July 13 --  meet in MSP Delta Airlines Check in Counter at Noon.  Our flight is at 3 pm.

July 14 -–  Arrive in Rome at 10:10 A.M.  Bus to Hotel Smeraldo in the center of the old city.   Lunch and tour of the ancient city: Coliseum and Forum.  Dinner each evening in a different restaurant.

July 15 – Tour of the Vatican Museum and Saint Peter’s Basilica.  Free time.

July 16 and 17 – Exploring the city in small Groups.

July 18 – Early departure for Assisi, overnight there

July 19 – further experiences of Assisi, then on to Tuscany to explore a vineyard and finally to our Hotel in Florence.

 July 20 -- Tour of the major sights of Florence

July 21-22  -– Start of your small group travel time.  In the past nearly all students have headed to Cinque Terre (Monterosso) for two overnights first for two overnights.  July is likely to be very hot – like Minnesota can get! – and the seaside is a great break.  Let me know immediately if you prefer to skip Cinque Terre, as I need to let the Hotel know.

July 23-29 – More small group time and a chance to travel further abroad:  The highest rated places from former groups:  Interlaken in Switzerland for the sheer beauty of the scenery and fun hiking, canyoning and other activities (2 overnights recommended); Venice for the wonder of the gondolas and Saint Mark’s plaza and glassblowers on the island;  Salzburg for its amazing beauty and there’s so much to do – ice caves, sound of music tour, lakes tour, good evening activities;  The town of Füssen (Neuschwannstein Castle) and staying overnight in a bed and breakfast or in a family!  This was highly recommended instead of using a day of your Munich time to see the castle.  Easy to get to by train.    

The biggest recommendation from past groups:  just plan about three places, otherwise you spend way too much time in the trains just getting from place to place.  For example, most folks who went to Prague said they wish they had waited til another trip to do that, a it was a lot of hours to get there.

July 30 – meet in Munich at our hotel about noon.   Usually rooms are not available until noon or after.   4 pm biking tour of Munich!

July 31 – Sunday.  Mass in the Asamkirche or in a park.  Shops are closed.   Dachau is a possibility today or tomorrow morning.

August 1-2 – our final days in Europe.  7 A.M. departure for the Munich airport for a 10 A.M. flight on August 2.  

Arrive in MSP at 8:20 P.M. on August 2.

   Other top recommendations: 

  1. bring a few more nice clothes for out evening events.
  2. leave room in your backpacks for items/gifts to bring home.
  3. bring aspirin and other meds in case you get a bad cold.
  4. small group travel should really be in small groups 4-5 max.
  5. It’s best to travel guys with guys – and women with women! because guys and girls tend tend to have very different interests.
  6. reserve overnight trains several days ahead and get Schlafwagen (sleepers) so that you can sleep well!
  7. book hotels and ahead of time so that you have no worries when you get to your destination.

 It’s likely most of these hotels/camping places have websites.  Try Google:

                                  i.            Hotel Caprera in Venice

                                                                                  ii.            even cheaper – Camping Fusina in Venice    

                                                                                iii.            Innsbruck, Austria stay at Camping Kranebitten

                                                                                 iv.            Hotel Lasserhof in Salzburg

                                                                                    v.            Backpackers Villa in Interlaken “very nice people!”

Get ready for the time of your life!  Plan to drink lots of water, as that’s a key to staying healthy.

Devotedly,

Padre Marco