| Viva Italia! A day in the life of touring Italy |
By: Linda Simmers
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Ever since I was a young girl, I’d fantasized about visiting the rolling hills of Tuscany covered with bright, bold, beautiful sunflowers; exploring the architecture and the artistic corners of Florence; and taking a romantic ride with singing gondoliers through the intricate and winding canal system of Venice.
Now married with a 12-year-old son, I was finally ready to make that dream a reality. Earlier this year I came across my dream vacation: Adventures by Disney’s ‘Viva Italia!’ I booked my family on a 9-day, 8-night Italian adventure to Rome, Tuscany and Venice. When we arrived in Rome, a private driver took us to the elegant Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi. We were given the keys to our room, escorted by a hotel bellman, and told to rest up and meet for dinner with our other Disney Adventurers downstairs in the hotel at 5:30 p.m..
At dinner, our son had no problem at all meeting and chatting with the other 10 kids in the group. We met families from all across the U.S and you could feel the excitement from everyone as we prepared to explore the beautiful country of Italy and its people!
The next several days proved incredible and surreal. From our visit to the ruins of the Roman Coliseum to our private dinner with gladiators to our visits to the Tuscan cities of Cavriglia, Sienna, and Orvieto and our stay atop a beautiful hill high in the Tuscan countryside – it was “bella!” We savored many a wonderful meal, pasta, wine, gelato and good company along the way. We explored the arts:
Michelangelo’s David; the Coliseum and the Forum; the Pantheon; the Vatican and St. Peter’s Square; pasta-making in an authentic castle; wine-tasting; gelato-tasting; mask-making for Carnevale in Venice; glass-blowing in Murano; riding through the canals of Venice on gondolas to a trip aboard the Eurostar between Florence and Venice. Our family vacation was nothing less than magical.
As a family, we can’t say enough about our Disney Adventure. My Italian dream vacation finally became a reality!
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