Paris
We began our road school journey in Paris, arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport on September 8 at 4:30pm. We were scheduled to arrive at noon but were alerted before we left for the airport in Denver that our Norwegian Air flight was delayed by 4 hours.
Annecy
And the location next to the lake and in the Old town, with it architectural marvels and canals was something we never got tired of exploring. We set out to explore the park and the lake before finding some food.
Torino
Arriving in Torino, we ended up at Porta Susa, not Porta Nuovo, near our Airbnb. Rather than take the metro, we walked the 1+ mile to our apartment at 36 Carlo Alberto, admiring the magnificent architecture of the City along the way.
Florence
We were not planning to go to Florence, given all we had heard about how insufferably crowded it is. However, friends in Telluride offered their apartment and Emily had studied Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Rafael last, in 7th grade, so we decided to make the trip.
Venice
Arriving in Venice brought tears to my eyes. I had a magically surreal experience last time I was in Venice in mid 80s and have been reluctant to go back, not wanting to break the spell.
Piran
Arriving in Piran ahead of schedule allowed us to take a walk along the seaside promenade, seeing the Slovenians swimming at dusk in the Adriatic. Rather than beaches, access to the water is via ladders from cement slabs along the promenade.
Karst Region
The following day a new chapter of our journey began: exploring Slovenia in our rental car, Monte. First stop, the Skoljan Caves, a Unesco site less than an hour from Piran.
Vipava Valley
After our second meal at Pizzeria Minutka, a 3 hour affair, we set off for Slovenian wine country, the Vipava Valley, where our Airbnb was a modern 2 bedroom bungalow set in a vineyard.
Soča Valley
We set out for our next destination, the Julian Alps and the Soca Valley. Driving through Tolmin, we decided to make a stop to visit the Gorge at the southernmost part of Triglav National Park.
Lake Bled and Bohijnska Bela
Arriving to Lake Bled we found a vision from a fairy tale: A sparking blue lake with a castle on the ridge overlooking a small island with a beautiful church, and a bell, continuously ringing, with flat bottom boats being rowed to and from the island.
Ljubljana
We arrived at our apartment, which turned out to be across the street from the Presidential Palace and the first thing we did after unpacking was to sign up on-line for Bicikelj - Ljubljana’s bike sharing system.
Graz, Austria
We spent the rest of our day in Graz doing the usual…walking up hill to a castle and eating ice cream. On the way to the castle, crossing the various rivers over the river running through Graz, we observed 3 things: 1) the river is huge, very wide with lots of volume and rapids.
Pollenca, Mallorca
After a rough first impression, we jumped right into the crazy tight streets, steep steps, sharing the narrow, windy, cliffside highway with roadbikers and tour buses, and a massive deluge.
Deia, Mallorca
The Northwest end of Mallorca provided much adventure with the international school Escola Global, our hillside cottage in an olive grove with sheep for neighbors, rocky inlet of Cala de Deià and an amazing hike from Deia to Valldemossa.
Barcelona
We spent the week getting acquainted with the City walking or taking the touristic bus 12 hours per day. We found good restaurants and ate 3 course meals. We took a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter. We took every opportunity to see anything Antoni Gaudi had designed.
San Sebastian
Our landing course had us swooping over the Atlantic Ocean, with surfers below in the wave-capped bay, landing alongside a river that marks the border with France. At the end of our 20 minute cab ride to San Sebastian, we had to be let out across the river from the Old Town where our friends were staying because the streets were jammed with thousands of people, blocking our path.
Figueres
The front of the building had been a good preview for what was inside with a bizarre assortment of sculpture and imagery, symbolic as well as disjointed. Inside the building which had been a closed down, fairly grand opera house style theater that Dali chose to renovate and house his museum.
Granada and Gold Coast
We traded some time share points that we were about to lose for a week at the Marriott's Playa Andaluza figuring a bit of a "vacation week" would be a nice break from our full speed travel schedule.