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Italy 🇮🇹 2024
  • Jules Verne
  • Jules Verne

Italy 🇮🇹 2024

The Grand Tour of Italy with EF Go Ahead Tours Read more
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  • Trip start
    October 20, 2024
    Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler

    Chicago/O'Hare

    October 21, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    The adventure begins. Got kicked out of my hotel ( which did not offer breakfast!) at 11:30, so I am now hungrily waiting for check-in. Then it is a 4 hour wait before I board the plane to Heathrow. I am sure when I land in Milan, it will all be worth it!Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler

    Milano

    October 22, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Planes, trains and...subways? Chicago-Heathrow-Milan. Looonnnggg day of sitting in airports. Then, a Looonnnggg line to get tickets for a train from Malpensa Airport to Milano Centrale Terminal. There, I will get a subway to Piazza Duomo and then walk to my hotel and fall into bed after a light snack.Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler
    1

    The Duomo Piazza at night

    October 22, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    I had a delicious chicken, spinach, and walnut salad with tomatoes that were a flavor explosion in my mouth! I met a student from Iowa State who is studying in Florence while dining. I also met travelers from Ohio while on the train to get here. It is a Midwestern invasion! Once I was well-fed, I cruised the Piazza at night and it was even more beautiful.Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler

    Como

    October 23, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We took a train to the town of Como and walked around the Piazza. We toured a cathedral, had a cappuccino and caught the boat that took us to Belaggio, "The Pearl of Lake Como"

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler
    11

    Bellagio

    October 23, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Bellagio is the most famous and busiest town on Lake Como. We climbed a really steep hill to get away from the crowds and had a delicious lunch overlooking the lake. And for dessert? Gelato, of course!Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler

    Milan to St. Moritz

    October 24, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    I booked another tour through Viator. The Lake Como cruise was 5 stars. This one started out rough. Met my ride at 6 a.m. with only 1 cappuccino in my belly. It took 2 hours for all 50 tourists to meet up. This teacher plans to let them know how to be more efficient in the future! We finally left Milan at 8 and drove all along Lake Como. It is still rainy and drizzly, but it was just as beautiful the 2nd time around! Once outside the city, it was a beautiful ride. Being solo, I took the first seat on the right-hand side, so I got the best views! (I do my research!!) The fall colors were still vibrant, and our driver was amazing, so I didn't get motion sickness (another reason for the front seat!) The final climb to St. Moritz was even scarier than the Beartooth Highway switchbacks! It was only 7500 feet in elevation, but it felt way higher!Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler

    St. Moritz

    October 24, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Our guide pointed out the highlights of St. Moritz. The Swiss Chocolatier, the gourmet restaurant, and a few shopping places. I only shopped for Swiss Chocolate, but the lunch I had at the restaurant was the 2nd best thing I did!Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler
    The Sforza Castle
    Michelangelo's final PietaField trip! So glad I am not in charge!

    Milan Day 4, not so great

    October 25, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Well, it had to happen...the trip was going too perfectly. I had booked a tour to see The Duomo, La Scala Opera House, the Sforza castle and some other place I can't remember. I have been on 2 Viator tours and LOVED them. I realized today that Viator does not do the tours, they are just a portal to local guides. Viator sent me on a wild goose chase with wrong GPS coordinates and by the time their support contacted me with the correct meeting place, I was 2 min. late and they were nowhere to be seen. Goodbye $168.00 and goodbye Viator. No refund from them or the tour co. I did walk 13000+ steps to and from the Sforza Castle on my own, and on that wild goose chase. I ended up having a relaxing day after getting some laundry done. Have I said how much I love the Metro Station?! So easy to get where I need to go! I returned and ate at a restaurant near the Duomo. I should have skipped it. They charged a $10.00 "table fee" and $11.00 for tap water "naturale" ! The tiny pasta dish was meal was meh, and cost $40, and one glass of Chianti was $20. I will be bringing my water bottle to restaurants from now on, and will buy a bottle of wine somewhere else and drink AFTER my dinner from now on!Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler
    4 star bathroom! My 2 star one from Milan was not so posh. My knees were under the sink when I peed!View from my hotel window

    Lago Como revisited

    October 26, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    I am so proud of myself. I successfully navigated the train to Como Camerlata and transferred to Como Borghi and then navigated to Albergo ( Hotel) Le Due Corti in Como!! I was one of the first to arrive for the tour, along with a couple from Tennessee, whom I have been chatting with through the EF app. We both made our own flight reservations and beat everyone here. I settled into my 4 Star room, then headed out to explore. There was a Saturday market nearby, which was fun to peruse. Prices were low, so I am wondering if they are knock- offs. I wanted to visit the Volta memorial and found myself navigated to the Piazza I went to on the boat cruise to Bellagio! Took some pics of swans and a boat race on the lake (reminiscent of those Lake Decatur races, but prettier🙂) 12000 steps, so far today! OH! P.S. I had the same wine I had yesterday, and it was 6 euros and came with yummy olives and potato chips. No fee for the table, either. Yippee!Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler

    Villa Carlotta

    October 27, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    This villa has had 3 owners, and each one added something beautiful. The original owner built the terraces into the granite mountainside. The next owner who was an art collector and a political climber, gained favor with Napolean Bonaparte and added the sculptures and works of art. The 3rd owner was Prussian royalty and gave it to her daughter Carlotta as a wedding gift. She and her husband added all of the gardens. It is now an Italian historical site and maintained by the government.Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler
    Lynnell, does this wheel of parmesan and pasta look familiar? Ox Pasture in Red Lodge does it, too!
    Romanesque church in BellagioThis gazebo is dedicated to Franz LisztA former monastery that has been seen in Star Wars 2 & Casino Royale (007)Taylor Swift slept here while performing in Milan1Richard Branson's villa. You can rent it for $2,400/nt. Minimum 6 night stay!Guinness heirs' villa. They got drunk & crashed their boat after a night of... too much Guinness?Mussolini & Mistress captured & murdered here after trying to flee to Switzerland.

    More Bellaggio & Como!

    October 27, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    We got the scoop on the lifestyles of the rich and famous...and fascist! I will comment on each villa. Richard Branson, Taylor Swift, the heirs to the Guinness fortune, Franz Liszt and, yep, Bonito Mussolini and his mistress!Read more

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler
    Do I look a bit scared? That ledge is narrow!
    Look carefully at the name of the hotel AND who is on the balcony!Fun fact: ghetto actually comes froma word meaning "throw" referring to a foundry areaRoman roadLovely lunch with Amarone wine from the regionAdige River

    Verona!

    October 28, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We left Como for Venice with a 3 hour stop in Verona. There are Roman ruins, buildings from the Renaissance and modern buildings, plus everything in- between!

  • Jules VerneItaly 🇮🇹 2024Traveler
    View from one of my hotel windowsView from another window!

    Venice by night

    October 28, 2024 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We rode a bus to Venice, then took a ferry to Lido where our hotel is. Lido is a narrow strip of land with the Mediterranean on one side and the Lagoon on the other. I can't wait to see it in daytime!

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