School's Out!

School let out on June 6th for the kids at TASIS England.  The past two weeks have flown by!  The weather has dampened many days, but that is typical for England, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  However, after viewing so many sunny photos of friends back in the U.S. who post happy pictures on Facebook, I actually became a bit depressed by the first weekend with the kids at home.  How was I going to make it through the whole summer?!

End of Year Party

Music Award!

The end of school program at TASIS is a lot like school's back in the U.S.: choral concerts, instruments concerts, class parties, exams, and award ceremonies.  We were lucky to have Steve's parents, Aartje and Klaas, visiting us during some of those big events.  My cousin, Kaitlin, also got a little taste of the performances.  I was very fortunate to get to the Middle School award ceremony where Jacob received the 6th Grade Music Award.  I was thrilled!  The only blemish to that sunny Friday was when later that evening as we were heading out to the car to take Jacob and his two friends to the Middle School Semi-formal mixer, Jacob ended up putting his arm through the window of our front door.  I didn't see it happen, and it sounds like a crazy fluke accident.  Apparently the original glass from the 1960's when the house was built is not safety glass.  Jacob ended up in the emergency room rather than at the dance with his friends, but he will have a scar to always remember the day.  (The NHS doctors glued the wound, which two weeks later is still not healing.  I am thinking it really did need stitches, but what do I know, I'm an accountant.)

Our first big outing for the school holidays was a soccer tournament for Katie.  Her team actually was split in two to enter two girl's teams in the division.  The two teams ended playing each other for 1st and 2nd place!  It was very tough to watch the girls have to play against each other.  Steve missed this tournament because he had to fly to the Netherlands for his Oma's funeral.  As tough a time as I had watching Katie play against her mates, Steve had a much more trying weekend as he said good-bye to his Oma.  She will be truly missed.

Rain over the next few days kept us close to home, only heading to the park to walk the dog.  When we saw that the sun would make an appearance on Wednesday, my friend Anita and I quick rearranged our schedules to get the kids to Chessington World of Adventure, an amusement park not far from us.  The day was perfect: warm, sunny and crowd free!  The British kids are still in school until mid July, so the park was almost empty.  The kids found their favorite roller coaster and went on 12 times!!!  Fortunately for Anita and I, they were all tall enough to ride without an adult with them! 

The BEST rollercoaster!

Friday morning, I picked up our babysitter, Elaine.  She had agreed to come and stay for the weekend so Steve and I could get away to Wales.  Our plan was to climb Mount Snowdon, the tallest peak in Great Britain south of the Scottish Highlands.  The forecast for the weekend was making that plan a bit problematic.  Saturday was set to be a complete rainout and Sunday was looking questionable.  We tried to keep positive.  After a great pub dinner on Friday night and then an amazing breakfast cooked by Tim, the B&B owner, we were ready for an assault on the mountain.  Dressed as best we could for the rain from hats down to waterproof boots, pants and jackets, we made our way over to the base of the mountain trail that we had chosen as our route.  There are several ways to go, and we had actually chosen an easier since it was our first time to the mountain.  As we drove through the valleys of the Snowdonia mountains, we were aware that the rain that was falling as we ate breakfast had not let up but had actually seemed to strengthen.  The roads were lakes in some places and you could see ribbons of white cursing down the sides of the mountains around us as the rain streamed down the rocky slopes.  We laughed out loud at the absurdity of our adventure, but continued to reamin optimistic even as we paid the parking fee and the attendant told us that the steam train was not running because of the weather which included 60mph wind gusts.  Still optimistic, we felt we were properly "kitted out" and we made out way to the base.  Around us you could hear the rushing water of the full river near the road.  There were a few other people who also thought this wasn't the most foolish decision that could ever be made who were on the trail ahead of us and behind us.  The rain continued and dripped off the brim of my baseball cap.  Water just ran down the sleeves of my coat and then dripped from the tips of my fingers.  Steve and I would hesitate and ask each other if we should go on any further.  We kept thinking that the rain had to let up a bit and we could go just a little further.  Unfortunately, after about a mile, the rain had not subsided and we were only getting wetter.  The winds and the overwhelming amount of rain seemed to penetrate our jackets.  After agreeing we were not having fun, we turned and made our way back down.  We didn't let ourselves feel defeated; we were smart to turn back and try again when the climb would be fun and I would actually be able to photograph mountains rather than rain and clouds.  It was also nice to just relax for the afternoon with our books and hot tea to recover.  As we headed out for dinner, we found that there were emergency vehicles in the road that were only just clearing away as a kayaker who had perished in the rough waters had just been retrieved and taken to the morgue while his two buddies had to watch nearby.  It was not a day for high adventure. 

