Tuesday, May 15, 2012 we toured Vienna.  We started with a tour of  the Scheonbrunn Palace where Marie Antionette lived (and the rest of the Austrian Royalty). It was beautiful, inside and out.  We also drove through Vienna and our tour guide did a great job of explaining everything that we went past, but I was too busy trying to look at everything... I should have taken notes, huh?  One of my favorite places was St Stephens Cathedral.
Then we had a couple of hours of free time to eat lunch and shop, before returning to our hotel to rest before our "farewell dinner".
Our dinner was at another farmhouse, a little ways outside the city limits. It was a beautiful drive, but when the bus driver dropped us off at the bottom of the hill and Ans told us it was "just a short walk" I'm sure more than a few of us were not sure that we could take another step.  But we did, and it was worth the walk.  We had the whole upstairs of the farmhouse/cottage/resturant to ourselves. We had a buffet style dinner, so we could try any of the local food we wanted too.  We also had our own entertainment... two guys sang to us (one played the guitar and the other the accordian).  It was great.
We left around 9:30 PM, since most of our group had a 3:00 AM wake-up call to leave for the airport at 4:00 AM.  The second group had to leave at 7:00 AM.  The last group left at 10:00 AM.  Luckily, Evelyn and I were part of the last group.
We made it to the airport in Vienna in plenty of time, but we were a little confused because our tickets said we were leaving on an Air France flight, but Air France France told us that we were flying Austrian Air.  We both loved Austrian Air... we had more room on this plane than any other plane that I have been on.
We arrived in Paris on time, but then the confusion started again.  First we had a hard time figuring out where we where and where we were supposed to go to catch the next flight.  We finally figured it out and after a lot of walking made it to our next gate.  While this plane, from Paris to Atlanta, was a huge 777, it was a "tight" fit for a long 9 and half hour flight. I think I'm going to stay away from any more "long" flights for awhile.
We finally made it to Atlanta, and that's when things started getting real crazy.  First we only had a little over an hour to catch our connecting flight to Jax.  Before we could do that we had to wait in a LONG line to go through Customs (they didn't care how soon your next flight was leaving).  Then we had to pick up our luggage to go through another Customs line. After waiting for every piece of luggage to go through, we realized that our luggage was MISSING.  It didn't make it to Atlanta.  They told us to go to Lost Luggage at the airport in JAX, to file a report.
In the meantime, we had to go from Terminal F to Terminal A to catch our JAX flight.  I didn't think that we'd make it in time, but we did. Of course, they closed the door right after we boarded the plane.
We finally made it to JAX... exhausted (after all, we'd been awake for 22 hours).  Scott picked us up at the airport, then I drove Evelyn home.
As soon as I got home, my puppies were happy to see me!  I said a quick hello and plugged in my cell phone to charge, because I was anxious to read the text message that Todd told me he would send as soon as they finished at the doctor's office.  Within 5 minutes, it was charged up enough that I could read Todd's message.... "Still at the doctors but we are having a baby boy!!!"

Monday, May 14, 2012 was another "drive" day.  On our way from Salzburg to Vienna, we stopped in Melk, Italy.  After walking through Melk, we took a short drive to the dock to catch our boat to cruise on the Danube for approximately 2 hours.  It was absolutely beautiful, but COLD! (almost as cold as our cruise in Alaska... LOL).  We sat outside most of the time to make sure that we were able to see everything.  The Danube flows between the mountains and past some quaint villages. It was really amazing to the see the ruins of some castles on the top of the mountains. We stayed on the boat until we reached Krems, where we got back on the bus and travelled the rest of the way to the "big city" of Vienna.

Today was our tour of Salzburg, with our local guide, Marena. I will have to go back to a map to tell you all the places we went to! But the short version is, we went to all the places that the Sound of Music was filmed. Including the abbey and the church were they got married. We also took a walking tour of the old part of Salzburg. This included the house that Mozart was born in, lived in, and the church where he played the organ and composed some of his music. This is the same church that John Morh (I think that's his name), but I do know that he is the man that wrote Silent Night. Tommorrow, we are on the road again as we head to Vienna.

05/12/2012. Another day of driving... from Florence to Salzburg, Austria. Ans, our Italian guide, started off by telling us that we were going to see a drastic change in our surroundings, and he was right! The closer we got to Austria, we found ourselves going through the Pre-Alps (that's what Ans called them). Now, I've seen mountains before from Alaska and CA to Nebraska, the mountains in the eastern part of the states, but I've never seen anything like the Alps! They are truly beatiful. We stopped for lunch at the Austria version of a "truck stop/rest stop". It had a very nice resturant that is kind of a cross between a Morrisons Cafeteria, a Cracker Barrel, and a fast food resturant. We arrived in Salzburg around 3:30, in the rain. According to Ans, it rains a lot here (if it's not snowing). The difference in the tempature between Venice (where it felt like 90 degrees) and Salzburg (in the 40's), is a welcome change. We ate dinner at the resturant and finished eating around 9:30 pm, then we had no problem going to sleep.

Today was the day we finally made it to Venice! We took our bus to a dock and took a water taxi to St Mark's Square. It was amazing! I still can't believe that we walked around Venice. We also took a gondola ride. I can't wait to post the pictures. I forgot my hat, so I probably got way to much sun, but it didn't stop me. I can't believe how much walking we have done either. We are not letting anything stop us!

