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| Leaning Tower of Pisa |
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| Day 10 – June 5, 2001, Tuesday – Nice – Pisa – Florence |
Weather – Gorgeous day – sunny but a little bit cool in the morning. Nice weather is very similar to spring weather in California because it’s a beach city.
6:15am – Wake-up Call
7:00am – Bags and Breakfast
7:45am – Leave Hotel. Last Look at Nice à say goodbye to Franceà last views of the French Riviera and Monaco. On to Genoa. We passed by "A lot" of tunnels and also now we see views of the Italian Riviera. Total tunnels from Nice to Genoa is 157.
10:00am – 10:30am – Genoa Stopover – we had our first taste of Italy in this tour. Restrooms are very disorganized. Its not common for Italians to fall in line or queue..as they say a total mess (or casino)…but for some reason, it still works.
10:30am – 12:30pm – ITALY – a general orientation of Italy. Its funny to think that most Italians are tall and slim, and live long lives, but they are known to drink a lot, smoke a lot, eat a lot of those calorie, cholesterol filled pasta. They are very passionate people. Basic Italian lessons such as Bonguorno (good morning), bona sera (good evening), arivederci (good bye), Grazie (thank you). Ezcusi (excuse me). The language is very similar to Spanish.
Italian men are known to be great lovers. They are usually very forward, and would look at you in the eye or look you from head to toe. This is actually a "compliment", and not to be taken badly.
Money wise, Italian Lira is their currency and exchange rate is around $1 US = 2000 ITL.
12:30pm – 2:30pm – PISA – this is our first major stop in Italy. We saw the Leaning tower of Pisa, the Baptistry and the Cathedral. Great place to shop for souvenirs. Of course, we had to try the Italian Gelato (forget the diet – we’re on vacation J ). Ate at a cafeteria: Lasagna (pasta was very smooth and soft) and pie for dessert.
Started in 1173, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy, is an example of Romanesque architecture. The leaning structure is actually the campanile (Italian for "belfry" or "belltower") of the cathedral of Pisa. Over the years, they tried to correct this, but it hasn’t stopped from leaning.
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| Ghiotto Church |
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2:30pm – 4:00pm – Head to Florence
4:00pm – 6:30pm – FLORENCE – Also known as Firenze to the Italians. Joined the optional excursion à Artistic Highlights Walking Tour: Very informative, walking through the streets of Florence with views of Baptistry – with its golden door. Signoria Square- where David was originally standing until someone threw a wooden bench trying to destroy the statue, that it was transferred to the academy museum. Bell Tower, Cathedral of Santa Croce.
Also, a visit (20-min) to the Academy Gallery Museum where DAVID (the famous sculpture made by Michael Angelo) is. No pictures allowed (but everybody's doing it, so might as well take a quick picture-just be discreet, who knows when's the next time you'll be there).
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| Florence |
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7:00pm – 8:00pm – Head to the Hotel. Check-in process took a while, but the trip is only 30 minutes away. Hotel Europa is our hotel in Florence. Another tour bus is checking in so that’s the delay. This is a clear example of the Italian System at work. Hotel has A/C too but strange coz you are given a room key and a separate card that you have to swipe before you use your key to enter the room. Also, there is a card slot that you have to leave your card on while inside the room to keep the lights, TV, and other appliances on, and it shuts off everything as soon as you take it with you to leave the room.
8:00pm – 9:30pm – Buffet dinner. This is also an included dinner in our tour. Food included vegetable soup, spaghetti, pasta, roast chicken, fish, and desert such as custard and fruit cocktail. Drinks are extra.
9:30pm à Unpack and prepare for next day…the usual journal writing, and accounting L …
Note: Getting sick, my allergies has turned into colds… Oh no!!!
| Day 11 – June 6, 2001, Wednesday – Florence - Venice |
Weather – Rained in the morning, Sunny by the time we got to Verona.
6:15am – Wake-up Call
7:00am – Bags and Breakfast
7:45am – Leave Hotel.
8:30am – 1:00pm – Florence – morning shopping in Florence. Stopped at Santa Croce, and went inside Perussi for a Leather demonstration. Then, went to go shopping for souvenirs, gold and leather. Not much success in leather – a bit costly, but was able to buy gold, Italian gold is at 18kt so it was a good buy. Rained while shopping, so we had to buy an umbrella. Lunch at Café Mario's where we had sandwiches and drinks inside the café – perfect for the rainy weather.
1:00pm – 3:30pm – Drove heading to Verona.
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| Juliet's Balcony - Verona |
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3:30pm – 5:00pm – Verona – visited the shops there, and of course, Juliet’s balcony (the character which was famous in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet). It is also a custom and belief that when a man strokes the statue of Juliet on her breasts, it will be good luck. (I guess, any man touching a woman’s breast must really be lucky, even just a statue. Also, did some more shopping and ate a quick snack of pizza and calzone near the flea market. Weather cleared up a bit.
The story of these unhappy lovers is much older than Shakespeare's tragic drama, dating back to a literary and popular tradition handed down over the centuries; the plot was written for the first tine in Verona by Da Porto and Della Corte in the XVI Century.
5:00pm – 8:00pm – on to Venice – Had a bad traffic in the motorway. Checked in to our BEST hotel in the trip. Holiday Inn Express Quarto d’Altino. This is a new, and modern hotel, outside the town proper of Venice. Hotel room was the biggest room we had where it even has a sofa (convertible to a bed). Hotel room has A/C of course. A nearby bank with ATM is also available. Repacked luggage since we had to redistribute the load from our shopping spree.
8:30pm – 10:00pm – Dinner – Again, this is an included dinner near the hotel where a nearby restaurant is. They served pasta, chicken and pie for dessert. We had a lot of fun just exchanging stories with our co-tour members.
10:30pm à rested for the night and prepared for the next day. Overall, day went well, except for my colds getting worse, lots of sneezing and runny nose. I had to buy additional medication from a local pharmacy in Verona (had to make sure I understood the instructions of the pharmacist since the dosage on the label are in Italian.
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