Italy Trip Easter 2014
Italy Trip – Easter 2014
Our recent trip to Italy was highly enjoyable and packed full with activities. We didn’t stop from the minute the plane touched down at Fiumicino Airport in Rome until arriving back in Llanelli the following week!
Our initial ‘Italian experience’ was witnessing, first hand, what it’s like to be embroiled in big city traffic. Italians don’t ‘do’ roundabouts or traffic lights. Their attitude is to just keep going, even if the end result is to crash into the car directly in your path! FRIGHTENING!!!
We safely arrived at our rather lovely hotel and settled in for the night (a very long night as we were all excited and couldn’t sleep). On Saturday morning, bleary eyed but full of enthusiasm, we departed on our walking tour of Rome. Our guide should have retired many years ago, by the look of him, but was full of fascinating facts about the Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.
The afternoon was a more sedate affair. Upon arriving at Vatican City we split up, as people wanted to do different things. Some of us visited St Peter’s Basilica and climbed the steps of the cupola to view the stunning scenery of Rome below. Others relaxed in St Peter’s Square and ‘soaked in’ the surroundings. Saturday finished with us all being thoroughly exhausted.
Sunday began with a coach journey south to Sorrento, on the Amalfi coast. We had a short stop at Monte Cassino, a monastery occupied by the Germans during WW11. The architecture was immense and the church was richly decorated. Views from the ‘Monte’ were spectacular but going up that winding, narrow road by coach is an experience that should not be repeated!
On arriving in Sorrento we all wandered through the lanes, buying goods here and there. Lemons the size of ostrich eggs and gelato (ice cream) in 50 different flavours ‘blew us away’.
Monday was the great climb up Vesuvius. We all made it and were rewarded with amazing views from the top (there were many aching limbs that night!). One or two people were concerned about an eruption while we were there but our climb was largely uneventful.
Pompeii was majestic. ‘How did the Romans manage to build such a well functioning settlement?’ we all asked. The answer – ‘By working a few thousand slaves to death!’ Most could not get over the well preserved, lava-encased bodies, frozen in the throes of pain, as the hot, melted rock burnt them to death. Very interesting!
Tuesday was a more relaxed day. We boarded the local ferry, bound for the island of Capri. I’d like to tell you we sat in open-air cafes and sunbathed until burnt to a crisp, but unfortunately we were soaked through after the heavens opened and had to cut short our idyllic little trip! Never mind – this presented us with more shopping time in the streets of Sorrento. We loved to shop!
And that was our trip. We met lots of new friends, old and young. My final observation is about romance. Gentlemen - if you want to go on holiday and meet the girl (or girls) of your dreams, then ask Ryan Priest in Year 11 how best to attract the opposite sex. He caught the eye of not one, but nine girls from Manchester Girls’ Grammar, who couldn’t get enough of his hunky good looks and polished chat-up lines. Boys, go and see Ryan if you need a bit of help on the romance front!
If you study Geography or Travel and Tourism and are interested in the next trip during Easter 2016, call in and see me in room 4. Thanks for reading about our adventure,
Mrs Jones
