It Has an End!

At last! I've made it to the final blog post of our trip. Our final day in Rome was Vatican Day. We had tickets to skip the line getting into the Vatican museums and the line was huge, so it seemed it was worth it. We made our way to Vatican City and then found the museum entrance. The main draw of the Vatican museums is, of course, the Sistine Chapel. There's some other great art there, however, which should also be appreciated. Like this tapestry pointed out by John:

The Apostle Paul busting out of prison. Awesome. What we found in the Vatican Museums is that they're horribly marked and pretty confusing to figure out where you're going. You enter and then wander around rooms and through halls seeing various works of art which culminates in the Sistine Chapel. As we got closer to the Sistine Chapel, the crowds got insanely thick and the art got more famous. A terrible angle of "The School of Athens" by Raphael:

It's not really a picture-taking friendly place anyway and the crowds made it impossible to get any decent shots. At last we approached the Sistine Chapel. It is a well-known fact and it is well-marked (unlike anything else in the Vatican Museums) as you approach that complete silence is to be maintained in the Sistine Chapel. I was incredibly nervous about having Stella in there, given her history of non-reverance in the other churches we had been in. However, this was the Sistine Chapel, for crying out loud. It was not to be missed! The viewing set up makes it a bit complicated as well. You enter in one door and then you exit out the door at the opposite end. You can't exit out the entrance door and you can't leave the Vatican museums without going through the Sistine Chapel (at least, not once you get that close). So, Mr. Frisby and I came up with a plan. I would go in and take it all in at my leisure while Mr. Frisby waited in the hall with Stella. When I was done checking it out, I would tell him to come in with her and then I would take her and immediately head out the exit with her leaving Mr. Frisby to enjoy the Sistine Chapel at his leisure.

And here's where we hit the biggest hiccup of the trip. There are actually two exits out the back. One goes directly into St. Peter's Basilica and the other takes you out of the museum, through the gift shop and back out to the street. This information is not marked inside the chapel, but my family had all read about this in our guidebooks. Obviously, we preferred to go directly into the Basilica. However, our guidebook said that this direct exit into the Basilica was sometimes closed. After I had checked out the chapel, I checked out the exits. The one that went into the Basilica was marked with a sign that it was an exit for special tour groups. I assumed that meant it was closed, as our guidebook mentioned it might be. At this point, I had become somewhat separated from my family and we couldn't really communicate because of the total silence rule anyway. I was ready to have Mr. Frisby come in with Stella so I could take her out and, once they came in, I couldn't really wait around with her to see what everyone else did. So, I had Mr. Frisby come in, I took Stella, and I headed out the regular exit with her. We went down the hall a little ways and waited for Mr. Frisby. When he finished, he came out the exit and we headed to the gift shop to wait for the others since, as far as I knew, the other exit was closed and they would have to come out that way. We waited awhile and, when they never came, we figured maybe we had missed them and headed out to the street to walk around to the Piazza in front of the Basilica to see if we could find them there. We enjoyed the Vatican City walls as we walked (it was quite a ways).

I should pause here to give my thoughts on the Sistine Chapel. It was absolutely stunning. I would love to have been able to lay down on my back and look up at the ceiling and take it all in, but the crowds made that impossible. So, I just looked up and tried to grasp all of the detail and beauty of it. It is truly some of the most incredible art I have ever seen and not to be missed if you are in Rome.

We made it to the Piazza and waited a long time. We kept scanning the Piazza, but there was no sign of any of my family anywhere and we really had no idea where we might find them. We took in the Piazza and the Basilica as we waited.

The line to get into the Basilica was pretty long, so after awhile, we decided we better wait in it before it got any later since, at that point, we thought we would be on our own for the rest of the day. As we waited, I finally spotted Gaylene near one of the fountains. I left Mr. Frisby in line and ran over to her to find out what had happened to them. It turns out they all stuck together as a "group" and snuck through the exit that went directly into the Basilica. So, while we were out waiting and looking all over the place for them, they were checking out the Basilica without us. We were none to happy about the situation and waited in the long line by ourselves to get into St. Peter's Basilica. We planned to possibly meet the others after we were done if it all worked out. The line actually moved fairly quickly and it didn't take us long in the Basilica, so we came out and had time to quickly check out the Vatican City Guards and then grab lunch.

