Roman Holiday pt 6

our hotel at nigt, notice not lines on the road.

Entry of our hotel

Day 6
Shopping day.  David worked on our plane itinerary (we had a 7 hour lay over in Chicago the next day) and I went shopping.  I am not real good at picking out gifts for people, but I really like bringing my family home treasures.  My least favorite part of shopping in tourist areas is the bartering.  I want to pay a decent price and not have to fight to get it.  That night we dressed for a nice dinner, then headed back to pack.  It would have been nice to have another week or two to see more of Italy but we were ready to get back home to our wonderful children.  We were very blessed to be able to keep in touch with them through the Internet and face time.   Our parents were taking turns helping out and it was such a blessing to know that all was going well.   What an amazing trip we have had.  I really enjoy seeing history and Rome is full of it.  The lifestyle is different there.  When we were packing David needed a pair of pants ironed but I told him not to worry about it, it will just get wrinkled in the suit case, we can iron it when we get there.  Well, apparently they don't allow irons in the rooms, it is too dangerous.  Another funny was we never got wash cloths in our hotel room.  Do they not use wash cloths to wash their faces?  So, I just used the towel.  We also had one of those toilets that sprays water, very odd.  Chow for now 

Roman Holiday pt 5

Constantine's arch, in honor of the battle he won with God's help and then he legalized Christianity.

David and I with Julius Ceaser in front of the place he was killed

Here we are in the Coloseum

SPQR  The Senate and People built this

the Vatican at night

Day 5

Wednesday we hopped on our bus and went to the Colosseo and Palatino.  This is the ancient part of town.  Our tour said to meet our guide at the bus stop at 9:45.  By 10:15 I had given up but David suggested five more minutes and sure enough our tour guide who was on her own schedule came.  We walked past the Arch of Costantine (leader of Rome who legalized Christianity), past the Colloseum, up the ancient ruins (finding relics each leader left of themselves), then up to Campidoglio.  Then we went back to the Colloseum to tour the inside.  The lines in the morning are huge, with about an hour or so wait.  So tour groups stand around outside trying to get you to take their tour for an extra $13 (it is $12 to get in the Colloseum) and they will take you up to the front with very little wait.  If you pay attention though, there is a middle line.  The middle line is for those who are will to pay $5 more for the video or audio tour.  We took that one but found you can’t share headphones because only one earpiece works.  That night we took the night tour.  I had bought a banana/chocolate gelato, it was my favorite (I had several different gelatos while there), but we couldn’t get on the bus with it.  So I ate quickly then off we were for the night tour of Rome.  Very pretty, but we were getting tired of the traffic and sirens.   I think three days of busy had done us in.

Roman Holiday pt 4

Day 4
We started the day with a lovely buffet breakfast at our hotel. Then off we went to a hop on hop off bus tour. We sat on the top open bus and tried to understand the speaker in the head phones. I had a hard time understanding the locals English. They must get so tired of tourist like me who have very little knowledge of Italian. We hopped off long enough to take a boat tour of the Tiber River, then hopped back on stopping again at St. Peters to check out the Apostle Peters tomb, and next stop the Spanish Steps. On our way back we found a cute little restaurant complete with a cute little round Italian man who understood little English but was fun. Oh and the food was quite good. Another wonderful fun day in Rome.

On our boat tour on the Tiber River

David at the Spanish Steps

Our wonderful food at a neat little restaurant

Roman Holiday pt 3

Day 3

The next morning we got up early to head to our tour at the Vatican.  We left in plenty of time.  Got to the subway, took a bit to figure how that all worked, and promptly got on the one going the wrong way.  But we did get to the Vatican just in time.  Our tour guide was wonderful and I was in awe of all the beauty of the Vatican.  It would be nice wish to have more clothes on some of the people in the paintings and sculptures.  Most of the Vatican is open to picture taking and video taping except for the Sistine Chapel.  In there you cannot take pictures or video and they have guards who stand around telling everyone to be quite and stop talking.  It was funny that they kept saying that in English.  Considering there are people from all over the world, is it mainly the English speaking population who can't keep from talking in sacred place?  From there, we went into St Peters Basilica.  The Basilica is amazing.  It is one of the largest, if not the largest, church in the World.  Next we decided to go for a walk and found Castel Sant’Angelo, Ponte Saint Angelo (the bridge), Piazza  Navon and it’s large fountain of the four rivers, the Pantheon, Templo Adriano, and the Fontana of Trevi. It was a lot of walking, a lot of history and a lot of beauty.  

outside the Vatican

Inside the Vatican, the paintings and exhibts are amazing

leaving Sistine Chapel and entering St Peters Basilica

The main dome in St Peters

David and I in this spectacular building.  Everything is there was just huge.