A very full, river

Near our hotel, a rainy walk in a copse of Douglas Fir trees

Sunday morning the sun warmed the conservatory where Tim served us a great breakfast on our final day in Wales.  The weather reports all smiled on us for a chance to attempt Mount Snowdon again.  We packed up our car, stopped to pick up sandwiches for lunch and drove back to the base.  We were wowed by the views before us.  We could actually see the mountains and the roads were dry.  Our smiles broadened.  Our second try was a complete success.  We saw some families and groups making their way along with us.  The trail is well maintained and easy to follow, especially in the glorious sun.  As we made our way the clouds were burning off; however, as we reached the top, the summit was still foggy.  I did turn around as we made our way back down to photograph it out of the clouds.  We made it up and back in exactly four hours, which I think is pretty good for a first attempt.  We were lucky to not have to cajole the kids as we went!  If only our legs weren't so sore for that long drive home!

Photo of the same river on Sunday morning

Snowdon in the clouds behind us

The summit!

After resting on Monday with only an outing to the park with the dog, we had to take advantage of the sun in England.  I piled the kids and the dog into the car and we drove to the beach! I found a beach maintained by the National Trust that allowed dogs, so that's where we headed.  As we got closer, I suddenly found myself in a lane to get on a ferry.  A ferry?!  It was actually a chain link ferry across a small inlet and it was totally fun.  We found the beach and set ourselves up for some relaxing in the sun.  It wasn't warm enough to go in the water, but the kids enjoyed playing at the water's edge and in the sand.  Rupert was not such a good beach dog.  He drank the water (I really tried to stop him, but at 110 pounds, I sometimes lose the tug-o-war game we play) and ended up a bit intestinally challenged (the easiest way I could put it...).  After almost three hours we packed up our things and threw them in the car.  Then we took Rupert on a long walk to help clear him out.  I think that was helpful!  My car is thanking me, I'm sure.  The kids were tired and since it was summer, we found ice cream at the National Trust shop on the beach. 

From there, I wasn't ready to go home.  I didn't tell the kids, but set the GPS (SatNav) for Corfe Castle.  This ruin is managed by the National Trust and allows dogs!  It would be Rupert's first castle!  As we pulled into the parking lot, I heard a lot of negative comments from the back of the mini-van.  I pulled the "I'm the Mom and I want to go!" card and made them all get out and climp up the road to the entrance of the castle.  The village of Corfe is the sweetest little place and I will have to go back and explore it sometime without the dog!  Katie was the only one who actually wanted to see the castle of the three and eagerly took on the kids challenge offered by the guard.  As we entered the grassy outskirts there were a few tents set up and one of them had some dress up clothes.  Before I knew it the boys were deep in battle.  They actually didn't want to go any further!  They were actually having fun!  Don't remind them, they don't like being wrong (I have no idea where they get that trait from).  We did go on and prowl through the ruins.  There were a few school groups on field trips.  The kids liked seeing Rupert!  After the castle we found some cold drinks in the village and made our way back to the road for our two hour ride home...we still had to get Katie to soccer practice by 6:30!  She napped in the car for extra energy.

