Italy!

Hey all!

Thanks for reading! Here are some pictures! We are currently in Rome, which is a really cool city. Ancient Roman ruins run through the middle of the city. There is so much history here it is amazing and you can walk through the ruins. We also went to the Vatican today, which is its own country! We saw the museum and church, which was pretty cool. Of course, we saw the Sistine chapel which is really really cool!

Before Rome, we spent two days in Cinque Terre, 5 cute towns on the Italian Riviera. It was so nice to relax by the beach and we hiked between the towns, along the Ocean trail!

Of course, it is very hot here but we try to do museums in the middle of the day and it is really nice in the evenings. We have a few more days in rome and then its off to Spain!

In case you are interested, here is our Itinerary!

Week 1: June 17-20  BRITAIN

London (June 17-19)

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• Bath (takes 2 hrs by train, £19 roundtrip)

• Windsor castle:

  • Eton College nearby

Week 2: June 20-26  BRITAIN, ITALY

• June 22 (Tues) London  Venice via Ryanair

Venice (2 nights, June 22-24)

• Islands

  • Murano: glass museum, glass factory

  • Burano: lace making

  • Torcello

  • Lido: beaches, good night life (V1 from Piazza San Marco)

• Padua/Padova (day trip, 30 min by train, $11)

  • Botanical Gardens

  • Basilica di Sant’Antonio

  • Scrovegni Chapel frescoes by Giotto

Week 3: June 27-3  ITALY

Florence (June 24-27, 3 nights, $29 from Padua)

• Uffizi:
  

• Academia:
  

• Duomo: climb to top

• Pisa (1 hr/$15 from Florence)

Cinque Terre (June 27-29, 2 nights, 1 hr/$12 from Florence)

Rome (June 29-July 3, 4 nights, 4hr/$45 from La Spezia)

• Vatican City (full day)

• Colloseum, Forum, and Capitoline Museum (full day)

• July 3 (Sat) Rome  Seville via Ryanair

Week 4: July 4-10  SPAIN

Seville (July 3-5, 2 nights)

Granada (July 5-6, 1 night, 3hr/$32 from Seville)

Madrid (July 6-8, 2 nights, 4.5hr/$86 from Granada, $12 with pass)

Valencia (July 8-9, 1 night)

Barcelona (July 9-12, 2 nights, 3 hr/$146 from Madrid, $12 with pass)

Week 5: July 11-17  SPAIN, FRANCE

• Meet friends in cap ferret on July 13.

Week 6: July 18-24  FRANCE

• Bike ride, Bordeaux vineyard, Basque country

Paris (July 24-26,

Week 7: July 25-31  CZECH REPUBLIC, GERMANY

• July 26 (Mon) Paris  Prague via easyjet

Prague (July 26-July 30, 4 nights)

• Free walking tour

• Karjestn Castle

• Karlvory Vary Spa Town

• Na Kampa court yard near the river

• July 30 (Wed) Prague  Berlin (bus)

Week 8: August 1-7  GERMANY, RUSSIA

Berlin (July 30-Aug 2, 3 nights)

• Free walking tour (11am and 1pm) in East Berlin

• Pergamon Museum

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St. Petersburg (Aug 2-7)

Week 9: August 8-14  RUSSIA

St. Petersburg

Moscow

I leave August 14, Maria stays in Russia for 2 more weeks with family!