I can't believe this was not only going to be our last day in Venice, but our last day in Italy. How can anyone ever want to leave this magical country? Trust me it was not easy, but we still had one wonderful day left and we definitely made the most of it. First off was breakfast. I was really going to miss all those wonderful breakfasts. On our way out, I had this great idea to take some pictures from our hotel balcony. Apparently, we weren't the only ones to have had … [Read more...]
Summer trip to Italy 2013 Day 8
I awoke to a beautiful summer morning in Venice. Today we were going inside St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's Palace, and few other places we just had to see, plus we went on our very first gondola ride! Of course, we had to start off with a hearty breakfast at our hotel. Once we finished with the difficult task of trying everything, we walked the short distance to St. Mark's Basilica. We had about an hour before the basilica opened, so I put Mom in line and walked around to try … [Read more...]
Summer trip to Italy 2013 Day 7
Today is the day we were going to Venice! We were so excited to finally get to visit Venice and see a real gondolier in person. First, we had to actually get there from Florence. We had time to grab a little breakfast first, in our hotels beautiful breakfast room, before we needed to head to the train station. While we were waiting for the breakfast room to open, we started up a conversation with another lady that was waiting, as well. Once breakfast was ready to be served, we … [Read more...]
Summer trip to Italy 2013 Day 6
Today was our last day in Florence and as soon as I woke up, I ran out onto the balcony to say good morning to beautiful Florence. Our room, at the Hotel degli Orafi, was really nice and the room was a lot bigger than most hotel rooms in the states. My main reason for choosing the Hotel degli Orafi was because I feel in love with the pictures of the breakfast room. I was so excited to get ready and go down to breakfast. The room and the food did not disappoint. After our … [Read more...]
Summer trip to Italy 2013 Day 5
Today was the day we were going to Florence! We woke up very early because we had a 7:30 a.m. train to catch. We had a taxi come pick us up at about 5:00 a.m. and got dropped off at the train station by 5:15 a.m. There is absolutely no need to show up that early for a train, unless, you are going to be crossing country borders. Arriving a half an hour before your departure time is perfect. Since, we are not use to taking trains, we treated it like going to the airport and thought we … [Read more...]
Summer trip to Italy 2013 Day 4
Day four started off with more excitement, but also a little sadness. This was going to be our last day in Rome. Of course we had to start off our morning with a caffe. Today was a big day for me, I was finally going to be able to walk inside the Colosseum. We grabbed a taxi and got there an hour before opening. We expected really big lines, but it was early Sunday morning and no one was in line yet. We walked around the Colosseum trying to figure out where the entrance was and … [Read more...]
Summer Trip to Italy 2013 Day 3
Day 3 started with a moment of drowsiness. Again I was so excited I didn't sleep well, but I forgot all about that as soon as I jumped out of bed and looked out the window. Our itinerary for this day was very full. 3 museums and 7 churches. Of course we needed to fuel up before we started out. Then we needed our after breakfast caffe. Our first stop was the Palazzo Colonna. This was my favorite art gallery during our trip. Palazzo Colonna is one of the oldest and largest … [Read more...]
Summer Trip to Italy 2013 Day 2
Our second day started bright and early. I had been so excited about being in Italy that I didn't sleep very well. After being up for almost 30 some hours, you would think that I would have been passed out all night. Regardless of my lack of sleep, I jumped out of bed and ran to look out the window to reassure myself that I was really in Rome. After getting ready, we headed to the breakfast room. Most hotels in Italy offer some kind of breakfast package and that makes it really easy to grab … [Read more...]
Summer trip to Italy 2013 Day 1
Every summer Mom, Sissy, and I take a trip somewhere. It started off years ago with Mom and I visiting Sissy for a week in Nashville. Mom and I would go to every historical site we could find. Than back in 2008 our trips started to get bigger. We spent the next two summer vacations at Walt Disney World. Walking around Epcot really triggered my urge to travel. 2010 we went to Toronto. Beautiful city and so much to see and do. 2011 was Ireland. As you can imagine Ireland was gorgeous. And last … [Read more...]