This morning was the start of another sunny day and a bit of craziness for me!  I had to get Katie to the other side of Surrey to go to Chessington with one of her soccer mates.  Then I had to get the boys to Ascot to meet up with our friends, the Catao's, to see the Queen!  Surprisingly, we managed to all of that driving (even though my fuel light went on as we were on our way to Katie's friend's house) done with time to spare.  I picked up the Catao's and we got to a small parking lot in Ascot from where we walked into Windsor Great park to see the Royal Procession.  The Queen take a carriage ride from the park to the racetrack at Royal Ascot before each day's meeting.  After getting the scoop on where to go, we made our way up the road and found other TASIS friends already picnicing.  We joined them and were not disappointed with our view as the Queen came by about an hour later in her carriage.  Jacob was able to get a great video of the whole thing.  She even waved at us!  Or maybe she was waving at Rupert!  Yep, he saw the Queen too.  After that excitement, we actually headed further into the park for some geocaching.  We found two caches and walked too many miles.  By the time I got Jacob to soccer practice at 6:30, he was complaining that his legs were sore!  Bah!  I climed Mount Snowdon on Sunday and I didn't have sore legs.  Young kids today!

Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in Italy - April 18 - 20, 2012
After a few crazy days in Rome, we rented a car and drove south to explore more of Italy.  Our first stop was to climb Mount Vesuvius!  You actually take a very windy, somewhat scary and precarious road most of the way up the volcano and into the national park.  As we navigated our way past buses going up and some going down, we parked our car on the side of the road and prayed there would be no damage when we returned.  We paid the entrance fee and started our climb to the rim of the volcano.  As we climbed our view became more and more obscured by the clouds settling over us.  After much cajoling, we managed to get the kids up to the rim where we peered over the edge into the crater.  Although we could only see clouds, we could definitely smell the sulphurous belching from the abyss.  The kids were not thrilled that this is what we dragged them up to see.  Oh, well, at least the walk down was quicker and easier.

At the Rim of Vesuvius

Climbing up the Volcano!

Another pizza lunch at a cafe down the volcano and then to Pompeii.  Here we again had Rick Steves giving us a tour of the ruins.  The audio was very interesting and even the kids were learning something.  One thing that stuck with us is that you often see these shops opening to the street that have a counter covered in mosaic tiles.  The counter has four to six holes in it which would have been to hold pots of food being kept warm by coals below.  You see these places every other block or so.  Apparently, this is where the people of Pompeii would have come to buy their dinner, a sort of fast food establishment.  After they learned this, the kids used their cameras to make short videos of themselves coming to the McDonald's of Pompeii to order dinner.  They were happy, which made me happy.  From the theaters to the colosseums, we really had a great time exploring Pompeii.  The only negative thing was that we did not stop for gelato on our way out.  We still had an hour drive to get to our hotel. 

On Stage!

Pompeii Colosseum

The hotel that we stayed as is a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Sorrento and is called Villa Oriana.  Another family from the kids' school had recommended it and it was perfect.  As we drove through the gates we landed in an oasis with lemon and orange trees leading us down the drive (which honestly seemed more like a walkway and our minivan was a giant crushing it!).  The owner was there to welcome us with fresh lemonade and apple cake just out of the oven.  The kids made themselves at home with a checkerboard as Steve and I checked us in and brought in the bags.  We had two rooms next to each other where the kids were safe in one and Steve and I had the other.  We weren't sure we were going to want to leave in the morning to go sightseeing it was so comfortable to just be there relaxing.

On Thursday morning, we made our way to the main room for breakfast.  The owner's wife asked me to run down and get my camera for a surprise.  I knew what must be up their sleeve.  When I returned, they came out of the kitchen with a small chocolate torte dusted in powdered sugar and cocoa with candles and they were singing Happy Birthday to Katie!  She had mentioned to the owner's wife the evening before that it was her birthday the next day so they made it special.  I had no idea how I was going to get her a cake and my prayers were answered!  Everything was so nice!  The other guests also took a moment to wish her a happy birthday as well.  It was a good start to the day.  Then again, how could it not be with chocolate cake for breakfast!

