2 Rivieras: 2008 Spring Break Trip

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, Our Last Night in Rome

2008-06-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

Friends are made on trips like this.

Eating our last Italian meal with the folks we have just spent a week and a half with.

This was a really great group of folks to tour Italy with!

The good memories will last longer than the photographs. For some this was the trip of a life-time.

If Mr. D can laugh, then it must have been great trip! Thanks everyone!

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, The Vatican

2008-06-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

In the Vatican Museum, even the ceilings are covered with art.

More examples of ceiling art in the Vatican Museum.

One of the statues in the Vatican Museum.

One of the most famous statues in the world, the Pieta, by Michaelangelo, inside St. Peter's Basillica.

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, Coliseum and Forum

2008-06-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Elaine captured a parody of the Florentine statue "Rape of the Sabine Women". We call this "Rape of the Roman Guy".

One of the remaining ancient collumnades is shown against the afternoon Roman sky.

The Roman coliseum as seen from near Trajan's Arch.

Our group walks around some of the inner arches. Row 47, seat 200, anyone?

View of the Colesium. It is really big!

You can see just how big. This is some of our group, shot from across the Coliseum.

Another lone set of columns in the Forum.

photos BY ELAINE WATKINS, Rome Walking Tour

2008-06-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

On our 2nd day walking tour, we also went to the Spanish Steps, named thusly because of the Spanish Church at the top. It is also near some very snazzy shops.

On our walking tour of Rome the 2nd day, we stopped by the Trevi Fountain to throw a coin in and to buy some gelato from one of the little shops there (They have a bathroom!)

We had a walking tour just after we arrived in Rome by train, and we visited the Pantheon, one of the best preserved buildings of ancient Rome.

The Pantheon, which was a temple to all the gods, was only preserved in tact, because it was turned into a church by the early Christians. Here is a view of some of the church area. Note the chairs, they still have services there.

Plazza Navona, which was built on an ancient Roman racetrack, was another stop on our walking tour. Here you can see the church behind some of our kids. There are a lot of artists in this Plazza.

Photos BY ELAINE WATKINS, Lake Como Area

2008-06-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

On our Lake Como Cruise, we saw a lot of fine landscape and some fine houses. This chateau was used in as part of the set in "Casino Royale", the last James Bond Movie.

Just up the lake from the "Bond" house is another Chateau, recently bought by Richard Branson, of Virgin Fame. I could live there!

A more traditional Chateau is on the other side of the lake. This one was where Tom Cruise had his last wedding, and it is rumored that he is trying to buy it! Napoleon actually slept in this one.

The lake-side town of Bellagio is just around the bend from the cruise house, and is where we stopped for lunch and shopping, just like the rich folks do!

Our group posing on the lake-side at Bellagio, about half-way through our cruise.

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, MORE GONDOLAS

2008-05-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ah, Yes, the Bridges of Venice County!

The best way to view the Realto Bridge, from a gondola!

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, GONDOLAS

2008-05-29T09:35:00.001-07:00

More Gondola-eers

Cannot believe that Sam did not fall out!

Here is the one with me in it!

Christina certainly enjoyed her Gondola ride!

Duck under that low bridge, Ms. Lemay!

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, PART 8

2008-05-29T09:26:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, the best way to get your first look at venice is from the water taxi.

we came across the lagoon from Jesolo, blue sky, blue water.

From the boat, there did not seem to be any crowds.

At the Murano glass studio, they made a 1-minute glass horse for us. Sorry about the focus.

Starting our goldola ride, perhaps the high point of our trip.

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, PART 7

2008-05-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

The first in Elaine's series, Mother & Son, this is Sam and his mother Crystal.

The second in the Mother and Son series, this is Greyson and his mother Elaine.

On the bus between Pisa and Florence, Mses Lemay and Luckadoo relax.

Ou group poses in front of the Sante Croche Church in Florence. It is not a cathedral, despite all the famous people buried in it.

At a truck stop between Florence and Venice, some of us relax and stretch our legs.

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, PART 6

2008-05-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

These are called the Doors of Heaven, and they open into the Baptistry in Florence.

This is a view of the side and dome of the Duomo in Florence, fantastic brickwork.

One of the statues in the Plazza Signiorie of Florence, this one shows the aftermath of the beheading of Medussa, the snake-headed woman, whose look could turn you to stone.

