Days 1 and 2: Saranac to Rome, Italy

Everything went smoothly at the airport with everyone getting registered on time. We had an hour delay at Detroit because of the thunderstorm that was in the area. We finally left for Rome at 6:20 p.m. There were 22 people going on the trip total. Besides myself, I had two other chaperones going, Kristen Salerno and Tamara Miller.

Tyler Card, Jon Truswell, Jennifer Darby, and Ted Truswell waiting by the bus in Rome, Italy

We arrived at Rome at 9:00 a.m. We were met by Marisa, an assistant to Alessandra our tour director. Marisa’s job was to pick us up and get us through customs. Alessandra, who is from Italy, met us outside the airport. She said that tour guides who are not registered with the government could get fined. She was hesitant about guiding us outside the city.

The group from Louisiana arrived at 9:55 a.m. The group leader’s name was Donna, who has taken quite a few groups overseas and in the US through EF Tours and EFS. She had mostly adults with only 5 kids, a total of nineteen in all.

We left the airport to Rome. We had to stop outside the city to get the bus permission to enter the city. I think it’s because of the Jubilee 2000 celebration and because of the government trying to get more money. We arrived at La Pergola and had to wait until the room were ready.

We divided up to go out and explore and have lunch. Four or five people stayed at the hotel. I took 3 people to explore. We saw a supermarket and went in and bought stuff. I got a 6-pack of Energade, a knockoff of Gatorade. The tag said 1790 Lira and so I thought I would try to see if that was the actual cost, as one dollar is approximately 2000 Lira. I ended up paying about 10000 Lira as it was 1790 Lira for one bottle.

The majority of the others went to a pizzeria/trotteria close to the hotel. They read the menu and sat down. Instead of ordering, they were served the first course of a meal. They received two other courses and had to pay 20000 Lira total for the meal. The adults thought about stopping midway through the meal, as they weren't sure how much this was going to cost. The students thought that it would be rude to do that, so they all stayed. It was a great time, as they saw some culture and they posed for pictures with the restaurant staff.

We got to our rooms early and so people napped, showered, and/or changed. At 3:00, we took a public bus to see the Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps. we did this to see some of the things that we were going to see later. Alessandra thought that because of the bus problem in the city, we might not see all the sights that we were supposed to see.

Ryan, Steve, Jamie, and Ted were approached by people that proceeded to start tying strings together to put on their wrists (for cash, of course). Jamie said, "no", Steve ended up paying 10000 lira, and Ryan paid 10 dollars American. Ted got yelled at for not paying any money. A memory for the boys.

Posing in front of the Trevi fountain: Mary Flanagan, Amber Borup, Jenny Hamp, and Stephanie Pifer

Protected by the Italian Navy: Annika Hays,  Heidi Brogger, Jamie Hubble, and Taylor Miller

We took the bus back and had a meal of toast with fresh tomatoes on it, chicken and potatoes, and fruit for dessert. Afterwards, we walked back to the hotel to relax and gear up for the next day. Along the way, I helped with phone cards, helped get more blankets, take kids to the store to get more food, and chatted with Tamara and Valerie.

Day 3: Rome, Pompeii, and Sorrento

We woke up and had an excellent continental breakfast. The rolls were good (one sweet, one like toast) and I had 3 cups of cafe au lait. I was in a euphoria as we got on the bus to travel to Pompeii. Unfortunately, I think that the café wore off around 11:00 a.m. and I felt a little nauseous and tired.

John Patton at Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background

We arrived at Pompeii and had true Napoli pizza. I think the students reacted positively to this. Then we shopped around the Pompeii markets until out tour at 3:00 p.m. We had an excellent tour guide (Dominic) who gave us a rousing show and talk.

Taylor, Heidi, Annika, and Jamie trying the pizza

Kristen Salerno, Tamara Miller, and Valerie Hubble ready to eat

Ryan and Brent trying an original pizza

I got tired on the trip to the Cameo shop, but still managed to learn that they were made from sea shells. We also stopped at a wood engraving shop and for a 20 minute demonstration on how it is done. Then they took us to the showroom to buy stuff. I got a music box for my daughter for 61 dollars American.(A 10% discount for paying cash)

We got to Sorrento and everyone oohed and ahhed over the sight of the Mediterranean sea. Sorrento is a beautiful town. The hotel, Hotel Villa Florella, had excellent views of the Mediterranean. The students who got great views from there room were lucky. It was the best view they would get during there trip.

