San Gimignano Day 6

6:30 am.  Ding  ... silence ... Ding ... someone is texting me. So I get up to see who, because no one knows my Vodafone number. It was actually Vodafone telling me I was out of data. So in just a few days I blew through my calling minutes and my 2GB of data. Hm....so I looked on my phone and I did have several things running in the background. So all of that is turned off now. Now we figure out how to refill the phone with more minutes/data.

Breakfast here is a bit sparse compared to our previous spot, but still, all you need. I had a boiled egg, a piece of bread with local preserves on it and a piece of chocolate tart. All very good. By the time I made it down, the entire family was done and already outside having fun. The kids were playing ping pong, running in the grass and trying as hard as they could to swim...but the water in the pool is frigid! The boys played soccer, Cara and Rosalie walked and I ran today. I'm not cut out for cross country running. Grass, hills, clumps of dirt make it much harder! Not a fan. Kudos to those who like that kind of thing. Cara and I agreed we'd like to come home weighing the same. Not sure I exercised enough to work off all the calories I ate today. 

I walked around the property and took a lot off photos today, just to document how absolutely beautiful this hotel is. It's the perfect location as a central home base if you wanted to take day trips to visit any of the near by towns (Volterra, Montepulciano, San Gimignano, Pisa, etc.) Highly recommend it. I talked about how good the food was here last night, but our lunch today was just as lovely. We had a variety of things, grilled ham sandwiches, fruit, salad, spaghetti, caprese salad...all delicious. After lunch we all just hung out by the pool and enjoyed the sun. It was hot in the sun but cool in the shade. One of those perfect days. There was a lovely breeze and we couldn't have asked for anything more perfect (except maybe a bit more heat in the pool for the girls).

We met in the lobby at 5pm to head toward town (San Gimignano) for dinner. The hotel made us reservations at the Restaurante Le Vecchie Mura and we were on time. We sat on the terrace outside and overlooked a stunning view of the Tuscan valley. Simply amazing. Dinner was good but none of us strayed too far away from the normal Italian dishes. Tortellini, lasagna, veal, gnocchi, cod, bruschetta (my eggplant bruschetta had been infused with some kind of garlicky marinade - will need gum for several days).

We skipped dessert because we were heading for the BEST GELATO on the planet - in the piazza at the Gelateria Dondoli. I had the trifecta of coconut, chocolate and pistachio. It is the smoothest, most delicious gelato I've ever had...and they are the local champions. The gelato shop down the way claims to be the best...but they are not. I, Beth Alongi, self-proclaimed gelato expert extraordinaire have spoken!! 

I was surprised on a Saturday night that the town's shops were closing up at 8pm. We didn't get the chance to do much shopping because gelato came first. So we window shopped and had a good time. I did actually buy something! Cara, the girls and I explored a bit before dinner and we found a Tobacco shop that refilled my Vodafone SIM card. All I know is I gave her 25 euros and the phone is now on again, however, she couldn't tell me what that got me. She said I'd have to call Vodafone. So when we got back to the hotel, and after loving on the hotel's kitty "Luna" we gathered in the lounge area for cappuccinos, hot chocolates and internet surfing. I did find a Vodafone app that would calculate my usage, so that is good, but it doesn't tell me how much I have to begin with. It's a mystery but I will solve it before the end of the trip!!

It's a short blog today, but not much to talk about as the day was set aside to re-charge and that is exactly what we did. It was an exceptional day in Tuscany and fun was had by all. Tomorrow...road trip to Pisa!

Travel Day 5

Up before the alarm went off...I laid in bed knowing today would be an interesting day...and indeed it was. Travel days (especially ones that involve renting cars) usually involve some raised voices, saying multiple times "which way????" and trying to find road signs that don't exist. Today was no different.

