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Published: June 21st 2011
Lake Lugano
Over Looking Lake LuganoDay 4
Today was a transfer day from the Como region to Venice. It was a bit of a drive but not bad at all. Mostly because it was broken up with a lengthy stop in Verona. Verona is a beautiful city in the southern foothills of the Alps. It is actually the 4th most visited city in Italy, mostly know as the setting of Romeo and Juliette. There is even a fictional courtyard with balcony and a statue of Juliette. Everyone that comes to the city visits the courtyard and it is a packed mess, but hey you have to do it. Our guide Vania led us on a short walking tour of Verona then we had a couple of hours for lunch and exploring. Many of the students visited the ancient Roman coliseum, explored all the pedestrian shopping streets and mostly wandered the city. I led a group on a Rick Steves walking tour of the city where we visited a couple of churches, a roman bridge, and crossed the river to a roman amphitheater that had an outstanding view of the city. Finally for me the day in Verona would not be complete without out trip up the
Lamberti tower. It was a great stop in Verona, then we continued on to Jesolo to find our hotel. Jesolo is right on the coast just across from Venice. They shut down the main drag during the evening so locals and tourist strolls up and down the street enjoying the warm evening. Most of the students continued onto the beach where a strong wind was making some nice waves they played in until dark.
Day 5
Venice. Venice is Venice. Beautiful and packed. We caught our boat and had a nice little stop on one of the islands near Venice to see a glass blowing demonstration. We continued on and were dropped near St. Marks square. We met up with a local guide and had a nice walking tour that took us past all the main spots of the city. We saw and learned about the main square, the opera house, some smaller courtyards, the Rialto bridge, and of course all the little ally ways and small canals of the city. After the walking tour we found lunch before we visited the big Doges palace. That is the palace where the doges lived, which were basically the governors of
the city. Just by chance my daughter Lauren and her aunt and two cousins were in Venice on the same day on a different tour and we found them, or Lauren found me, in the middle of St. Marks square. It was very nice to be able to spend the afternoon with my daughter. So for the rest of the afternoon and evening everyone explored the city and had a great time. I once again led a small group, including my other family members on a walk through the less crowded parts of Venice. We all met back up in St. Marks square for our boat ride back to our hotel.
Day 6
Today we drove from Venice to Florence. The drive was about 4 hrs total, but we did have a 30 minute rest stop break. drives are always a bit longer than I figure because the bus has a 100 KPH speed limit. so a drive that would be much quicker in a car takes a bit longer. However most of the students enjoy the bus ride for sleep and generally goofing around with each other. We arrived in Florence and met up with our local guide.
During the tours we have these nifty headsets where the guide can talk into a mic and we all hear it in our headsets so we don't have to huddle around her to hear. It makes the walking tours nice. She led us on a hour and half wander through the old city. We started near the city hall and continued up to the river and the Ponte Vecchio bridge. We then went down to the Cathedral and into the giant building. we continued on up through the medieval part of town toward the Santa Croce church and ended at a leather factory. We were schooled in the finer points of leather making and how to spot fake leather and were finally encouraged to buy something. Several of our group did make a few nice purchases. After the tour we had some time to wander the city, grab a gelato, and then meet back up for our ride to the hotel. After dinner everyone sat around and checked email and updated their facebook status. We did not have internet the last two nights and you would have thought kids were out of touch for years they way they all were
glued to their internet devices. Needless to say, my computer was being used for email and the like, so I am writing this on the morning of Day 7. Today we head back to Florence for the entire day. So you will get another shorter post at the end of our day. Till then........
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