Of all the incredible things that we saw on the trip, I would say that Vatican City was the most impressive for me. (It also could have been a cumulative effect from Day 2.) What I saw at St. Peter’s Basilica and in the Sistine Chapel totally blew my mind. Unfortunately, photos are not allowed in the Sistine Chapel. After going through a security check, we got to tour. I learned that in Italy, most of the art is not in museums, but in churches.

St. Peter’s Basilica. Home of the Pope….

The building itself is impressive from the outside.

Inside, the walls and ceilings were covered with art.

Unfortunately, I could not get a pic inside the Sistine Chapel. It was stunning. I had to sit and try to process what I was seeing. The photos that you see online are only sections of the ceiling. Seeing the whole thing at once was an experience I’ll never forget….

Here are a few of the students posing for me after a gelato break. We ate a lot of gelato for sure. The cool thing about the trip was how the tour group bonded. I made a lot of good friends on this trip.

Colosseo.

After lunch, we took a tour inside of the Colosseum with a local guide.

We then walked over to the Forum and continued the tour there.

Roman Forum.

We were given some free time before dinner. We walked over to the Tiber River to take pictures at sunset.

By the way, this is what the cars look like in Rome. Students would yell out “coche” whenever one was approaching from behind.

After a pizza dinner, we took an evening bus tour of the city. Here is the Trevi Fountain at night. Another Hawai’i quarter…. We also visited the Spanish Steps and St. Peter’s Square. We had to walk quite far to find restrooms, and that was an adventure as well.

Rome was amazing. At this point I thought to myself, “This is already a great trip. Everything else from this point on is just gravy….”

This is what our typical breakfast looked like on tour. The bread in Europe is terrific. Crunchy & crusty….

These are packages of toast. I would take a few each day to give to the beggars on the street. (I didn’t want to give money in case they were faking it.) I also collected leftover bread and rolls that were going to be thrown out. I believe that I was also setting an example for the students on the trip. By the 2nd week, they were saving their breads for me. I always had 4-5 rolls in my backpack.

We traveled by tour bus to Assisi. We had nice motor coaches throughout the trip.

Our driver in Italy was Giuseppe. He was usually late and smoked cigarettes in the bus while he waited for us. He was also a good guy. He wore stylish suits and played European techno music on the bus.

On the way to Assisi, we visited a pottery factory. There were wines, salami, cheeses, pottery, and souvenirs for sale. Our tour group did a lot of damage there. I’m not much of a shopper. I just ate free samples and took pictures on my iPhone.

We reached Assisi before lunch time. It was beautiful.

We visited the Basilica of San Francesco. We were given a presentation by a fryer there.

The view was breathtaking. For lunch, I had a panini sandwich with prosciutto ham.

And of course, gelato. I must’ve had at least two gelati per day.

We then headed for Tuscany….

We reached our hotel outside of Florence by dinner time. Did I mention that we were not staying at resort hotels?

Are you kidding me? When you turn on the shower, the water hits the toilet. Fortunately, I had hot water here. What was gross was that the shower curtain kept clinging to my okole. I had to wash everything twice. On the positive side, I could actually use the toilet, shower, and brush my teeth in the bidet all at the same time….

Florence was beautiful. Whereas Rome was a city filled with attractions, Florence was like a quaint Italian town, unchanged over time. The Duomo was magnificent.

During a bathroom break (they don’t use the term “restroom”) a parade passed by. Unfortunately for me, I was distracted by this princess. Somehow, I got separated from my group. In fact, I was lost for approximately one hour. Needless to say, it was pretty scary. My heart started pounding and my mouth got dry. I told myself to stay calm. I realized that I was OK since it wasn’t a travel day. Worst case scenario, I would catch a cab back to the hotel and miss out on the tours. My strategy was to walk back and forth from the Duomo to the Square along the main road. After my 8th or 9th trip, I was spotted at the square. Relief! Then I told myself to not let this spoil my experience in Florence. It didn’t….

We visited a leather factory. There was a demonstration and a bunch of shopping. I didn’t buy anything.

Then we had lunch at a sidewalk café at the Piazza della Signoria. This was hands down the best pasta that I’ve ever had in my life! I ordered the Tagliatelle with mushrooms. The sauce was unbelievable.

Ahh. Fiorenza….

After lunch, we went to look inside the Duomo. Because it was a Sunday, it was only open after Mass. It was very beautiful inside as well.

Then we went to the Accademia Museum to see the statue of David. Unfortunately, photographs are not allowed. While inside, one of the ladies told me to go look at the crack in the back of the David statue. I replied, “Ewwww….” She laughed and said, “No, there’s a crack on the back of his leg.” I said, “Oh….”

During our free time, we visited the river and some of the shops in Florence.

At one of the squares, we caught a delightful marionette show and were again pestered by the many street vendors.

We had dinner at a restaurant called “i 5am ci.”

We started off the morning by taking a stroll through Montecatini which is a resort district. Unfortunately, Javi and one of the leaders had to take a student to the embassy to replace a stolen passport. We left for Pisa at around noon via motor coach.

No, this isn’t it. We rode this trolly from the parking lot to the tower….

Here’s another one of those images that will be forever stuck in my head.

This is what tourists do. Everyone was sticking their arms out and having their picture taken.

This is what a lot of the restaurants look like. I took this while eating gelato. At this point in the trip, we’re eating gelato for appetizers as well as desserts….

That night, we caught a ferry that would take us across the Mediterranean. It was time to say ciao to Italy and ¡hola to Spain.

There was a disco on board. Students took advantage and danced the night away. I actually used this time to catch up on my sleep. This was “half-time” for the trip.

For more Italy photos, click here.

Day 7 was pretty much a travel day. It was uneventful. The food was expensive (and not the best.)

At least the cabins were nice. This was our best accommodations so far. Hot water and water pressure are luxuries….

I spent most of the day reading Hunger Games in the dining area of the boat.

I got a lot of rest. One thing I was glad I packed for this trip was Airborne Chewables. It gave me an immunity boost each morning. That stuff really worked.

We arrived in Barcelona in the afternoon. We checked into the Hostal Lami.

Here’s the view from my hotel window. Happy to be in Spain….