glassslipper2004
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2004
Bumping. This can't really be serious - you can't wear sandals into a church?
Hello all,
I have been a frequent visitor of the Adventures By Disney discussion board, but haven't had a chance to do any posting. I recently traveled on the Viva Italia tour with my family, in May, and absolutely LOVED it! It was definitely an adventure of a lifetime!
There has been a lot of discussion about skipping different parts of the tour, and all I can say is DON'T! You really don't want to miss anything! The pasta making in particular was a wonderful experience! Everyone in our group young and old enjoyed it. And no, it isn't the same as sitting at home and watching the cooking channel and making your own pasta! You are in Tuscany at a beautiful villa which was once host to Leonardo da Vinci and the cast of Much Ado About Nothing! This villa is full of history and the views alone are worth the trip down the mountain! Really, that is another thing...the trip down the mountain from Artimino really was not that bad! Mario our bus driver did a fantastic job getting us safely up and down.
As for the stay at Artimino, it was just what I imagine Tuscany would be like! We also stayed in the old horse/carriage house and found it (forgive the cliche) magical! And as to it being rustic, hey, I've seen much worse here in the states! There was running water, electricity, a tv, and internet...what else do you need? And really, you won't be spending that much time in the room anyway!
I thought the time we had in Florence was enough. Honestly I was not as impressed with Florence as I thought I would be. We got to see the "big" things there and had plenty of time to shop and that was enough for us. By the way, the shopping in the market places in Florence was great! It was definitely a great place to bargain and buy leather goods!
Oh and I can't say enough about our guides. We had Tina and Marco and they were absolutely wonderful! They took excellent care of everyone and just made our adventure all the more enjoyable!
I highly recommend this trip to anyone. I am a college student and I thoroughly enjoyed this experience. I would even go on the exact same trip all over again! It is worth every penny!
Some of our best experiences were exploring Rome and wandering the canals in Venice. We had plenty of time in all of the locations to explore and go do our own thing. In Venice we wound up at this cute little wine bar where Venician families meet for a snack before dinner. It was nice to be hanging with the locals!
Hi Eva and Bella O
My fam and I felt the same way you all seem to feel! We looked at all of the travel books and got overwhelmed and just decided to let it all wash over us. There was so much that we wanted to see and we knew that we would never be able to do it all, so we just figured that we will have to go back some day to see the rest! We did however, see the main things! We saw most of everything we wanted to see and also some things we didn't know we wanted to see!
Some of our best experiences were exploring Rome and wandering the canals in Venice. We had plenty of time in all of the locations to explore and go do our own thing. In Venice we wound up at this cute little wine bar where Venician families meet for a snack before dinner. It was nice to be hanging with the locals!
Tuscany really was a ncie counterpoint to the big cities. We had plenty of time to relax and explore Artimino, especially the day of the pasta making. When we got back, we had a few hours to kll before the BBQ, so a few of the other travelers and I decided to go explore the main Villa house and the little town (took so many wonderful pictuers!!!!). There is a museum on the bottom floor of the Villa which I definitely recommend going to check out. We didn't get to see the whole thing, because we went too late in the day, but from what I saw it was really neat! The little town was also great. It was a nice size to walk around and explore, and there is a nice little gelatto shop right near the main road.
Yes Bella, I would definitely recommend skirts or shorts that cover the knee. There were a few times I saw people turned away when their knees were showing. One of the times was at St. MArks (don't want to miss that one! It was beautiful!)
I hope you all enjoy your Italian Adventures!
Can I ask about attire?
We are going to Italy in 2 weeks and have had several people tell us that we should not wear shorts (even below knee length) or sneakers.
Is this true?
Eva,,,,,,, our Viva trip is the 21st of Sept. Get your hubby some zipper pants. We purchased two pairs. They are long pants that have a zipper at the knee. You zip off the bottoms when you come out of the churches. They look like long cargo pants.
Patty
My fam and I felt the same way you all seem to feel! We looked at all of the travel books and got overwhelmed. Yes Bella, I would definitely recommend skirts or shorts that cover the knee. There were a few times I saw people turned away when their knees were showing. One of the times was at St. MArks (don't want to miss that one! It was beautiful!)
Sorry to bring this up again. I just want to make sure I won't be turned away from the churches. I am planning on packing very light. I recently purchased what I am calling "male capris". I see European/Canadian men wearing them all the time, but they are not prevalent in the US. They are a long short that goes well below the knee. Do you think these will be acceptable? I can get the zip pants but I don't want to pack a lot if I don't have to. Thanks for all of your advice!!