Jay’s mom left Dec. 7. Both boys came for the holidays. Brian arrived Dec. 18 and Kevin on Dec. 21. Kevin missed his flight from Houston to Chicago and had to take a later one. His flight from Chicago to Munich was late, so he still made that and he got a free upgrade to business class, which he really enjoyed. It was really good to see them. We left for a week in Italy on Dec. 23 and we went to Rome, Florence and Venice.
Jay had a trip to London for a couple of meetings on Dec. 21st. He left early in the morning and was supposed to have a 5:50 pm return flight the same day. Because of snow at London Heathrow, the return flights were all cancelled. The travel agent said that he probably would not be able to get out of Heathrow the next day due to the number of cancellations, so they found him a flight from Stansted airport, which is outside of London, through Dusseldorf to Munich. It was a 2 hour bus ride from Heathrow to Stansted and they found him a room near the airport. Of course all he had was the suit he wore for the meetings. He made it home the next day to leave for Rome on the 23rd. The British definitely have a problem when it snows there.
Dec. 23 - We started our vacation to Italy on the 23rd. Our first stop was Rome. It was warmer and sunnier than Munich which was good. After dropping off our suitcases at our hotel, we decided to go to the Colosseum. The Colosseum is Rome’s greatest amphitheatre built in 72 A.C. While we were waiting for our tour to start we had our picture taken with two Centurions. Little did we know that they would charge us for the pictures with them (with our camera) - 5 Euros per person. They can sure pick out the suckers. Walking in and around the Colosseum was amazing.
After our Colosseum tour and as we were walking in front of Piazza Venezia, and a man tapped Jay on the shoulder and asked him for a quarter. It ended up being someone Jay knew that worked for HSB in Hartford, CT. He was there visiting with his daughter who is currently going to school in Florence. What a small world.
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| Piazza Venezia |
Dec. 24 – Vatican Tour – The day started out overcast, but soon turned cold and rainy. We decided to take a guided tour of the Vatican since they give you more information and history of the area and you can bypass the entry lines. You are also able to go into the Basilica. Since it was Christmas Eve and things were going to close early we did the quick tour of the Vatican. We went to the Vatican museum (the museum represents the largest art collection in Europe with over 65,000 masterpieces); the Sistine Chapel where we saw the ceiling painted by Michelangelo (it was breathtaking) and St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest church in the world.
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| Vatican Museum |
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| Sistine Chapel |
Later that night Jay and Brian went back to the Vatican to attend mass at St. Peters Square. It was cold and rainy in the square. They got there early and they were able to find seats outside. As they were sitting waiting for mass to start in the rain, a lady came up to them and asked them if they would like tickets to go inside for mass. Of course they accepted the tickets. They heard from other people that they requested their tickets 2 ½ months in advance. St. Peter’s holds about 10,000 people inside. They ended up having great seats inside and sat to the right of the altar, about 100 feet from the Pope. Mass started about 10:00 p.m. and was over just after midnight. Mass was said mostly in Latin and parts were said in other languages and one of the readings was in English. Jay and Brian sat next to some non-Catholic’s and when they returned from communion, they asked if they got something to eat when they went to communion. After mass they started walking back to the hotel since trains and buses weren’t running and no cab were in sight. Finally after walking a few miles they caught a cab back.
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| St. Peters |
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| St. Peter's Square |
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| Midnight Mass in the Basicilla |
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| Midnight Mass |
Dec. 25 – Christmas day was another cold and rainy day. The trains and buses were on a reduced schedule and they didn’t run at all for a few hours in the afternoon. We went to Piazza Navona, which is known to be the one of the world's most famous squares. The main attraction of the Piazza Navona is the three fountains. The central and largest fountain is the . The two other fountains on the piazza are the Neptune Fountain and the Moor Fountain. Another highlight on the Navona square is the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone. From the square we walked to the Pantheon, which was closed and then on to the Trevi Fountain, where the sun came out for a few minutes. We were told that when you are at the fountain you are to throw two coins in the fountain, one was for a return trip to Rome some day and the other one was a wish. We walked to Piazza di Spagna and walked up the Spanish Steps. We took the Metro back close to the hotel and decided to stop for a snack. The snack ended up costing 30 Euros which is equal to $39 American dollars (we had two Gelato’s, 1 hot chocolate and two cannolis). The boys were shocked how expensive everything was in Rome. Later that night we went back to the Vatican and Trevi Fountain to see them lit up at night.
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| Neptune Fountain |
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| Fountain of the Four Rivers |
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| Church of Sant'Agnese |
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| Spanish Steps |
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| Trevi Fountain |
Dec. 26 – Beautiful day clear, cool and sunny. We went to The Roman Forum, The Pantheon (The Pantheon was amazing, considering it was built in 27 B.C.) and Circus Maximus (where the chariot races took place). There wasn’t much there any longer, only an open space and a tower where the Circus Maximus was. Three and half days in Rome were not enough.
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| Forum |
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| Forum |
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| Inside The Pantheon |
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| The Pantheon |
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| Circus Maximus |
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| Circus Maximus |
To be continued........
The Vatican is so amazing isn't it? It is something I'd love to see again. I can't believe they got to go to midnight mass.
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