We walked to town to catch a train to Herculaneum for some sightseeing.  This city was also destroyed in the same volcanic eruption in 79AD as Pompeii, but because it was buried in a mud slide, it is actually even better preserved.  The kids had more fun making videos here even after the rain started.  We made our way back to the hotel for happy hour.  Steve and I got a bottle of wine and the kids had the rest of Katie's cake to eat!  We sat in the lemon grove while the kids made some more silly videos.  Steve was surely thinking, "why can't our vacations be more like this...sitting in a lemon grove drinking wine all day rather than getting all this silly culture?"  Well, Steve, that's because no one wants to read about us sitting and drinking wine all day!  Gotta give the folks something to read!  So...more sightseeing!

Amazing frescoes after almost 2000 years.

Herculaeum McDonalds

smiling in spite of the rain!

Friday we had a guide pick us up in his van and take us along the Amalfi coast.  The road is precarious along a cliff and the parking in the villages is even more questionable.  Our guide told us about the sights and knew where to stop for photos.  Our first long stop was in Positano for an hour.  Here we wound our way to a beach where the kids just wanted to play in the water.  They would chase the waves and taunt them.  Really.  Of course, because it is my vacation, the rain started, so we headed back into the village with our umbrellas.  Steve and I found a piece of pottery which was one of the things on the list I wanted to be sure to get.  We found snacks for the kids and then back to the van. 

From there we headed further south to the town of Amalfi.  There is a Cathedral to Sant Andrea which is an amazing bit of architecture combining Sicilian and Arabic-Norman influences.  What was really great was that there was a wedding going on and tourists were milling about.  We were able to see the happy couple down the steps to their waiting car.  As they rode off to their big party, we sat down to some well deserved gelato!  Of course.  Just as we were about to amble through the town, it started to rain, but not a drizzle, a torential downpour!  We were soaked and the umbrellas were being blown inside out!  We found cover in a shop, but it wasn't letting up so we had to make our way out to find our guide.  Looking like a family of drowned rats we climbed into the van and our guide remarked on how the weather is NEVER like this and we must have the worst luck.  Yep, that about sums it up. 

Gelato, just minutes before the downpour

We continued along and the rain subsided as we made our way to Ravello.  Just as we were getting out of the van, our bad luck pounced again and the heavens again opened upon us.  The two closest restaurants were not suitable for our children's discerning palettes (I hope you read into that...no pizza).  We had to brave the weather and head up the road into town.  The main piazza was just about empty.  People were tucking in wherever possible.  That also meant we were having a terrible time finding someplace with an open table for lunch.  Finally, down a back road, we found a nice little restaurant with pasta on the menu.  The only table was right by the door and we were constantly getting up to close the door when thoughtless patrons came in or out and did not pull it closed.  Beside the rain, a cold wind was assaulting us.  Really bad luck.  But the waitress was very friendly and even brought out seconds of the pasta for Jacob and Steve!  Gotta love the Italians.  The sun was peeking through the clouds as we left the restaurant and we were able to take advantage of the break to explore Villa Rufolo and its garden. 

Gardens at Villa Rufolo

We made it back up the coast to Sorrento in time to change and go to dinner.  It was our last evening in Italy.  Dinner and our last gelato.  We would be heading back to Rome and the airport in the morning.  It was a great trip in spite of the rain!  Steve and I are trying to plan how to go back to Villa Oriana without the kids for a weekend.  We would recommend it to everyone.

Ciao, Italia!

Rome with Friends!

And there is STILL MORE of ROME!!!
We were very lucky to find that two other famies from our Expat community were also in Rome.  To keep the kids a bit more interested in all of the history, we decided to meet up for some guided touring.  The Barnes family has three children the same ages as ours just they reversed things by having a 6th grade Girl, a 4th grade Boy and a 2nd grade Girl!  The Catao family has a fourth grade girl and a seventh grade boy who is involved in scouts with Jacob.  It was a great balance.

Monday
Monday morning, our tour guide collected each of us in a large van for a driving tour of Rome which would include a stop at the Colosseum.  A stop at the very quiet, since it was still before 10am, Spanish steps for some photos before driving across Rome as our guide told us more about the history of the city and pointed out various buildings.  Our first destination was the Colosseum.  We made our way into the most iconic building in Rome and had the advantage of our guide to lead us through and explain what we were seeing.  The kids were even paying attention. 

