The BIG Group

2 countries- 4 States and 48 members of the EF Grand Tour of Italy.

Final blog

Final blog

Buon Giorno, Family!
We have been home for about 36 hours now. Italy and our travels are a beautiful memory, but already seem a lifetime ago. As I prepare to go back to school today, I think about our trip and the tense moments, the food, the people we met and the sights we saw and think that we, indeed, had a fabulous experience.
I haven't finished the blog until now because of our long, long trip home and the fatigue of changing time zones, so here's the last entry.
Friday in Rome was very intimidating, lots of crowds and big ancient structures of stone and marble. I think that when the coliseum and all the venues we visited were functioning in the early times of Rome, those who were brought to the city must have felt much the same; a little frightened, homesick, wishing to be back in the countryside with a slower pace and unsure of where they were and what they should do, amazed by these giant structures surrounding them.
We stepped into the coliseum first, and it was full of tour groups and noise. What an immense structure with the underground portions visible from above. We also toured the forum, the pantheon (beautiful inside with the remains of the painter Rafael in the building), and then we were to go to the Spanish steps. Our group was just too tired and hungry to continue without lunch. We realized on the last day that breakfast is rolls and juice and caffe, lunch is at 2 p.m. and is usually a quick panino, with dinner late (7:30 or 8 p.m.) started with pasta as an appetizer, then protein and salad followed by a light pudding or gelato. So, we left the main group to find our own way for the afternoon. We found a lovely little pizzeria and went inside to quiet and a lunch of insalata mista (house salad) and pizza (usually 12 inches and thin). After having some sustenance, we walked through Rome to the church of the crypt. The story, in brief, is that the friars of that church were to be buried in holy ground, which meant Jerusalem. So they brought in dirt from Jerusalem into the church and as the friars passed they would be buried right there. Eventually, the crypt was full, so to honor their code they began to remove the bones of those and to decorate the church with them in all kinds of intricate patterns on the ceilings and walls so that those who recently died could be buried in the holy soil. A bit macabre, but interesting.
Near there is the Hard Rock Cafe - Rome. We walked there for the key chain - and then started to make our way back toward our meeting place. We stopped and did some window shopping as this area is one of the most expensive in Rome; think Hermes ($5000 purses) and fur coats. After meeting the rest of the group, we headed to meet our bus and go back to our hotel which was a Holiday Inn basically. We had a nice dinner at the hotel and then off to pack and sleep a bit.


We were awakened at 3 a.m. for our 4 a.m. departure for the airport. It was actually a bit too close as there were many other groups there and the Lufthansa people were very confused as to how to check in a group. We made our flight, but with no time to spare. Short flight to Munich and then a bit of time to grab a bite to eat and find our next gate for boarding. Munich to Charlotte, NC was a 9 and a half hour flight - pretty brutal. The food on the plane was not as good as when we went over, but we slept as we could and tried to just be in the moment. Landing in Charlotte, we had to go through customs. Again not great planning by the airport, as we arrived with several other international flights and then long lines to go through customs. We thought we were fine as we had a couple of hours to make our connection. An hour later, and we were beginning to panic a bit, but the airport personnel, unlike the foreign airports, were holding flights to help everyone make their connections, and with really no spare minute, we passed through customs, walked to security, and right to our gate and on to the plane. The flight to Denver arrived 35 minutes early and we were so glad to be back in Colorado! Many of the parents and families were there to greet us, and we ended our trip having made all our flight connections, all our luggage was there and we managed to make the final lap of our journey with the school van back to Loveland.
Thank you to all of the parents and families who allowed your loved ones to travel with me. What an experience and privilege to have them on this trip. Ciao!

March 17- Tuesday

Hello Family!

We are high on a hill in Sorrento. It was quite a day beginning with a 5 hour drive to Pompeii. Pretty much countryside that reminded us of Nebraska, Iowa and Colorado. As we neared Pompeii, we noticed some mountain ranges with snow on them. It made me a bit lonesome for Colorado and our beautiful Rockies. The biggest one was Mount Vesuvius - the famous one. Pompeii was not at all what I expected. It is quite a distance from the dormant volcano, but still quite high above the valley. It was green, with palm trees and cactus and yet we had our jackets on and they had snow last week. Go figure... We toured with a guide through the city and saw the famous spa where they had steam baths and hot, medium and cold baths plus a gymnasium. We saw one of the bakeries where bread was produced from grinding stones to the oven. We saw the famous brothel - no worries! It was much tamer than they lead us to believe with a few frescoes that were very faded on the tops of the walls. We also saw a couple of typical homes of the wealthy, with winter and summer gardens, a pool for collecting rain water, etc. One was the equivalent of a 27,000 square foot home. We also saw how they make cameos and watched a woman carving them. After our tour, we came to our hotel in Sorrento, which is high on the side of the mountain overlooking the sea. Breathtaking - literally! The streets are very winding and narrow and many motorcycles make a third lane - or at least try to. As we climbed up and up the right side of the bus got the 'mamma mia' experience of looking straight down over the edge. As we turned one very steep sharp curve we nearly hit a car and our guide caught his breath and said in the mic 'I see Jesus'! It turned out he did, there was a catholic shrine area and the figure of Jesus appeared just as we turned the corner. Let's just say considering the drive, I'm thinking the real one had to have been there too. We had our dinner at the hotel, which each evening has consisted of a pasta course, then some sort of meat (always an omelet for the vegetarians) a salad and a potato with fruit cocktail (from Dole pronounced Do-lay) for dessert. The menu really never varies! We are settled in for the night now so we can rise once again at 6:30 a.m.