Someone mummified during the days of Pompeii

Barb Fitzpatrick, Tamara, and Valerie checking out the mummy

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Tamara and our tour guide Dominic

Unfortunately, the hotel staff wasn't very friendly for the following three reasons:

1. They were charging us for bottled water when they weren't suppose to. It was settled that we would get carafes filled with one liter of water or buy it. Alessandra was ticked and gave the manager an earful. The meal was good, as we had pasta with tomato sauce as a starter and then pork with salad as the main dish. Fresh watermelon was for dessert. It was very tasty.

2. On one of the balconies, there was an umbrella on the ground that should have been in the table. Jon happened to be stepping on it while talking to someone in our group. The management accused him of taking it out of the table and stepping on it.

3. A gal who was traveling with the Louisiana group had her foot on the railing outside her room and was jiggling it. It was not well attached on the side. The management accused her of breaking the railing and wanted compensation. Alessandra handled it, but there were a few tense minutes.

Our group was innocent except for the jiggling the rail and stepping on the umbrella. I suspect that the management was out to get us because of the water incident.

Tamara and Kristen were the only ones from our group to see a music festival in town. all the other students were tired and wanted to relax in our nicely placed hotel. The students did enjoy staying up late. The two groups interacted very well. I think that they were also smart, as they had to get their wake up call at 6:00 a.m. for Capri the next day.

Day 4: Sorrento, Capri, Naples, and Rome

We woke up early enough, had a great continental breakfast, but ended up missing the first boat to Capri because one of the people from the other group wasn't ready on time.

Typical morning on the way to various sites

We meet Paulo and he took us to Capri by boat. When we arrived on the island we had two parts on our itinerary. The first part of the trip was getting on another boat to see the Blue Grotto. Three to four tourist got on a small rowboat and took us to the small opening that was the entrance to the grotto. Inside was dark, but the light from outside the edges of the cave gave the water a luminescent blue color which was pretty to the eye.

Going to see the Blue Grotto from the isle of Capri

The Blue Grotto

The second part was completed on the island. We took the funicular (cable car) up to the main commercial part of the island. We dined at a restaurant for 21000 Lira. I had swordfish, salad (with an excellent vinegar/oil dressing), fries (with vinegar, of course), and ice cream.

After lunch, I decided to exchange 50 dollars American and got back 100,000 Lira. I thought I had a good rate at 2062 Lira/dollar, but got nailed with a 3% commission for 3100 Lira.

Paulo gave us a choice to either go down to the beach and shop or stay with him for a tour. All the kids wanted to shop and swim in the Mediterranean. Tamara took them back and I got the quick tour afterwards I got to soak my feet in the Mediterranean.

We almost missed our boat because of late people from both groups (which seemed to be the theme of the day), but got back Naples in time to pick up our bus to Rome. I talked to Alessandra during the bus trip and found out these facts about her:

1. She's 31 and single

2. She went to a linguistic/humanities secondary school

3. She's from the southern part of Italy, east of Naples

4. She's not too keen on the Italian government

5. She teaches English

Annika had an interesting comment about the difference between American men and Italian men. Italian men are much smoother in their talk then Americans are.

A long bus ride later, we reached Rome. Our driver and Alessandra had a hard time trying to find the Hotel Touring, and did well to maneuver through the Roman streets and traffic. The kids approved of their rooms and we went to eat at about 8:00 p.m. We were serenaded by the only tenor from Bosnia, who went to Italy because of war. The restaurant told him when we would be there and he sang while we ate, tenor style. he even closed with O Sole Mia, which Alessandra liked immediately. He collected money for tips which I guess, he uses to get by on in Italy and still practice his art.

Back at the hotel, the kids wandered up and down the street to explore what was going on. I stayed by the door of the hotel to write postcards and finish my journal. The kids were very good about staying in groups and minding.