We walked around the corner from the Basilica and found a little deli. We ended up having a great little lunch and then were able to meet up with the rest of my family. We opted to walk from the Vatican back into Rome and enjoyed some Italian icons along the way.

We walked along the river and enjoyed the view of St. Peter's Basilica from there.

It was a decent walk and we soon found ourselves in the mood for gelato. We plotted a course to our favorite gelato spot, Giolitti, for one last cone before our time in Rome was done.

The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent trying to get in some shopping and more sightseeing. We headed to the Spanish steps again and did some shopping there. We also grabbed a quick last dinner in Rome right where we had our first - McDonald's. I opted for an Italian menu exclusive - some kind of calzone type thing - and it was terrible. Then we went to the Piazza del Popolo to check it out. Stella had a great time playing in the fountain there.

After another busy and tiring day, we headed back to our hotel. We had checked out that day, but had left our baggage there until we were done for the day. We then had a couple of vans take us to another hotel that was much closer to the airport since we would be catching our flight first thing the next morning.

It was a fabulous vacation and so fun to be able to spend it with much of my family. In many ways, I would loved to have stayed to see more. But, after two and a half weeks of traveling with a two-year-old, I was exhausted and ready to come home. We saw and did so much and definitely found some places we'll have to return to someday. And now, five months later, Stella is still talking about it!

Day 2 in Rome

Ancient Rome was the big plan for our second day there. We started the day checking out Il Vittoriano, a monument built to honor Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of unified Italy. Apparently it's a controversial monument, but if affords a great view of the city, so we took it all in. First we wandered around the monument itself, seeing Italy's tomb of the unknown soldier (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it was) and a big statue of a guy on a horse - I will assume that's Victor Emmanuel II.

The main part of the monument has a nice view of the city, so we weren't sure we wanted to pay extra to go up the elevator to see more. However, Julie and Terrell convinced us that the view was not to be missed from the top, so we decided to go up. While finishing up on the main part of the monument, Stella found a fun place to play before going up the elevator.

When we arrived at the top, we were greeted with a spectacular view. We could see all of the major landmarks in Rome: The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, Vatican City with Saint Peter's Basilica, etc. etc. We were lucky to be traveling with Terrell, who served part of his mission in Rome and was, therefore, able to point out all of the sites of interest and translate for us. Here he is in action:

The view from the top:

After checking out the view from the top, it was off to the Colosseum. This was what I was most excited about seeing in Rome, so I was pretty stoked. The road to the Colosseum from Il Vittoriano went right by the Roman Forum, so Tracy & John, Gaylene, and Mr. Frisby & I opted to walk down so we could see the Forum as we went. My parents and Julie & Terrell rode the bus down, so we met them at the entrance.

The city passes we had bought the day before allowed us to skip the line to get into the Colosseum and this proved to be well worth it as the line was HUGE! We went in, walked through one of the gates into the amphitheater, and I was immediately very impressed. Let me just say that the Colosseum did NOT disappoint. It was probably my favorite thing we did in Rome. Except maybe the gelato.

Our group decided to split up so we could explore at our leisure. After we got in, we determined a meeting place and time and then headed off in our separate directions. I think we spent about an hour in the Colosseum and I enjoyed every minute. I probably could've spent even more time there just wandering around and checking things out, but we had more to see in Rome.

After wandering around and checking things out, I decided that it would've been really cool to see what it looked like during its heyday. Although, I wouldn't have needed to see any of the gladiator fights. Too barbaric for me. At the appointed time, we met up with everyone else and headed back out. There are lots of street vendors and food stands just outside the Colosseum, so we picked a food stand and picked up a quick and very terrible lunch which we ate in the shadows of the ruins.

After our quick lunch, we headed toward the Roman Forum. We passed the Arch of Constantine which looked pretty cool, but was mostly obscured by scaffolding, so it was hard to tell for sure. Remember how we seem to be scaffolding magnets when in Europe? You should probably never travel with us if you don't want major sites obscured by scaffolding everywhere you go.

