Family Vacation
I’ve been away so long that I feel the need to say ‘Hello everyone!’ It really hasn’t been that long, only two weeks, but it really feels like a long time.
For those of you who don’t know, I just returned from a family vacation to Italy. This was the first vacation I’ve taken with my entire family in over 15 years and it was pretty awesome.
My brother, my sister, and I – along with our significant others – decided to take my mom to Italy. My mom has always wanted to go to Europe, but never had the opportunity to go. So when I saw a Groupon for a trip to Italy, I knew this could be her opportunity.
I mentioned the deal to my brother and sister to see if they wanted to join Kate and I on this trip, and also to see if they wanted to split the cost of our mom’s ticket. Everybody said that they would go, but my sister said she couldn’t really contribute for my mom’s trip because she’s planning a wedding and she’s already over-budget… Yet another reason why I don’t understand big weddings, but that’s a different discussion.
My brother, Kate and I decided to split the cost and take our mom to Italy.
Italian Package
I’m not too familiar with European vacation packages, but I thought our deal was pretty good. The package included round-trip airfare to Italy, rail tickets from Rome to Florence and from Florence to Venice, and hotels for two nights in each of the cities – Rome, Florence, and Venice – all for $1,400 per person.
Like I said, I’m not too familiar with packages, but to us, this sounded like a great deal and we couldn’t pass on it… especially since we were all showing signs that we needed a well deserved break from work.
The great thing about the package is that it wasn’t part of a tour, so we didn’t have to follow an itinerary. Well, we had to make sure we made it into the trains from city to city, but other than that we were on our own.
The package was only for seven days, which was fine for everyone, but Kate and I had extra vacation days so we decided to extend our trip by five days. Kate and I left early and explored some of Italy on our own and then met our family for the second part of our vacation.
A Tour of Italy
We arrived in Rome but since we were going to see Rome and a couple of other cities with my family, Kate and I decided to check out a different city on our own. We decided to go to Naples because it’s not too far from Rome and we could also check out Pompeii while we’re there.
I’ll write in more detail about our trip in later posts, but at the end of the day we saw Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Vatican City, Florence, and Venice. Overall, our trip went great. Everything went according to plan and there were no fights between siblings.
And best of all, my mom really enjoyed the trip and finally had the chance to go to Europe. And what better way to enjoy a vacation that she has always wanted than to do it with her favorite son… and I guess also having my brother and sister there was okay with her as well.
Sounds like a great vacation! I love Italy and the food is amazing. If you ever get back there go to the Cinque Terre. My favorite place (so far) in Italy!
Italy was pretty cool indeed. I’ll check out the Cinque Terre next time.
Welcome back and paying for your mom to see such a beautiful country is a really nice gesture! Looking forward to the recap Aldo.
Thank you and stay tuned.
This sounds awesome!!! My dad took all of his kids to Italy twelve years ago and it was such an amazing experience. We would like to take our son there in the next year or two and we are debating a package like this vs. trying to credit card hack our way there. Anywho, so happy you were all able to go and that your mom had a great time!
I forgot how great family trips were. We don’t really do the credit card hack thing, but maybe we’ll try that next time.
I’m glad you enjoyed the trip, and I’m looking forward to reading about it! It was nice of you all to split the cost and take your mom. I’d love to visit Italy one day, as my mom’s side is all 100% Italian (from Naples). I also studied it in school – Pompeii looks really cool!
Pompeii was really cool indeed. I thought it was a little village, but it was a big city. Tell your mom that Naples pizza was the best, but the people driving were the craziest, lol.
I love Rome and would love to go back there in the near future. Florence and Venice are lovely too. The package that you got is pretty good deal.
LOL at your last sentence!! That sounds like a wonderful trip!! I don’t know much about overseas travel but I definitely think you got a great deal!! Flights alone can be $1400 per person! Can’t wait to read more about your trip!
It’s so nice that you were all able to take your Mom to Europe and make one of her dreams come true. I’m not going to share this story though because my mother-in-law has been hinting pretty hard about a European river cruise and it’s just not in our budget!
I love Italy!! This post has got me thinking about my time in all those places. How did you find the “character” of Naples! 😉
Yeah, that doesn’t seem bad at all from a price perspective and I’m sure your Mum greatly appreciated the trip to Europe.
Looking forward to reading more about it.
Lol! Does your brother and sister read your blog?! This trip must have been a dream for your mom. So much fun!!!