Italy and Spain 2008

Recovering from jet lag sucks, but the cause to that effect is well worth it.  I returned from a 12 day tour of Italy and Spain this past Saturday.  We had an amazing time!  Myself and the two foreign language teachers at BHS took a group, just shy of 30 in number, to Europe for Spring Break.  We visited Italy and Spain.  In Italy we toured Rome, Orvieto, Florence,Siena, Piza, and the aquarium at Genoa.  We then took an overnight cruise from Genoa to Barcelona, Spain.  After tour Barcelona we headed to Costa Brava, a resort area on the Mediterranean Sea just outside of Barcelona.

Our journey began as we loaded a school bus at 530am for jaunt up to Nashville for our flight to NY.  In NY we boarded an Air France 777 to Paris.  Upon arriving in Paris we were rushed through the airport (a la Home Alone) due to a short time span to make our connecting flight to Rome.  In Rome only 5 or so people received their luggage.  Because our connecting flight was so short, our bags didn't make it onto the connection.  We were bussed to the hotel were we relaxed for moment, then we were back on the bus headed for a driving/walking tour of Rome.  We saw many, many "piazzas" or squares (I would tell you their names but I don't remember them all!)  We also saw the Vatican (from the outside), the Pantheon, Trevy Fountain, and the Roman Colosseum.  The following day we toured the Vatican Museum, the Vatican itself (St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chaple

, Papal Apartment, and the such), we toured the Colosseum, inside and out, and th

e Roman ruins.  It was so awesome to see things that were so old.  In the Roman Forum (ruins) is what some believe to be Caesar's grave. You know, the "et tu Brute" Caesar -- Amazing!

We left Rome headed for Florence via Orvieto.  It's an old town  up on a plateau over looking the Italian country side. It dates back to Medieval times and has a beautiful Cathedral that was erected around 1874.  We did tons of shopping there.  The handmade crafts and hand-painted ceramics were beautiful.  From Orvieto we went on to Florence were we saw the home of the Medici's, the old bridge of the Arvo river, the Duomo of Brunelleschi, and life of the city itself.  We happened to be in Florence on Palm Sunday and got to see the procession of the plam fronds into the Cathedral.  We also stubbled upon an outdoor Mass and were blessed by the priest with holy water.  

After Florence we went out to Siena, another town on a hill well preserved.  It is famous for it's very steep roads, its beautiful cathedral, and a horse race twice a year around the town square called the Palio (click the word Palio to find out more - it's amazing!).  The following day we left Florence for headed towards the port of Genoa for our cruise via the town of Piza.  There we saw, of course, the leaning tower, the beautiful cathedral and baptistry, and the town square.  From there were traveled to Genoa were we visited the aquarium and boarded out ship to Barcelona.  We pushed off from shore around 9pm and arrived in Barcelona at 4pm the following day.  

We went to the hotel in Barcelona (one of the nicest i've ever stayed in!) and then made our way downtown to the port for a Tapas dinner (pronounced Top - us) (sidebar: when we told the kids about the tapas dinner they heard "topless" rather than "top-us."  The reaction was priceless!)  Tapas is a meal made up of appetizers unique to Spain -- it was one of the best meals were had on the entire trip.  The following day we took a driving tour of Barcelona, stopping to take pictures at the most important sights like the Segrada Familia, a church begun in the 1800's by an architect named Gaudi that is still unfinished.  We also saw several other building designed by Gaudi.  We then went to the Spanish Village (build in the early 1900 for the World's Fair, it is meant to give visitors a taste of all of Spain in just a few minutes, then we traveled on to the site of the 1992 Summer Olympic games.  From there we when on top of the hill to see a panoramic view of the city and the port.  We took some beautiful pictures from high above the city.  That afternoon we were give about 4 hours to shop on Las Ramblas, the "Rodeo Drive" of Barcelona.  

From Barcelona we went out to Costa Brava on the Mediterranean coast, to the town of Calella to be exact.  We had a great time of relaxing, shopping, and beach time there.  After two days of the Spanish beach, we returned to Barcelona for our flight home.

We had a great trip, made some wonderful memories, learned a few things, and brought back some great stories.  Check out Facebook for some more pictures!