March 17- Tuesday

Hello Family!

We are high on a hill in Sorrento. It was quite a day beginning with a 5 hour drive to Pompeii. Pretty much countryside that reminded us of Nebraska, Iowa and Colorado. As we neared Pompeii, we noticed some mountain ranges with snow on them. It made me a bit lonesome for Colorado and our beautiful Rockies. The biggest one was Mount Vesuvius - the famous one. Pompeii was not at all what I expected. It is quite a distance from the dormant volcano, but still quite high above the valley. It was green, with palm trees and cactus and yet we had our jackets on and they had snow last week. Go figure... We toured with a guide through the city and saw the famous spa where they had steam baths and hot, medium and cold baths plus a gymnasium. We saw one of the bakeries where bread was produced from grinding stones to the oven. We saw the famous brothel - no worries! It was much tamer than they lead us to believe with a few frescoes that were very faded on the tops of the walls. We also saw a couple of typical homes of the wealthy, with winter and summer gardens, a pool for collecting rain water, etc. One was the equivalent of a 27,000 square foot home. We also saw how they make cameos and watched a woman carving them. After our tour, we came to our hotel in Sorrento, which is high on the side of the mountain overlooking the sea. Breathtaking - literally! The streets are very winding and narrow and many motorcycles make a third lane - or at least try to. As we climbed up and up the right side of the bus got the 'mamma mia' experience of looking straight down over the edge. As we turned one very steep sharp curve we nearly hit a car and our guide caught his breath and said in the mic 'I see Jesus'! It turned out he did, there was a catholic shrine area and the figure of Jesus appeared just as we turned the corner. Let's just say considering the drive, I'm thinking the real one had to have been there too. We had our dinner at the hotel, which each evening has consisted of a pasta course, then some sort of meat (always an omelet for the vegetarians) a salad and a potato with fruit cocktail (from Dole pronounced Do-lay) for dessert. The menu really never varies! We are settled in for the night now so we can rise once again at 6:30 a.m.

March 16 Tuesday

Kathrin:

So much, so much! When I think about what happened yesterday or even two days ago it seems like a lifetime ago. So far we've visited Venice, Florence, Vinci, and San Gimignano, not to mention the twelve hours we spent in the Frankfurt airport. There is so much to take in. This is such a beautiful part of the world, I can't even describe it. Yesterday in Florence, I claimed to the top of the dome of the Duomo (the cathedral). 463 stairs later we looked out across the city. That view has no comparison. We have much farther to go and many more breath taking things to see. I'm so happy to be here.

Greetings family! That is how we are addressed each and every time by Riccardo, our guide. I rather like the ring of that and fully intend to use it from now on. We have driven through beautiful country today. We were in two very different medieval villages. The first, San Gimignano, referred to as the Manhattan of medieval times. The town is filled with towers, some you can climb, others not so much. It was the center of trade in the medieval world and the there were at one time as many as 60 towers in this village. Picturesque, ancient, beautiful looking out over the valleys of Tuscany. We then drove on to Assissi, the church and village that Saint Francesco rebuilt-created. Quite the story of St. Francis, worth a look-see to catch more of the details of his life and calling. This village is up on a hill - and yes - it is very reminiscent of the way San Francisco is laid out. Everything is up or down. WE used some muscles today that will be sore tomorrow! Again, beautiful views out over valleys - but of Umbria. Toscana (Tuscany) and Umbria are two regions comparable to states in the US. Let me tell you about your kids. I'll try to be brief, but they have been amazing. Good natures, adjusting to the schedule shifts and changes that naturally occur on any trip, not complaining about food. Wonderful!!! Perhaps you should also know that they are thoughtful, on-time, and I think having a fabulous trip. And they are thinking about you, wishing you could be here with them to experience this beautiful place. The comment has been made many times that the pictures will never do it justice. Thank you for trusting me with your sons and daughters. It is incredible to have this time with them!
Tomorrow we see Pompeii. It is a five hour drive and we leave at 8:30 a.m. So the morning will be spent napping pretty much. We will go to the bottom of the volcano, but will fill you in on that later. For now, everyone is safe, spending too much money and having the time of our lives! Ciao