Family Photo

Ready for the Gladiators

After our tour of the Colosseum, we continued our driving tour of Rome which included a trip up to the highest point to catch the noon cannon firing.  From here you were able to look across Rome.  From there we went back down to the Capitoline Hill.  Our guide showed us the Roman Forum and helped us try to understand even more history of this amazing city. 

Our group parted now that it was lunchtime, setting off to see more of the city in further detail.  Some had not yet been to the Parthenon and others were looking forward to a trip to the top of the Victor Emmanuel Monument.  We headed off to find lunch! 

Self Portrait!

Cameron angle...

After lunch, we went back to the ancient ruins of Rome to explore the Roman Forums.  Armed with audio tours by Rick Steves on our ipods, we walked through the ruins trying our best to understand the meaning of all the rubble.  Cameron was armed with a camera and actually took some really great photos of the rubble that actually included family members!  Something that I often don't manage to do.  The sun was warm which meant that we would soon need some gelato too.

After the Forum, we made our way over to the Castel Sant Angelo.  First we stopped at San Ignazio.  This church has a trompe l'oeil ceiling that makes it appear it has a dome when it really does not.  Cameron sat there looking at it and refused to believe that it was not a real dome.  There was no way to convince him otherwise, so we continued on our way armed with gelato to help us get to the castle! 

The Castel Sant Angelo was fun to explore and because it was Cultural Week our entry was free!  Bonus! 

From there we had to continue walking around Rome.  Stuck in a van for most of the morning, we had to step it up if we wanted to walk seven miles again!  We wound our way to Piazza del Popolo and rested our weary feet.

I was quickly being worn down by complaining from four of the family members.  From there we agreed to find an early dinner.  A restaurant near the Spanish Steps fit the bill.  Of course we still had to walk back to our apartment, but pizza and pasta fortification made it a bit easier.  93 steps up and we crashed into bed.

Tuesday
The kids were thrilled that we just had to walk a block and a half up the road to a taxi stand to catch a ride over to our early morning tour!  We met up with the Barnes and Catao families in front of Saint Peter's Basilica.  From there we met our guide at the Vatican Museums.  She did a great job of keeping the kids interested in what we were seeing and showing us some great connections between the art in the museum and the painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.  We had met early so that we could get into the chapel in an early group at 8:30am.  It was nice to be able to sit and reflect on what we were seeing without large crowds.  After the chapel and the museum, our guide led us to the basilica and we had the opportunity to see St. Peter's.  It was amazing, of course! 

Saint Peter's Square...empty at 7:45am!

Vatican Museums with our group

The Dome in Saint Peter's Basilica

At this point, we went our separate ways.  Our family was ready for lunch.  Hmmm, what should we have for lunch today?  Pizza!  of course! and beer!

 After so much walking over the previous three days, my family made me promise not to drag them all over Rome again in the afternoon!  From Vatican City, we made our way back across the river and through Piazza Navona.  We found some gelato to keep us going and then up the Grand Staircase by Michaelangelo to the Capitoline Museum.  From this museum (free entrance since it was Culture Week) we had an amazing view of the Roman Forum.

Gelato...mmmm what flavor today?!

And I thought Jacob had a Big Head!

Jacob with Sophocles in the room of Busts! (had to write that...)

From here we agreed we had seen A LOT of Rome and that we felt sated with history.  We actually headed back to our apartment for a short siesta before dinner.  After all of the sightseeing we had done, it was much deserved.  After that we found dinner at a really nice restaurant near there that had a notably Tuscan menu besides pizza and pasta for the kids!  Steve and I enjoyed roasted potatoes and an amazing roasted chicken.  It was a great way to end our stay in Rome.  We would be heading south in the morning.

