May 22, 23rd 2009 - Rome

The first stop the morning of the 22nd was the Borghese Gallery. This was an incredible museum that you are required to have reservations to enter. One of the masterpieces of the Borghese is Bernini's Apollo and Daphne. Very cool place! Get there early!

After the Borghese Gallery, I had reserved us a table for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I knew after a week in Italy, all the kids would be ready for a hamburger. It was a very cool Hard Rock.

One of the coolest things we did in Rome was tour the Vatican Necropolis - The Scavi Tour. This is a tour that you have to write in months and months in advance and plead your case as to why you want to attend this unique tour. They only take a few people into the necropolis every day on an English speaking tour. This was a highlight of our tours in Rome. You actually get let into the Scavi office by the Swiss Guard (see below) and they take 12 people WAY under St. Peter's Basilica. This is not a tour of the tombs... this is far below the tombs. This is the rumored burial sight of the original Saint Peter. It is so unfortunate that I have no pictures to post. It is so hard to discribe in a way that makes you see the picture. You decend far below St. Peter's Basilica and you come to an area that looks like you just stepped out onto an old Roman street... with little alley-ways and buildings... with what used to be windows in them. This was an old mausoleum. This was SO interesting. The interesting thing is until the 1940s, no one knew about this place. They were getting ready to bury a pope in the 1940s (don't know which pope) and they knocked a hole in the marble floor and found this underground city! This happens ALL THE TIME in Rome.

Here are the Swiss Guard. We actually walked through that arch to attend our Scavi Tour.

The following day I had arranged a tour of the Vatican Gardens. This was not my favorite tour in Rome. It was interesting to get a different perspective of St. Peter's Basilica, because we were behind it. But, all and all... I would rather do different things while in Rome.

The School of Athens by Raphael.... Amazing work of art inside the Rapheal Rooms inside the Vatican museum.

After the Vatican Garden tour, we met up with our friends that had just flown in from Kansas. Debbie and Rich had arrived! Along with our friends from England, Lisa and Andy. We hadn't seen Lisa and Andy for almost 2 years. I was super excited to see everyone. I had pre-arranged a private Vatican Museum tour for all 10 of us. This is THEE thing to do. We waited in NO line... and we were private escourted everywhere. The museum is HUGE, to say the least. To have someone show you around and tell you the history of everything AND make it interesting is worth every penny. We had the best tour guide. You could tell that she loved everything about the art and the history inside this amazing museum.

Cortile della pigne - The Pine Cone Courtyard - First century AD

This is a very lovely courtyard inside the Vatican Museums.

Laocoon and his sons. This is an amazing statue inside the Vatican museum. This statue was unearthed in 1506 but the statue dates from about 20 BC. Laocoon was missing his right arm until 1957 when it was found in someone's yard and sold at a flea market. Imagine coming across this at a flea market! Just incredible!

The Porphyry Bath of Nero - Porphyry meaning purple, was also one of the hardest stones and the most valuable. You will see several porphyry sarcophagi in the museums that are intricately carved.

The ceiling in the Gallery of Maps. The Gallery is 120 m long and 6 m wide. It is painted with 40 maps of Italy between the years of 1580 - 1583. Then entire ceiling is frescoed. This is one of my favorite rooms in the Vatican Museum.

Well, we must go back to the hotel... we have another really LONG day of touring tomorrow.

May 21st, 2009 - Roma!

So... we made it to Rome. We are spending the majority of our land trip here and it's a good thing. There is just so much to see and do in Rome. With the right planning, Rome is just an incredible city! We had been here previously also... twice... but only as day trips from a Mediterranean cruise. This was one city I was very much looking forward to spending some time in. There are just too many things to do in Rome. I negotiated a rate with THEE nicest hotel. This is a photo of our hotel in Rome... and it sits RIGHT next to the Pantheon. It doesn't get better than this location, or this hotel as far as I'm concerned. http://www.albergodelsenato.it/ On the roof is a rooftop bar and we spent every night there having happy hour before heading out to dinner. Some nights we spent our time up there after dinner as well. :D We had another trip room here with a palatial bathroom in it. The beds were small and hard (which we are fans of) but the bathroom was gigantic! There was breakfast included every morning (a standard for Italian hotels...and the same for us in Venice and Florence) and this place had the best cappuccinos! It was so great to be in the center of everything. I can't imagine staying anywhere else now that I have stayed at this hotel.

We arrived Rome on the train from Florence and were picked up by my VERY best touring company, RomeinLimo http://www.romeinlimo.com/ The driver actually met us AT the platform of our train. I am so glad too... Termini in Rome is huge! It was crowded and chaotic and I am so glad that we had someone meet us and it was straight out the door, into a new Mercedes mini van and off we were to the hotel. While we were driving through the crazy streets of Rome, the owner of RomeinLimo called me and said that he wanted to take my entire family to dinner while we were there. We sat a time and I couldn't wait to meet Duman. I had talked to him and his assistant Jany for months and months arranging all our transfers and all our tours we were lined up to do. Private transfers in Rome are SO worth it and end up being just as affordable as taxis when you are traveling with more than 2 people.

