"Hi Theresa!

Planning a 3 week trip was extremely daunting, especially since we wouldn't be fluent in any of the languages spoken by locals. We did our best to learn Italian and French, which helped us tremendously. We were able to order from different menus, greet, thank and excuse ourselves without too much trouble. 

We are so grateful for all your help in planning such a long trip, spanning 3 countries and 9 cities! I couldn't have done it without you. Being our liaison with Ralibookers, you really helped us coordinate between rail tickets from hotels to tours, and everything in between. It all went exactly to plan. 

The hotel in Sorrento, the Hotel Villa Garden was impeccable. It overlooked the Bay of Naples and gave us a beautiful view of Mount Vesuvius. Some highlights were the day trip to the island of Capri. The Blue Grotto was indeed beautiful, but fleeting, since the experience gave us only less than 10 minutes to enjoy the grotto. The tram to the top of Ana Capri was amazing, as was the boat trip around the island. Our guide, Marcella, knew so much about the island and practically knew everyone there! 

We had a private tour of Pompeii which was eye opening! We would have never learned about half the things we saw there, if not for Giulia's vast knowledge of Pompeii. We had a similar experience in Herculaneum. 

Next was Rome where we stayed at the Hotel Indigo Rome- St. George. We walked the gamut from the Vatican, to the Trevi Fountain, to the Spanish Steps and onto the Colosseum. The Trastevere area had the best food. We really enjoyed our dinner at Bacco in Trastevere. 

Rome is such a beautiful city and there is almost too much to see. Very walkable. Unfortunately, due to the death of our Pope, we weren't able to visit the Sistine Chapel, but we did visit the Vatican Museum with our tour guide. We had to leave a day before the Conclave began but wouldn't it have been exciting to see the white smoke above the Sistine Chapel?

Florence was one of our favorite stops. Our hotel room in Hotel Berchielli truly had a room with a view! We had a fabulous view of the Arno from our balcony! We visited Michelangelo's David at the Accademia Gallery with a fantastic private tour guide. That evening, we walked to a pasta cooking class, "Mastering Nonn's Recipes". Our chef was amazing and taught us how to make Tortelli, Tagliatelle, and Raviolli. We then sampled our creations and drank a lot of wine! So much fun with a full house of guests!

In Milan we stayed at the Sina de la Ville, which is very close to the Piazza del Duomo. It is a spectacular sight to see. We were fortunate enough to tour Da Vinci's Last Supper fresco. It was an interesting city, but would probably not return. It was mostly one big shopping mall.

We then headed off to Lucerne, then St. Moritz and Zurich. We only stayed a few days in each city so we didn't have much time to wander around but we did visit the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne, which turned my husband into a little kid again. He enjoyed the hands-on experience, learning about everything about planes, trains, and automobiles! We couldn't leave without taking a ride on the Swiss Chocolate Adventure! It was a cute Wonka-ish ride where we learned all about Swiss chocolate making. Of course, we had to buy over 100CHF worth of chocolate on our way out. 

Our hotel, Hotel des Balances in Lucern's Old Town, was gorgeous! We had a room overlooking the Reuss River, which was spectacular! It was centrally located and I wish I would have remembered the bakery where we ate the most delicious cream pastries!

St. Moritz must be a sight to see during the tourist season, but since we just missed that, most stores were closed. Such a shame that I couldn't shop in Gucci or Dior. Darn! :D It was still a gorgeous area, with snow capped mountains and a little nip in the air. Having the 4 day Swiss Pass was amazing! Taking the rail from Lucerne to St. Moritz to Zurich was a breeze! Not only that, but we were able to hop on and off the rail wherever we wanted, get discounts at museums, free boat travel, and even travel on the Bernina Express, which took us from St. Moritz and over the Swiss Alps and back. Such a beautiful and unforgettable experience!

In Zurich, we stayed at the Central Plaza, which was a hop, skip, and a jump from the train station. Only a 5 minute walk. We were so blown away that all rides from the stations had private drivers assigned to us, except those stations that were completely walkable from, which saved us money. All private drivers were so carefully planned as to get us to and from train stations and airports with enough time for us to not feel rushed.

Our last stop was Paris, France where we stayed at the Victoria Palace. It was a bit of a walk to the Seine, but not too far. Beautiful hotel! You were able to get us tickets to the Eiffel Tower at sunset which was absolutely gorgeous! Seeing the Eiffel Tower and the glory of the City of Lights after dark was spectacular! 

Our skip the line tickets to the Louvre was amazing and the three divas were highlighted during our tour- The Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and the main diva herself, The Mona Lisa. Wish we had time to see the whole museum, but as our fabulous tour guide, Hugo, put it, it would take 36-8 hour days to see it all. Unfortunately, we did not have that time.

The Hop on Hop off bus certainly saved our feet after walking an average of 5-7 miles per day! By now, my feet were in tatters! But a great time was had by the both of us! We are truly grateful for all your help in securing all tickets for us and answering my hundreds of questions! And so sorry for the long message but there was a lot to see and do! 

Thank you again for all your hard work! It was very much appreciated! Please feel free to use any of this for promotion of your travel agency. I will happily refer you to everyone 🙂"