Another statue in that Plazza is called the Rape of the Sabine Women, commemorating when Rome took over the Sabine area.

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, PART 5

2008-05-29T08:08:00.001-07:00

In the Duomo Square in Pisa, this is the Baptistry. They had a separate building to get baptized in because in the Medieval church, you could not enter the cathedral (the Duomo) until you had been baptized.

This is a bird's eye view of the Baptistry tank. Almost big enough to swim in.

In this photo, you can compare the lean of the bell tower of Pisa with the corner of the Duomo, and see just how much it really leans.

This is a well-preserved piece of the old Pisa city wall, over 1000 years old.

Moving on to Florence that afternoon, we did a walking tour, and here is Elaine's photo of the Florence Duomo and Bell Tower (Campenelia). It does not really lean, even though in this photo it looks like it.

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, PART 4

2008-05-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

Along the "lover's walk" between 2 of the Cinque Terra Villages, the Lover's seat, along with a collection of padlocks! Strange local custom.

A photo that shows the tropical climate of this area. There are also areas of cactus! A large body of water, but lots of sun and heat.

Here, the Watkins clan waits patiently for the train to the next village. There are 5 villages in all.

Even at the train station, the view in the Cinque Terra area can be worth-while. Pastel-colored houses abound. They manage to build on every available semi-available area.

The view of the cliff trail that we walked between the first and second villages. This is the so-called "lovers' walk".

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, PART 3

2008-05-29T05:07:00.001-07:00

CINQUE TERRA beach with people, shows the beauty of the area.

Another C T beach view, without people, just sun, sand, and cliffs!

One of the Cinque Terra village and farming areas, perched on top of a sheer cliff!

Now, this is the way to go fishing! If you do not catch fish, the experience is still wonderful!

The colorful house are part of the ambiance of the Cinque Terra area of the Italian Riviera!

PHOTOS BY ELAINE WATKINS, PART 2

2008-05-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

Even the young can become tired, when exploring a new place.

Elaine's photo of the Med. cost between Nice and Monaco.

One view along the rocky coast of Monaco, near the bus parking lot.

The changing of the guard in Monaco. Not as huge as at Buckingham Palace in London, but a royal guard, none-the-less!

A view of the beach at one of the towns in the Cinque Terra area of Italy.

Photos by Elaine Watkins

2008-05-28T12:14:00.001-07:00

Our first look at the pebble beach that is Nice, France.

On our way, many of the group sitting and communing on the floor at RDU.

The Mediterrnean colors of the red-orange of Nice, France, and the blue of the ocean.

Elaine Watkins is here trying to find out if the ocean water is warm enough to swim in. It was not!

A typical "old City" street near the water-front in Nice, France, on our first day walking tour.

TRIP DIARY

2008-04-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

TRIP DIARY ITALY 2008

TRIP DATES 26 MARCH TO 5 APRIL, 2008

DAY 1: WED. 26 MARCH, 2008
We all arrived at RDU Airport between 10 and 10:30 AM, in plenty of time to check in and get out plane. As usual, we had to wait around upstairs until plane time, but we spent the time getting to know each other. The Plane left on time, about 12:50 PM for New York.

We had a bit of a layover, but all went well, until we got on to the plane and discovered that Delta had double-booked 4 or 5 of our seats, including mine. It was all soon settled, but was a bit confusing for time. We managed to leave NY an hour late, but there were empty seats, so we could stretch out, and we had a nice flight.

DAY 2: Thursday 27 Mar, 2008
Our Day in Nice. Rita our tour director and Peppe our driver picked us up from the Nice Airport, and took us straight downtown so we could start our tour of Nice. It was a nice, cool, cloudy day, but getting sunnier by the minute.

We took the tram tour of Nice, going up to the high spot at the old castle on the hill, to get a great view of Nice. Afterwards we did our obligatory walking tour, around the seaside and some of the old town. This is a beautiful, old seaside resort city, sort of the Miami Beach of France in the 1880s. It was very popular with the British (thus the English Promenade). We had our own lunch in various places, then went to check in at the hotel. We had a bit more free time until we met at the big statue and went to dinner, which was the worse meal of our trip. The French in Nice cannot cook? We had some good twilight walking around Nice. Later, from the hotel, some of our folks headed for the nearest McDonalds.

