One of our Cruise Specialists’ travel consultants recently had the pleasure of taking her fifteen-year-old daughter on a Tauck Bridges tour.  Here is her account of her trip below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was my first trip to Italy and BrieAnna’s first trip to Europe.  I was very pleased with the trip all around.  Tauck did a wonderful job of making sure we did not have to worry about anything and made sure we saw all the highlights of the area and all the museums we visited.

The Tauck Guides

All the guides we had in each city and museum were fabulous. They knew all the history of the sites and were very knowledgeable.  In Florence, we enjoyed an art talk about the Renaissance period and the speaker was unbelievable.  We were there for an hour and it felt like five minutes as we could have listened to him all day.  I told BrieAnna that is the kind of professor you want to have for all your classes in college. He was very engaging, knowledgeable and excited about what he did for a living. He let all the kids get involved in the talk.

Barbara, our personal guide through the whole trip was wonderful.  She made sure we were all taken care of.  She went around every morning at breakfast to make sure we had stuff to do and see in our free time.  She made reservations at restaurants for the dinners we were on our own for.  Barbara made sure we waited in no lines at any of the museums and that everything went smoothly.  She engaged the kids on the bus with trivia, and taught us all how to speak a little Italian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hotels
The hotels we stayed at were all Westins (Rome, Florence, and Venice).  They were all in good locations, the rooms were nice and the views were spectacular from our rooms.  The motor coaches they used were large and comfortable and we got to ride first class in our own car on the high speed train from Florence to Venice.

Our group had a vast array of ages.  All the kids were around the same age (13 to 15) and then we had three that were 21.  The kids all got along well and had a great time.

Trip Highlights
There were several highlights of the trip, but I would say the best thing we did and see was the private tour of the Sistine Chappel after hours.  We were the only ones in there for an hour or so and they went over all the sections of the room and ceiling in great detail for us.  The kids on the trip were captivated by all the guide was telling us about the paintings and history of how it was all done.

All and all the trip was very educational and fun and everything ran smoothly.  Tauck does a great job and I am looking forward to my next trip with them.  We had a wonderful time and all the kids and some of us adults now talk via Facebook and text messaging.  We have already had one family come to Seattle and visited with them for a few hours when they had some free time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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