Italian Espresso Tour with Contiki.

The Italian tour with Contiki was absolutely jam packed. Our tour manager Vincenzo (Vinnie) was quite a character and he set the tone for the trip. Very open and friendly. And funny!

The tour started in Rome, where we spent two nights and one full day. Places included the Trevi Fountain (which received 50 Euro cents and 1 Russian ruble from me), the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.

 

Afterwards we jumped into Florence. This was two days of sightseeing, leather distinction, and relaxing. A certain David was there, and I myself didn't know that it was actually an intended representation of David from David and Goliath, the biblical story. Obviously before David slayed Goliath, and then started having how many wives. The real one's in a museum where pictures aren't allowed, so here's the Doppel-David for you. We enjoyed Tuscan dinners, wines and cheeses. 

The food overall was fantastic.

We stopped through San Guglielmo, Pisa (yes, the Leaning Tower) and Verona (Romeo and Juliet's town) before arriving in Venice for two nights. 

Obviously this called for a gondola ride. Some would call it cheesy, but I'm not in Venice often. Plus it makes so much of the income for Venice, you'd be surprised. Venice itself is quite expensive. The tour itself ended in Venice.

Something else I will say is, I was so happy to use my not-quite-fluent Italian I learned through primary school and some of high school. It's otherwise considered almost useless in my daily life in Australia. It was fantastic to greet the locals, ask how they were, and understand most of what they were saying.

I wasn't going to consider going to Italy because I was afraid I didn't have the time. Finding the Contiki tour and counsel from my friends persuaded otherwise, and I'm so glad they did. This tour got most of Italy for me than if I'd tried to plan it on my own. All the cities are different in their own right and I loved all of them for it.

This was my last overseas trip before returning home next week - and what a trip it was!

I also have a little extra news... I've been on accepted on a study tour in the US! LA and New York, for two weeks in November. I'm so excited. United States, you're next!