Day 3: Friday 28 Mar. 2008
Our day to go to Italy, by way of the perfume factory, and Monaco for lunch. The perfume factory was actually educational, as they showed us how things ware made, tested our sense of small, and, of course, tried to sell us some expensive perfume. There were EF groups in front of and behind us. A very busy time for them. In Monaco, Rita took some of us to her favorite Monaco restaurant, L’Aurore. It was, of course, good Italian food. We got to walk around the Main square in front of the palace in Monte Carlo, and see the changing of the guard as well. Not as classy as in London, but then, all of Monaco itself is smaller than London!

It was a long afternoon of driving, with a couple of stops for over-looks. The French, then Italian Riviera is very build-up and crowded, but is fairly rocky and wild, just dropping down straight into the Mediterranean sea in many places. There are many (a hundred) tunnels on this road. Once we got into Italian Liduria and close to La Spezia, we headed out into a more rural area, and our bus worked it’s way up many hills to our hotel, which was way out in the middle of no where! We were the only folks at this hotel, and it was a bit chilly up here in the hills! (They had to pipe in the roosters!)

This area looked a bit like NC in the Smokies, or even Appalachia. There was nothing to do around the hotel but look at the scenery, so it is good it was pretty. Diner at the hotel was very good, the staff was very nice, but they turned the heat off at midnight! (And did not turn it back on in the AM!)

Day 4: Saturday 29 Mar, 2008
We got up early, ate an OK breakfast, then headed for the RR station in La Spezia to catch our train to the Cinque Terra Villages. You can walk between the 5 villages, or ride the train. We walked between the first 2, then took the train. It is touristy, but the little towns are very picturesque. The coastal scenery was spectacular, the rocks and the blue ocean were really spectacularly visible here, unblocked and unmarred by multi-million Euro Villas! We ate lunch in the last village, before heading back, but service took so long, we almost missed the train!

But we got back, then got on our bus and headed for Florence, our next hotel. It was actually outside Florence, but it was a nice hotel, with wireless (when it worked!), and dinner was right down the street. The disadvantage is that we were so far out of town, there was really nothing to do after dark. We did get a good night’s sleep.

Day 5: Sunday, 30 Mar, 2008

On Sunday we got up early to head for Pisa. I had not been to Pisa before, so I did not know what to expect. Pisa was lovely. The main square has 3 buildings, the Baptistery, the Cathedral (Duomo), and the Campaniela (Bell Tower) that leans. The square was partly surrounded by the old city walls. It was not very crowded, and we had the world’s oldest tour guide. (Thought he was old enough to have built it himself!) Of course, we all spent some time holding the tower up (see the photo of Tyler!), as well as listening to the acoustics in the Baptistery, and playing soccer on the lawn. We all had lunch and bought souvenirs. Some of the places to eat were quite good.

Back on the bus, we headed for Florence, where we started out with a great walking tour. (2 walking tours in 1 day, sore feet!) We got a short look at all the important places, the Plazza Signioria, the Plazza de Republica, the Plazza Duomo, The Pitti and Uffizi Palaces, as well as the Church of Santa Croche, which we walked by on the way in. I got to visit the Michael Collins Irish Pub to use their facilities! Ah, the Michael Collins, my local in Florence! We also visited the Leonardo Leather shop for a demonstration of leather working, a warning about fake leather, and some shopping.

We had dinner in a 3rd floor restaurant just behind the Uffizi. Great food, and we were about the only group there. Private dinner! Nice. Some of us got lost getting back to the bus, but when we found everybody, we headed back to the hotel to get ready. We dressed up and went to the disco! Shades of Travolta! Everybody had way too much fun at the disco! We got home pretty late, the wireless was not working! Drat,

Day 6: Monday, 31 March, 2008

We had planned to go to the Uffizi Gallery (The best museum in Florence) on our free time, but it turned out to be closed, so we had to make do with shopping and wandering thru the beautiful streets of Florence. Drat! We got to re-visit some of the places we flew thru on the previous afternoon, and a few of us were able to visit the sculpture museum. There was some military day celebration going on, the 85th anniversary of something, perhaps the seizing of control of the Italian Army by Musilini in 1923. There were lots of differently dressed army guys and police, and jets and helicopters flying over head all day. (I thought at first it might be a coup!)