Our first stop after we checked in was the Pantheon. Before we left for Italy, I had put together my own walking and subway tour of Angels and Demons. Everyone is a fan of the book (we hadn't yet seen the movie... we left the day it was released) and I wanted to show everyone all the places in the book. The book starts out in the Pantheon.

The oculus in the Pantheon. It is a big hole that is open to the weather. My mom was so surprised by this :) If it rains... it rains inside the Pantheon. The Pantheon is one of my favorite buildings in Rome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome It is truly amazing. The tomb of Raphael is inside as well as others. It was so cool to be staying right next door, where we could wander in early in the morning when no one else was there. The next stop was the church Santa Maria della Vittoria.

The Ecstacy of Saint Teresa by Bernini (another favorite of mine)

On our way back from the Angels and Demons walking tour we just happen to be passing the Trevi Fountain... we had to stop! This is my favorite fountain in all of Rome, and there are some good ones!

Alex and Dan standing by the fountain. She was really a trooper here. I could tell she didn't feel very well but she still didn't want to miss anything on this tour. We walked and made use of the subway, what little we could. Just so you know... the subway in Rome doesn't do you much good in the city center. It's either walk... bus... or taxi (which we used more than any other trip so far).

May 19th, 2009 - Bienvenido Firenze!

We made it to Florence! I was so excited to spend a few days here. I had been here before. Twice. They were both day stops and that just isn't enough time to see all there is to see in Florence. I can't wait for a time where we can go to Florence and just wander with no agenda. This was not that trip. It took us 3 taxis to go to the hotel with all our luggage. Yep... 3 taxis. Luckily we weren't staying far away, but still... We stayed at the Hotel Davanzati. http://www.hoteldavanzati.it/index.php?lang=eng It has been rated #1 on the Trip Advisor forever! There is a good reason for it too. First of all, the 3 men who run this place are incredible. You really feel like part of the family while you are here. Every single night there is a free happy hour. All you can drink red wine or prosecco and appetizers. It is so great!

After checking into our hotel, we went to a great place to get pizza. It is the best pizza we had in all of Italy. I will update the blog with the restaurant as soon as I hear back from the hotel on what it was called. After lunch it was over to the Medici Chapels and then to the Accademia Museum to see Michelangelo's David. There are no photos allowed of David so?? This is the second time I have seen The David and all I can say is you HAVE to see him to believe it. It is one of the most amazing works of art I have seen. David is a babe!

This is Alex and I on the Ponte Vecchio. It was another gorgeous day in Italy! We were on our way to dinner to a fabulous place that I found online before we even left home. I made reservations months in advance so we were assured the window table (that everyone wants).

http://www.goldenviewopenbar.com/home.php?p=ristorante_en&lang=en

And this is the view from our table at the Golden View Open Bar. This was a great place! I highly recommend eating here. Just make sure you make reservations WAY in advance!

Looking the other way from the Ponte Vecchio. Isn't the river lovely! It was just a perfect day!

Here is our terrace at the Hotel Davanzati. There is only one triple room (I believe) that has this terrace. It is SOOooo nice! Like I said, I wish we could have some time in Florence where we could just relax a bit.

May 17th, 2009 - Venice

Awwww... the Rialto Bridge.

Another very cool building in Vencie. I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures of buildings here. It really is all about the cute little red and white poles.

Many restaurants by the Rialto Bridge. Very touristy, but there is something to be said for eating where you can look up and down the Grand Canal with a view of the Rialto Bridge.

One of my lovely pasta dishes at Trattoria Sempione. http://www.alsempione.com/

This place is all about the view. The food wasn't bad, but the atmosphere is what it's all about. Alex loved this place. And the manager saved a window seat just for our group.

This is the outdoor garden area of our hotel in Venice. This place was amazing. I highly recommend it. http://www.abbaziahotel.com/en/index.htm It was reasonably priced, near the train station, and the water bus stop was right outside the door. There was a great cafe at the end of our street that served awesome cappuccinos.

May 15th-19th, 2009 - VENICE! The Wish happens...

This was the beginning of Alex's Make A Wish "wish". She was diagnosed with leukemia in October of 2007 and was given a "wish" from the Make A Wish foundation as soon as she felt up to traveling. After many many set-backs, we were finally ready to leave on her wish. 23 days in Italy, Greece, and Turkey. Finally!

At the airport in Salt Lake... Alex is sending postcards from all her stops. She is working on one here. We are all ready for the trip across the pond. FUN!














Here we are in Venice!!! This is my mom's first trip to Europe. I arranged a private water taxi to take us to the hotel.














Another water taxi view. A private water taxi is the way to go if you can afford it. It is the coolest way to enter the city of Venice from the airport.
















Here is me on the water taxi... so fun! We are finally here!
















Here is the luggage... Oh so much! There are 6 of us and we are going to be gone for 22 days! Cruising and touring... YAY!













