European Vacation

European Vacation
So Scott and I got to take off for a vacation without the kids, 15 days, just Scott my parents and me. We met My mom and dad at the Atlanta Airport on Thursday afternoon, and then took off for a whirlwind tour. Landing in Madrid early Friday Morning. We finally found our Hotel checked-in and were off to sight see.
The Prado was AMAZING!!!!
The Next morning we were able to go to the Valley of the Fallen, How impressive even on a wet, gloomy day, then we were off to Toledo.
Toledo was an experience, all of those narrow streets, Someone had even dug the wall out so that the car mirrors would fit.
Then Next morning we had a drive ahead of us, But it was so neat to see the hillsides dotted with abandoned castles all along the way, We had to stop at at least a few. We stopped in Cordoba, but only long enough to get lost, then onto Seville.
In Seville was one of the Highlights of our trip, a Professional Flamenco Performance. My mom even learned some of the moves. We did some sight seeing the next morning, and then took off for Granada.
After a disappointing lost reservation the Alhambra was no longer on our list of sights to see so we traveled south to a small town on the Mediterranean and then off to Valencia to see the Lladro Factory.
We completed our tour of Spain in Sitges. What a great city on the Sea. We had a great evening walking the boardwalk.
The next morning we Drove into France. We stopped first at Carcassonne. This is a Castle from the 1200's complete with a walled city. Then we went to Orange where the best preserved Roman Theater is located.
We spent the night in the French Riviera With a beautiful view of Monaco.
Then we were off to Italy, we headed straight for Venice. The first evening was so pleasant, most of the crowds were gone and I c ould sense the magic of the town. It was a holiday weekend in Italy and Venice was literally shoulder to shoulder, we decided to cut our trip a little short, off to Florence. In Florence we decided we were ready for a change of pace, we found a small island that is a part of Tuscany called Isola D' Elba. Some of you may know it as Napoleon's island. (he was exiled there for 1 year) What a fabulous island, hotel, and dinner. We did a lot of hiking. Then we took the Ferry back and headed into Rome.
Rome was great, and boy were we glad that we had been driving in Spain and France to prepare us for Rome. We took off for Pompeii first thing the next morning, WOW 3000 yrs of history, so well preserved.
On our last day we toured Rome, and saw all of the must see sights. It was truly a great trip, one that we will never forget. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming along with us. And of course we can never thank Walt and Lynn enough for watching the kids.