Mr. Frisby and I wanted to check out the Circus Maximus where the ancient chariot races were held. It was only a couple blocks out of the way as we headed to the Roman Forum. Nobody else was interested, so they waited in a shady spot while we dashed the couple blocks to see it. There's not much there, but you can see some of the ruins which appear to be under construction to rebuild them or something. It should be pretty cool in the near future.

We dashed back to where everyone else was waiting and then headed to the Roman Forum. Here we are on the road between the Colosseum and the Forum:

Upon entering the Forum, we were immediately greeted by the Arch of Titus. No scaffolding on this one.

The Roman Forum was cool. Lots of ruins everywhere that you just wander around. There's lots to read about the ruins along the way, but I can only handle so much of that before I get too bored. Mr. Frisby is a faster reader than me, so I would usually just tell him to read stuff and then summarize for me. He's a great husband.

Now, this is where my memory gets a bit fuzzy. After the Roman Forum, we split off from the rest of our group. They were headed to a couple sites that didn't really interest us, so we decided to head back to the hotel. I'm guessing we wanted to try to get Stella a nap. We also wanted to check out a tiny tie shop that was right by our hotel, so I think that was the day Mr. Frisby bought lots of ties. We had plans to meet up with the others at the Trevi Fountain to get dinner. At some point before meeting up with them, we decided to get some gelato at our favorite spot and eat it in the shadows of the Pantheon.

We met up with the others and started looking for a place to eat dinner. It was just us Frisbys, Julie & Terrell, and my parents. I can't remember where Tracy & John and Gaylene were. Mr. Frisby and Stella waited near the fountain while we checked out nearby restaurants and he snapped some choice photos.

That night we got lucky and found probably the best restaurant of the trip. You can't really see it well in this pic, but that's it.

It was delicious and it was authentic. And we were introduced to buffalo mozzarella. It's made from the milk of domesticated water buffaloes and it is way better than regular mozzarella. After an excellent meal, we called it a night and headed back to our hotel to rest up for our final day in Rome.

Disembarkation in Rome

Oh blog, how I've been avoiding you. I could come up with lots of reasons why I haven't blogged in so long. Christmas. We started watching Downton Abby. We've been busy with a remodel. I could go on and on but, while all of that did/is actually happen/ing, the truth is, I just haven't had any desire to blog. But, life has been busy and it needs to be documented, so here we go. It's time to finish this cruise!

After a lovely 11 nights abourd the Silhouette, we arrived in Rome and disembarked early in the morning. We made our way to our hotel, driving right by the Colosseum on our way.

When we first booked our cruise, many moons ago, I was only mildly excited about Rome. I figured it would be cool, but I was looking more forward to the other places on our itinerary. As we got closer to the trip and I started learning more about Rome and researching all the things to do there, I got more and more excited about it. One of the things that fascinated me before the trip was seeing how ancient Rome and modern Rome coexist so closely together. I mean, the ruins and other artifacts of ancient Rome are interspersed throughout the modern city and just sort of meld together. I thought it fitting, then, while driving through the city, that we just happened to drive right by the Colosseum like it was no big thing. Like having an ancient, thousands of years old building popping up right in the middle of a modern city is nothing out of the ordinary. Of course, to the Romans who live there, it probably IS no big thing. It was a nice welcome to Rome.

After getting settled in our hotel and getting housekeeping issues taken care of like stopping at an ATM and picking up subway/museum passes, it was off for our first adventure. Our first stop was the Capuchin Crypt. This is a series of small chapels which are decorated with thousands of human bones arranged in different patterns. Unfortunately, for me, it did not impress. There's a church in Portugal which is also constructed of human bones and I had seen it while on my mission there. So, for me, having been to that church, the one in Rome was just more of the same sort of thing. And since we know how well Stella does in churches/chapels, I just did a quick breeze through with her and was done in no time. It probably would have been better if I had just waited outside with her. Oh well. I think everyone else liked it. No pics of that adventure.

Next up we headed to the Spanish steps. We got off the subway and were greeted by gobs of people crowding the square and the steps. It was quite a popular spot.

Looking down the steps after climbing halfway up:

The top of the Spanish steps. It was quite a climb.

