CKB Travel ClubVentures To Italy
On April 18 the charter members
of the Cross Keys Bank Travel Club
departed the Monroe airport for a
10-day trip to Italy. The explorers
came from all over our trade area
and included Linda and Joe Garcie
from Vicksburg/Tallulah; Barbara
Gewin, Shirley Turner and Janis
Richardson from West Monroe;
Lonnie Walters from Rayville;
Sandy Lee and Patty Vandeven
from St. Joseph, Elaine Vandeven
from Leopold, MO. (ok, Leopold is
not in our trade area, but we’ll get
to that later.), and Debbie and Jim
Cuthbert fromMonroe.
After a smooth series of flights,
the travelers arrived in Rome and
united with our Tour Manager,
Denise, and the other valuable
member of our team, bus driver
Pietro. Our first stop was the
Coliseum, where we had a private
guided tour with plenty of time to
browse thegrounds.Thenwevisited
Trevi Fountain and deposited the
customary coins in the water to
ensure our return to Rome in the
future. The coins were now Euros,
of course, and we used a few extras
to sample our first Gelato of the
trip. This Italian ice cream must be
tasted to be appreciated, and our
group appreciated vast quantities
of it over the next 9 days. Denise
told us that the locals eat only the
Gelato made in the Mom and Pop
shops and not the commercially-
produced brands, so when in
Rome…..
The next 7 days were filled with the
beauty and culture of the Tuscany
area of Italy, located in the North
and East of the country. We enjoyed
perfect weather that started each
day with cool temperatures which
brought out the windbreakers but
soon gave way to short sleeves.
Our tours included some medieval
and some rural areas like Assisi,
Sienna, San Gimignano, Lucca and
Pisa where we were amazed at the
thousand-year old churches and
other buildings. We also enjoyed
the incredible scenery of valleys
below the hilltops where the cities
were built for protection. Many of
the old city walls are still evident,
and we caught glimpses of the
old aqueducts. As expected, the
leaning tower in Pisa is awesome to
stand beside and imagine that any
day might be the last one for this
famous landmark.
A change of pace from the country
side occurred in the middle of the
weekwith a guided tour of Florence,
the home of so much incredible art
and so many artists. Although we
all agreed thatMichelangelo’sDavid
was the most impressive sculpture,
there were many others that
capturedourattention. Fortunately,
many of our group chose to return
to Florence 2 days later for another
guided tour, as well as plenty of free
time to browse, shop and eat.
As for eating, well it was also a
highlight. Breakfast was provided
each day as part of the trip, as well
as 5dinnerswherewe sampled local
food at popular restaurants. These
meals were satisfying and tasty,
but we found that the sidewalk
cafes we encountered every day
for lunch offered a varied menu of
home cooking, Italian style. One
member of our group was seen
eating lasagna for lunch 5 days in
a row, in a different city each time.
He pronounced each one different
and delicious. And he said the same
thing about the chocolate gelato he
had every day for dessert.
All too soon, it was time to return
from Tuscany to Rome for our
last day. But this bittersweet day
included a tour of the Vatican with
an emotional encounter with the
Pieta sculpture and a breathtaking
view of the Sistine Chapel. During
our farewell dinner that evening
while we enjoyed recounting our
highlights of the trip, we also
discovered that we had made new
friends and enjoyed great times
together.
If the legend of Trevi Fountain holds
true, the coins we left in the water
will bring us back to Rome one
day. Until then, we look forward to
the next trip of the Travel Club: to
Hawaii in January!
Janis Richardson, Shirley Turner, Barbara
Gewin, Debbie Cuthbert, Patty Vandeven,
Sandy Lee, Elaine Vandeven, Linda Garcie,
LonnieWalters, Joe Garcie and Jim Cuthbert
at Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
~5~
By Jim Cuthbert