Italy - Day 2

Sunday, 15 April

I pushed the family out of the house by 9am so we could get to church!  Actually, we would just be sightseeing, but our first stop was Santa Maria Maggiore where they believe they have the manger from the Christ Child's birth in front of the altar.  The kids were not thrilled to find Bernini's grave here, as the architect Bernini seems to have designed just about everything in Rome after the ancient Romans finished the Colosseum.

Santa Maria Maggiore

From there we headed over to the Church of the Bones - Santa Maria della Concezione, where in the Capuchin Crypt below the church you find vertebrae, skulls, femurs, etc arranged in "decorative"patterns in the crypt.  It was very strange, but we honestly did look through the crypt.  The kids even went in a second time on Monday when our tour guide took the group.  Steve and I waited on the bus!

one of the Quattro Fontane

Along our walk between the two churches we were able to take in the Quattro Fontane.  Then we were able to wander over to the Spanish Steps.  It was not yet even 11am, the steps were not so crowded, and we were able to leisurely enjoy the scene.  The only thing on our schedule for the day was our 3pm tickets to the Borghese Gallery, so we had lots of time still to explore.

At the Spanish Steps

From here we made our way over to the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) along the Tiber River.  We followed the sidewalk along the river and managed to catch crew teams racing on the Tiber.  There was a 5K charity race also going on along the river.  Amazing what you may see when you get up early and Drag your kids around a strange city!  At this point we did have to break down and get the kids (and ourselves) a beverage from a vendor.  If you know anything about Rome, you will realize that by this time we had walked pretty far...but it was not even lunchtime yet!

We wound our way to Piazza Navona and wandered through rows of artists displaying their work and statues ready to move for a coin or two.  The fountain by Bernini in the middle of the piazza was the one that was the object of our respite in the square.  On a side street we found a cafe for lunch and everyone had pizza, except for me who had a salad! 


A more Modern Sculpture

Lunch

The sun was shining and we made our way across Rome to Villa Borghese for our visit to the art museum.  Upon arrival in the park, we had a bit of time to stop and enjoy some gelato first!  The Borghese gallery has an amazing collection of art:  paintings and statues.  You only get two hours to visit, and we found that with our tour guide in hand we were able to easily see the important bits in that time and more than two hours would have been torture for the kids!  To treat them after, we rented a bicycle built for the family to explore the garden.  The canopy on the bike made it easier to tolerate the drizzling rain that followed us from England to Italy.  Please note Steve's review of the weather showing a 20% chance of rain.

Gelato!

Bicycle Built for Five!

We left the park to head back toward our apartment for dinner.  The rain was falling more steadily and the hawkers had all pulled out their umbrellas to push on the tourists.  By the seventh one who asked us if we wanted an umbrella, I had reached my seething point and snapped at him.  On principle we were not buying an umbrella when we had four in the apartment!  Damp and cranky from hunger, we were happy to find pizza and pasta at a restaurant near out apartment and the Colosseum.  They even served gelato which lightened our spirits for the trudge up the 93 steps! 

As we all made a wish and threw a few Euro Cents into the fountain!

By the end of the day, we had walked 7.1 miles!  I have mapped it on Google Maps and if I were more astute, I would be able to add the link.  Monday would be a better day with a morning van tour of the city!

Ciao, Italia!!

ATTENTION:  There are photose below...so you must just read a bit to get to them.

On Saturday, April 14th, our family flew to the continent for some sightseeing in Italy.  Over seven years ago we made our first trip to Italy, but stayed a full week in Tuscany exploring and drinking Chianti (or apple juice for the kids).  This trip was to Rome and the Amalfi Coast.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that a few other families that we knew from our expat community were also going to Rome at the same time.  Consequently, we arranged to share a tour guide for two half days.

So Saturday, after a gate mix up by Heathrow, we did make it to our plane on time and landed safely in Rome.  A prearranged van service collected us and navigated us safely to the apartment we had rented not far from the Colosseum for the four nights we would be in Rome.  The apartment manager was waiting for us and lead us up to the fifth floor of a walk-up!  Loaded like pack mules, Steve and I collapsed upon entry.  Some basic instructions and some guidance on getting around the city from the manager and we were on our own.  With only a short time in Rome, I rallied the troops to get on the move quickly so we could start seeing the sights! 

