This is a family trip with my Dad, Mom, Tita Perla and cousin Pinggot to highlight the places I have been. This tour covers 4 countries – Italy, Switzerland, France and England.

Sept 10 (Arrive ROME)

Sept 11 (ROME)

Our day starts with a visit to the Vatican Museum and Capella Sistina, world famous for Michelangelo’s ceiling paintings including the Last Judgment. We then continued to monumental St. Peter’s Square and Basilica. Then we proceeded across the Tiber for a stroll along the Via Sacra at the Roman Forum, where Roman Legions once marched in triumph, and finally at the Colosseum. We ended our tour at the Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Step).

Sept 12 (ROME-FLORENCE)

Morning drive to Florence, cradle of the Renaissance. Our first site of visit is the Piazza della Signoria where it is dominated by the Palazzo Vecchio, Santa Maria Del Fiore, Giotto’s Bell Tower, and the Baptistry’s heavy bronze “Gate of Paradise.” We then took a guided tour to the Gallery of Fine Arts where Michelangelo created the statue of David. Then window shopping the check out leather goods and gold jewelry. I bought a heavy bronze door knocker. Pinggot and I later headed towards Ponte Vecchio along the Agno River, one of the most photograph sites in Florence.

Sept 13 (FLORENCE-VENICE)

Drove across the wooded Apennine mountain range to Ferrara and a motor boat ride to Venice along the Giudecca canal. The visit is highlighted with a walking tour at Piazza San Marco, Basilica San Marco with its 1000-year-old gen-studded gold altar piece, lavish Doges’ Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. This tour is not complete without a visit to see a glass blower demonstration and a gondola ride with a Signore serenading along the canals of Veneto.

Sept 14 (VENICE-LUCERNE)

Through the lush Lombardian plains, past the commercial center of Milan, into Italian-speaking southern Switzerland, lunch in Lugano (steak tartar) and relaxing walk along the shade of Parco Ciani’s magnificent old trees with a view of the Swiss Alps. Then onwards the 6,935-foot high St. Gotthard Pass and through William Tell country and finally Lucerne.

Sept 15 (LUCERNE)

Our tour took us to the medieval heritage which included the Lowendenkmal (Lion Monument), Thorwaldsen’s masterful stone sculpture in honor of the heroic Swiss Guard of Louis XVI; the famous Kapelbrucke (Wooden Bridge), Old Town. Afterwards window shopping (known for their Swiss watches and knifes of course). Lunch was a typical Swiss folklore party lunch with a yodeling and alphorn blowing show. After lunch we headed to Mt Rigi (my first). From the summit (1800 m /6000 ft), you can have a breath-taking panoramic view of the Alps, looking out over 13 lakes and across all central Switzerland as far as Germany and France (on a clear day).

Sept 16 (LUCERNE-PARIS)

More typical Swiss vistas of tidy villages and prosperous dairy farms on the way to the French border near Basle. Then skirting to the vineyards of Burgundy and Fontainebleau Forest on our way to Paris.

Sept 17 (PARIS)

Sightseeing tour on the both banks of the Seine: Arc de Triomphe, Opera, Louvre, Champs-Elysees, Eiffel Tower and Paris’ greatest treasure, the Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. After lunch a visit to Versailles Palace and Garden (my first) and also known as Château de Versailles. It was the center of the French monarchy until the 1789 revolution which overthrew King Louis XVI.

Dinner at Montmatre (where most of the cabaret shows are located, one of them is Moulin Rouge). We capped the night with a spectacular night visit of the Eiffel Tower.

Sept 18 (PARIS-LONDON)

We crossed the English Channel on a high speed Hover craft and arrived London in the late afternoon. That evening after dinner, we took a cruise on the River Thames with sights such as the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Tower of London in view.

Sept 19 (LONDON)

Sightseeing included famous landmarks: Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Palace, and the area’s splendid museums, Knightsbridge with Harrods, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben beside the River Thames, and Westminster Abbey. Highlights were a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Parade of the Guards near Buckingham Palace. Afternoon is an excursion to the Buckingham Palace.

Sept 20 – 21 (LONDON)

We stayed an additional 2 days to do some shopping (Harrods) and sightseeing (Notting Hill). And a dinner at a Moroccan restaurant (MoMo) with an old travel friend Carmelita.

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