After lunch (at Michael Collins, of course!( we shopped, and at 2:30, we headed for our bus and Venice. Of course, our hotel is in Jesolo, which is on the coast, a bit of a boat-ride from Venice, but still nice. We got to see a lot of country-side on our journey to the North and East of Italy. We were all pretty tired and sleepy by the time we got there.

The hotel was nice, but was full of student tour groups. The noisiest were the French and the Belgians. Our kids, were, of course, perfect! Some of us got little sleep, and there was no wireless in this hotel.

Day 7: Tuesday, 1 April, 2008

Happy April Fool’s Day. Luckily our visit to Venice was not an April fool’s joke like last time. We spent the while day this time. This time, also, it was not foggy on the Lagoon, so we were able to see things on our neat water-taxi ride from Jesolo to Venice. It was early enough to be chilly, but very pretty.

In Venice, we landed at the mail landing near the Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. We met our guide and immediately headed for a few of the less touristy areas in Venice. These parts of East Venice gave us a view of what Venice has been like for 400 or 500 years. We ended up back at St. Marks Square, after wending our way through many narrow alleys. On our list of places to visit was the Murano Glass Museum, where they had a demonstration of glass blowing, an art (like Gondola driving) that has been passed down from father to son for generations. They even free-handed glass horse in 3 minutes, to show us how skilled they were! We visited the sales room, but things were very expensive.

After lunch (some of us had great food in St Mark’s Sq, at one of the smaller, out of the way restaurants) we had free time until 4:30 (Gondola ride). We had tickets for the Doge’s Palace to use for a visit during that time. The ticket included a walk through the largest room (?) in Europe, and a walk across the Bridge of Sighs. The bridge of Sighs is famous as a person’s last look at freedom before going to jail in old Venice. We got to tour the prison as well, and it’s grim! Many of us also walked thru St. Mark’s cathedral, supposedly where the bones of St. Mark are buried!

Some of got to the Academia Bridge across the Grand Canal, and some of us got to go to the Realto Bridge also across the Grand Canal. There are only 3 bridges, and the other one is too far away to get to easily. Some of us got to go shopping. We met for the Gondola ride, and it was a grand ride! Greyson even got to try out his J-stroke and propel his gondola a little bit. It was great to see the part of Venice that is away from the walking areas. And it was very nice to be somewhere in Italy that had no cars. Everyone thought that Venice was the most beautiful place we had visited yet!

At our final meeting place, some of us played with the pigeons (see the photos!) and had an interesting time!. (Never saw the attraction myself, but have seen kids do it in Trafalgar Square in London as well!) We met the water taxi at 6: to head back to Jesolo and dinner at out hotel. We had planned to go to another Disco, but it was closed, so we had to settle for dodging the French kids (and the Romanians) and try to get some sleep.

Day 8: Wednesday, 2 April, 2008

Today, we are up early to be off to the town of Como, and the lake of the same name. We have to meet our boat in the early afternoon for our cruise on Lake Como. The high point of this bus ride was undoubtedly out fine, Gourmet, AutoGrille lunch. Gotta love those Italian truckstops!

The closer to Como we got, the better the scenery. Lake Como is in the Italian Alps, almost on the border with Switzerland. Some of those who thought that Venice was the most beautiful place in Italy changed their minds, Lake Como was so pretty. Others just thought it was the 2nd most lovely place we had seen. Pretty hard to beat blue water, picturesque little towns perched on the hillsides above the lake, with the snow-capped peaks of Switzerland leaping up in the background.

We made ouR boat on time, and crossed the Lake to the little town of Bellagio, where we spent an hour walking around town, shopping, looking for a toilet, and some of us found a chateau (Where Napoleon had once slept!) with a wonderful garden we could wander through. Right down the lake was the villa where Tom Cruise was married last time (which he is rumored to want to buy). Back on our boat, we toured this part of the lake. It is too big to see the whole thing. We did go by the big lake-side house that Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines has just bought, but we were unable to go by the villa of George Clooney.

Getting to our hotel after the cruise was akin to mountain climbing in a bus, it was sooooo steep. In fact, we probably went all the way up to the Swiss border. But it was a beautiful hotel with a great soccer yard, at least some of the guys thought so. Dinner was great, probably the best yet. It was cool and we slept the sleep of the righteous (and dead) that night.

