DAY 7: ARRIVEDERCI, ITALY! WILLKOMMEN IN OSTERREICH!
TOUR HIGHLIGHT: TOUR FULL OF FAMILIES WITH KIDS
SITE SUMMARY: Italian and Austrian countryside with a nice mixture of stucco, red tile, and alpine architecture; Northern Italian town of Bolzano for a quick stop at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology to see Otzi the Iceman. LUNCH: McDonalds with the most beautiful view! DINNER: Hearty dinner at the country hotel SLEEPING: Gutshof zum Schluxen LESSON LEARNED: As described in our PREPARE section, we traveled extremely light and needed to do laundry at least once. Some hotels offer laundry service. Our guides let us know on day 1 that the Gutshof sum Schluxen would do laundry for a very reasonable price and even deliver it to our room when it was done. This saved precious vacation time to do other activities instead of hanging out in a laundromat! |
Arrivederci, Italy! We enjoyed your rich, ancient history, wonderful food, and mix of cities and countryside.
Driving north, we noticed a gradual increase in Alpine architecture mixed with stucco and tile roofs. Rolling plains transitioned to hills and snow capped mountains. We enjoyed one final stop in Italy in the quaint town of Bolzano. We were treated with a visit to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology to view Otzi the Iceman. He's been preserved well and scientists and artists have recreated what they think he looked like (pictured below). Once in Austria, we were seeing many beautiful mountains! One short stop at a McDonalds provided the most breathtaking view from any fast food restaurant we have visited. TOUR HIGHLIGHT: TOUR FULL OF FAMILIES WITH KIDS Arrival at this country hotel occurred at about the midpoint of the trip. The kids had all really gotten to know each other and spent the entire evening playing on the playground and trampoline at the hotel. Parents were able to chat in the adjacent beer garden and take it all in. One of the kids in the group had a really fun app on her iPad that allowed all of the group to make some really fun music videos. Good company, stunning scenery, and total relaxation. What more could you ask for? Just before Christmas, we received a DVD containing the music videos made on the tour (one came from this location). Shortly after, the tour families exchanged Christmas cards. It was really special to get to know such great families on the trip and be able to share our memories with each other months after the experience. |