Days 1-4 Venice and Florence

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Greetings from Europe.

So far there are two things that we have been without. Internet, and luggage. Alexa and I have been missing our luggage that never showed up in Italy. Alexa should get hers in the morning and mine is still Missing In Action. But life goes on and it will show up eventually. So with that said, on with the details.

Day 1-2
So our journey begins. All things considered our flights went very well. We did get stuck at the gate in New York for a about an extra hour with minor mechanical problems before we could depart, but finally off we went and almost everyone slept very well on the flight. We arrived in Milan and soon discovered that my suitcase as well as Alexa's was left in New York and we will be without our stuff for a day or two. That was a major bummer, but we will get along just fine and like I always say, that is part of the adventure. We met our traveling groups, well most of them, and boarded the Bus. Some of our other fellow travelers will be arriving late tonight. We traveled to the city of Verona, made famous in part from the setting of Romeo and Juliette. However, I love the city for it's picture perfect little streets, the beautiful Roman arena and other ruins, and best of all the "Lamberti tower" After our lovely lunch stop in Verona, we continued on to Lido di Jesolo, the location of our hotel. Jesolo is on a little peninsula just across the bay from Venice. It is a total European vacation town with tons of hotels along the beach and a great little street they shut off the traffic to each night and make it a pedestrian street. We arrived just after 4:30 so we had some time to explore the city and beach before dinner, and continued the exploration after dinner. Some of the kids jumped in the Adriatic Sea and played in the small waves, while most of us just walked the beach and retired to the gelato shop on the main shopping drag. All in all, minus the two lost suitcases, a very nice beginning to our journey. Unfortunately, no wifi at hotel #1 so you will be reading this a few days behind. Tomorrow, Venice.
Day 3-4

So Venice was amazing. The day started with a nice boat ride accross the lagoon toward Vencie. We stopped at a glass blowing facory and visited the showroom where there were some amazing peices of artwork. We then skipped accross the grand canal straight to St. Marks square. We had a nice walking tour through some of the back streets of Venice followed by a nice break for lunch. After lunch we all went and did the main tourist event in Venice, rode the gondola. That is always nice. After the gondola we had a chunk of open time that we all split into various groups and did the best thing to do in Venice, get lost. We all had an amazing time exploring the islands, narrow streets, and bridges. Finally we all met up again and returned to our Hotel.

Today we left the Venice area and drove to Florence. We arrived around lunch time and we had a nice time exploring the little food shops for something to eat. After lunch we went to a leather shop followed by a guided walking tour of the major sights in Florence. Then we all went to see the statue of David. It was amazing. Then we boarded the bus for the hotel.

Tomorrow we are headed to Pisa and back to Florence. (the Pisa optional worked out at a much cheaper rate) I will tell you all about that tomorrow, as well as load some photos for your enjoyment
Later, Lambert

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