Venice - Florence - Rome

November 3 - 15, 2005

These are the notes and photos from the journals, memories and cameras of Diane and Bob. Our thirteen wonderful days in Venice, Florence and Rome (ten of them with a Rick Steves tour group.)
Us in Piazza San Marco		Entry from Diane's journal: Two and a half hours left in the first leg of the flight. I have a dull headache and haven't slept a wink. Not sure I'm cut out for this. Maybe I should just stay home and watch travel videos. After a short stop in Amsterdam, we arrived in Venice around noon. No taxis from the airport here: we find the dock for our speedboat to the hotel. We spent the afternoon strolling the streets of Venice, crossing bridges over small canals, and enjoying the view from the top of the Campanile (belltower). Beside the Giudecca Canal, Bob bought some watercolors. The artist, Italo Chiarion, explained where the scenes were painted, how long he had lived in Venice, and why we had to take a gondola ride. (The perspective is different from on the water.) It was delightful afternoon, just chatting with a local. Entry from Diane's journal, first evening: I can't believe we're really here! Wandering the cobblestone streets and alleys, it is the most amazing experience.
The next evening we met our tour group at the hotel. Our group was great--twenty-six terrific people (and really, no grumps!) While we had free afternoons or evenings as part of the schedule, we usually dined with some of our tour buddies. Several were already Rick Steves alumni, but there were also some folks who, like us, had never been to Europe before. Below is our first group photo, in front of the Frari Church.

We felt lucky to have such a fun group to spend ten days with. There was no lack of festivity at our meals! Our thanks to tour buddies Dennis and Marie, who sent a CD of all their photos (some of which we've included on this site.) And a super thanks to our tour guides, Taunya and Trina, who had everything so well prepared. They had infinite patience in answering all our questions (even during breakfast.)

Why we chose a tour

Before we left for our vacation, we fielded a number of comments and queries about why were going with a tour group. "Oh, you can go to Italy yourselves. Everyone speaks English!" or "I would never go on a tour. I want the freedom to go where I want, not where they tell you."

Well, we'd never been to Europe before, and spoke just a bit of the language. We thought that at least for this first trip, it would be more relaxing to have someone else handle the logistics, locate places without getting lost, and navigate through a foreign transit system. Turns out, we were wrong.

Oh trust us, they handle that and much more! But we realize now that the main reason to take a tour: it maximizes our most limited resource--time. We were extremely pleased with the ten day Rick Steves tour. We learned tons about Italian history and culture. (Like Bella Figura---who knew?) We didn't learn nearly as much at the museums and palaces we visited on our own. Exploring Trastevere on our extra day in Rome, we got lost looking for Villa Farnesina and the San Francesco church. Although we had a nice afternoon, we never did get to the church or the villa.

If your "travel philosphy" matches up well, we recommend a Rick Steves tour. Next stop for us: we're got our sights set on Ireland, maybe in 2007. And yes, it will be a "Europe Through the Back Door" tour.

At right is a photo from the tour reunion in January, in Edmonds...well, at least the guides and the Seattle area locals. We missed the rest of you guys! Hope we can hook up on a tour in the future.

We hope you enjoy the rest of this site. We welcome any questions or feedback.

On to Venice
Copyright © 2005-2006 Robert & Diane Zormeir. All rights reserved.