Day 9: Thursday 3 April, 2008

This is our train day! We will drive to Milan, ditch our bus and our bus driver Peppe, and go to Rome by train. The drive to Milan from our hotel was beautiful, but the traffic was a killer. We almost did not make it. However, Peppe drove like a LeMans racer and get us to the church, I mean station, on time!

Well, we made it in good time, but it was a fast schlep! Nice thing about the train is that we had plenty of room in our seats, (much more comfortable than out bus) we had power for our computers, and they sold food! For those who did not sleep, there was the Italian countryside to watch.

We got to Rome in plenty of time to use our free time for a “private” walking tour to see things that were not going to be on our formal tour on Friday. It was a bit of a rush, but we had plenty of time to see the Pantheon (a Roman Temple to all the gods that is now a Catholic Church), and then we walked over to the Plaza Navona, which was once a Roman chariot racetrack. It was a pleasant hour there, a chance to rest, eat gelato, and I got back to my other favorite restaurant/bar in Rome. It is a great people-watching place just off the Plaza!

We walked to dinner from the Plaza Navona, and after dinner (and an almost lost camera), we boarded our bus and went to our hotel for a welcome night’s sleep. The hotel had a computer, but the wireless was not working. Shucks! There was a McDonalds next door, however. We ran into another EF group, from my home town in Florida. Coincidence!

Day 10: Friday 4 April, 2008

This is our busy day in Rome! We get a quick, almost early breakfast, then hit the bus and head for a bus tour of Rome, then a walking tour of Vatican City. It was great, we had a good guide, but the little radio hearing aids did not work as well as in Florence. After we had lunch, we headed for the old part of Rome, the Coliseum and the Forum. We spent the early afternoon walking thru this area. The weather held, even though the sky looked threatening every so often.

We left our guide and headed out for some more free time in Rome! After visiting the Trevi Fountain (and buying more gelato!) we walked down to the Spanish Steps. This enabled everyone to see all the shopping available for the time we had. It was a nice afternoon in Rome. One of the parents and I even found an Irish Pub (in Rome?), Amazing.

Luckily, dinner was walking distance from the hotel, which made it very convenient. We all needed a good nights sleep before our flight the next day. It always takes hours to get thru the airports, and we had folks going home on 2 different flights!

Day 11; Saturday 5 April, 2008

Good by Roma, Hello Durhama! We left the Rome airport (named for Leonardo Di Vinci) about an hour apart, but got back to RDU about 2o minutes apart, even though part of our group went thru Frankfurt, Germany and the rest of us went thru Toronto, Canada. We got plenty of sleep on the floor of the Toronto airport, and I got lots of photos uploaded, since I finally got good wireless!

All in all, a great trip, lots of really great kids, and the adults were priceless as well. It was the teachers ( and my wife) that I had for help that really made this trip as good as it was. Thanks to everyone who chipped in and worked for thr group happiness and welfare on this trip!

Howard Du Bose

ALEX HAMMIE'S PHOTO SERIES ABOUT GREYSON "POLEING" A GONDOLA

2008-04-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

ALEX HAMMIE TOOK A SERIES OF PHOTOS OF GREYSON WATKINS LEARNING HOW TO PROPEL HIS GONDOLA IN VENICE. NOTE THAT GREYSON IS DOING SO WELL HE IS SMILING!

IN ANOTHER OF ALEX'S PHOTOS, GREYSON IS CONCENTRATING AND TRYING TO GET HIS J-STROKE JUST RIGHT!

STILL CONCENTRATING, GREYSON HAS ALMOST GOT IT. EVEN THE GONDOLIER SEEMS SATISFIED!

A FEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JORDAN TILLMAN

2008-04-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

A COUPLE OF 2-THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD RUINS, BY JORDAN TILLMAN

OH SAY, CAN YOU SEE? BY JORDAN TILLMAN

WHY TOURISTS LOVE THE FRENCH RIVIERA: COLOR AND SUN, BY JORDAN TILLMAN

MORE OF JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTOS OF PEOPLE

2008-04-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF FRIENDS.

MORE FRIENDS, BY JORDAN TILLMAN.

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF HOLLY ANN

AGAIN WITH THE FRIENDS IN THE FORUM, BY JORDAN TILLMAN

WHAT'S WITH THIS MIME DEAL? BY JORDAN TILLMAN

EVEN MORE PHOTOS TAKEN BY JORDAN TILLMAN IN ITALY!

