Hitting the ground running! :)

Enjoying our view of the snow capped Alps!

The gate to Verona

Our free red bull - which was perfectly timed to combat jetlag!

Verona :)

Our guys in front of the Arena

Free water!!!

Beautiful square within Verona

Juliet's Balcony

Market

Brooke and Colleen at the Victor Emmanuel II

Meow?  Gotta love European advertisements

A medieval castle we passed on our drive to Venice

More beautiful scenery along the way

We may be a little travel weary at this point - but I genuinely believe everyone is off to a great start!  The students are adjusting to currency conversions, very different showers, different room keys-light systems, having to step on a pedal to get water at the sink in some public restrooms...but ultimately they are adjusting beautifully and are all smiles.

After a flight that most admitted was not as bad as they feared - that ended with a beautiful thirty minutes of flying over the snow-capped alps, everyone stood in line awaiting their Italy passport stamp - and no one was beaming as much as our kids as they watched the officers stamp us into the EU.  All of our bags made it!  And we were soon clearing customs and meeting up with our tour director, Carmen.

During the 2.5 hour bus ride to Verona, we drove past the "pre-alps" (the baby, foothills alps), with beautiful church steeples and campanilles juxtaposed against the mountainside.  We drove past many vineyards, gigantic wheels of parmesan and many quaint villages along the way.

We enjoyed lunch in Verona, visited the balcony that the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and enjoyed some free time to wander at our own pace.

And then we were onto Venice - which is actually shaped like a fish and comprised of 117 islands, 150+ bridges, and 400+ canals.  We have crashed for a bit, enjoyed dinner, and all will soon be checked in for the night.

Tomorrow is a BIG day of water taxis, murano glass, gondola rides, Doges Palace and more!!!