I am all ready for my first day in Venice. It was nice to get all cleaned up and out exploring. The boys are back at the room napping. I have no idea how you can do this when it's VENICE!














Some of the cute views coming into Venice.















Alex and I having a bellini at Harry's Bar. These are the best bellinis ever!

December 14th-21st - Westerdam Cruise!

This cruise was for my friend, Debbie, 50th birthday cruise. We had it planned for nearly a year and it was finally time to jet off to Fort Lauderdale. We wanted to have dinner at my favorite place there... Charley's Crab... but the annual Winterfest Boat Parade was going on and all the tables were $200pp for steak and lobster and a front row viewing of the boat parade. We figured "why not?" SO... we ate great food... watched the boats all decorated with lights... and we knew in the morning it was going to be time to board our ship!





Just the four of us went to dinner and then we hit a huge wine store because the cruise ship we were getting on allowed us to bring on as many bottles of wine as we wanted! YAY! Dan drank WAY too much wine at dinner, so we left him in the cab to sleep while we went into the wine store. I highly suggest a trip into Fort Lauderdale's Total Wine store. WOW! Of course the meter was running and Dan was passed out in the back of the cab, so we hurried. Debbie and I each got a case of wine for the week. That should do us, right? yeah sure...




Well, it was the sailing before Christmas, so I figured it was time to be festive. I brought a blow-up Christmas tree with me for our cabin (A suite that we upgraded to at the last minute) and even little lights were hung all over the cabin. After the Muster Drill we had 18 people over to our cabin for a wine tasting party. We had met a bunch of GREAT people on the CruiseCritic.com and I had preplanned a party. It was a blast!








Here are our Happy Hour empties...

One specialty on Holland America's Westerdam is their flaming Spanish Coffee. It is so cool to watch! We had to come here for Debbie each night.
















Dan always seems to make friends with the bar tenders. A good skill if you ask me :)















Here is our last night Happy Hour party. This is Paul and Sharon and they live in Fort Lauderdale. They were so fun to meet. They really made the cruise special.













Dan's first ever experience playing Bingo! He didn't like it.



















Here are some of the Happy Hour girls.

We had happy hour on our balcony almost every night. We invited anyone that wanted to come from our roll call on the CruiseCritic. It was so much fun. We ordered up cheese and crakers... Debbie brought nuts and stuff for the week... it was such a great time every night.














Here is the ship in Curacao. I had been to all these stops several times and didn't take many pictures. As you can see, it was another gorgeous December day in the Caribbean.

July 22 & 23rd, 2008 - Back in the USSR!!! St. Petersburg, Russia

Dan and I finally made it to Russia. This was on Dan's wish list - not mine. We did have a fantastic time here, but it really isn't anywhere that I would return, and neither would Dan. BUT... it was a great place to see and we had a fantastic private tour guide and driver for our 2 days here in St. Petersburg.

I did a LOT of research on St. Petersburg before our cruise. I decided on Alla Tours and it was a great decision. The 6 of us had our own driver and guide for the 2 days. Elena of Alla tours made our stop here worthwhile. She was an English professor during the school year, and a top ALLA tour guide during the summer when all the ships are sailing. She spoke excellent English and it was amazing the history she knew of her own country. Russia's history is so vast, that I found that it was hard to remember much.

This is Dan and I outside St. Isaac's Cathedral.

One of the most popular stops in St. Petersburg is the Church on the Spilled Blood. The inside is completely done in mosaics. It is incredible inside. It has only been recently reopened and I was glad we were able to go inside since this church was one of the highlights of the city.









This is one of the mosaics they have brought down to view. These were the best mosaics I have seen. We were told how all the different tiles were made and different solutions they were put in to make the exact colors that were needed. The shading and detail were unbelievable.













This is our guide, Elena, with Debbie and Rich outside the church.

After several churchs and other historical sites, we decided we wanted to try a typical Russian restaurant for lunch. This is the Idiot restaurant... named after a famous Russian author of the 1800s. It was an extremely interesting experience. They handed out the local paper in English while we waited. Our private guide for the day had to stay and help us order our lunch.

This was the very strange bathroom inside the restaurant.

The next stop was the Hermitage Museum. This is a must stop in St. Petersburg. It is HUGE! All I can say is Thank God we had our private tour guide to lead us through the "must sees". This is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world. This was the former residence of the Russian emperors.

This is me in front of one of the old fireplaces inside the museum. These were all covered in Dutch tiles and it radiated the heat. These were everywhere!

The second day of our time in St. Petersburg was taking a drive to Catherine's Palace and Peterhof. This was very interesting and probably my favorite part of this stop in Russia.


This is me outside Catherine's Palace. This was once the summer palace of the Russian tsars. It is extremely gaudy in decor.

This was a church at Peterhof.

Here are the fountains at Peterhof. Known as the Russian Versailles. We did not enter the palace but instead just toured the grounds. This canal looks out towards Finland and we later boarded a hydro-foil that took us back into the city center of St. Petersburg.