St Peter, the architecture is spectacular

The Castle

One of the Fountains at the Plaza

Pantheon.  The Columns are just huge. 

Fontana Trevi.  No we didn't through any coins.

Roman Holiday pt 2

Day 2 

We arrived in Rome at 8:00 a.m.  We had a driver there to meet us at the airport and he took us to his car.  We found out he spoke little English and that was quite common with the people we met.  The drive to the hotel was crazy.  Apparently there aren’t a lot of lines on the road and when there were the drivers didn’t really stay within them.  A bit terrifying but we made it to the hotel safe and sound.  There is an 8 hour time difference, so for us it was midnight.  I was glad I wasn’t very tired because when we got to our hotel we were unable to go to our room.  Before we left the states, we were told to stay up as long as we could.  So off we went to explore.  Our hotel room was down town Rome.  Across the street was an old church.  It looked quite plain from the outside but we walked inside and wow.  It was absolutely amazing.  The décor and large size was just, well, amazing.   They had one of the biggest organs in the world and because mass was about to begin someone was playing it.  When you go into a Catholic Basilica in Rome you must have your shoulders covered and you are not supposed to where shorts.  So they were handing out scarves for the ladies and men to cover their shoulders.

The outside of our hotel

a fountain across the street from our hotel

I was in awe of the immense size of this church

These little smart cars were all over and the would park so close I had no idea how they would get out.

  From there we continued to explore some more.  And wow, there was another very old and very beautiful church.     

The back of the second church was just as beautiful as the front.

The front

inside everything was amazing.  I can't even imagine what it takes to design something like this.

here are some people not dressed appropriately so she had to where a scarf around her top and bottom

Then we grabbed a bite at a cute little restaurant and ate outside.  We watched and no one left tips.  What we found out is there is a service fee included in your meal at all restaurants.  If you get it to go there is no fee, if you eat outside there is a little fee, and if you eat inside larger fee.  During the meal my head began to spin.  We had been up for about 24 hours and were exhausted.  So we went back to the hotel for a nap.  David set an alarm so we wouldn’t sleep to long.  Then we walked around the hotel, checked in with the kids, ate some left over’s and went back to bed.   Good day

A Roman Holiday

David and I are on a trip to Rome so I thought I would do a daily blog on all that is happening.  It is our first trip to Europe.  We are only going to be gone 7 days but we just didn’t want to leave the kids any longer.  So…

Day 1 

We started our trip bright and early.  We left for the airport at 5:30 am.  We were very surprised to see the airport so very busy.  But glad we got there early.  Our first stop was Chicago.  Then we navigated our way to our next plane and boarded for the 9 hour flight to Rome.  Complete with a very unhappy child.  About every couple hours the child would begin to cry that would turn to a scream.  I didn't know who was more miserable, the child or her parents.  It made it very difficult to sleep.  David didn’t sleep at all but I got almost 2 hours.  The flight was smooth and uneventful.  Our travel time was 20 hours from the time we left our home to the time we checked in at our hotel.   I have always wondered why American refer to Italia as Italy.  It’s name is Italia.   Also, what we call Rome is really Roma.  I think things would be a lot easier if we all used the same names for places.  Just a thought.