Guy had booked two vans (automatics) at the Avis store closer to our hotel. We knew the rental kiosks at the train station can be a bit chaotic. So after breakfast Guy, John and I walked to Avis and when we got there a sign on the door said to go down into the garage. When we did, they said we had to go to Avis at the train station as this location was closed today. (I wish I had a snapshot of Guy's face to insert here - priceless). So we walked to the train station where Guy stood in line while John went with me to the bathroom (yes, I get turned around and wanted the company). I had been to this restroom before and totally forgot I needed a euro to get in. John and I had no coins but he had a $5 Euro and there was a change machine. I shared a coin with a lady who was having trouble getting the coins to work as we bonded because of the same "my bladder is about to explode" expression on our faces. And of course there is a line inside. Lots of work just to pee.

As we walked up to the Avis counter, Guy was already talking to the Avis rep. Again - if I could insert a photo of his face here it would be priceless. Apparently they only had one van and a car. After we did our Seinfeldism and said they know how to "take" a reservation but don't know how to "hold" a reservation - that was about the only laughing at the counter. Oh, except for the other agent across sitting next to our guy. She basically had to walk him through the steps and she kept wiping her nose with the back then front of her hand. Wasn't sure of her problem, but she was wearing dark sunglasses. Hand Sanitizer. When we finished the paper work and initialed in two places and signed in three places they told us to go stand outside. We did as told and played the game of guessing which van was ours. The kids joked about us having a "kidnapper van" where you couldn't see out. There was actually one out there. We checked the plates and they didn't match the number written on our paper, so we guessed/hoped it was not ours. So after standing for some time, a man came out and told us to get into the car - we had to go to the garage. Guess where the garage was. Yep...our first stop this morning. So as we sat in the back seat of the car the driver disappeared and the personalities of the two brothers came out. Guy was ranting and about to jump out of his skin. John is calm and making jokes about the Avis staff inside laughing as they are making the grumpy Americans sit in the car. John will live much longer - Guy will give himself a heart attack.

We drove to the garage with another American (British guy that has been in the US since he was a teenager) who now lives in Maui. Poor guy. He has had a similar experience except he had walked a mile to the train station with his wife and didn't bring his passport. They walked the mile back then again back to the train station. He also had to go to the garage with us and was a bit animated like Guy. He was only renting a car for the day to go to another town and started out at 8:30 this morning. It is now closer to 11:30. Grumpy but laughing. None of us got the cars we ordered as we only got one automatic van (9 person) and then a SUV type (manual). Plenty for us and our luggage, but the big van will be hard to maneuver in some of the small town streets. Thanks, John...he took that one.

Back to the hotel we gathered the group and headed out of Rome. We relied on the GPS 100% and she got us out of the city with only 1 U Turn. The drive is lovely, even on the interstate, but the side roads are really amazing. After several switchbacks and lots of winding roads we reach our lunch destination at Montepulciano. (I was corrected by the front desk lady here at the hotel as I said the last part like "key ah no" but she said "chi ah no"). We ate lunch at the Osteria del Borgo and like before, the food was as wonderful at the view. We perused the shops (most were closed since it was mid afternoon) but the town was quiet and charming. We made our way back to the car filled with good food and gelato and set out for our final destination - San Gimignano. We did learn that you can type in the coordinates into the map with both the N and the E and it will work the same as the address. The address wasn't working for us as we were missing the "Casolare" out of the Hotel Casolare Le Terre Rosse. It didn't like just Le Terre Rosse. We pulled over to figure all this out and Cara came over to help - success. We were only 2.5 miles away. When we arrived Guy and I were laughing because we had driven by this place several times and always commented on how gorgeous it was. It looked very different from photos online (they always shoot at an angle that makes it look like nothing else is in the area. :) However, the back side of the property is gorgeous,  beautifully manicured with a pool, trees, and bordered by hills of trees. It truly is a beautiful place! Who knew 2 years ago when we drove by this place that we'd actually be staying there some day. Pretty cool.

