The Cards Spend Spring Break in Italy
My name is Peter Card. I am currently teaching and living in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This is the eighth correspondence to share my adventures living abroad. I am truly amazed at where life has taken me. I hope by sharing my experiences it encourages you to pursue your dreams as well. God Bless!
It is a long 10-week stretch between the winter break and spring break, so Cheryl and I decided to reward ourselves with a trip worthy of all our hard-earned efforts, a week in Italy. One of my goals for 2016 is to complete four marathons this year, so I found a marathon that took place the week of Spring Break in Italy, thereby satisfying two goals at once.
We began by flying into Rome and immediately catching a train to Venice. High speed trains cross the entire country of Italy and are fairly cheap and very convenient. We spent a day in Venice, which was gorgeous, and looks like something out of a story book. We spent nearly 12 hours crossing the city, but be prepared for an immense amount of walking.
We then traveled to some smaller areas of Italy: Udine, Palmanova (star shaped fort city), Cividale (site of Devil’s Bridge), and Aquileia (ancient Roman city). The marathon was not a loop course like many places, but a city to city 26-mile course through the Italian countryside. Two of these cities are listed as UNESCO heritage sites with the third campaigning for this recognition as well. It was a cool way to see a different side of Italy.
Although I really just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep after the race, it was on to the next stop. We caught another train to Florence and from there to Pisa. I regret that we did not have any time to tour Florence, but I couldn’t leave Italy without making it to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We enjoyed this area as there are several stunning buildings in this area.
Our final stop landed us in Rome. We purposely kept our time short in the other cities to make sure we had several days to spend in Rome and it did not disappoint. Rome is busy and beautiful. The major attractions we visited included the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Colosseum, the Parthenon and numerous fountains and squares that were all astounding. The scale of the architecture and the detail in the art was like nothing else I had ever seen in my travels. It seemed as if there was a new discovery around every corner. Italy will for certain be remembered as one of our favorite destinations.
If you would like to hear or see more of my adventures, you may look for Peter Card in the UAE on Youtube or the Peter Card Facebook page. Feel free to leave a question or comment at either of these places or email me at cardsimon@hotmail.com.