Sunday March 14

What a whirlwind couple of days. I write from our the Hotel Galileo on the edge of Florence, Italy after a very full activity day. Yesterday we spent in Venice, taking in the sights and sounds of a city on water. Several of us rode the gondolas. I have to say, although we were on the grand canal and it definitely was Venice, it didn't feel any different than a ride at Disney. We were hoping our gondoleer would sing, but he didn't, so we did! We saw the Doges Palace, a very large, cold building with displays of art and weaponry through the ages of Italy. Those who told us there were street vendors everywhere were certainly not kidding! Lots of masquerade masks, glass everything and scarves. We went to a glass blowing demonstration and then walked through the showroom. Extremely beautiful, extremely expensive. They use real gold on much of it. Also went to the lace making place. What beautiful, intricate work. We ended with dinner at our hotel and a fairly early night.
Up at 7 this morning to have the traditional breakfast of hard rolls, cheese, cereal and cappucino. We drove to Florence through mountanous winding roads along the Appanini (sp?) or the backbone of italy. Beautiful, but looked a lot like the drive on I80 west through Park City, Utah. We arrived in time to have lunch. The Itialians do cheese sandwiches and pizza very well. Oh, and don't just order biscotti, it comes as many cookies in various shapes - good but not what we expected!
We were then taken on a guided walking tour of Florence where we saw the duomo (house of God) with it's beautiful domed fresco ceiling, white, red and green marble, and again, cold cold cold inside. The Italians should know how to wear sweaters, that's for sure!
We ended that portion of the day at the Academia, where the original statue of Michaelangelo's David is on display, as well as several of his (unfinished) sculptures, artwork and plaster casts of famous people and statues. The most fun part was the musical instrument section of the gallery with string instruments and clavichords and harpsichords. The Stradivarius Violin was indeed beautiful.
We then headed toward our hotel outside of the main city of Florence for a lovely dinner. Italian dinner so far has been salad, a pasta course and then chicken and either a vegetable or potato followed by desert of fruit or pudding (flan).
Tomorrow we are off to Vinci (where Leonardo came from) and then back to Florence to explore a little on our own. We are all safe and sound, not too crabby and enjoying gelato even though it's been cold. Today was warmer than yesterday, and tomorrow promises to be sunny and nice. Good night!

Friday March 12

We have been told that we were affected by a national Italian transportation strike! A one day strike just for us... What a day. Our overnight flight was uneventful. It seemed every time we looked at the flight progress it was still 5 hours and 19 minutes to arrival in Frankfurt, but eventually we did get there just after 8 a.m. in Germany. We were loaded on a bus to go to a different terminal which took forever, then into a line to try and figure out where our next gate was, etc. As we were rushing to make our connection to Milan, we had to go through security again, that took forever. I realized that we were never going to make it! So we looked at my boarding pass for the connecting flight and it said I was to go to B 09. So we are rushing to this gate in a whole different terminal. We got to B 09 and there was absolutely no one there; no people, no airline employees, no one. So we looked at someone else's boarding pass, and they were scheduled to leave at A11! I mentioned it would have been nice to know they had something different than I did on their boarding passes. So....we all rushed off to A11. Some flight to an unknown place. We finally found the help section for Lufthansa, not an easy thing to do. To cut to the chase, we had been placed on different flights when we checked in at Philadelphia, but the flight crew had never mentioned to me that our connecting flight had been cancelled! They just stuck us on whatever flight was next, and then actually two different flights. Two of our group didn't even get put on another flight. After much angst and standing in line, we were given a 10 euro voucher for lunch at the airport, and figured out what to do next. We went back to that very quiet B 09 and slept off and on all afternoon. Three of us boarded a 5 o'clock flight to Milan and the rest went off to find a bite to eat and A11 for a 10:50 flight. Here's the next piece of info - we were arriving at different airports in MIlan! The three earlier fliers (My sister Diane, her husband John and I) waited at the Linate airport for other groups to come in who had also been affected by the strike. Had a bit of supper at the deli-type cafeteria. Finally, about 11:30 P.M. We loaded a bus and headed for Venice - a 4 hour trip! The other group was to be at the hotel when we got there. We arrived at the Hotel Germania around 2:30 a.m. but the rest of our group was not there. They pulled in around 4 a.m. Our wake-up call was at 6 a.m. No rest for us!!! After a very short night - we were up and off to Venice for the day. Riding our bus, then a water taxi to the City. We were grateful for the leisurely pace of seeing Venice, walking about, riding gondolas, seeing the sights. It seems surreal to know that we have seen this famous city.