Blessed by the Pope

One word for how we feel: exhausted. But, so worth it because what we saw of Rome today was amazing.

Here are the highlights from today:

The Colosseum. Amazing that it is even still standing and very cool to imagine a Gladiator type of scene unfolding there so long ago.

The Vatican. Pope Benedict XVI gave a special blessing/apperance from his apartment today at noon. He spoke in every language! He would start by saying to the crowd "For the English speaking people with us today", and if you spoke that language you cheered. English had a poor showing, but there were many Spanish and German speaking people there. It was quite an opportunity! Here we are being blessed as he finished his ceremony.

That photo is on extra mega zoom - his apartment is really high above St Peter's Square. This gives a bit more perpective. (and, shown here are the tops of columns which are ~100 ft tall).

We also had a chance to see the tombs of all the deceased popes. There are still candle light vigils around John Paul II's grave site. No pictures are allowed for his tomb and everyone is to be silent. Many people were crying and praying.

In the afternoon we went on a walking tour and saw so many things! I probably remember 3 ... glad I have them writen down!

The Pantheon .. which was closed because of the All Saints holiday. But, we got a Peroni and sat on a fountain just outside the Pantheon for people watching and a rest. (I did manage to find the least ugly pair of sunglasses .. although the forecast called for an 80% chance of rain today, it was sunny all but 10 minutes so glasses were a necessity.)


Trevi Fountain was SO busy because of the previosuly mentioned holiday. The fountain (Rome's largest and most famous) is bascially a wishing well: if you throw in 1 coin you will come back to Rome, 2 and you will fall in love in Rome, and 3 you will get a divorce. I have no idea who made this up! Here is Corey throwing in his coin (true action shot!).

The Spanish Steps were also super crowded .. unsually (said the guide). We climbed up all 138 steps at the end of the day - enough to put us over the edge! We couldn't wait to sit down! The steps are near the fashion district - with Dior and Prada stores lining the street below the steps. Also, Valentino's estate is right by the steps. I made a note to go back and peak my head into a shop or two!! Looking can't hurt.

A bad picture to show the steps, but since there were so many people around you couldn't really tell there were steps anyways. Just looked like a big hill with people everywhere.

Time for dinner! We have to plan our agenda for tomorrow .. which is entirely tour free. Also, Corey is craving olive oil ... we haven't had any yet!

Arrivederci (Good-bye).

Rome was Not Built in One Day

Buon gourno! (Good Morning!) Hearing Italian spoken is gorgeous! I know they are laughing at our attempts to speak while butchering the language.

Last night's dinner was fun. The food ws OK - not magnifico - but not Olive Garden, obviously.

Unfortunately my video isn't working -- there was a mariache band singing for us last night. If I can get it to work I will share soon.

Big day here! Lots of touring. Here are some of the highlights:

• Forum
• Colleseum
• St Peter Basilica
• Spanish Steps
• Pantheon
• Trevi Fountain
• Navona Square

So, although Rome was not built in one day, we are going to try to see it all in one day! We will only be able to scracth the surface. And - the pope is giving a speacial blessing today (All Saints Day) so we are rumored to get to see that at noon today! I hope we do - what an experiece.

Ciao!

When in Rome ...

Mid-day post from Rome. We need showers so we are back at the hotel for a bit (seems our Halloween costumes this year are smelly, greasy Americans as tourists in Rome).

Here is a short recap:

We arrived at our hotel ~10AM local time. Our tour guide suggested that we take a nap to refresh. Yeah right, who naps while on vacation in Italy? So, Corey and I put some things up and went to Villa Borghese - a big park close to our hotel.

I drank from the fountain (when in Rome...)

If you notice the awful sunglasses I have on ... mine fell out of Corey's bag which means I have none and currently have to wear his. At least it is now overcast and supposed to rain soon.

We stopped for lunch in Piazza Brasil. Mmmm...pizza and a Peroni for him, vino rossa for her.

And, we saw this outside of the pizza cafe ... Italians are so dog friendly!


We have a planned dinner with our group as a welcome tonight. Before that we have a "meeting" ... some sort of info session. We would rather play hookie and get a glass of wine at the bar across the street. Or, we can make it more interesting and just drink in the meeting!

In the meantime, I need to go find some sunglasses that didn't come out of the movie "Super Troopers"!

Hello Italy!

Benvenuto!

