Europe 2014
This is my photo journal of our family vacation to Europe. Our group included my mother Flora, my brother Mike, my son John Jasper aka "Jaz", and me (Jaime).
The Hague: June 28
Jaz and I touched-down in Amsterdam, and spent the day in The Hague. We visited the Peace Palace, the Escher museum, and the newly renovated Mauritshuis museum.
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Rome: June 29
Jaz and I spent the day in Rome, just walking around. We've already seen the major sites many times, so we didn't really have an agenda other than my two favorites: The Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. We stayed at Hotel Rimini.
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Cercemaggiore: June 30 - July 4
We met Flora and Mike in Rome. From there we returned to Cercemaggiore Italy, in the region of Molise, province of Campobasso, where our ancestors immigrated from. This was the first visit to Cercemaggiore for Jaz. We stayed at the La Dimora d'Isabella, a "single-B" B&B (no breakfast, just beds) with a marvelous outside deck and spectacular views of the valley. We reunited with the Maselli family, who live close by, and met their new born daughter. While in Cercemaggiore, we cooked a big family meal with Maria Maselli, explored some vacant property, and of course we took part in the celebration of La Madonna della Libera. The festival is held at the Santuario Santa Maria della Libera. On our last visit, we met our relative Domenico Vitone. This visit, he treated us to a tour of the area where our ancestors lived.
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Assisi: July 4 - July 7
Our next stop was Assisi, in the region of Umbria, providence of Perugia. We stayed at Hotel Berti. On the way to Assisi we stopped in Rome for lunch with some cousins who were also touring Italy. The sights in Assisi are very charming. It was the first time any of us had ever visited Assisi. On the evening we arrived, we saw the brothers at Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi dancing with a group of young tourists. The second day we were there, we walked the whole length of the town, visiting all the sights along the way. The third day we were there, we took a trip to Perugia.
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Florence: July 7 - July 10
Next we went to Florence, in the region of Tuscany, where we stayed at the Viva Hotel Pitti Palace, which has a fabulous roof-top deck with a view of the city. We visited the Galleria dell'Accademia to see the statue of David, we went to the central market where we had lunch one day, and we did some shopping for fine leather goods that Florence is so well-known for. And, for the first time, we climbed to the top of the bell tower.
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Amsterdam: July 10 - July 13
Jaz and Jaime stayed an additional few days in the Netherlands. We visited a few museums, including the newly renovated Rijks museum, the Dutch Resistance museum, and an evening of music and browsing at the Van Gogh museum. The next day, Jaz wanted to explore the seedier side of Amsterdam sans his mom, so I took a day trip to Rotterdam.
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