August 17th to September 3rd, 2005
Thank you to Vera Rebbechi for putting the following notes together.
(Scroll down for photos)
In August of 2005, five members of the Frankston Heights Probus Club joined up with a group of Braeside Walkers for an amazing eighteen day Grand Tour of Italy, which began in Rome. Following a couple of days sightseeing we headed across to the Adriatic Coast and Manfredonia working our way up to Sorrento followed by a cruise to the beautiful Isle of Capri for the day. One of the highlights of this tour would be our visit to Pompei for a guided tour of the excavations of the town petrified by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Other interesting sights included Venice, Assisi, Verona, Bologna, Milan, Portofino, Pisa, Florence, Siena and finally back to Rome.
At the end of this tour, a smaller group of us visited the Cinque Terre, staying in Monterosso – the largest of the five villages, for a week. A smaller group of us, including three Probians, decided to do the roughly two hour walk from Monterosso to the next village of Vernazza, climbing up the side of the hills through olive groves, along stone and sandy walkways, glimpsing the beautiful coastline every now and then as we trudged along puffing and panting!
This was a tour filled with friendship and laughter, where most of the women fell in love!! – with the gorgeous young blue eyed Italian tour Guide!
The group
Walking on the two hour trek from Monterosso to the next village of Vernazza in the Cinque Terra
Taking a rest!
Lou fancies himself as an opera singer …… hmmmm! This was taken whilst dining in the “Tanagra Caffe Concerto” in Rome.