The staff is SUPER nice and helpful. We have two double rooms and two triple rooms. One room had a slight issue, so it took them a few hours to figure it out, due to being fully booked, but during dinner they came to tell Guy they thought they had it worked out and they did. With 10 of us, we had Betty and John (who had already unpacked) moved to their new room within 10 minutes. Now, back to dinner. We at at the restaurant here. The area is in the lower level of the building and is just as cute as can be. The dinner menu was an excellent selection of beef, pastas, salads, and desserts. Several of us split our meals to have a combo of steak and pasta. Rosalie had gnocchi with pears and a white sauce the was the best she's had so far. The steak was wonderful with a slight balsamic drizzle over the top. Really really nice. After a load of laundry, a beautiful meal and a long and slightly stressful day of driving, I decided to crash and blog the next day (which I did). But trying to remember all the details is a bit harder. However, I'm looking forward to today being relaxing and giving us all a chance to recoup from the hustle and bustle of Rome. This place is the complete opposite. Heaven.

Rome Day 4

My day started with a tap from Guy telling me I had a typo in my blog. This is before my alarm went off.  :)  His body clock is still off just a bit and he has been getting up early. I think it has something to do with the afternoon naps and going to bed a bit too early. But I did snooze for another hour as I was going to run this morning and knew I wouldn't have to meet the 10am breakfast cut off (just planning on a granola bar today). So I put on my running gear and headed out. The weather was sunny and cool. A perfect day. The park was small and just as the gentleman at the hotel told me last night, the Chinese were doing Tai Chi and there were harmless weirdos sporadically located around the park. Top that off with homeless guys asleep on the benches and then just a bunch of average people walking around, that pretty much describes the area. I ran through some mud created from the rain the day before, so I had to get creative with my path. It was a bit boring going in circles, but I ran inside, then outside, then down the middle...you get the idea. I went 3.5 miles then walked around a bit. It was nice to exercise and trust me, I'm splurging on calories today! Guy brought me a chocolate croissant and I gobbled it down. The start to a perfect day. As we left the hotel the guy that works here that is the runner told me "a runner's ego is big" so he whipped out a map of the city and he had highlighted the route he took this morning at 5am. He basically ran all the way across the city.  LOL. I'm impressed as he isn't a young guy.

Guy and I were to meet Rosalie, John, Cara and the kids, who took out early to do the Vatican tour, at 12:30 for the Colosseum tour . We leisurely made our way to the Colosseum and diverted off the path a bit to share a sandwich and get a drink. We sat in the shade and we should have appreciated the "sitting" part as the day's steps had only just begun (22,000+ on my step counter). Not yet worn completely out and excited about the excellent Vatican tour they just went on, our family arrived with stories pouring out. The highlight of the Vatican tour for Guy's brother John, was he saw and shook the hand of Minnesota Viking's Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter (he was touring the Vatican as well). Of course I had to ask who that was. I may be kicked out of the family for that...

Tour #1 for Guy and I and tour #2 for everyone else began with "Luigi" (our exceptional tour guide) hooking us up with earpieces and instructions. We first took out for the Forum, Palatine Hill, then finally the Colosseum (from top to bottom). We had ordered VIP tickets for the Colosseum, which meant we got to go into all the secret spots where a regular ticket won't take you. It was excellent as we had been to the Colosseum several times before, but this time we saw parts we'd never seen. The same went for the Forum and Palatine Hill. Guy and I have walked them before, but never with a guide or even the audio tours you can purchase. So needless to say, this was quite the learning experience. Plus it was obvious Luigi loved his job. Occasionally he would say "you can feel the emotions" when we came across areas he was passionate about or had historical significance. Because there is no possible way to blog about everything we learned today, enjoy the pictures as they will tell most of the story. I'll go in and add titles at some point. I'm so exhausted today I'm not sure my brain will be able to remember it all. During the final part of our tour an English speaking lady that had been with us the entire time came over to me and told me how well behaved my children were. Smiling, I explained they were not mine, but thanked her for her kind words. They were exceptional if I say so myself.

