Contiki - Italy

Day 4 – July 27th, 2007
Lucerne, Switzerland to Florence, Italy

When we got up this morning we headed to the bottom of Mt. Strasserhorn and prepared to go to the top of a real Swiss Alp! The ride to the top was beautiful, but the view from the top was indescribable. The way each Swiss Alp laid perfectly around Lake Lucerne, with the snow covered Alps in the distance. The air is the freshest and crispest I have ever inhaled. The view was picturesque and no post card or photo can recreate what I saw that morning. It’s a sight I will never forget, and is much of the reason why Switzerland is so far my favorite country. Once we made our way back down we were off to Florence, Italy! Once again there was plenty of napping time today on the coach ride. We walked around the city a little then got to enjoy a large group Italian dinner together. It was lots of fun! There food just kept coming out! Once we thought it had to be over, they brought out a full plate of chicken and meats! We will sleep well tonight!


Day 5 – July 28th, 2007
Florence, Italy

Today we get the whole day to explore Florence, and do what we want to do here. Ryan gave us another handy “Ryno in Ur Pocket” of course, so Bethany, Bri and I decided to start with the shopping squares first. Florence has so many shopping market stands up and down the streets and all over some of the squares. There is authentic jewelry, real leather and tons of cool souvenirs. We wandered through the streets and alleys too small for a car to even fit through. We went to the most popular bridge over the river, and sat just to enjoy the view. Ryan also told us about this thing called a “Puzzle Ring”. It’s a wedding ring for the soldiers and their wives, and the idea is that when the soldier goes away to fight, the wife has this ring that if she tries to take it off, will fall apart. And if it falls apart it is very hard to get back together and will show the husband that his wife was cheating. I was immediately drawn to this ring when Ryan told us about it, so that was one of my missions today…. To find a puzzle ring! Bethany used to study in Florence, so she took us to this amazing small Panini place for lunch. Its called Gustopanini and I would have never found it on my own. It was the best food I have had yet on this trip!! And yes, we finally found the puzzle ring. And the lady that sold them was from England and owned a jewelry store in Florence. She even knew Ryan our Tour Manager!! He is a popular little Kiwi! I am still yet to find out what that means though… Tonight we went to dinner with three other Contiki groups at this huge Italian restaurant. It felt like a big wedding with lots of food and dancing. Afterwards, all of the groups went out to the Space Electronic Discoteca, a popular club in Florence. Time for some sleep, because tomorrow we are off to Venice!

Day 6 – July 29th, 2007
Florence to Venice, Italy

The definition of a Kiwi: The national bird of New Zealand. It is a small creature that cannot fly but runs around everywhere. They often get eaten by dogs and other animals but still manage to be everywhere. Thanks Ryan!! The funny thing is, with no offence intended, Ryan really does resemble one of these!! He’s a very upbeat guy that runs all over Europe with these 45 travelers following him, and acting on his every word. And he actually does walk rather fast. He’s always about 30 feet ahead of the group, weaving in and out of people as we all dart to catch up to him. But he is an awesome guy, and I know I wouldn’t have been able to figure all of this out without him!! Today we are spending the afternoon in Venice. We have to take a ferry to get there, because it is a small island and neither cars nor motor bikes are allowed on the island. After exploring St. Marks Square, and St. Peters Basilica, we took a classic gondola ride today through the canals of Venice. Now this was just like a postcard. I like to call it a “Kodak Moment”. Tonight we all went to dinner at this cute restaurant on Venice. It was delicious, but once again, a TON of food! Tomorrow we leave for Austria, but to sum up Italy, my absolute favorite thing about it is the Gelato!! This is an amazing Italian ice cream. Back home I don’t even like ice cream and hardly ever eat it, but this Gelato is so creamy and flavorful we probably had it twice a day, each day we were here in Italy!