Home. It was FANTASTIC, but 2 weeks of traveling is WORK!!!
Rome was awesome! Our hotel was near the public transportation, so everything was reachable. We took a tour of the Colloseum, the Forum, Vatican City, and a special night walking tour. The weather was warm and breezy, not too hot. We left by train to Venice.
Venice was, well, Venice! We had a hotel right in the center of town, by the Bridge of Sighs. We traveled everywhere by vaporetto, a special water bus that went up and down the Grand Canal. We ate pizza, and Italian Ice, and I had a popular cocktail called a 'spritz'...Prosecco and an orange-flavored bitters drink. GREAT! We had good weather there, only the last day was hot. We got lost often in the narrow streets, but eventually found our way. We took LOTS of pics! We left by water taxi to the airport and flew to Berlin.
Berlin was inspiring. It was hard for this American to imagine a city split in half, but there were many reminders, and the city tour, that took over 2 hours, was a great explanation! We took the regional train to the station where half was East and half was West Berlin...it was very educational for me to see the loss of freedoms the Berliners had! We ate traditional German food, and I drank dark German beer. We even visited a BierGarten! The weather was off and on...one rainstorm left us trapped in a museum that was passed it's closing time. We were treated very well everywhere. Then flew home, arriving last night. Today is laundry and catching up! All in all, a GRAND trip, but I'm glad to be home!!!!!
I was also very happy to meet face-to-face with our Pepe from Barcelona!!!! He gave us the 'backstage' tour of his city, including a park at the top of the mountain nearby that gave us FANTASTIC views of the city!!! Thank you, my dear, for the marvelous day!!!! Come for a visit!
I will be posting pics, but thought I'd put this first!
Hugs, Kathi
Comments
-
what a great trip
dear kathi,
travelling is good for the soul, but not the bank balance.
alas I have been to the cities you mentioned and your story brings back wonderful
memories.
how awesome for you.
is pepe as nice in person as he is on the internet ?
i am sure he is.
does pepe charge much for the personal tours of bacelona ?
I loved barcelona when I went there years ago.
did you walk around the city heaps with pepe, we are big on walking in the walking post.
hugs,
pete0 -
Expensive services! 300€ per an hour of tour, but in apete43lost_at_sea said:what a great trip
dear kathi,
travelling is good for the soul, but not the bank balance.
alas I have been to the cities you mentioned and your story brings back wonderful
memories.
how awesome for you.
is pepe as nice in person as he is on the internet ?
i am sure he is.
does pepe charge much for the personal tours of bacelona ?
I loved barcelona when I went there years ago.
did you walk around the city heaps with pepe, we are big on walking in the walking post.
hugs,
pete
Marcedes!( tips not included) hahahahaha! and yes we climbed a mountain!0 -
Hey Kathi!
Thanks for sharing your story! I am doing two weeks in Europe next month. Two of my sisters, my brother and I are going to Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome. We are taking trains for old times sake. I spent a semester in Rome and traveled for months afterward on a Eurailpass while I was in college.
Its great you got to see Pepe! Barcelona is a magical place :-) My girlfriend and I have been thinking about Spain and Portugal in the spring. Since getting to 62 or 65 probably isn't in the cards for me, I'm comfortable tapping into my savings a bit now.
Glad you had fun and hope you have a relaxing few days to unwind and recuperate!
Ray0 -
Ray, have a great time, yourself!!!daBeachBum said:Hey Kathi!
Thanks for sharing your story! I am doing two weeks in Europe next month. Two of my sisters, my brother and I are going to Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome. We are taking trains for old times sake. I spent a semester in Rome and traveled for months afterward on a Eurailpass while I was in college.
Its great you got to see Pepe! Barcelona is a magical place :-) My girlfriend and I have been thinking about Spain and Portugal in the spring. Since getting to 62 or 65 probably isn't in the cards for me, I'm comfortable tapping into my savings a bit now.
Glad you had fun and hope you have a relaxing few days to unwind and recuperate!
Ray
But know that the Italian trains are packed. And, as would be expected, filled with Italians that take this time to use the phone...at very loud voice levels. I must giggle, though, to watch them I made the comment..."You know, if you tied their hands, they couldn't talk!" (we actually filmed one woman 'talking'....*smile*).
A word also of caution that was shared with us at the beginning: take care with your money, there are pickpockets everywhere, especially in the crowded trains! My beau wore a neck wallet with our passports, credit cards, etc, under his shirt, I wore a fanny pack laced thru my belt loops...
Hugs, Kathi0 -
It was a bit pricey....pete43lost_at_sea said:what a great trip
dear kathi,
travelling is good for the soul, but not the bank balance.
alas I have been to the cities you mentioned and your story brings back wonderful
memories.
how awesome for you.
is pepe as nice in person as he is on the internet ?
i am sure he is.
does pepe charge much for the personal tours of bacelona ?
I loved barcelona when I went there years ago.
did you walk around the city heaps with pepe, we are big on walking in the walking post.
hugs,
pete
But we used public transportation as much as we could.
Pepe IS as nice as he is on line!!! And handsome, as well! I was sad that Tote was working so we could not meet, but we were there only as a stop on the cruise for 12 hours.
As far as walking, I am proud to say we walked ALOT at all of our stops, and up and down countless steps, especially in Rome! And that is saying alot, considering my bad hip from rads, and my beau's bad heart!!!
Hugs, Kathi0
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