Monday, December 29, 2008

Trip to Italy, Day 1



Well, it's sort of hard to start this b/c the trip was so huge. I guess the beginning...

We got on our super duper tour bus at 6am Tuesday morning. The bus was nice. Our guide's name was Stefan and the driver, Benny. Cory and David sat on one side of the aisle while Charlie and I sat on the other. It was a nice quiet ride. Since it doesn't get light til about 8, we dozed until then. We had stops every couple of hours for either a break or a meal (breakfast, lunch). We had an amazing view of the Alps while driving through Switzerland. Since the area is so mountainous we spent about half the time driving through tunnels, but this was the view when coming out of one of the tunnels...everyone on the bus woke up and there were a lot of "oooooooohs" and "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahs" and "wows!" Which seemed to last about 10 minutes or so and then everyone got used to the view. LOL We also passed through Lake Como and no George Clooney. Oh well, his loss. ;)






The "truck stops" or "autogrills" that we stopped for breaks/meal were very nice and clean. Not like most in the states. In Switzerland we stopped at Marche. The food was good, but some of it was very expensive. We waited in line and got a bowl of pasta, creamy sauce w/ carrots. The bowl was about the size of a regular cereal bowl and it ended up being 13 euros! Holy crap. That's about $20!



They also had a small store where we picked up a couple bars of Swiss chocolate for the road. I mean, we have to sample the chocolate, right? We got on the bus and David said, "It tastes like chocolate." LOL Everyone around us started laughing.




We arrived in Pisa at about 5pm. We actually stayed right on the coast...too bad it was so cold! Pisa is on the Liguarian Sea which is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea.



Nativity right in front of the boardwalk area:



So, not much of this day as we spent most of it on the bus, but the views were spectacular and we were so excited w/ the promise of what was to come.

More of Pisa tomorrow...

OH! If you have to comment as "Anonymous" I'd love if you typed your name in the box before publishing your comment. I'd love to know who is commenting. LOL Thanks! ;)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I love the pics already...even if they are from the bus. LOL! Hurry, I want to see more asap!!

Anonymous said...

Hey! I just noticed your route and you passed right by Bern which is near my Uncle's house in Switzerland. Had I known, you could have made a pit stop! LOL

Di

Shannon said...

I'd be very tempted not to put my name in here if I wasn't already logged in. LOL

I'm sooooo jealous of your travel adventures! Did you pass through of near Lugano on your way through Switzerland and into Italy? That's where the school I was going to interview with is located. I can only imagine the views.

Erin said...

Love all of the pics, SL! What an awesome trip you guys had. Nate and I really want to visit Italy someday, I'll have to show him the pics.