I should mention that we stopped for lunch before heading up the Spanish steps and on to our next adventure. What did we choose for our first meal in Rome? McDonalds. Don't worry - we subsequently had some great meals, so our visit to Rome was not a waste of a grand culinary opportunity.

After climbing the steps, we made our way to Villa Borghese. This is a large garden, somewhat like Golden Gate Park or Central Park, and it houses the Galleria Borghese. What's in the Galleria Borghese, you ask? Lots of art. Lots of paintings and some sculptures by Bernini. We had a reservation for the Galleria (which you must have to go in), so we had to be there at a specific time and we ended up having to rush to get there in time. It turned out to be quite a hike from the Spanish steps, so we were practically worn out by the time we got there. However, the Galleria did not disappoint. I was only mildly interested in the paintings, so we breezed through that section and then spent most of our time checking out the stunning sculptures by Bernini. It was some of my favorite art of the trip.

After checking out the museum, we decided to split up as we all had different interests. Some wanted to stay and enjoy the gardens, some wanted to rest a little, and we Frisbys wanted to see Rome! We made plans to meet up with everyone for dinner in the Piazza Navona that evening. We headed off to see the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. The Little Miss was extremely tired at this point and ended up falling asleep on Mr. Frisby's shoulders as we walked along.

Yep, she's asleep. We enjoyed our walk to the Trevi Fountain and the sights along the way.

Amazingly, Stella slept the whole time and completely missed our stop at the Trevi Fountain.

The fountain was quite spectacular and it ended up being one of our favorite places to visit. Fortunately for Stella, we went back numerous times.

After checking out the Trevi Fountain, we headed off to see the Pantheon. Stella continued to sleep, even after a change in position, all the way to the Pantheon.

The Pantheon was one of my favorite sites in Rome. I'm not sure why, but it was just a very intriguing place to me. Again, it was a great example of ancient and modern Rome co-existing in great harmony.

Shortly after arriving at the Pantheon, Stella woke up. With her awake, we headed inside to check it out. It's a functioning church, but doesn't look like a typical European church. The inside is round and there isn't really an alter or pews or anything like that. But, it was very interesting and there were loads of people inside.

After checking out the Pantheon, it was time to make our way to the Piazza Navona to meet everyone else for dinner. We took a roundabout way to get there so we could check out the Campo de Fiori along the way. It's the site of a big open market in Rome. As it was later in the afternoon when we went by, the market was all closed up and done for the day and there wasn't much there. It was fun to see, though, and we did enjoy a few flower stands that were still open.

Then, it was on to the Piazza Navona. We enjoyed checking out the square while waiting for everyone else to arrive.

We found a restaurant on the square and had a nice dinner. Rome is known for their spaghetti carbonara, so I decided to try that and it was delicious. After dinner, we all decided to go in search of a gelato place that was recommended in our guidebook. It was near the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain, so we decided to go by those sites as well so we could see them all lit up at night. We came to the Pantheon first and it was quite spectacular and a lot less busy.

Next stop was Giolitti's for gelato. This proved to be a stellar find and we returned again and again during our stay in Rome. When it came to gelato, our guidebooks did not disappoint. Giolitti's was a little unique in that you paid for your ice cream up front and then took your receipt to the back to pick your flavors. And speaking of flavors, they had an incredible selection. I still remember most of what I got. That first night, I got Cannoli ice cream and something else. It was life-changing.

After Giolitti's changed our lives, we headed off to the Trevi fountain. Like the Pantheon, it was quite a sight all lit up.

The Trevi fountain is located in a fairly small square and, as one of the most visited sights in Rome, it was always packed with mobs of people. Since Stella was asleep on our first pass that day, we didn't stop there long. We checked it out from afar, but didn't want to fight the crowds to get right up by the fountain. When we went back that evening, it was slightly less crowded, so we were able to find some openings in the mob and go right up near the fountain. Stella thought it was great.

Since it was our second time at the fountain that day and it had been a very busy day that started very early in the morning, we only spent a few minutes checking out the fountain before we decided to leave the others and head back to our hotel with an exhausted little girl. We needed to get rested up for another busy day ahead.