After our tour - famished - we went to a little cafe and got snacks to hold us until dinner. Gracie had a gelato so big she said she didn't think she'd ever eat again. I'm thinking no because the restaurant tonight has gnocchi and that is a family favorite :) The hike back to the hotel was uphill and a tad painful for those of us with tired legs. Ibuprofen was my first stop when we hit the room...my heel is burning from the long day. Once I was medicated, I began the process of editing photos. I took a ton, but not all will be necessary/worthy of the blog. I couldn't get them to load so I headed upstairs to get ready for dinner.

It was nice to already have a reservation and know where we are going...makes things easy. So our table at the Vecchia Roma (since 1916) was ready when we arrived and the server said the restaurant was known for their "first plates" which were mostly the pastas. That's good because the gnocchi fell into that category. Out of 10 of us, Guy's dad is the only one who didn't have pasta. Simple but delicious the night ended with full bellies and happy faces. It was really loud inside the hopping restaurant, so we took our dessert needs on the road and headed for the bakery on the corner. Several gelatos and pastries were purchased - again a happy family. Exhausted, everyone headed for their rooms and I headed for the bar where the wifi is a bit faster so I could download my photos. I sipped a cappuccino (my dessert) and sit here blissfully full - not with just food, but life.

Tomorrow is a travel day. After breakfast we will pack up and head to Tuscany in two vehicles. Rome is daunting to drive in...so keeping fingers crossed that our GPS is correct and we make it out of the city without any scratches on the rentals. We will be staying in a Villa in the country about a mile outside of San Gimignano. They have a pool and it sits on a beautiful piece of property. Looking forward to a calmer pace than Rome, my favorite cheese dish in Montepulciano (our stop for lunch), and the best gelalto eva...in San Gimignano. I'll see if the others agree! :)

I'll put up the link for today's images and I'll see if they load overnight. Right now the slow Internet is not playing well with my devices. :) If not, be sure to look tomorrow. There are about 80+ images and they promise to be pretty cool.

Rome Day 3

Awake before the alarm went off - I laid there not quite ready to get up.  However, we had a date with the Pope, so I'd say that is kinda important. The weather is a brisk yet lovely 57 degrees and at this point the sun is out. John, Cara and the kids took out early as they stood in line for tickets yesterday and wanted to actually sit in the audience of the Pope, but we opted for a later start which meant we'll be standing in the background. So our bit of a slightly more leisure morning meant breakfast at the hotel. It was a nice spread of hams, bacon (not crispy as usual in Europe), eggs, toast, fruits, yogurts and I experienced a delightful pastry where a stack of fluffy layers of sweet tender pastry were adorned with a dollop of Nutella and icing. Um, yeah...so I hope I can work via Internet because I'm never coming home.

So before I get started on today's adventure, I forgot to mention a few things yesterday. As usual, there are people all over the streets trying to sell you things. In the past it would be scarves, sunglasses, toys, etc. However, today, technology rules. What are they selling now you ask? They are now pushing selfie sticks and mini charges. Yep, the street beggars/vendors have gone techno. But watch your eyes people! Selfies are happening at every turn. Tourist + long expandable sticks = trouble. In fact, the castle we went into today had their big list of "NOs" before you entered and selfie sticks were on the list. Who knew they'd be so dangerous?

The second thing I forgot to mention was our experience with the hop on hop off bus. The tourist people convinced us to go on the Yellow Rome Open Tour bus, but we have decided it was a mistake. The Red bus is everywhere and comes way more frequently. The headsets on the Yellow bus didn't work well and the narration was LIMITED! Usually they are talking non-stop, but only occasionally did we get information. So for hop-on-hop-off riders...we'd recommend you stay Red. We didn't experience the Red line ourselves to know first hand how the narration and headsets worked, but our guess is it had to be better!