2008-04-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF THE ENTRANCE TO THE FORUM IN ROME.

GREYSON, THINKING HE CAN FLY, BY JORDAN TILLMAN

HANNAH FOUND HERSELF A GIANT, BY JORDAN TILLMAN

TEACHERS ON A TRAIN, BY JORDAN TILLMAN

TIRED, SO TIRED, BY JORDAN TILLMAN

MORE SCENIC PHOTOS FROM JORDAN TILLMAN

2008-04-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF ONE OF THE CINQUE TERRA VILLAGES IN ITALY.

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF SEA AND SKY AT THE CINQUE TERRA VILLAGES.

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF THE INNER ROW OF ARCHES AT THE COLLESIUM IN ROME.

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE COLLESIUM IN ROME.

JORDAN TILLMAN'S PHOTO OF THE STORMY SKY OVER THE FORUM IN ROME.

SCENIC TRIP PHOTOS BY JORDN TILLMAN

2008-04-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

JORDN'S PHOTO OF THE HARBOUR AT NICE, FRANCE

JORDAN'S PHOTO OF TREES FROM CASTLE HILL, OVERLOOKING NICE, FRANCE

JORDAN'S PHOTO OF A WATER SPIRIT IN A FOUNTAIN IN NICE, FRANCE.

JORDAN'S PHOTO OF ONE OF THE GUARD HOUSES GUARDING THE HARBOUR IN MONACO.

JORDAN' PHOTO OF A HEADLAND OVERLOOKING MONACO.

DAY 11, HEADING HOME

2008-04-11T13:15:00.001-07:00

Sleeping in the Toronto Airpoet. One of those folks is Ms, Le May. Don't ever say we don't work them hard on our EUROPE TRIPS.

More sleeping folks. I spent my time putting their photos up on our webpage.

EVEN MORE ROME PHOTOS!

2008-04-11T12:58:00.000-07:00

Jordan in the Roman Forum, standing next to a 2000-year old carving.

Our last supper in Rome, getting ready to say good by to Rita and the Eternal City.

Rita and Elaine at our last supper in Rome.

Here is Rita, our magnificent tour director getting a small group hug.

Here is Rita getting one ( or 2) last kiss! We will miss you, Rita!

MORE DAY 10 PHOTOS: ROPME!

2008-04-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

Here is Casey at the Coliseum in Rome, pretending to be a famous Roman!

Susan in the forum working on her camera.

Vickie at the Coliseum, playing a statue that has gotten tired and is sitting down for a while.

Casey and Vickie resting in thr Forum. All that walking!

DAY 10 PHOTOS: ROME!

2008-04-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Ooops! Grayson and Holly at Plazza Navone from day 9.

Here is Felicia listening to our guide on our tour on Friday, Day 10. Can you pick out where you are, Felicia?

A bunch of us are waiting outside the Vatican wall for our tour to start, trying to get the Whispers set up.

Here it is, later in the walking tour, some of our gang resting in the Forum. More photos shortly.

MORE DAY 9 PHOTOS, WALKING TOUR

2008-04-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Sitting around in Plazza Navone in the cool of the early evening, waiting for everyone to get back.

More folks waiting in P. Navone. It is a lovely place to wait. Lots of fountains and artists, and just off the Plaza, a nice little pub... The Plazza is built on an ancient Roman horse race track, so it is oval instead of rectangular, like most.

The ever fresh Michelle Luckadoo, standing in front of the Pantheon, one of the few remaining buildings from old Rone that is in perfect shape. once a temple for all the gods, now it is a Christian Church.

Day 9 Photos

2008-04-10T13:52:00.001-07:00

Good-by Pepe! We will never see that bus again, sorry we had to leave you on it!

On the train from Milan to Rome, Vickie and Paradise and Josh are concentrating hard on staying awake. I will not post the photo of Jordan asleep!

DAY 8 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T17:07:00.001-07:00

Clair and Ms. Le May in Belagio on Lake Como. Chaio!

Josh & Elizabeth in Belagio.

Our group with funny trees and Lake Como in the background.

Snow-covered alps over the Swiss border from Italy, at Lake Como.

