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 :)

The Streak

So, many of you know I've had this amazing travel streak going for about 18 months. It started out quite randomly that I was flying somewhere every month for a variety of reasons, until I realized my streak could be broken..that's when I took matters into my own hands and purposely planned trips to continue the streak..and to see friends. I have been quite blessed and actually looked forward to my many adventures...and many is right. While it hasn't always gone smoothly, it's always been an adventure & a story to tell. That's what I love about travel - I always learn something new, see something with new eyes, meet new people - and always come home with a story to tell...and about 300+ pics.
Enjoy my Streak in Review:


June, 2010: Europe: This is where the trip started with a student trip to France & Spain. I had a small group of students this trip, but we were paired up with some amazing travel companions. One of our days took us over to Morocco - hence me & the camel. :)



July 2010: China: I was asked to speak at a Travel convention in Beijing, China. If you look close enough, you can see the sweat dripping off my face - hot & humid would describe this trip.



August 2010: Colorado: Went out to visit a dear friend. We sipped wine & chillaxed by this river...sigh...


September 2010: New York City: My cousin Amy & I went to NYC for a family wedding. While it was a whirlwind weekend, we took in all the sites & sounds this amazing city has to offer. Here I am outside the US Open tennis center.



October 2010: Orlando: Risius Family Vacation to Disney - all 9 of us went...actually 10 if you count that Abby was pregnant with Amelia. We went over Halloween and also got to spend time with the Florida clan.



November 2010: Rome: Was asked to speak at a Travel convention in Rome over Veteran's Day. This was my first time back in Rome since college, so was nice to have an official tour...gorgeous!


December 2010 - January 2011: Dubai: Happy New Year's from DUBAI!! I signed up for a trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates over New Years. What an AMAZING place! Behind me is the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. We went to the top one day, and got to watch New Years fireworks from a hotel facing it - unreal...



February 2011: Portland, OR: Flew out to visit a friend & her mom from my Dubai trip. Such a fun city and we did a beautiful scenic drive along the gorge..wow!



March 2011: China: My cousin Amy & I went to visit Eric, Lori & nephews Jack & Will, in China over Spring Break. Eric had been there since August for John Deere and Lori & the boys joined him in January. Was definitely a bit cooler weather and loved seeing the boys!!



April 2011: Madrid, Spain: I was asked to speak at a Travel convention in one of my most favorite Spanish cities. :) It was Holy Week so got to see the sites & sounds of all those festivities.


May 2011: San Diego, CA: Flew out to visit a friend who lives in La Jolla. We even took a side trip up to Hollywood. My first time in CA. Loved the sounds of the waves...



June 2011: Europe: 20 kids & I headed to Europe for 17 days, visiting London, Paris, Switzerland, Florence, Rome, Pompeii and the island of Capri (pictured above). What truly a trip of a life time - Go Big or Go Home!!



July 2011: Colorado: Back out to visit a friend and a side trip to St. Mary's Glacier...snow in July :)


August 2011: Ohio: This trip to the Western & Southern Tennis Tourney started in October as a birthday gift. I got to see the Semi's and the Finals before heading home. Quick weekend, but who can complain with 20+ hrs of tennis watching...and a Roger Federer sighting... sigh..



October 2011: Cedar Falls, IA: So the streak was broken in September & October - a hiatus if you will... and although I didn't fly anywhere, I can include this in my travel streak. Went up to my old stomping grounds with 4 college friends for a weekend of laughs. We should not have waited so long to go back & visit.



November 2011: Denver, CO: I went out to the ACTFL National World Language Conference held downtown Denver. Was an amazing conference and came back with oodles of ideas. Spent some time with my friend Sara - we even went to the Denver Aquarium, saw tigers & pet/fed stingrays. A successful weekend - gotta love that direct flight!



November 2011: Paris, France: I was asked to speak at a Travel convention in Paris over Thanksgiving. I love seeing old cities at different times of the year - you get a better feel for the true essence of the city. Paris was a-lit with Christmas lights & decorations - breathtaking.



And, now, here it is, December 2011 - and tomorrow I'm off to HONG KONG to ring in the New Year! Stay tuned for those posts & to see if the streak stays alive...

Much love & many blessings for a fantastic 2012!!
~steph :)