So with that said, let's talk Pope. As we arrived at the Vatican, he was riding around the crowd in the Popemobile. My thoughts are - this man is not afraid to die. I'm sure the Swiss Guard guys are quite amazing...but being open in the crowd like that - he is definitely an easy target. He is not surrounded by glass, just out there for the people. I like that. We all have our walkie talkies...so we talked with John and they had excellent seats close to the front. At a certain time they must not let ticket holders in as Guy's mom and dad were told "no" when they tried to get to the seats. But we were cool with standing back and not being one of 1000s of sardines packed into a very holy, yet tiny pond. As he spoke, occasionally some of his speech was translated into English but most of the homily was in Italian. So we got some lovely photos and decided to get a head start toward the Castel Sant 'Angelo. This castle is connected to the Vatican, built in 135 AD and has quite the history. Per Wiki: The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (English: Castle of the Holy Angel), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle, and is now a museum. The Castel was once the tallest building in Rome. - 

The best part of the castle is the view from the top. It is amazing and even tho selfie sticks were banned, they sprung out at the top. Rome is an amazing city. I don't think it is a city I'd choose to live in full time, but I love being here and thinking about the history that surrounds me - its role in Biblical times, the days of the Gladiators, the games played here - both competivitve and cruel. Now is the perfect time to have that Google chip implanted in my brain so I could look around and know all historical facts as my eyes looked around.  Some day that will be possible I'm sure.

Now for lunch. Since my phone has 4G we Trip Advisored a place for lunch located just across the river from the castle. The restaurant was called Ponte Vittorio and was quite delicious. The owner was polite and took our order. He brought us "focaccia" bread, but was basically thin pizza dough with a bit of olive oil and salt on it. It was excellent. Then came the food. The portions were just right and we had a variety of goodies. The kids all had pasta with clams, some of us rigatoni with eggplant, ravioli, pizza, carbonara, etc. So we had a nice selection of the menu. After dinner the owner brought us a selection of cookies and limoncello filled chocolates made by a friend of his that lives in Sorrento. Those were off the charts!

Looking to the sky we made our next strategic plan. Betty and John headed back to the room as the rest of us headed toward the Pantheon and prepared for the rain to begin. Our first stop was a huge piazza with the famous Fountain of the Four Rivers. The entire area was packed with vendors selling all kinds of goods - lots of paintings but definitely not originals. So as we saw them packing up, we took it as a clue the rain was on the way. So just a block or so from the Pantheon the drizzle began and we went inside to take cover and marvel at the stunning architecture. Ancient.eu says: "The Pantheon is the best preserved building from ancient Rome and was completed in 125 AD in the reign of Hadrian. Its magnificent dome is a lasting testimony to the genius of Roman architects and as the building stands virtually intact it offers a unique opportunity for the modern visitor to step back 2,000 years and experience the glory that was Rome". Nicely said.

It started to rain pretty good, so we popped out our umbrellas and headed out. Guy, Rosalie and I eventually caught a cab and headed back to the hotel while John, Cara and the kids continued their explorations (and to my dismay they discovered a cat sanctuary without me!) We were back at the hotel sipping cappuccinos as they made their way back damp but full of stories!

