amazing views on the drive.  Most of us saw very little as we crashed pretty quickly.

We also celebrated Laylon’s bday today with bday cake and singing on the bus – what a great way to send your 14^th bday but in 2 countries: Switzerland & Italy!!

Our main stop today was Cinque Terre, 5 unique villages nestled in the hillside.  We hit 3 of the villages, got some swimming in, and, more importantly, some gelato. The weather was amazing – think we all got some sun today.  Did some great hiking, exploring, and just enjoying some Leisure during our Europe at Leisure trip.

Our hotel is in Montecatini, a spa village outside of Florence. So, we grabbed some dinner and are now enjoying our sloooooow internet, so doubt I’ll be able to post pics tonight.

Tomorrow we head in to Florence for a city tour as well as out to Pisa!

All is awesome and we are loving it!  Weird to think we’ll be home in a week…weird & sad & a bit happy too.

Until the next post…
~Señorita :)

P.S. I'll add more pics at the next hotel - the Wi-Fi is terrible here and the only reason I'm on is that I got up early - the kids are all still asleep!!  :)

Day 9: The Hills are Alive....

Switzerland is amazing!!! We all fell in love with this gorgeous country and the town of Lucerne. It has such a different vibe than the hustle & bustle of London & Paris. It’s much more chill…and a little bit chillier! J

We headed into Lucerne and did a walking tour of the city, the Lion Monument, the bridges, etc… Then, after some shopping and lunching, we boarded a boat and sailed around the lake to Stanserhorn. We then took a train up to an open-air cable car, the Cabrio, to the top of Stanserhorn.  What a view!  Once the clouds moved, we could see for miles and miles.  We hiked up to the summit and were rewarded with an amazing view!!

We took a scenic drive along the lake back to our hotel, but most of the kids were asleep and didn’t see a thing.  After dinner, we had some down tiame, wander time, chill time.  It was a long day, but an absolutely amazing day!  I know the kids loved it…and have even commented that they liked Switzerland better than Paris and/or London.

Hard to believe we’re at our half-way point.  Most can agree – it feels like we’ve been here forever and that London was sooooo long ago, when in actuality, it’s flown by so completely fast!

Weather has been amazing – I guess Lucern has had rain the last few days and tomorrow as well – sooo grateful it held off for us!

Tomorrow we’re off to Cinque Terre and Florence.

Italy, here we come!!
~Señorita :)

Lion Monument in Lucerne

Nick enjoying the boat cruise

Had to put the boys in front of a sign that says "Extrafarhten:

All Aboard!!!

We made it to the top!

Some of my 'mountain goats:

Who doesn't love teertor tower!

Day 8: Bus...Bus...and more Bus

Today was a pretty quiet day.  We loaded the bus around 8, and off we went.  It’s our ‘bus day’ and basically we’re driving to Switzerland today.  We’re actually looking forward to a quiet day on the bus, away from the hustle & bustle & pick pocketers.  Kids pretty much fell asleep within 15 min.  We left Paris at 8:30am and arrived in Switzerland at 8:30pm. 

Our lunch stop was fantastic – we stopped in this quaint French town of Beaune. It’s pretty much what you would think a French village looks like.

Our Swiss hotel is nestled up in the hills so after dinner we went for a digestive walk and just wandered the town.  It’s a bit chilly here…rained on the way, but should be good tomorrow as we tour Lucerne and head up Stanserhorn.

Sorry for the lack of photos today…we didn’t do much.

Until the next post…

Señorita :)

Twinsies!!

Roamin' Spartans in Beaune, France

Me & my awesome adults & chaperones

Welcome to Switzerland!!

Day 7: Last day in Paris

Well, for a day with very little structured time, we sure filled in and boy, are our pedometers out of control!!  The group headed off to the Louvre Museum to check on Mona, Venus, and many other amazing works of art.  Although they only had a few hrs there, you could spend days!  I stayed behind this morning as Jenna arrived today!  Her parents brought her to our hotel and then went on their own European adventure while Jenna is with us.  Jenna & I wasted to time – we hit the Eiffel Tower, jumped into a bicycle taxi to the Louvre, got to see the Seine, all the landmarks around the river, the Tuilleries, and ended at the Louvre Pyramid.  We were hoping to run into the group coming out, so while we were looking, up comes a PV elementary teacher who was traveling with her brother…such a small world.  We finally figure out where the group is and so we jump in a cab and surprise the group!  After a perfume factory tour, we set the natives free.  Many came with me to have lunch up on top of the Galaries Lafayette and others set off on their own adventure.  All in all, it was great as everyone could choose what they & their group wanted to do…and they all made it to the meeting point on time safe & sound…which is goal #1. 

Next up was dinner and then we headed up to Montmartre to see Sacre Coeur cathedral and to wander the area, eat crepes, just enjoy our last night in Paris.  And to top it all off, a 2 euro carousal ride was the best of the day.

Tomorrow we’re heading south…and while to most people an 8-10 bus ride sounds hideous…we are quite excited for a quiet, potentially rainy, day.

Until the next post…

Señorita J

My carousal kids

With the Utah kids near Sacre Coeur

The Mowbray's dancing in Paris

Maddie, Olivia & Hannah on top of Galleries Lafayette

Taking a bike ride with Jenna to catch up with the rest of the group