 

Look out Rome

So we have been very blessed with a trip to Rome.  It will be just David and I and I am looking forward to it but a little apprehensive.  Leaving the kids for a week is a bit nerve racking.  We had thought when we got the trip that we would stay an extra week because we don't know if we will ever be back.  But the thought of leaving the kids that long was too hard.  So, I have been pretty good about it until the other day it just sort of hit me.  We are going to another country very far away, we don't know anyone there, and we don't speak the language.  David asked me to go get some Italian money and I start to have this panic moment.  What, how, why, where?  I suddenly felt very unprepared and a bit overwhelmed.  I finally found a local bank that had Euros, which I found out is the money they use in Italy.  When I got there the banker asked how I wanted it broke down.  I have no idea.  My brain went totally dead.  I said "what do you recommend?"  Isn't that so sad.  Well, I left there really concerned with my preparedness and not believing I am leaving my children to go half way around the world.  Thankfully I have an amazing friend who talked me back to reality.  Maybe no one out there needs a "Lien"  like I do but I am so glad God blessed me with her.  I spent the next hour and half wandering aimlessly at the local clothing store, trying to find a great deal on a great outfit for Rome.   I did well and am now very excited and thankful for the opportunity to travel. 

Apparently this is Euro money and they use this in Italy and all of Europe. :) 

We just had another Bright Lights meeting.  It went so well.  We had fun and started off set two with hat day.  It was great.  Some girls had cute hats and some went silly but they all seemed to enjoy it.  I can't recommend Bright Lights enough.  It is full of such good life changing words of wisdom from the Bible that is not only good for the girls in that age group but also so good for us older ones who should be wiser group.  Last meeting we discussed being fully committed to God and this week we discussed how important it is to be truthful.  Ivy was great with her teaching and creativity and Latisha did great with her cooking.  I am blessed to have the girls in our group. 

our fun group of girls. 

Well, all looks ready now.  So I am so looking forward to using my passport for the first time and seeing some more of God's amazing creation.  Stay tuned for more stories and pictures soon to come.  God Bless.
Alicia

Daily Life

Things have been quite busy around here.  Most of it is good and exciting, some is challenging, some is just life, and some is funny.  A couple weeks ago we finished the camping season with a lovely trip with our church friends.  The place we camped at has no running water and no flushing toilets.  This requires us to use water sparingly.  One of my greatest joys of camping is coming home to running water.  We all enjoyed our trip, except maybe Isabella.  Camping with a one year old is not one of my favorite things to do.  She is not able to walk in shoes yet, still puts everything in her mouth, and was expressing her dislike for things.  I'm afraid she just might not be a camper.  Hopefully next year will be better. 

we hiked up to a waterfall

A couple things the kids enjoyed were catching lots of frogs and boating in the canoe

Once again Alex was unable to join us camping.  It is a new time of life for him and he is quite busy.  He got invited to be on the college traveling choir.  There are only 16 people on it and he is the only freshman.  We were so excited and proud.  It brought a tear to my eye.  I love to see my children excelling in the gifts God has given them.  He loves it and feels he has already learned so much.  They leave in a couple weeks for their first trip where they will be ministering at a church in Colorado. 

I finally got Isabella in for a check up.  Not one of our better check ups.  I have had a terrible time finding a doctor here I like.  In our previous city I loved my family practitioner, my dentist, ob, and my optometrist.  Here, I loved my ob with Cassandra but then he retired and since I have been unhappy with all the other doctors I have tried.  Am I really that difficult to please?  My first optometrist here gave me a totally wrong prescription, my family practitioner gave Cassandra the wrong shot, and my dentist wanted to do surgery on Sierra when she was 5 because she bit her when she gave her a shot in her mouth.  Seriously, maybe I need to pray about this more.  :) 

baking and canning peaches.

freezing beans.

Anyway, today was a productive day.  I got some shopping done, canned some peaches and froze 17 bags of beans.  We have been so blessed by one of our friends who has supplied us with so many home grown goodies.  So far I haven't even needed to buy any of the food that I have canned.  Yeah.  Oh, I must share a funny.  Last night my mom and I took my sister out to dinner for her birthday.  We went to a very nice restaurant by the river and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.  At the end of dinner the mosquitoes came out in full force.  One was circling my mothers face.  My sister reached out to shoo it away and reached a little too far and slapped my mom across the face.  I don't know who was more shocked, my mom or sister and it was so funny that I couldn't hold it in.  Unfortunately, I had just taken a drink of water and sprayed it across the table.  We just couldn't stop laughing.  A merry heart does good like medicine.  Well, have a great day.

me and my sister years ago.

Alicia