Darla went to Italy & Greece
May 8, 2000 – Monday
Italy! Rome! It better be worth it after the 9 hour flight. Not to mention waiting on the runway for 45 minutes in Detroit!
Didn’t get a stamp in my passport though. The line for the US citizens was very long, so they started a new one and he just looked at our passports and let us through-no stamp to prove I was here. Guess I’ll have to take lots of pictures.
The weather is nice. Not too hot. Our hotel (Hotel Caravel) is on the outskirts of town so won’t see much till the tour starts tomorrow. It costs 300 lira to use the air conditioning!
Slept for a couple of hours when we first got here. Then went for a walk and saw the ‘wall’ that surrounded Imperial Rome. Also saw the Roman Baths. Then took another nap!
Went on a mini tour of Rome. Saw Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Venetian Palace and ate dinner. 6 courses. Holy cow! Then saw Coliseum and Circus Maximus.
Tomorrow we are going to see the Sistine Chapel. Cool.
May 9th – Tuesday
I saw the pope!
We started out this morning by going into the Vatican. We went through the Vatican Museum and then into the Sistine Chapel. Very nice! Then our city guide – Stephania – told us we were going into St. Peters Square to look at St. Peters Basilica, but that it was closed and we wouldn’t get to go inside. But when we got there she saw that it was open and said we could go in and that we were very lucky because the Pope was inside giving Mass. So we went in and saw and heard the Pope! Cool- very cool! Then we went to the Coliseum and went inside and went to the Forum which is the ancient city of Rome.
Now we have free time to do what we want and it’s raining!
Didn’t go back out for free time. Stayed inside and read Vatican book. Ate dinner in hotel bar.
Tomorrow I see the Leaning Tower.
May 10th – Wednesday
Goodbye Rome! Left Rome this morning and drove to Pisa. Along the way we stopped for coffee and then stopped for lunch. Then we arrived in Pisa and saw the Leaning Tower. Absolutely gorgeous! Well worth the visit. I guess the other 100,000 people milling around thought so to! Gorgeous day too. Sunny and 85. Oh found out in Italy you have to pay 500Lira to use public restrooms. We are only talking 25 cents, but still!
Arrived in Florence at 5:30pm. Having dinner at the hotel and then will turn in for the night. Will do city tour tomorrow.
Ate dinner at hotel. Tried gelato-ice cream- it was good!
May 11th – Thursday
Went on a city tour of Florence today. Started out at the Basilica of Santa Croce. Here is buried Michelangelo, Rossellini and Galileo. Then saw El Duomo. It’s awesome! At the Baptistery is a door known as ‘Gate to Paradise’. Then we went into the Academia. It’s the museum that houses Michelangelo’s Statue of David. It’s awe inspiring. Then we walked around a lot and ate and shopped and went back to the hotel.
Ate dinner at the restaurant near the hotel. Chicken and french fries. Ate gelato for third time today. It’s so good!
Tomorrow finally see Venice.
May 12th – Friday
Left Florence this morning. Stopped in Verona and did a city tour. Beautiful city. Saw Juliet’s balcony. Kinda nice.
Then went to Padua. Saw St. Anthony’s Basilica. Inside very nice.
Then got to Venice area. I say area because our hotel is ½ hour drive to Venice. Went on a Venice By Night tour. Saw St. Marks Square. Took a boat (not a gondola) ride. Very nice at night.
Tomorrow we go back to Venice. Should be fun.
May 13th – Saturday
Venice by day. Very, very crowded! Very pretty. Saw St. Marks Square and the Rialto. Ate lunch at McDonalds. Went to bathroom for 1000Lira! Took boat trip to Burano. Little Island off Venice. Venice is made up of 117 islands. Burano is where they make lace. Venice is known for its glass. Called Devin from Burano. Not the best connection, but at least I got to talk to my little guy.
Keith called twice tonight at 9:30pm. Was very glad to hear from him. Don’t want to know what it cost him to call though. When I called Devin I bought a phone card for 10.000Lira = $5USD.
May 14th – Sunday
Happy Birthday Keith!
Left Venice this morning. Stopped in Ravanna for lunch. Ate a pretty good pizza.
Went to Anconna to board ferry to Patras, Greece. Ferry is named Super Fast IV. We are in an outside cabin #7019. Very basic but nice and roomy actually. It will take 19 hours to get to Greece.
Stayed at the bar pretty much last night. Very good looking Greek waiter – we called him gorgeous – but his name was Greek for George – close enough we thought.
May 15th – Monday
Didn’t want to get up this morning. The alarm went off at 8am though. We had to get breakfast this morning between 8-9am. Otherwise I could have slept longer.
Very cool out. No sun. Hope it’s only because we are on the water. Hope it gets better the closer we get to Greece. It’s raining now.
Arrived in Olympia and its still raining! Walked around in the rain shopping for a while. Then had dinner.
Tomorrow we see the ruins in Olympia. Hope it stops raining.
May 16th – Tuesday
It’s cold. It’s not raining, but it’s cold!
Should have known to wear my sweatshirt to the Olympic ruins, but didn’t. Saw the ruins where the ancient Olympics were held.
Then drove to town of Nafplio and took pictures of the Palamedes – fort on top of hill. And pictures of Bourdzi Island – little island off the coast used to defend against invaders.
Got to hotel in Tolon , the Royal Flivos room #205. It’s across the street from the beach and awesome! The nicest one we’ve stayed in so far. Weather is very nice here too. Gonna go to the beach!
Didn’t swim, but mom and others did. Dinner was nice. Mom went for a walk afterwards but I went back to hotel and soaked in a bath!
May 17th – Wednesday
Left Tolon and went to a ceramic shop. Then went to the ruins of Mycenae. Very interesting.
Then drove to the Corinth Canal. Very, very interesting.
Then went on to Athens. So busy and crowded! Saw from a distance the Acropolis. Cool! Nice hotel too, the Acropolis Select room #111.
Walked up to the Plaka. Narrow streets with lots of shops. Was fun to shop.
Ate at a little family owned restaurant. The food was excellent!
May 18th – Thursday
Went on a city tour this morning. Saw the Olympic Stadium where they held the first modern Olympics. Went to the Acropolis. The Acropolis is the mountain area where the Parthenon is. Had to climb stairs all the way up to the top. Then went back to the hotel and rested. Got up and walked to the Plaka again.
Went to dinner at the local tavern. Very good food. Then went to a sound and light show of the Acropolis. Great view. Came back and went to the bar and said goodbye to everyone.
May 19th – Friday
Woke up at 2:45am! Am tired, but extremely happy to be going home!!!
Darla
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