Italy

In 2019 our family, including my mom and dad, took a trip to Italy. We visited Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice. I had been to Rome and Venice in the 90s when I was stationed in The Netherlands, but this was the first time in Italy for the rest of my family. I used a company called Tripmasters to book our trip. The package was about $1600 per person for 9 days and flights, trains, transportation to and from airports, and hotels were included. A very similar package is still available on the Tripmasters sight for about he same price. Pisa was not included in the package so we went there on our own. It was an amazing and flawless trip (until we landed back in DC).

We flew out of Dulles International Airport (IAD), which is about a two hour drive from our house. We left our car in long-term parking and boarded our flight. We flew Alitalia Airline non-stop to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO). A private shuttle was waiting to take us to our hotel.

Rome

We stayed at the beautiful NH Collection Roma Giustiniano Hotel for three nights. It was located near tons of sights and restaurants. We did a lot of walking as well as a hop on/hop off tour bus. We spent our first day in Rome going to various landmarks. Our first stop was the Spanish Steps. As you can see in the photo below, it was packed with tourists.

From the Spanish Steps, we walked several blocks to Trevi Fountain. It was also packed with tourists, but we waited our turn to get down to the fountain. We each threw a coin into the fountain and made a wish. I was lucky enough to visit Trevi Fountain in the 90s and throw a coin in the fountain. Wishes do come true there because my wish back then was that one day I would visit the fountain again with someone I love. Coins are supposed to be thrown using the right hand over the left shoulder so we each made sure we did it right.

We ate a ton of pasta and gelato.

Our second day in Rome we spent mostly in Vatican City. This was the highlight of our trip for my mom. We did a guided tour and spent most of the day there sightseeing, shopping and eating. It was an amazing day!

Our third day in Rome we went to the Castle of the Holy Angel, Castel Sant’Angelo. It was located along the Tiber River and absolutely beautiful.

The highlight of Day 3 was the Roman Colosseum and Arch of Constantine.

Unfortunately, we did not go inside the Colosseum because the lines were really long. We regretted not waiting, but here’s a pic of the inside from when I visited the Colosseum previously.

Florence

After three days in Rome it was time to head to Florence. We took the one and a half hour train ride from Rome to Florence. Our hotel was within walking distance from the train station so we wheeled a ton of luggage down very narrow sidewalks until we arrived at the hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Executive in Florence. It was a great hotel and right next to a great gelato shop.

Our first full day in Florence we went to the Duomo di Firenze, the cathedral of Florence. We walked to the Duomo from our hotel and there were tons of cool sights and streets along the way. It was pretty crowded at the Duomo, but such a beautiful cathedral.

We also walked along the Arno River, which flows through the center of Florence and all the way through the Tuscany region to Pisa.

We decided to travel to Pisa, which was about an hour and a half train ride from Florence. Pisa was not included in our itinerary with the travel agent, so we included it ourselves. We were so glad we did! We explored all through the Square of Miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli) and saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa, The Campo Santo, Santa Maria della Spina, the Palazzo della Carovana, and the Cittadella vecchia. We even took a horse drawn carriage through the streets of Pisa. I’m so glad we included Pisa on this trip.

Venice

Let me start by saying, Venice is my favorite place in the world. I was there in the 90s and fell in love with the city. We took the train from Florence to Venice, which took about five hours. We were pretty exhausted when we arrived, but just seeing the Grand Canal brought us back to life! We spent three days in Venice.

We took a water taxi to our hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Al Codega and it was magnificent. The hotel was located near Piazza San Marco and the Rialto Bridge and we entered a small alley that opened up into a hidden, picturesque courtyard to get to the hotel.

We spent some time checking out the Rialto Bridge and taking pictures. Everything in Venice is so beautiful and there’s no other place like it in the world.

We then made the short walk to the Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square).

Of course when you’re in Venice, a gondola ride is a must! There is no better time to do it than at sunset.

There is so much to see and do in Venice from the shops, music, restaurants and churches to finding hidden alleyways. One of our favorite things to do was sit at a cafe with a beautiful view.

Dinner in St Mark’s Square is an amazing experience. The food, music and wine is perfect.

We spent a lot of time soaking in the beautiful sights and taking tons of pictures.

When it was time to leave, we took a water taxi to the Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) where we started a very long journey back to the States. We had a layover in Amsterdam and then a connecting flight in Atlanta. This leg of the journey is where things started to go bad.

We arrived at the Atlanta airport a little after midnight and was told our flight was canceled because the aircraft toilet had overflowed. We were told they were getting a different plane to take us to Washington Dulles. We finally boarded another plane and a flight attendant announced that some luggage on the plane that was taken out of service due to the toilet issue had been damaged. When we arrived in DC at 3 am, sure enough some of our luggage was damaged and my mom’s suitcase was ruined. We had to throw away the entire contents of her suitcase, including all of her souvenirs. Delta was less than helpful and it was a horrible way to end our trip.

Suggestions for traveling to Italy

If you’re thinking about taking a trip to Europe, I highly recommend going to Italy. It’s very easy to spend a week or two seeing several cities in Italy. It was cheaper for us to use a travel company for our trip rather than booking flights, trains, and hotels separately and the company was super easy to deal with. We didn’t have one problem with a booking, ticket, or voucher and the hotels were all 4 star. We had a wonderful time and I hope you go to Italy!