DAY 01 - May 5, 2005 - Depart U.S. We woke up to a beautiful morning with a Colorado Blue sky. Gennie and I were able to leave the house about 1:15 PM and took a picture of Pikes Peak in its snowy glory. We made our way to Denver, where we met some traffic but it was moving at 80 MPH so we were on time. We stopped for gas at Castle Rock ($1.97), the lowest we have seen in months. ...
Read Day 1!
DAY 02 - May 06, 2005 - Arrive Florence, Italy & Reception Daylight began to seep around the window shades around 5 AM as we were crossing over Iceland. The plane was quiet by this time as the flight crew were having a little rest and the passengers in the cabin were either asleep or watching the last movie of the flight. They began serving breakfast at 8:00 AM ...
Read Day 2!
DAY 03 - May 07, 2005 - Discover Florence We woke up this morning to a beautiful sun shining day with the church bells ringing and we were down to breakfast by 8:15. Ted was at the door to bring us a cell phone so we can keep in touch with them while we are in Florence. We had breakfast with our group in the small reception/breakfast area and there are 16 of us plus our guide ...
Read Day 3!
DAY 04 - May 08, 2005 - Visit Uffizi Gallery/Explore Florence We were able to sleep in this morning as we did not have to meet Giulia until 10 AM. We had a nice breakfast and found that almost all of our group were there again together. We talked to a mother and daughter from St. Louis who were traveling alone and told them the benefits of our OAT tour. Another commercial! We met ...
Read Day 4!
DAY 05 - May 09, 2005 - Explore Lucca and Overland to Pisa - Evening Surprise From Gennie: Yesterday was a perfect Mother's Day, we were able to be with Ted and his friends in the Renaissance City of Florence!!! Our afternoon and evening were fantastic - just being together was a gift. But a very special delight was a present I received, an Italian charm bracelet with four charms ...
Read Day 5!
DAY 06 - May 10, 2005 - Overland to the "Wine Road"/Home-Hosted Lunch - Siena Our wake-up call was at 7 AM but both of us were awake and thinking about getting organized for our travel day. We put our luggage out at 8:00, had breakfast, paid our phone bill, and said goodbye to Ted who had come by before class to see us off this morning. We had a wonderful time together in Florence ...
Read Day 6!
DAY 07 - May 11, 2005 - Cooking class & Visit to Colle di Val d'Elsa Siena We woke up to gray skies but no rain. It was cool last night so we slept well with the windows open as there is no A/C. We had breakfast with our group and then went to the office to try to use their internet computer. It was a bit complicated as they were running a Linux system and I was not as familiar with ...
Read Day 7!
DAY 08 - May 12, 2005 - Explore Siena We woke this morning to beautiful Colorado blue skies and lots of sunshine. It was less humid today so we were able to get great views and photographs of the surrounding hills. We were early for breakfast so we walked around the hotel grounds taking a few photos of the early morning sun and shadows. We had breakfast then made sure we were ...
Read Day 8!
DAY 09 - May 13, 2005 - Guided Tour Pienza, Gregorian Chants, Montalcino Although the skies were gray this morning, it is warmer here in Pienza as we head south through the Italian country side. We smelled the coffee and fresh pastries early so we were up again before our wake up call at 7:00. Our breakfast buffet was the best we have had on this trip. There were fresh fruits, ...
Read Day 9!
DAY 10 - May 14, 2005 - Discover Montepulciano & Monticchiello Another beautiful day in paradise! We had our breakfast and then got our computer out in the lobby to send the Journal and check our mail. We tried to clean out our accounts and then helped other members of our group who wanted to check their mail also. Today we met Giulia at 9 AM and drove 45 minutes to ...
Read Day 10!
DAY 11 - May 15, 2005 - Etruscan Tombs of Sovana The early morning Tuscan sun was bright and hot today. Our wake up call was at 7 AM again this morning. This trip has been very easy with no early morning activities. I went to the ATM machine to get more Euros to last us the rest of the trip. Everyone was on time so we were able to leave right at 9 as scheduled. As we drove ...
Read Day 11!
DAY 12 - May 16, 2005 - Explore Orvieto A sunny day greeted us as we woke up at 7:00 and then went down to our hotel's continental breakfast with our group. Again, we had cheese, meats, rolls, and there were several varieties of cereals. I had my usual bread, cheese, and jam while Gennie sticks to yogurt! I talked to the hotel manager about using the internet to send the ...
Read Day 12!
DAY 13 - May 17, 2005 - Civita di Bagnoregio/Overland to Rome We woke up to a cloudy morning and Giulia reminded us to bring our umbrellas as the forecast was for rain today. We put our luggage out before 8 AM and went down to breakfast a little early. Many were already out and about and by 9 we shook hands and said goodbye to the staff of the Hotel Duomo. The luggage had already ...
Read Day 13!
DAY 14 - May 18, 2005 - Denmark We were awake by 7:30 as many of our group had gone out early to catch their flights. We showered, packed our bags and then went out to visit with some of our group who were having coffee and pastries in the sunshine. We bid the Rome five good-bye, seeing Giulia and wishing her the best. We walked up the hill to the main dining room where we had a ...
Read Day 14!