Mary, Stephanie, Amber and Jenny were talked to by a fellow who wanted to be friends. They said "No", and came back to the hotel to get me. I sort of body guarded them to the end of the street. They bought ice cream for 5000 lira. The store was very ritzy.

After unsuccessfully helping the girls use their credit cards for the phones, I went to bed.

Day 5: Rome

We got up to go to the Vatican by subway, but were delayed by one of the students who overslept. The subway system in Rome is very simple compared to London and Paris.

We got there and managed to get in the shade, as the temperature was very warm. We got a tour guide who took us through the Vatican. It was a long 2-3 hour tour that was miserable for the kids because the tour talked about the history of the Vatican and its treasures. 

After we left the Vatican, we went shopping at the various stores near the Vatican. We had lunch at the St. Peters Café, where I almost went through the line without ordering anything. I did get tortellini and pasta salad.

St. Peter's square at the Vatican

At the Roman Forum with Jon

Another Roman Forum picture with Ted

In the afternoon, the group went to the Roman Forum and got the tour from the same guide who gave us the Vatican tour. When we got to the Coliseum, most of the kids opted out of the tour because they were sick of walking. The rest paid 10,000 Lira to enter the classic landmark. I entered in surprise to see how a stage had been placed on top of the floor of the Coliseum. The first performance of the Coliseum will happen tomorrow night. The Greek tragedy "Oedipus" will be shown. A small section of the actual seating was repaired for this to happen.

Steve at the Roman Coliseum

We arrived back at the rendezvous and decided to split up. Nine kids wanted to go back to the hotel after a long day, while the others wanted to go shopping. Since my chaperones wanted to shop, I got to take the others back to the hotel. After discussions whether to ride a taxi or not, we decided to walk and find the place using the map. We headed in the right direction of the hotel always wondering if we were on the right street.

We were successful and so I headed up to my room to do some laundry. I managed to read, relax, and even not fall asleep as I waited for the time to walk to the place we were having supper.

The kids were certainly getting sick of our continuous Italian menu, especially the lettuce with a great vinaigrette, and pasta. I still enjoyed it, as I knew that this was part of the culture.

Afterwards, the girls went shopping and the rest went to explore the neighborhood. I took some students to the train and subway terminal to explore.

I did the bed check and finally got to call my family. Then I discovered my blister. It was on my left foot under my middle toe. My bedtime that evening was 1:30.

Day 6: Rome, Assisi, and Florence

Everyone got up in time and we made it out of Rome in good shape, going toward Assisi.

Annika and the Italian countryside

After the first rest stop, a woman from the other group left her purse there, losing some money and a credit card. She was able to get it canceled thanks to Alexandra’s mobile phone card.

As we got to Assisi, I remembered that I had left the airline tickets in the safe at the Hotel Touring. It had completely slipped my mind. After discussion, it was decided that I would take the train from Assisi to Rome, get the tickets, and meet the group at the restaurant in Florence. I was bummed.

Before the group started their Assisi tour, I was dropped off at the train station and with Alexandra’s help, I bought my tickets.

I managed to sleep some on the trip back and made the connection to Orte. From there, it was a quick ride to Rome. I got the tickets at the hotel (which was two blocks away) and I called Alessandra. I noticed an earlier train leaving for Florence at 4:30 and had no trouble getting on it.

I did puzzles for the hour and a half ride, also thinking of some characteristics of Italy I would put down here. They are:

1.There seems to be many people with mobile phones.

2.Looking at the countryside, it seems that agriculture is a big industry here. The food has always been fresh; Irrigation is used quite a bit in the fields.

3.All the cars are really small and fuel-efficient. There are a lot of bikes and mopeds around the city. I am sure that is because of the expensive gas prices.

4.The streets are narrow and usually one-way. You just cannot knock down historic buildings and widen the streets.

The rest of the group saw the basilica of St. Francis. They saw St. Francis' garden. St. Francis' monastery was also visited. The group got to visit the tomb of St. Francis. After getting some ice cream and refreshments, they headed to Florence.

I got to Florence quickly and took a cab to the restaurant, which was my rendezvous with the group. I was early, and so I bought a postcard and wrote home while I was waiting. The group was a half hour late, somewhat disgusted at Alexandra’s lack of organization (which she blamed on Ernesto, our bus driver). Instead of pasta, we had chicken with cheese and ham between them. Some students were still not happy.

