2nd 10 Day Trip....Here We Come!!!

Well, if I still have any readers at all, 1) I'm shocked, and 2) Thank you for being so dedicated!!! I'm not sure why, but lately, I have just lost the will to blog. I was thinking about two or so weeks ago, that I was doing pretty good and up-to-date, and then I realized that, when I got behind on blogging about our 1st 10 Day Trip, it just snowballed after that. 

I haven't blogged about so many of our adventures since then -day trips, our 4 day road trip, spring break, countless good times with the Italians in Genoa, the Villa party- I feel so bad for leaving you out on such an exciting time period of my life!! So, with that being said, when things die down after returning (if they ever do; it seems like I keep saying that over and over and over, but it's true....we go NON-STOP), I hope to spend some time blogging for about a week and catching you up. After all, blogging is very much like personal journaling, it's just on the world wide web. And, overall, I enjoy it. :) :) 

Anywho, as I said, 2nd 10 Day Trip...here we come!!! We leave tomorrow for what I am sure will be, yet another whirlwind trip!! For this journey we're going to visit cities Italy so that our travel time is minimal and limited to only trains. We're going to areas that we have not yet seen and I am VERY excited and looking VERY forward to the trip. 

It will go as follows:

We'll leave EARY on Friday morning, April 3rd from Genoa at about 6:15AM. Yeah. Blah. From there we take a train to Venice (SO, SO, SO EXCITED....been waiting on this one since before we even came!!) and stay for 3 nights until leaving on Monday, April 6th for Padova. While in Venice we will also take a day trip to Murano, which is known in the States for its beautiful glass. 

After spending 1 night in Padova, we'll take a private bus early Tuesday morning April 7th, where we'll visit various sites throughout the day to our next city, Vicenza. The next day, Wednesday, April 8th, will be spent visiting areas on our own in the morning, with a guided tour in the afternoon. 

The group will spend three nights here, but this is where my trip takes a different journey. 

The group will awake the next morning, Thursday, April 9th, and take a day trip out of Vicenza to Verona (think Romeo and Juliet). Upon returning from Verona, they will spend their last night in Vicenza and head to Bologna on Friday, April 10th. They will spend 2 nights there, with a day trip to Parma on Saturday, April 11th, and after spending Easter morning in Bologna, the group will return home to Genoa on Sunday, April 12th around 6:45ish PM. 

So endeth the 2nd (and final) 10 day trip.

And to top it ALL off, our weather is supposed to be SUNNY, SUNNY, SUNNY for the entire trip...upper 60's, low 70's. Yeah!!! :) 

Now, I did say my journey took a different path, right?!?

Well, it most certainly does!! And one that I am VERY, VERY, VERY excited about!!! 

My mama and daddy are coming to visit us in Europe!!!!!! I can't begin to describe to you how excited I am about this AND how I have been looking forward to this since FOREVER (we've known they were coming and they've had their flight booked since January). I will be leaving the group on Thursday morning, April 9th, to take a train from Vicenza back to Genoa. I will go immediately to the airport to meet/pick them up (as they will be arriving that morning). We hope to spend the day relaxing and letting me be their personal tour guide around home. The next morning, we're off by train to spend the weekend in ROME!!!! Although I have already been, it's so exciting to be with them for their first trip to the beautiful, Italian city. What better opportunity for them to see Rome, but at Easter weekend?!? 

We'll stay in Rome for 3 nights (at the most FABULOUS hotel that our class stayed at while traveling there earlier in the semester; we got a GREAT discount) then head back to Genoa on Monday morning, April 13th. They have a good 3 solid days before they fly back home on Thursday afternoon, April 16th. I hope to show them some more of Genoa, and take a day trip somewhere in the French Rivera. 

Being that neither of my parents have ever traveled to Europe, this trip is so important to me. I want them to have the best time and see as much as possible during their short, 1 week stay. 

So there you have it folks. That's the Edens' journey for the next 10 days. Please, please keep us in your prayers as we travel all over this beautiful country because they are much needed, and much appreciated. Please also, if you read this, say a special prayer for my parents as they make the long flight over and back to the States. This will be my mama's 1st time flying....EVER!! And her first series is about 12 hours. So keep us all in your prayers. Thanks!!! :) 

Until next time, ciao!!!!! :) 

OH YES - If you want to be slightly jealous while we travel, have a look at some of the hotels we're staying in:

Venice Hotel - You HAVE to look through the photos; our admin. assistant said this is one of the number one "most romantic" hotels in all of Italy....she says it's fabulous and perfect!! Doesn't work too well for the single students, but sure does work out nicely for us married folks!!! ;) 

Padova Hotel - Quaint, but very nice nonetheless. 

We weren't given websites for the other 2 (1 of which I will actually not be staying in) but our admin. assistant also boasts very highly of the "super nice" hotel in Bologna.