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Posted

After the gelato, we said goodbye to our guide, and caught a cab back to the hotel. You can tell from the pics how wiped out we are. It’s now past midnight here. Completely running on fumes at this point. The heat, as @Ampurp85 said, is really bad here. And where we are from, it gets to over 30°C as well but something is different about the heat here. Going to bed 😴

Posted

I ate at the pizza place!!! They had a potato and prosciutto pizza that was amazing. It was weird at first but something about the dough, olive oil and seasoning really brought it together.

Sadly, Italian pasta will ruin you. I have never had pasta better than when I was in Italy. Like even the most basic ones are heavenly. 

I am glad things are much better with these tours. 

Also are you guys flying straight from Rome to FLL for the S2S?

Posted
7 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

It was weird at first but something about the dough, olive oil and seasoning really brought it together.

Our guide, who is a major foodie, explained that it all has to do with texture. Toppings, fluffy airy crust, then crispy on the bottom. He said there must be a difference in textures for it to be “good”. 
 

6 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Somehow I missed the fact that you had disembarked !  I guess that went smoothly….

Go back to midway through page 15 😉

 

Posted
8 hours ago, wannabecruiseexpert said:

Have you run into any language barrier issues?

No actually. We have done a lot of private tours so that helps. But even while on our own, many around here speak some English. 

7 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

I just LOVE the breakfast spreads at the hotels in Italy!  All fresh foods and so many options to choose from.  Definitely looking forward to that again next Spring!  Your hotel pictures are impressive…

Looking forward to your pictures from where you are sightseeing today 😃 

📸: All Hubby!

Posted

Ok so the reason why I could not update today was because we started Day 1 of our 2 day tour of Rome. This one is called Private Rome 2-day by LivTours. It’s jammed packed and it would not have been polite to our guide if I was on my phone. Despite the heat, I really enjoyed the day today! We also lucked out and got an another fantastic guide, Marco. 

Posted

We met Marco at 9am at the entrance to the Borghese Gallery. I will be honest. I knew nothing about this gallery other than all travel guides online said that if you had more than one day here, it’s worth checking out. So when I saw that LivTours offered it on their 2 day bundle, I was quite happy about it. 
The gallery is the old home/office of the Borghese family who was also a cardinal in Rome during the Baroque period. It contains works of art that he collected and some extras. With Marco giving the backstory to everything, I found this place so interesting! It was probably my favourite, and D15 too! I would have loved to have stayed longer but there is a 2 hour limit here, and we stayed the full two hours. We have a ton of inside pics but again, family blog so not sure if it’s appropriate to post. It’s also unfortunate that the front facade is under renovations for the jubilee. That seems to be the running theme today.

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Posted

After the Vatican, the tour wrapped up for the day. We will meet Marco tomorrow morning again to tackle all the hot spots (quite literally). I might need to follow D15 and bring my umbrella out tomorrow. The heat is bad here. 
Dinner was at a place our food tour guide recommended and he said it was not a tourist trap. No one left hungry here, but there was still room for gelato! 
 

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Posted

I was able to attend a Papal Audience back in May 2006.  It was amazing…the entire St. Peter’s square was packed!  Back then (if I recall correctly) we had to request tickets through our diocese office in advance and picked up the tickets at the American College in Rome.

When we are in Rome next year it will be May 11-14…might have to consider our options!  

Posted
On 7/16/2024 at 1:15 AM, Ampurp85 said:

Also are you guys flying straight from Rome to FLL for the S2S?

Omg! In the words of @asquared17, I would expire if we did that! I might already have expired from the hustle and bustle of the last two weeks. We are flying home tomorrow, doing much needed laundry, resetting, ditching the freeloaders and off to PC on the 25th to catch AD first. 
 

6 hours ago, Sweety said:

I see the shoulders covered. I was able to go on a Sunday. It was amazing. The Cardinals all had on red robes. Did you go to the place where the nuns shopped? No black habits. I saw a couple of outfits I wanted.

We did not shop there but we did go by the place. 
 

5 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

When we are in Rome next year it will be May 11-14…might have to consider our options!  

It’s going to be crazy here in Rome next year. That is what all the guides have said. The jubilee year is going to push the crazy onto a whole other level.

3 hours ago, CruisingAndy said:

We’re using LivTours in Rome in August and likely will need a lunch spot near the Vatican. Where did you go and would you recommend?

Can I be totally honest? It is so hot here, we picked our place for lunch based on who had AC 😂 we ate yesterday at a place called Claps. There are several on that street right outside the Vatican museum entrance and only that one had AC. 

Posted

Wow. I just caught up and I’m tired just reading your schedule!  I’m so happy your family is making such wonderful memories!  Your girls are blessed to have parents who make such special family times. And you and hubby are blessed to have teens still happy to hang with mom and dad! What an amazing experience for all of you. Thanks for sharing. Safe travels. 

Posted
7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

It’s going to be crazy here in Rome next year. That is what all the guides have said. The jubilee year is going to push the crazy onto a whole other level.

Yes I’ve heard about that.  I already looked and there are no huge events going on in Rome during the days we will be there.  I am sure crowds will be nuts anyway but we will be prepared as much as we can be.  
Perhaps one good thing is we will not need a hotel in Rome since we have some family members flying over and renting a huge house via AirBnB.  

Posted

Today’s theme was all about the “layers” of Rome. A lot of these guides say that Rome is like a lasagna, layer built up layer. It was here in the forum that we got a really visual for what that really means.

Here we saw where street level used to be, and then a new level built upon that, and a church where the door appears to be in the air because the street level used to be where the door was. It was a bit surreal standing there in the middle of the forum, listening to all the stories and thinking that we are standing on the same ground.
 

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Posted

By the time we got to the Colosseum it was hot and the crowds were crazy town. You literally had to wade and swim and bump your way through people. One of the best things about LivTours is that they arrange all skip the lines tickets. There was no real waiting at any of the places that required admission. 

Hubby loved the Colosseum. This sort of thing is right up his alley. He has watched Gladiator more times than I can count. Watching him here today was like watching a kid at a candy store. We almost had to drag him out of there. We were here from about 11am - 1pm. This is where the kids almost expired lol

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Posted

After the Colosseum we were all in serious need for a breather. Our stop after lunch was the Basilica of San Clemente so Marco suggested that we head to a restaurant just down the street from there with AC lol. We didn’t even care what was on the menu there at this point. The AC sold us again 😂in the end the food was quite good too! D15 was horrified when her burger arrived and it was black. Turns out it tasted like a regular burger bun. 
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Posted

After lunch we headed to the Basilica of San Clemente. This church is a gem. From the outside, it’s not impressive at all. However, once you wander in and down, it’s a marvel. Here we really got a good idea of how the city just built on top of one another. There are actually 3 churches here, all built one on top of another, spanning almost 2000 years! So fascinating! Definitely a must see if you have more time in Rome. No pics were allowed here. 
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