Full Day Pompeii & Hercolaneum Tour

Hi Teri! I am so sorry for not letting you know how the trip was! I have been meaning to email you since Thursday last week, but I have been so busy with getting caught up with work and daily living.

The trip was FABULOUS!! We loved every minute! Siena was wonderful and we LOVED the hotel. It was so quaint and charming and the view from the garden patio was amazing. And the breakfast buffet, excellent!
All staff were very helpful and made two dinner reservations from your list. I don't have it in front of me at the moment, but both places were amazing. I can let you know the names if you want me to when I get home. Did I mention the view off the garden patio?? Best hotel ever. :D

The Brunello wine tour was really nice at the winery, although the one at the shop in Montelcino was ehhhh, but we loved Montelcino, although we only had like 15 minutes to walk around (which was disappointing since we got back to Siena 30 minutes early. Beautiful little hilltop town though.
Our Siena small group tour was very informative and our guide was so cute and very proud of her neighborhood. Pisa and Lucca were great. Our tour guide for Pisa was fun and knowledgeable and loved taking our picture. :)

We LOVED Lucca and YES we rode bikes- around twice and my butt was tired. Our driver, Francesco was so friendly and so Italian! We loved him.
We were really glad we had him as our driver for Pisa/Lucca and our next day Chianti tour. Here is where Jeff and Julie joined up with us in Florence. We changed up our towns to visit, going to Volterra (instead of Siena), San Gimignano and Castellina de Chianti. Francesco was up for driving us wherever we wanted to go.

Volterra was amazing and cannot believe they still have an arch from the Etruscian times 700 BC! What!?!

We bought stuff for a picnic lunch, bought a beautiful alabaster vase and of course gelato before going to the Chianti winery. This wine tour was amazing, such a beautiful farm. Having the private tour with the owner was very interesting and we met the his wife also (she being American) and she brought out a few more wines to taste. :) And we met the winery kitty. So that evening for dinner we got the Bistecca alla Fiorentina! Oh yes, come to Moma!! ;)

Let's see, the next day we had Marco as our tour guide through Florence and he was great and very Italian. He took us to some not so touristy areas so that was nice. We did get to the Accademia and were amazed at The David. He is was just so perfect and so much larger than life.
Our trip to Cinque Terre was good. Although if I went again, I would like to do the towns by ourselves. We didn't get to hike the trails between the towns, which we wanted to do to get some of those amazing views and people would be late meeting so that was frustrating. Although, the lunch was fabulous Vernazza! Our poor waiter was run to death though. Taking care of 17 people by himself and being a little larger and unable to squeeze between chairs, made it difficult for him to fully take care of us. That being said, Cinque Terre was just beautiful to experience; the colorful buildings on the mountainside and the crystal blue waters were breathtaking.

Our last day in Florence was most excellent also. We had Gaia as our food guide through Oltrarno. We had such a good time with her and learning about the foods of Florence. And we all ate Lampredotto! Paul and Jeff wanted to go back there for a late lunch. After that tour, Paul and I continued on walking tour through Oltrarno ourselves, ultimately making our way back over the river to the Uffizi. After that, although our feet were killing us, we went back over the river to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset view of Florence :D AMAZING!!

Jeff and Julie went to San Miniato for some Gregorian chants and made it for the sunset also.

It was an AMAZING trip that you and your Italian cohorts created for us. We were so amazed at the architecture, the countryside, the food, the wine and the people. Just a beautiful country all around. AND just so you know, I don't think we missed a day without gelato and my favorite was chocolate orange from Gelateria della Passera in Oltrarno.

Julie, anything to add?

Again thank you Teri and Trips2Italy for all your help in putting this amazing 25th anniversary trip together for us. I will definitely recommend you!!
Kelly G. - Travel Agency's Client