Dinner was a Trip Advisor selection. Our first choice only took Euros so we decided to go with selection #2 - the Trattoria Vecchia Roma. When we arrived it was in a basement of a building but decorated like a Italian hipster type place. It wasn't really full, but they were full of reservations and for sure had no spot for a 10. So since it looked so nice, we did make reservations for tomorrow night. So we are set! But tonight...the dilemma began. So back to choice #1. Cara and Betty pulled together their Euros to see what they had. They gave us a thumbs up and we headed toward Club Machiavelli. #63 out of 9,366 places to eat in Rome. As we entered there was not a single customer, but when we said we had 10 they had to do the math and figure out all their reservations. They put 3 tables of two together and filled it with chairs. No problem! The menu is VERY LIMITED, so thank goodness the Alongi kids are not afraid to try new things. We had not been seated for long and out came the owner to explain the menu. He had a pointed beard and spoke in broken English, but began the stories of where he got the food - all the way down to where the onions and flowers came from (edible flowers of course!). After each item he would say "attention" and explain the next item. He would say he only had one more thing to say, but he said that about 5 times and said "attention" about 10 times. He was funny but so serious about his food. By the time he was done, we didn't care if the food was good or not, we had already had a great time! He did say that several items took some time to bake in the oven. We were not sure if he said 15 minutes or 50 minutes but we were pretty sure he said 15. However....it was more like 50 between the appetizers and the meal. LOL! So appetizers were some kind of fried flower only found in Italy 3 weeks out of the year (how can you not order that?) and a spinach "flan". All were delicious. Our meals consisted of eggplant with capers and smoked cheese, a carbonara type dish - one with the onions he talked about and one kind with asparagus, lasagna, and finally two brave souls tried the rabbit. What I forgot to mention was after our appetizers came out the owner put his coat on and said it was his night off (it was already 8:30). But by the time he said goodbye personally to EVERY table - I'm not kidding - it was closer to 9pm before he got out. He did turn around outside the door and waved goodbye one more time. He was awesome.

After dinner the server came by and said the owner did want to give us a present. It was a very sweet wine from Sicily and was served in tall shot glasses. It was really really sweet. Photo taken of course. So thanks to Betty and Cara for scratching together enough euros to cover dinner. We walked back to the hotel and part of us came up and part of us went searching for gelato. I had in my mind a couple of Dove dark chocolates because I knew I'd be blogging late tonight, so I opted to skip the gelato...yes, I feel fine. I had gelato at the Vatican, so I did have a 'fix' today. I also took a peek with Guy at the park across the street and it has a sidewalk all the way around. I asked the guy at the desk what time it opened and he said "Early, why?" I told him I was interested in running. He said "How far?" I told him no more than 3 miles. He wanted to know because he was a runner and would take guests with him in the mornings - at 5am, but he runs half marathons. So I was a NO to both. He did say it was safe, with the occasional harmless weirdo out there (his exact words) but the Chinese would be doing their morning tai chi and it would be a quite pleasant run.

Not sure why my images are so slow to load today, but they are just random shots around the city, a couple of selfies (no stick used) and of course lots of food shots. So a fabulous farewell to day 3 in Rome, Italy. Looking forward to tomorrow. A promise of beautiful weather and a day filled with activities.

Rome Day 1 (and two)

Well, I suppose today is a big blur of day one and two. Our flights to Chicago then Rome were uneventful. Even with my special pillow contraption of beach balls and body pillow case combined with a concoction of Sudafed and Xanax - I still had a restless night with what I call the "Jimmy Legs". I tried to sleep but my legs would have no part in it. We flew American and the plane was older and the seats were really close together and didn't lean back much. Needless to say I was not as comfy as usual, but still probably slept better than the rest of the Alongi group.

So the two things I have forgotten. 1. earplugs. Would have maybe made the flight a bit nicer as it did seem to be a noisy group. 2. washcloths. I'm feeling kinda bad because my student worker extraordinaire, Sydne, is in France right now doing a study abroad class and I forgot to mention this to her (I thought I had given her all my best European travel tips). But this one slipped my mind.  erf. I'll use the hand towel from the bidet - but there does tend to be a bit of a gross factor with that. I'll try to keep my mind occupied while using it.

