-(Jon) see as many countries (Lichtenstein, Austria, San Marino) as possible and
-(Becky)visit as many people as possible:
Renata(2005 exch-Milan),
Vittoria (2010 exchange at Gangestads-Near Venice),
Luca(2009 exch-Trento),
Nadja (2005 exch- Leipzig & the zoo there),
Jan (1998 exch-now a Medical resident in Berlin),
Peter(Jon's relative),
Martin (2008 exch-Heinsburg, & Belgium & Netherlands)
-(Michelle & Liz)see a bit of Rome and Pompei before
-pick up Karl and Alyssa in Rome
-See the castle that Disney castle is modeled after,
-visit a concentration camp of Buchenwald
-attend the Passion Play at Oberamergau
-eat gelato, (becky)see a beach
-(Karl) see a science center
Connie (sadly not pictured) Dad and Linda helped us get from the Iowa City-Chicago mega bus to a good night sleep and meals before the plane the next day. Here they are in front of Dad's station wagon he's enjoying. (It takes me back to my highschool years when he'd find cars for us to drive)
Renata is holding some wonderful grapes and apricots of Milan. Michelle Voigts is with her. She had made plans to travel to Spain with her boyfriend, but had to go to Track 400 hurdle Nationals on that date, so chose to join us, meeting us at the airport in Frankfurt.
This Duomo (cathedral) is what I try to imitate whenever I try to make a sand castle with as many drip towers as I can. It was so cool to climb to the roof and see the view, and the spires up close.
It was beautiful driving through the Italian alps to Milan, then Rome. A little confusing- road signs not matching the GPS signs or map info - and a little anxiety about having space for 2 more and their luggage in our little 7 passenger van.
Here we are at St. Peter's cathedral.
Of course, I have a few more pictures than what I'll put in here. Here is a link to shutterfly, if you want to see more of what we saw: http://italyandgermany.shutterfly.com/
Let me know if I need to do more to let you get in to that site.
Jon did a good job of finding us reasonable rooms (hostels, a bed and breakfast at pompeii).
a view of Vesuvius: somehow I like seeing volcanos.
We got Karl and Alyssa from their school group and started going north. We found ourselves wanting to see Venice which is close to where Gangestads were going to meet their future exchange student (here right now) and they said we could stay where they were staying. We had such an interesting accomodation at a vineyard.
First we found Vittoria's home and they seated us all for a fine dinner
Alyssa (In Karl's class, she goes to our church, Karl took her to prom, she hosted Luca last year. Her mom works with me at the library) by the grape vines
At 16, Vittoria was a great tour guide, taking us on the 1 hour train to Venice and showing us around there. We walked through to St. Mark's Cathedral, had a meal near there, and then took a motor boat to the glass factory island.
This pic just shows some gondolas. We were told 1 hour ride would cost 80 euros.
Liz and Michelle in our little van. Riding in the back with the luggage was not as uncomfortable as being 3 in the middle seat. Once in a while Jon or Karl would take their turn in the back, but never in the middle and they were usually in the front seats.
The day after Venice, Vittoria took us to a beach:) This was much nicer than the one we went to in Pompeii (just by following the GPS).
After some swimming, a sand sculpture project got started.
Here the sun bathing girls get into a discussion.
We left the beach and drove to Luca's home, about an hour west, into the Dolomites. Our GPS didn't take us to the right spot, but when they found us, we had a nice tour of their home and gardens, designed by his dad and finished just so they could move in when Luca was 6 months old. 
We enjoyed the meal with them and then walked around the town - going to a fancy place for icecream and meeting some of Luca's friends as we walked.
Karl got a ride on Luca's motorcycle.
The next day we toured Trent(o) - right next to Luca's town of Lavis. One of the few rainy days we had.
Then we headed north, through Austria to Neuschwanstein (Disney) castle. We left Italy on July 29th. It was so nice to be welcomed by Renata, and given a taste of where she lives and how she shops. Reconnecting with Luca's family was nice. What a mountainous world he left to come to flat Iowa. We had met some new friends at the bed and breakfast in Pompei and in Vittoria and her family. We were just starting to hear recognize some Italian words, (like uscita, which means exit- at first I thought it meant University of Southern California, Italy). Now we had to switch gears to understanding German words and customs. (ausfart)
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