Rome, Day Three: Big Guns, Big Stars & a Big Church

On our 3rd day in Rome we got up quite early & took a tour of Vatican City. Of course, the rest of the tourists in the city decided to do this, too. However, our pickup from the hotel was at 7:15 AM. We went outside to hop into the van and were greeted by two Italian men carrying really big Italian guns. It seems that the President of Afghanistan checked into the hotel overnight. It turns out our hotel is popular with the famous. Apparently, President Bush stayed here the last time he was in Rome.

Anyway, we joined two other couples from the hotel in the van. We discussed with some folks from Texas and Wales the difference between "Y'all" and "All Y'all" -- the latter being plural for the former. Who'd of thunk!

Once we got started, our tour included the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and San Pietro (St. Peter's Basilica). If we had not taken a tour we would probably still be standing in line waiting to get in. Once we were in we were herded like cattle through each part of the museum. However, it was still a very powerful experience & we are now "very best friends" with the 3,000 others who were crowded into the Sistine Chapel (Sardine Chapel?).

We got to see the Sistine Chapel!

After the tour we spent some time shopping next to the Vatican. In one of the stores we ran into the big, hairy guy from the TV show "Lost" (Jorge Garcia, aka "Hurley"). Because we know you are dying to know this, he bought a poster of the Sistine Chapel and a magnet.

We got to see the Sistine Chapel, including the ceiling!

From there, we did some exploring on our own. We stumbled across the Trevi Fountain and from there found our way to The Pantheon.

What's Up With the Chicken?

I think we need to explain a bit about the chicken. One of Lori's friends just retired and for his retirement party. The master party planner found a bunch of squeaking rubber chickens for the centerpiece decorations. Well, there were a couple of dozen of these things hanging around and someone got the bright idea for us to bring one with us on our trip.

So with some encouragement (no money changed hands), we brought the chicken and have been carting him/her around for photo ops. Its pretty funny when we whip out the chicken for a photo and other tourists wonder what in the world we are doing. We get odd looks, funny comments, and some down right appreciative responses.

Watch for more of the chicken photos. Also, we are asking for comments to this post with your suggestions for a name for the chicken. Lori has already said no to "McNugget the McTourist."

Rome, Day Two

Happy 4th of July!

Here are some pics from our 2nd day in Rome. Hover your mouse over the picture to show the slideshow controls and to view captions.



The 3 most difficult things about today were:

1. The chicken came with us & took some pictures.
2. Learning how to spell Colosseum.
3. The Blogger editing tool only showed up in Italian.

Rome, Day One

We arrived in Rome around 6am on Tuesday morning (which would have been about 9pm on Monday in Seattle time). Since we were both tired, we didn't do too much exploring today other than to quickly see some of the sights from the taxi and walk to both the local grocery store and through Villa Borghese.

The hotel is beautiful (visit link)
http://www.parcodeiprincipi.com/en/main.php?content=dovesiamo

Here are a few pics from today. Hover over the pictures and click once on the small cartoon "balloon" to view the captions or double-click your mouse to view the pics & captions in a larger size.

Disney Magic Podcasts, Video Tours & The Horn

Click on the link below to see what the staterooms look like. Note: This was created by Disney so it plays a bit like an infomercial.
Disney Magic Staterooms Podcast

This one's not so hokey: Virtual Tour of Stateroom

This next link covers the arrival of the Disney Cruise Line in Barcelona for the 1st time. Again, this was created by the Disney folks.
Disney Magic Arrives in Europe Podcast

Mediterranean Itinerary July 2007

Well, it's almost time for our summer trip to Italy, France, Spain & a few other assorted locations. We are so very fortunate! Our itinerary is listed below.

Days 1-5 - Rome

Day 6 - Barcelona, Spain
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Ship: Disney Magic

Day 7 - At Sea
Sunday, July 8, 2007

Day 8 - Palermo, Sicily
Monday, July 9, 2007

Day 9 - Naples, Italy (Pompeii)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Day 10 - Olbia, Sardinia
Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Day 11 - Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome)
Thursday, July 12, 2007

Day 12 - At Sea
Friday, July 13, 2007

Day 13 - La Spezia, Italy (Florence, Pisa)
Saturday, July 14, 2007

Day 14 - Marseille, France
Sunday, July 15, 2007

Day 15 - Villefranche, France (Monte Carlo, Cannes, Nice)
Monday, July 16, 2007

Day 16 - At Sea
Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Day 17 - Barcelona, Spain
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Future NCL Cruises - Here we go again! :)

When you are on a cruise, you have the opportunity to book future cruises at great prices (seriously). We booked 2 future cruises this time around. We are extremely fortunate to be able to do this!

14-Day Chilean Fjords Cruise
Winter Break 2007















Itinerary:

• Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile
• Puerto Montt, Chile
  
• Puerto Chacabuco, Chile
  
• Cruise Patagonic Channels
• Cruise The Chilean Fjords
• Cruise Straights Of Magellan
• Punta Arenas, Chile
  
• Cruise Beagle Channel (Glacier Cruising)
• Ushuaia, Argentina
  
• Cruise Cape Horn
• Stanley, Faulkland Islands
• Puerto Madryn, Argentina
  
• Montevideo, Uruguay
  
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
  

9 Day Southern Caribbean Cruise
Spring Break 2008















Itinerary:

• Miami, Florida
  
• Samana, Dominican Republic
  
• Tortola, British Virgin Islands
  
• St. John's, Antigua
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Castries, St. Lucia
• Miami, Florida