So our flight got into Rome a bit early and after gathering our bags we saw two gentlemen holding signs with our name on it. Allongi. Close enough! We split up in two vehicles and set out for downtown. We are all holding up nicely. Arriving at the hotel early, luckily most rooms were ready so we freshened up and set out to explore our lunch options. The hotel recommended a restaurant that we found right away. They didn't open until 12:30 so instead of waiting an hour we ate next door. It was more of a bakery, but the waiter was incredibly nice and brought us out a variety of pizzas (more like flatbread). We weren't picky, so it didn't matter to us what he brought.  After devouring them we asked for one more while Cara, Betty and I sipped on cappuccinos. We were thinking we could use the caffeine hit. After we paid, John tipped the waiter with US dollars (don't have too many Euros yet) and he gladly accepted them as he is heading to New York later this year and he said he'd save them for his trip. :)

Big John headed back for a nap as the rest of the clan headed for the Hop on Hop off bus. While Guy got info there, Rosalie, Grace and I headed for the Vodafone store where I purchased my first ever international sim card.  Always leery before, I now wish I had done this in the past as the process was easy and the guy from Vodafone was extremely helpful and did the process for me. I told him he was fabulous and he said tell her (as he pointed to the lady next to him...apparently his boss).  Ha Ha. So even though my US phone number is different now, all my apps work and my ipad recognized the new number for my apple ID. Technology! Anyhoo...300 minutes of calls home, 300 text messages and 2GB of data for 35 Euros. Done and Done. Oh yeah...now my apple watch works seamlessly with the phone again. Life in iTechnology world is good.

So after we all hooked up again we met at the tourist shop where where Guy was trying to decide which Hop on Hop off bus to get on. There were several. We usually have great luck with the Red ones, but the lady at the store convinced us it was a better deal to go with the Rome Open Tour. Same deal as the red bus except they don't come by quite as frequently (every 35 minutes vs. every 20 minutes). However, kids ride free and we got 48 hours for the same price as 24 hours with the Red guys (and kids didn't ride free on the Red line). So we weren't sure if she was in cahoots with the Rome Open Tours guys or not, but we trusted her opinion and off we went. Now looking for the yellowish green bus. When it came by we sat in the open air top like we love to do and listened as they drove us around Rome. We actually hopped off at the Vatican because Cara had requested tickets online for tomorrow where the Pope will have an "Audience" and will do a Homily (not the same as a mass) and they had to stand in line. Since it looked like it might be a bit, they stayed as the rest of us headed back to the bus to continue our tour. Well, by this time it is around 3pm and usually when Guy and I travel we eat lunch, take a nap and then head out in the evening. However, this time we are pushing our tired bodies longer than usual, so the Hop on Hop off bus became the Doze on Doze off bus. If it made a stop, so did we (or at least our eyes closed).

Off the bus we headed for the hotel, but Rosalie and I decided we had been in Italy FAR TOO LONG without having a gelato in our bellies...so we stopped for our favorite Italian treat. Boy was it good. Back at the hotel we decided to take a quick nap til John, Cara and the kids got back. The deal was to meet at 6pm in the lobby and we were going to eat a small dinner here in the hotel. Let's just say Guy and I didn't set an alarm. The knock on our door came from Gabby who let us know they were all waiting.  Oops!

Dinner in hotel was nice and we had the basics. Some had pasta, some ham sandwiches, minestrone soups, etc. -simple but delicious.

I'm uploading a few pics I took today with my phone. Just a few from the bus of our sights of Rome. Tomorrow the forecast is for rain, so we'll see what that brings us. So for now...I'm going on well over a day without a shower, so I'm hitting that and then the bed. Thanks to all who prayed for safe travels. Prayers always accepted.

Pre-trip Planning

Well, we'll be on our way before you know it. Really looking forward to spending the first part of the trip with the Alongi clan in Tuscany, then sneaking away - just Guy and I - on a cruise around around the Mediterranean sea.  Looking forward to setting foot in many new places, including Sardinia. Challenge...can we get everything in one carry on and one backpack per person?  Yes! Challenge accepted.

So with that comes a little map of our adventure.  With the family...scooting around Italy in mini buses from Rome through Tuscany. A pit stop to hike around Cinque Terre, then on to Stresa on Lake Como.  From there Guy and I hop the ship in La Spezia to Marseille France, Ibiza off the coast of Spain, to Sardinia, Salerno then back to La Spezia.  Whew.  Land and sea friends!