We walked back to the hotel and the girls wanted to shop. Everyone did their own thing from shopping to sitting on the side of the street-watching people (which is what I did). I saw members of the group come back, street merchants that grabbed their stuff and left when they saw the police (only to return seconds later), and a guy from the third floor of the next building use a laser pointer to confuse tourist.

At 11:30, I took Annika and Heidi, along with Donna and her daughter Lee Ann to the discotheque, with help from Alessandra. We stayed until 1:15. The girls talked nonstop about their adventure at the dance for the entire ten-minute walk back to the hotel. They had a ball.

Tonight’s bedtime: 1:45 a.m.

Day 7: Florence and Pisa

It was nice to have a later wake up call (7:45 a.m.) though I still got up early to prepare with waking the kids up.

We changed the itinerary a little to accommodate those who wanted to shop instead of the guided tour. I saw churches and admired architecture.

Santa Maria del Fiore

The Duomo

A copy of the Gates of Paradise on the door of the Baptistery

After that, Ted, John, and I went to the bridge that had gold shops built on it. After a good lunch, we did a good bit of shopping. It started to rain around 2:00, but luckily, I had my umbrella.

Then we took off for Pisa. We arrived and stayed for a couple of hours to shop and tour the churches. I managed to exchange my 30,000 Lira for 100 French Francs. That left me with 1,000 Lira as a souvenir.

We left Ernesto, our bus driver, at the railroad station in Pisa and then had a three-hour plus wait for our train to Paris. Everyone was amused by a transvestite who was also waiting for a train. The students pretended to take pictures of each other, making sure that he/she was in them.

Kristen, Tamara, our guide Alessandria Innelli and I at the Leaning tower of Pisa

We finally go on the train at 10:30 p.m. and managed to get everyone on before it took off. We had to go through three cars to get to our couchettes while the train was moving.

Unfortunately, a fellow who was holding the door for us groped some of our students.

The police at Genoa were called and Alessandra talked to them. The bottom line was that if we pressed charges, we would have to stay in Genoa to press charges. The offender stated that he accidentally fell on them because the train was moving, which caused him to lose his balance. The girls did not want to stay and so they let the cad go. He could not get on the same car as we were on. This was the low point of the trip and ruined the student’s time overnight on the train.

The nightlife of Florence from our place of residence

Day 8: Paris, France

I think that the majority slept well on the train, enjoying that they could sleep in. They did not care much for the bathroom though. We arrived in Paris on time at 10:00 a.m.

Valerie and Taylor on the train

Brent, Ted, and Jamie relaxing on the train

We met our bus driver and we proceeded to take the tour of the city, stopping at Notre Dame and briefly a distance from the Eiffel Tower for pictures. I was so tired that I could barely stay awake until we got to the hotel. The name of it was Ambassadeur, on Rue Legendre, at 17eme, I think.

                                                                    

We had an hour of free time to decide whether to take a shower or eat dinner. Most of the kids discovered a Pizza Hut down the street from the hotel and were in seventh heaven. I got a baguette and took a shower, even washing a shirt.

Jennifer and Ryan with the Eiffel Tower in the distance

The Eiffel Tower in the evening during the year 2000

Brent and Ryan with the Eiffel Tower at night

We left for the Louvre and had about three hours to spend, which meant that we had only a fraction of the time needed to see everything. The kids were into it for about an hour (seeing the Mona Lisa) and then got bored. Tamara took them to the café in the museum and I took the other three.

We left the museum and had a wonderful supper. We relaxed at the hotel and finished laundry. John and I left at 9:00 to see what was open. Unfortunately, only restaurants and food stores were open.

Jennifer, Tyler, Jon, Mary, Amber, Stephanie, and Jenny at the Louvre

I was amazed to see the different groups of EF tours that stayed at the hotel. We met people from New Jersey, California, and Washington. There were people on their fifth day of a 30-day tour and people who were on their way to the airport.

Naturally, our kids made friends and were talking with the others. At bed check, it was difficult to keep the kids in their rooms. I did have to confiscate a water gun. My bed time was 12:50 a.m. Not too bad!!