Bellissima Italy trip review and other Italy
We are recovered from post trip Covid. Fortunately we got sick on the next to last day, we had Paxlovid with us (had a hard time convincing our Drs. to prescribe it before the trip) and as far as we know, no one else got sick. FYI, we had the new Covid vaccine 3 weeks before our trip and wore masks on the plane. Have no idea where we got sick.
Now the trip. This was an ideal trip for us. Other than Venice (which we love) we had not been to any of the other locations before. Milan was interesting (usual big city stuff ) and I will post some of the "cemetery" pictures which were mentioned above. Lakes Como and Maggiore are some of the most beautiful places we have ever visited and our weather was perfect. (Lucky for us we missed the current rain and flooding!) The hotels were like palaces and the food was quite good. Verona is charming, renaissance and I felt like we were ensconced in a Shakespearean play sprinkled with Roman ruins everywhere. Bellagio, Modena and Bologna were also historically interesting. For us, the Ferrari car museum was uninspiring but others considered it a high point of the trip. To each his own. We love Venice and would have preferred nicer weather (it rained, but not flooded) and of course we could have done without getting sick.
All in all it was a very good trip. The food, after a few days although good was primarily pasta and Sea Bass so that got a little boring. Wine was plentiful, good and was served at most meals courtesy of Tauck. Our tour director (Victor) was efficient, very knowledgeable and very congenial. He helped to create a very positive atmosphere on the tour.
As far as the activity levels: Mornings when we were relocating started early, days we we could stay put started later. There was a considerable amount of walking and stairs where there were no alternative means of getting from one place to another. That said, I think the median age of our group was about 75, with a few travelers with canes and everyone seemed to be able to participate in most of the activities. All in all it was a very good trip and I definitely recommend it for anyone who has already seen Rome and Florence.
good trip and I definitely recommend it for anyone who has already seen Rome and Florence.
Comments
Thanks for your review and pictures! So sorry it ended on the COVID sour note. We had the same experience on our first Tauck tour last year (N. Spain) so we feel your pain. Paxlovid was a wonder drug despite the taste. We are taking this tour next fall, hoping for a few post tour days in Florence. I assume you flew home from Venice. How was that? We’ve been to Venice many times (love it) but stopped flying home from there as the departures were ungodly early. Has that changed?
If you followed my thread, 2 of the pictures were from monuments at the Monumental Cemetery of Milan. It is spectacular and really worth a visit. Its a short taxi ride from downtown Milan, if you have the time to go. Our trip was the last of the Tauck Northern Italy trips and we really lucked out with the weather. Search for current flooding in Lake Como, Milan and Venice if you want to see the weather we narrowly escaped.
This was the second time in two years that we flew out of Venice. (We still love Venice even though both times we had just contracted Covid) Last year, returning from our Croatia, Tour of the Adriatic we flew Lufthansa (Venice-Frankfurt-SFO) Our flight was due to leave Venice at 10:30,AM so 7:30 pickup. When we left Venice hotel our flight was on time. When we got to the airport it had been cancelled. After a frustrating hour with a ticket agent we were booked on the next available flight to Frankfurt (2:30 PM) which should have reached Frankfurt in time to transfer to our transatlantic flight home. The plane was delayed and we reached the gate (after notifiying the airline authorities) 3 minutes after the gate closed. We had to spend the night courtesy of Lufthansa in a two-bit motel 45 minutes away from the airport and 10 miles away from downtown Frankfurt. No matter, we weren't going anywhere, we had already checked our hand luggage and knew we were sick but did not know it was Covid. Our flight the next day was perfect.
This time we flew British (Venice-London-SFO) and had to leave Venice at 5:45 AM to catch an 8:45 AM flight. Check-in (even with business priority) took over one hour. Flights proceeded smoothly but the A380 business class from London was the worst configured plane we have ever been on.
If you are extending to Florence, why not fly from there?
Enjoy your trip and good luck with flight. .
Thanks. We are still debating Florence but if we go, departing from there is the plan.