Day three saw us leave Germany and head into Austria. The weather was starting to change. They were calling for a storm in Germany. As we approached the border, the first thing you noticed were the mountains. Within 20 minutes we went from green grass to snow covered slopes.
Our first stop was at Innsbruck. We went to the St. Joseph Cathedral -- a Roccoco style church. The only words that can describe it were massive and very, very beautiful. Gold, silver and marble everywhere. We then had a free run on the town for 2 hours. Lots of neat shops and restaurants.
Once on the bus it was time to settle down for a 6 hour ride into Italy.
Every town has a church, every mountain has a castle.
As we entered Italy, we lost the snow and saw sunlight. There are vineyards everywhere.
We arrived at Josolo at 7, just in time for supper, and 8 other busses arriving. This hotel is not the Rivoli -- I would only rate it a 2. Ask the ladies about their "villas".
Time to settle in.
ABOUT ORTONA
In 1943, Canadian troops participated in a battle that would ultimately become their legacy. Having moved north along the rocky coastline of the Adriatic Sea, Canada's soldiers invaded the small village of Ortona, a war-torn but formidable German stronghold.
Amid heavy rubble and debris, brave Canadians fought against the German Occupation on behalf of the Allied Forces. German soldiers fired from within the evacuated city's crumbling buildings, and combat raged along the narrow and winding city streets.
The 8-day battle was small but intense, resulting in nearly 1,400 Canadian casualties and considered one of the most violent battles of World War II. In fact, Ortona had been a territory Hitler ordered to be defended at all costs, and the Canadian soldiers were met with exceptional force.
Yet despite the severe opposition and the brutal fighting that thundered past Christmas Day, Canadian troops pressed the Germans into retreat and conquered the city. It was a remarkable victory that marked the dissolution of German control and the merit of Canada's Italian Campaign contribution.
Weather in Germany and Italy
Our Itinerary
Itinerary
Day 1 > November 19 > Overnight flight to Germany
Day 2 > November 20 > Guten Tag Munich
Meet your Tour Director and check into hotel
Munich city walk
Fun-loving Munich is the perfect place to explore. Follow your Tour Director through the wide boulevards, scenic squares, and popular parks of this Bavarian capital.
Day 3 > November 21 > Munich Landmarks
Guided sightseeing tour
Join a professional, licensed tour guide for a whirlwind look at Munich. Founded in the 12th century by Henry the Lion, this city has become a snapshot of the hustle and bustle of German life. As you travel through Marienplatz (named for the gilded Virgin and child statue), mechanical knights joust and coopers dance to the folk-music chimes of the Neues Rathaus’ Glockenspiel. While looking up at the display, you certainly can’t miss the two onion-bulb towers crowning the Frauenkirche Cathedral. Continue on to Olympiapark, a new suburb built for the 1972 Olympic Games. Pass by several museums, such as the BMW Museum, Alte Pinakothek (home to Munich’s most precious art collections) and the Deutsches Museum of science and technology. See something you want to investigate further? Take notes and return during your free time.
Nymphenburg Palace visit
Residenz visit
Alte Pinakothek
Deutsches Museum
BMW headquarters
Olympic site of 1972
Frauenkirche
Neues Rathaus
Marienplatz
Hofbräuhaus
Visit Dachau
A grim glimpse into the past, Dachau was the first of Nazi Germany’s camps and a model for the 3,000 work and concentration camps to come. Your Tour Director will lead you through the gas chamber (although never used) and crematorium, which have been restored as a chilling memorial to the 206,000 prisoners who were interned in the camp from 1933 to 1945. The museum examines pre-1930 anti-Semitism, the rise of the Nazi party, and photographed and documented lives of prisoners.
Day 4 > November 22 > Munich--Venice
Travel via Innsbruck to Venice
Day 5 > November 23 > Venice Landmarks
Guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
Bubbling up on more than 100 islands in a lagoon off the Adriatic, Venice is an absolutely unique and unquestionably beautiful city. The weight of its opulent architecture – bulbous domes, Gothic spires, and lacy marble – may be sinking the city by 10 inches a century, but your local guide will make sure you don’t sink out of sight as you tour the intricate labyrinth of streets and bridges. Step into Piazza San Marco, an airy expanse of arches, sunlight, and pigeons. The multi-domed Basilica on one end, completed in 1094 but decorated for centuries afterward, is the final resting place of the apostle St. Mark, Venice’s patron saint. The mosaics beneath the basilica’s outside arches depict the arrival of St. Mark’s body, stolen from Egypt in 828 by Venetian traders. The frothy Venetian Gothic Doge’s Palace stands next door. Continue on to a glass-blowing demonstration. Venetian glass has long been considered the best in the world, and its production was such a state secret that during the Middle Ages, any Venetian glassblower who attempted to ply his trade outside the city was immediately arrested.
St. Mark’s Square
Basilica di San Marco
Visit Doges’ Palace
Glass-blowing demo
Day 6 > November 24 > Venice--Ortona
Travel to Ortona
Day 7 > November 25 > Ortona
Ortona Celebration
Day 8 > November 26 > Ortona--Rome
Travel to Rome via Cassino
Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery
Day 9 > November 27 > Vatican City
Vatican guided sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
Don a state-of-the-art headset for a space-age tour of St. Peter’s Basilica with a licensed local guide. Outside the church, four rows of columns radiate out like welcoming arms (if you stand on the circles marked on the ground, the rows will line up and look like a single row); inside, the church seems enormous enough to embrace the entire world. The dome, partially designed by Michelangelo, rises 452 feet above the ground. Michelangelo’s mark is everywhere here, from the costumes worn by the Swiss Guards to his exquisite “Pietà” sculpture (the only sculpture he ever signed -- look for his name carved into the Madonna’s sash) to the amazing frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. Because he considered himself a sculptor and not a painter, Michelangelo hated working on these paintings, now considered masterpieces.
Visit Sistine Chapel
Visit St. Peter’s Basilica
St. Peter’s Basilica Ceremony
Day 10 > November 28 > Imperial Rome
Rome ancient city guided walking sightseeing tour with Whisper headsets
The ultimate symbol of ancient Rome, the Colosseum still dominates the modern city. Tour the amphitheatre with your local licensed guide. Built by the emperor Vespasian in A.D. 72, the structure held almost 50,000 spectators but was so well organized that the entire place could be emptied within 15 minutes. Inside, the spectacles varied from gladiator battles to immense naval contests that required the flooding of the amphitheatre to wild beast shows, in which thousands of exotic animals like giraffes and ostriches were popped into the stadium through trap doors and left to fight Roman hunters. See the system beneath the floor that operated the trap doors and housed the animals, then continue on to the relative calm of the Forum. Rome’s commercial, religious, and political centre, the Forum held markets, temples, and the Senate House. Near the Rostra, or speaker’s platform, you can still see game boards scratched into the marble by bored politicians -- anyone up for a game of tic tac toe?
Visit Colosseum
Forum Romanum visit
Piazza Venezia
Day 11 > November 29 > End Tour
Explorica pictures
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