05/10/2012 was a long drive to Venice. Along the way we stopped in Verona. We were very surprised at how beautiful this city was! The tour included a 30 minute drive around the city, then another long walking tour. Verona has it's own colliseum, that I think the tour guide says was built around the same time as the one in Rome. The big difference is that they still use this one for different plays four months out of the year. After our visit to Verona,it was time to get back on the bus to finish our drive to Venice. We made it the hotel, which is outside of Venice. The first thing Evelyn and I did was turn on the AC... it has gotten a lot hotter since we left the Amalfi Coast. Then I took a quick shower and got ready to go downstairs for dinner. That's when Evelyn notice that the room was not getting cooler AND water was dRipping from the ceiling. So guess what we got to do? We had to pack everything back up and change rooms! Luckily, they moved our luggage for us while we were eating dinner. Then we got to unpack again. At least this room's AC worked!

05/09/2012 Dinner at the farmhouse/winery was fantastic. After dinner and wine tasting we had music and dancing.

Another fantastic day in Italy!  Today we did a walking tour of Florence, which included a quick visit to the museum to visit the statue of David.  After lunch, which I had geletto, we drove another hour and 30 minutes to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  In a few minutes we will be leaving for a special dinner and wine tasting at a farm. 

On our last night in Sorrento (Monday=, Andre (our bus driver) took as to his friend's resturant for a lemon gelleto and entertainment.  We had a great time!!  It was an evening like we saw in the old movies... lots of dancing and entertainment.
The next day (Tuesday), we drove drove from Sorento through Tuscany to Montecatini Terme (located between Florence and Pisa)... with a stop at a place to watch them making cameros and another stop to a leather factory.  Our hotel here, Hotel Panoramic, is BEAUTIFUL!!
This morning is our tour of Florence, which will include seeing the REAL stature of David, then on to Pisa.
Tonight we are going to a special place (a farm) for dinner and wine tasting.

Sorry that I have not been able to blog... know I remember why I did not finish my bloggin about Alaska.  Too many things to do and not enough time :)  But this is good, right?  Not to mention how much longer it takes to type on an Italian key board. LOL.

Just to catch you up to date... On Saturday, we toured the Vatican.  On Sunday we got on the bus to Sorento.  Before reaching Sorento, we stopped and toured oampei... OMG, it was amazing. Then to the hotel.

The hotel is on a cliff and from our balcony we can see the Bay of Naples and Mt MaSubius (sorry about the spelling, it is the valcano that destroyed Pompei).  Thanks to my mom, I was able to join a side trip to the Isle of Capri with Evelyn, another nine people from our group, Ans and Andre (our guide and bus driver).  Ans and Andre organized the tour for us and it was wonderful.  They took us through the highlights:  1) a boat ride to the island from Sorento, 2) a tram ride to the top of the mountain; 3) a walk through the shops at the top of the mountain; 4) and to the other side of the island; 5) and the best surprise... a taxi ride from the top to the bottom of the mountain to catch our boat ride back to Sorrento.

Our hotel is fantastic... the views and the atmosphere is unbelievable!

Today, we drove down the Almafi coast.  The road is so narrow that we had to change to a smaller bus.  Even with the smaller bus, we could only go one way (we drove back to Sorento on the highway).  I sat on the right side of the bus so I could look straight down the cliffs.  We got back to the hotel around 3:30.

Evelyn and I have been relaxing at the hotel ever since.  While Evelyn stay at the top of the terrace to get to know her new camera, I walked down the steps on the cliff down to the Bay of Naples... thank goodness for the elevator back UP!!

Tonight, after dinner at the hotel, we are headed to another spot to see entertainment... I have no idea what, but Ans and Andre are taking the group.

Tomorrow, we head back north to Tuscany.

More adventure to come!!!

Night-time tour of Roma.  What a wonderful surprise!!  Our guide bus driver took us to a pizziera that's popular with the local folks. Since this was an extra tour only 19 of us participated in this tour.  Then we drove around to see the sights of Roma.  The Colesium, the Vatican, Trevi fountain, and a lot of other historical buildings lit up. It was a wonderful experience.

May 4, 2012  We went on our first full day tour with the group of 38 tourist. It was a day full of things that I never dreamed I would see. First stop was the Colesium.  We where able to walk around it and take pictures, which was more than we expected.... we thought we were just going to do a "drive-by".  After the Colesium stop we got back onto the bus and drove to the starting point of our Walking Tour.

First stop was the Spanish Steps, which were lined with blooming alzeleas. It was beautiful! Evidently, I was the only one that was interested in climbing the steps, so I had to grab the chance quickly.  I made it up the first two levels, before they called me back to the group (thank goodness LOL). 
Then our local tour guide led us down a couple of streets and came around a corner to see Trevi Fountain.... yes, I threw three coins into the fountain.
Our next stop, after a long walk, we went to the Pantheon, which was not listed in our itinerary. Since Evelyn and I had already explored the Pantheon, we used to time to rest (the tour guide likes to walk fast). Then we had lunch at Piazza Narvona, ate pizza, had a glass of wine, and RESTED again.

May 3, 2012 Evelyn and I ventured out from the hotel to Roma.  We caught the shuttle bus from the hotel (out in the country) to the Vatican.  From the Vatican we followed Todds map and walked through Vatican Square, accross the Tiber River and found Ciccigi Bomba... the resturant that Todd and Jill recommended.  We had a wonderful time relaxing and watching the people walking (driving) through a beautiful, NARROW, Italian road.  Then we walked and found the Piazza Narvona and the Pantheon.  It was quite an adventure and we are glad we did it.  We may have not done it exactly the way we were supposed to... we took the "long way around" but we DID IT!  Now I have to learn how to type on an Italian keyboard before I try to blog again.

And the adventure starts TODAY... first to Atlanta airport, then Boston airport, and in the morning we land in ROME, ITALY.