EVEN MORE VENICE ON DAY 7

2008-04-05T16:58:00.001-07:00

Hannah playing with pigeons in St. Marks.

Holly and her favorite pigeon.

Susan has a pet pigeon as well.

Johnnie Partin and the Academia Bridge in Venice.

MORE DAY 7 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T16:51:00.003-07:00

Rita and Clair in the back of their Gondola in Venice.

Mr. D.'s Gondola in Venice. High Brace!

Josh's Gondola foks in Venice.

Paradise's Gondola group in Venice. (Where else?)

DAY 7 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T16:42:00.003-07:00

Caitlin and Hannah in front of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice.

Mr. D on the Rialto bridge in Venice.

Jordan on the water taxi landing in Venice.

Ms. Le May and Ms. Luckadoo on the Realto Bridge in Venice.

MORE DAY 6 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

Our tour guide in Florence, David. He has clothing issues!

Some of our folks at the Florence Disco.

More of our kids at the Disco in Florence.

DAY 5 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T16:27:00.001-07:00

Alex and Hannah in Florence, with the church of Santa Croche in the background.

Jordan on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.

Our group in Florence!

MORE DAY 5 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T15:47:00.003-07:00

The Pisa Baptestry, a really neat building. It has great acoustics!

Here is Tyler "holding up" the Leaning Tower. (Someone had to make this photo!)

Mr. D. and the tower. My first time in 3 trips!

Part of our group on the little shuttle bus at Pisa.

DAY 5 PHOTOS, PISA & FLORENCE, ITALY

2008-04-05T15:37:00.001-07:00

Here is our group with all of Pisa's treasured buildings behind us. See, it really does lean!

ms. Le May, Caitlin, and Casey concentrating as they listen to our 90-year old guide talk about the Pisa Baptestry.

Vicky all dressed up for soccer! Goallllllll!!!!!!!!!!

MORE DAY 4 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T15:31:00.003-07:00

Alex Le May, very early in the morning, at out hotel near Florence.

3 of our parents at the hotel, Ms. Dale, Ms. Watkins, & Ms Stickwood-Haninck

Vicky, all dressed up with nowhere to go!!! (But Pisa, see day 5!)

DAY 4 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T15:24:00.003-07:00

Here are the smiling faces of some of our travelers, as we were working our way around the Cinque Terra villages.

Paradise and Dijah at one if the Cinque Terra overlooks.

Is there really a train coming to pick us up???

SOME DAY 2 PHOTOS

2008-04-05T15:21:00.001-07:00

A Moasic in a park in Nice we saw while walking to dinner our night there.

Oh, those French and their dirty fountains! In the same park in Nice.

Day 3 Photos

2008-04-05T15:13:00.001-07:00

Part of our group at the over-look on the Med sea Near Monaco.

This is the villa we all want to buy when we win the lottery. Half way between Nice and Monaco. Beautiful

2008-03-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

Here is part of our group on the Promenade at Nice, waiting for us to leave.

Here are Camila, Lauren, and Alyssa, proving how beautiful and debonaire our student travelers are!

Greyson, Tyler, Andrew, & Jeff pose at RDU airport before we felt on our trip. thanks, Guys.

2008-03-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here is Mr. D, solo at the same fountain. It was such a beautiful evening.

Photos from the first few days of our trip.

2008-03-29T10:27:00.001-07:00

Alex Le May and Susan Hester are getting ready to start our tram tour of Nice, listening to Rita explain it all.

We made a group photo at one of the fountains in central Nice. Of course, there were a few idiot interlopers who tried to spoil our photo. This was made during our first day walking tour.

Here is Rita Pignatelli, our tour guide

2008-03-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the photo of Rita that she sent us so I could recognize her. Pretty spifffy Glamour Shot!

Rita is giving us our "orders" on the English Promenade in Nice on Thursday, as we start our tram tour of Nice.

2008-02-15T19:38:00.000-08:00

Helping lead our Spring Break trip are teachers Ms. Lemay & Ms. Luckadoo. Say hi. everybody!

2008-02-14T19:48:00.000-08:00

Hello, welcome to the Blog of the DSA 2008 Spring Break Trip to Italy! Watch here for fotos of our trip, as well as a trip diary. Also look for silly fotos of Mr. D! (A perfect example of this is this one of Mr. D and Ms. Sketch in Scotland last year listening to a bagpiper!)