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Published: June 15th 2017
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The recap of Italy is strictly from memory, as we were enjoying the stunning train ride through the mountains, I dropped my camera and it broke. Thankfully we still had Joe's, but somehow his memory card got corrupted, so we lost all evidence of Venice and Florence. What I do remember is that Joe, Tristan, Marisa and I made out way to Venice on Monday June 26, and started walking the numerous tiny walking streets in search of our lodging. Most people don't speak English, but after 30 minutes to an hour of searching, we finally find out place. A wonderful little bed and breakfast style flat, hidden in one of the corners of Venice. We spend two nights in Venice, with the majority of the first day just walking around town, checking out Saint Mark's square and cathedral, although we are too cheap to pay to go inside. We don't partake in any gondola rides, but we do grab a fantastic dinner at Al Buso, right next to the Rialto Bridge, just around sunset. We checked out a bar or two and called it a night. The next day we took a boat ferry to Lido island, where we spend
a relaxing day at the beach.
We check out of our flat and made the walk back to the train station to catch our next ride to Florence. Tristan needs to catch up on work emails, but Joe and I don't want to miss the next train which is departing shortly. So Joe and I take off, leaving Tristan and Marisa behind to catch the next train. Turns out, Joe and I jumped on the commuter train that stops at every town on the way, while Tristan caught the direct train an hour later. Apparently it pays off to look at the details when booking such things. Tristan actually arrives in Florence just ahead of us, and Joe and I meet him at our lodging where he already checked in. We spend two nights in Florence checking out the Boboli botanical gardens, multiple churches, squares, and of course party with some local college students.
The four of us hop on our last train 2 hours down to Rome. Here is where the crew expands yet again. Steve and his crew fly there way to Rome from Prague, and my girlfriend Angela arrives from the States with her friend
Sonja and we meet up with Jason again. Somehow, everybody has the address of the very budget "shared" lodging we have reserved in Rome. The place is too sketchy for Sonja, so she and Jason get move to a nicer hotel. We all grab dinner, enjoy some brews, and laughs, and call it a night.
Over the next couple days we continue checking off the tourist highlights as we wait in a long line and take a tour of the Vatican. I'm not a religious person, but the history and architecture here is mesmerizing. We all continued to check off a few of the big ones including the coliseum (including the amazing ancient relics in the park across the way), as well as the spanish steps, and trivoli fountain. Our last day, most of the crew wants to relax and check out the beaches of Rome, but Angie, Jason and I continue checking out the history of Rome. We visit the pantheon, numerous churches and palaces, and stroll the streets in the ridiculously hot weather. No matter where we were though, we made it back to the nearby pizza/bar joint to watch a few World Cup matches. Our last
day there, Italy beat Ukraine 3-0 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinal to face Germany. We had a great day, continued to drink a few beers on the streets and just sat and watched the Italians drive up and down the streets all night honking their horns and popping motorcycle wheelies, etc. And that was just the quarterfinal, I can't imagine the madness that ensued after they won the final vs France one week later.
With that, the World Cup Europe trip was over for Joe and myself. We caught a train and headed back home. In hindsight, we should have stayed on another week. Tristan continued on with Steve and his crew, and made their way to Pamplona, Spain for the running of the bulls. Angie, Sonja, and Jason continued their journey through northern Italy and onto Barcelona, Spain. All in all, what an adventure was had by everyone, and to share those experiences with so many close friends, who came and went at different stages of the adventure, it is something that will never be replicated again.
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