Brian Hruska's Family Trip to Italy....getting there

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     Our Family European vacation began in a small town called Geltwil, Switzerland at the home of Henrik and Brit Holdt with their adorable children Vicki and Calle.  (holdt@bigfoot.com). They are friends of Marc Shlaes and family, Brian's college roommate. They were gracious hosts allowing us the gentle time to unwind our jet lag. We dined, laughed, swam, played games and slept in preparation for our Italian excursion.

Henrick's neighbor raises turtles in their yard.
Henrik and his neighbor

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Beautiful LuCerne Switzerland
Downtown LuCerne, Switzerland

In Muri, Switzerland eight of us boarded the train to LuCerne with our suitcases in tow. When we arrived in Lucerne we were delighted to see a truly fantasy town of bridges, shops and swiss architecture. We had only a short time there but we took in as much of it's alpine beauty as possible. 

We then boarded the Eurail Train for Milan, then Florence. The train travel description is as follows:

"A fascinating 71/2-hour rail journey over 291 bridges, through 91 tunnels and over the Oberalp pass (2,033m/6,670 ft). Experience the Swiss Alps in all their breath-taking magnificence from the comfort of your seat in the panorama car: unspoild mountain forests, lush Alpine pastures, rushing mountain streams and mountain valleys with their rich traditions stretching back hundreds of years."

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from the comfort of the train

Along the Alpine route in the Eurail train.

With our new digital camera in tow, we were amazed at the truly unspoiled Alpine beauty. With a simple click of the camera we produced many picture postcard quality photos of our train ride.

 

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After the eight of us made a hectic train change in Milan we were comfortably tucked in for the continuation to Firenze (Florence).

Once we were let loose in Florence to wander and discover it's beauty we soon realized this was a trip of a lifetime.  Brian and Betty also realized the best trips of their lifetime were under the supervision of Marc. We were tickled pink and quite inspired with it all.

 

 

    

Don't know if this is a keeper Christmas card

The four of us trying to take a Christmas photos.
We are not sure if this is a keeper or not!
This was taken in the Boboli Gardens at the Piti Palace.

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Clark at Boboli

Clark standing before a dramatic alley way of trees at the Boboli Gardens.
We loved the Boboli Gardens on our first day in Firenze for it's panoramic views of the city.

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Evening at the Duomo

The skies were clear the whole trip which makes for really nice photos like this one taken at the Duomo Cathedral.

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Brian caught this character on film at the Duomo Cathedral. He was a priest whose body only allowed him 20 or 30 steps before he had to stop to look up and plot the rest of his trail.

More pictures ..............

Schooching right along

Priest at the Duomo

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