I cannot think of one thing I would rather do more than sit in a 2 foot by 4 foot area for over 8 hours, can you?! I went to sleep right after takeoff – which meant Corey got 2 meals and 2 free drinks … he was happy. I did wake up early – about 4 AM Italy time. But still, that got me 6hrs sleep which is great for me! Corey slept on the later half of the flight – after the before mentioned food and drinks.

We passed over Ireland at ~5AM. HI JENNY!! From what I saw, Ireland looked fantastic so I want to come visit (from 60K feet high and through pitch black I could still tell it would be a fun vacation).

Flying into Rome was magnifico! The sun was just rising and cast long shadows on the countryside. I saw NO parking lots. Almost no asphalt period save one major road. I cannot wait to explore and see everything!

Unlike my past 2 overseas flights, I was lucky to have slept a wink. To that, I give you:

An Ode to Ambien
Ambien, Oh Ambien, in a pill of gorgeous blue,
You promise to put me to sleep, and I found this to be oh so true.

Like a glass of warm milk, a back rub, and a bedtime story,
You help ease me into a slumber, while waking me to full glory.

At times I felt like sleepwalking to the galley or the cockpit,
But luckily I was safely secured in a seatbelt, and could only sit.

Without you I don’t know where I would be,
Perhaps hallucinating and thinking that I was climbing a tree?

Bring on Rome!

1 Down, 1 To Go

Upon our arrival in ATL, look what we see:

There were 4 beers on draft! Unfortunately, we had to get to terminal E and didn't want to risk missing Italy because of Sweet Water ... so sad.

Hopefully we will be on time - should be leaving Atlanta in 2 hrs headed for Rome.

Addition: We were able to get Sweet Water at TGI Fridays. YAHOO!

Ready to Go!

Made it to the Indy airport - waiting on a plane to arrive and take us to Hotlanta.

Suprise when we got to the airport - we saw Ben Giant (a fraternity brother of Corey's)! He was on his way to Cabo. We gave him the inside on Cabo in return for Italy stories.

Photo by Corey Trobaugh

Will say hello again once in Atlanta before we hop the pond!

Practice Makes Perfect

What does one do on the evening before she leaves for Italy? Practice! I present, il vino rosso:

I am currently making my list and checking it twice (yes - it DOES feel like Christmas Eve!)

• Passport - check
• Sleeping pills - check
• Money for vino - check

Good to go! (I obviously did pack more than just this ... I also included money for pizza).

I leave you with this .. if you wish to indulge in some Italian culture, here is a link to Pavarotti singing Ave Maria. Incredible! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYrmYXsujI

Mapping the Course

Since I am a visual person - I need to understand where Italy is (relative to what I know). It has been a long time since geography class! Here are the Italian cities and the equivalent US cities based on latitude location.

• Rome = Chicago
• Florence = Portland, Maine
• Venice & Milan = Billings, Montana

While in Italy, we will be traveling a total of 757 miles from city to city. Here's how that relates within the US:

• From Indy to New Orleans - 723 miles
• From Indy to Boston - 797 miles
• From Indy to Fargo, North Dakota - 720 miles

That is a lot of time on a bus, my friends. (Speaking of my friends - will someone make sure to comment on Nov 4th or 5th to let us know about the election!! Like good citizens we have voted but I don't know how much the Italians care about the US general election?)

~30 hours until our journey begins!

Rain Rain Go Away

Well it's a good thing that I do love rain. Although I don't know how much I will love it while trying to be a tourist? What I do know is this: crowded places with ambivalent, birdbrained people carrying umbrellas can spell disaster.

Fri Oct 31 Scattered T-Storms H: 66° L: 51° rain chance 60%

Sun Nov 2 Showers H: 72° L: 51° rain chance 60%

Mon Nov 3 Showers H: 68° L: 51° rain chance 60%

Tue Nov 4 Showers H: 66° L: 50° rain chance 60%

Wed Nov 5 Showers H: 65° L: 50° rain chance 60%

Thur Nov 6 Scattered Showers H: 67° L: 51° rain chance 30%

Learning to speak Italian

We obviously aren't going to learn much italian over night. I have thought carefully about what words we actually need to learn. These made the cut. Perhaps a few more will be added before we actually leave.

Food

• white wine: Il vino bianco
• red wine: Il vino rosso
• beer: la birra
• pizza: La pizza

Shopping

• How much?: Quanto?

Greetings

• Good morning: Buongiorno
• Good evening: Buonasera

Always Important

• Where's the toilet: Dov'è il bagno
• I don't understand: Io non capisco

Louie is also learning Italian - except he is a bit confused