Kyle Around The World: Cruising around Italy: Padova, Ferara, Modena, Bologna, Forli, San Marino, Rimini, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Rapallo, Cinque Terre, and Portofino

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Cruising around Italy: Padova, Ferara, Modena, Bologna, Forli, San Marino, Rimini, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Rapallo, Cinque Terre, and Portofino

Just a quick update on our traveling around Italy. We have been having a great time, staying in the homes of wonderful people and eating the best food in the world. Here is a short summary of what we have been up to lately.

From Venice we then went to Padova where we saw the amazing Scovengni Chapel and the fine art work of Giotto. Next we went to Ferara where we walked along the ancient Roman walls and cruised through a castle with a moat and draw bridge. Then off to Modena where we saw many old churches and buildings. A short trip to Bologna where we saw the two towers and amazing Plazza Maggiore. From there we took a train to Forli and got a private tour of all the city sights. The next day we traveled to a new country, San Marino. In San Marino, a tiny country on a mountain top surrounded by Italy, we explored two cool castles. Then on the way back we checked out Rimini and saw another great castle and a Roman bridge dating back to 100 B.C. Next we took another train to Florence through the Tuscany countryside. In Florence we saw some of the best art work in the world. We visited the Galleria Dell Academia where we saw Michaelangelo's famous sculpture of "David," and the Galleria Delgi Uffizi where we saw works of many of the best painters in history, such as: Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Raphael, Michaelangelo, Titan, Bellini, Giotto, Rubens and Rembrant's. We also saw other amazing things in Florence like the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo. We went from Florence to Pisa to see if the tower was really leaning. It was great to see that the Leaning Tower of Pisa had not fallen. We made a trip to Lucca and had a picnic on the Roman walls after exploring the city. Next we headed to Rapallo to hang out on the amazing beaches, hike along the famous Cinque Terre, and kick back in the resort for the rich and famous: Portofino. It has all been amazing.

We are leaving this morning for Genova where Christopher Columbus was born. We will only be in Italy for a few more days before heading onto France, Monaco, Spain, Gibralter, Morroco(in Africa), and Portugal. Then we catch a plane from Spain to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Where I'm going on my around the world adventure!

General Itinerary: We will be visiting 30-35 countries during our journey. The trip will be broken up into four major portions(South East Asia, India, Europe, South America)

-South East Asia: The first leg of the trip will start by us flying into Bangkok, Thailand, with a couple of day layover in Hong Kong, China. From Bangkok we will head south and hang out on Krabi Coast and the island of Phuket. We will head in for a brief visit of Myanmar(formerly Burma).Next we will head over to the Gulf of Thailand and hang out of the islands of Ko Samui and Ko Pha Ngan. We will then travel to northern Thailand and head overland to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

-India: From South East Asia we will fly to India and travel overland to Nepal and trek through the Himalayas and all over India. After spending approximately four months in India we will make our way to Delhi where to catch a flight to London

-Europe: We will start off in London and then make a quick trip up to Iceland for a few days before flying to Turkey and making our way overland through Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, France, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain. We will fly out of Barcelona, Spain to South America.

-South America: We will fly into Buenos Aires, Argentina and travel overland from Argentina to Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and then into Chile. We will make our way to Santiago, Chile where we will catch a plane and fly 2,000 miles to Easter Island. After hanging out for a few days on Easter Island we will fly back to Chile and head up to Bolivia. We will hang out on Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and then travel into Peru where we will spend a month exploring Incan ruins and other sights. We will head overland to Ecuador and then fly from Quito, Ecuador to Caracas, Venezuela with a layover in Lima, Peru. From the capital of Venezuela we will travel along the coast for a few weeks.

-Caribbean: We will take a vacation from our worldwide road trip and kick back in the Caribbean for approx 3 weeks and travel to the islands of Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, and Puerto Rico.