This trip had an added bonus: we were going to get a chance to meet up with my cousin, Kaitlin, who is studying architecture and happened to be in Rome for the spring semester.  In the weeks prior to flying, we had been in contact and arranged to meet for dinner on Saturday after we arrived.  So a quick text message and we agreed to meet at 17:00 at the Pantheon.  The five of us made our way down the stairs (all 93) when we noticed at the bottom that Katie was carrying her backpack, which she did not need for sightseeing and would only be extra weight that would hold her back as we were about to do quite a bit of walking.  Steve ran all the way back up to put it in the apartment.  (By the way, he had already been up and down earlier, after our arrival, to stop at a small convenience store for milk and cereal for breakfast the following morning.)

Once we were making our way, we seemed to regain the bounce in our step.  As we passed the Roman Forums, we stopped and gawked at the crumbled structures that had been part of this city for more than 2000 years.  A drizzly rain did not impede our progress toward the Pantheon.  Everywhere we turned there was history to drink in.  The kids weren't so keen on it all, but I made them linger in the dampness so I could absorb as much as I could.  Steve continued to lead us to our destination.  When we found ourselves in Campo dei Fiori, we realized we had seriously made a wrong turn!  I texted Kaitlin to let her know we were a bit lost.  She assured us we were only ten minutes and even offered to come and get us, but we figured she had better stay put.  Rather than rely on the paper map, I pulled out the trusty 4G phone, used the map to find us and confidently watched as our blue dot moved closer to the plotted destination on the little screen. 

Wow!  The Pantheon!  The piazza here isn't too big so it was a great place to meet and Kaitlin found us easily.  When standing in the piazza you see roads coming in from all directions and my cousin pointed out that people in Rome say that "all roads lead to the Pantheon!"  This, of course, made us laugh as we had somehow managed to get lost on our way here.  Saturday evening mass was still being celebrated so we decided to get Gelato!  Fortunately for us, THE BEST gelato in Rome can be found down a side street not far from the Pantheon.  Please be aware that this is the best according to my cousin and her professor.  It was really good, but I am not sure I am the true connoisseur.  I may need a trip back to just try gelato and concentrate on assessing that rather than architecture!

So with our first gelato under our belts we made it back to the Pantheon.  Kaitlin was able to tell us a bit about the building.  She also told us about being inside when it was snowing back in February and another time when it was raining.  If you have never been to see the Pantheon, there is a large hole at the top of the dome.  It was planned this way.  The floor even slopes to allow for precipitation to drain.  We also took advantage of a downloaded audio guide from Rick Steves website to add further to our appreciation of the building. 

With one major sight checked off of our list we let Kaitlin lead the way around the city and to our final destination for the evening - dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  It was so nice to not have to rely on a map and just follow someone through the winding streets of this city.  She took us past the Trevi Fountain and up to the Spanish Steps.  We stopped on the way in the church of Santa Maria Soppa Minerva.  Having been there already with her program, my cousin was able to tell us what we were seeing.  It was great!

Some of you may be wondering why we would be going out for American food when we were in Italy.  Others of you know that we love to collect a pin from each Hard Rock we get to; and with a Hard Rock in Rome, we had to make our way there at some point.  In addition, my cousin had been eating and cooking pasta and pizza for weeks and we figured accurately that she would love to get a break for some American classics.  Our All Access card and a priority seating request made the day before we left from England meant we didn't even wait but sat right down upon arrival.  For those of you who have been to Rome, you may understand why we were so happy to finally find a chair.  The city is big and we had just about walked the whole thing!  After dinner we walked my cousin to Termini station so she could catch a bus and we had less than a half of a mile walk down the hill (thankfully down hill) from there to our apartment where we found the energy to crawl up the 93 steps to our apartment. 

Day one in Italy was done.  We needed to get some rest because I had big plans for sightseeing on Sunday and there was no plan to hop on public transportation.  Everyone better have good walking shoes!