June 11, 2011 - Last day...a very long day...

We grab breakfast at the hotel.  Mark checks with the front desk to see if we can check out late, since we don't need to leave for the airport until 1:30.  Fortunately, they are ok with us leaving that late.  We pack up our bags and then walk down by the Trevi fountain for one last glimpse and then to the pantheon.  We grab lunch again at miscellanea - the same place we ate at the first day in Rome.  Then we head back to the hotel to grab our bags for the trip to the airport.  We have to take the subway to the main terminal and then board a train that goes direct to the airport.  Mark reads about it in Rick Steves and knows how to get the tickets and even what track it'll be on and when it leaves.  We get there about 10 minutes early and board the train.  After about 5 minutes, it stops to board more people.  Then 5 minutes later stops again.  I start to get nervous since I thought it was a direct train, but didn't tell Laura yet.  Then it stops again and Laura can tell I'm worried about something.  We ask the couple next to us if this is going to the airport and they said no.  We hurriedly collect our bags and jump off the train before it starts going again.  I look at the train departure schedule and find a train back to the main terminal so we can then get on the next direct train to the airport.  I start to walk away, but then noticed that another train set to leave in a minute is headed to the airport!  So we run under the tunnel towards that gate and barely board that train in time.  We verify with two girls next us that this was headed towards the airport.  One said no and the other said yes.  Not very reassuring!  So we ask another guy who says yes.  I keep looking at each stop to verify it still shows that it's headed that way.  I'm reassured we are heading in the right direction, but have no idea how long it will take to get there.  Our direct train was to take 30 minutes, so I was worried this one, stopping every 5 minutes, might take over an hour.  After about 20 minutes, we ask a guy how long it will take and he pulls out his train timetable and says 15 minutes!  We are good to go!  After arriving at the airport, we head through security and then go to our gate.  Our plane to London boards and leaves on time.  We are to have about an hour layover before our flight back to New York where we'll stay with the Deckers again for two nights.  We are due in to New York at 10:30 pm saturday night and then leave at 6:30 on  Monday morning.  It will be short, but good to see the Deckers again and for us to get some recovery time in.  We land in London on time and about to go through security to our gate when they stop us because there was an issue with our plane and they are sending another plane, so it'll be a four hour delay! They won't let us through until we get updated boarding passes.  We are stuck with just a bathroom - no stores, restaurants, etc.  After about an hour wait, they let us through.  They tell us vouchers will be waiting for us.  We get our passes and are given 2 five pound vouchers!  Can't buy much with that!  After an extra 4.5 hour delay, we finally depart at 12:30 am.  We got upgraded seats, so we had extra leg room and wider seats.  Laura and I each start a movie on our own - we need this at home!  Then I get a hot chicken dinner, with pasta salad and dessert and a roll.  It was delicious.  Free wine bottles for both of us and we are set!  After our movies, we both sleep much easier than on our trip out - the extra leg room makes a huge difference!  We arrive at JFK at 2:30 am, fully refreshed and not tired at all.  We feel bad waking up the Deckers to let us in at such a crazy hour and we are so ready to be home, so I called Southwest Airlines to see if we could move up our flight to this coming morning instead.  They said they have a flight at 7:30 am, but it's out of Newark.  We look on Google maps and decide we can make it.  We head to Madison Square Garden to then catch the New Jersey rail to the Newark airport.  We get there around two hours early and make our flight back to KC via St. Louis airport - all told, we traveled 29 straight hours and were in 6 different airports, but were glad to back home on Sunday at noon!  Great trip but we were definitely both ready to be home!

June 10, 2011 - my birthday in Rome

We head to Ostia Antica for a day trip today.  It is a simple and cheap metro ride for about 30 minutes.  We get there and while I was waiting to pay the 6.5 euros per person, I noticed that elderly, children, disabled and birthday people get in free!  Thanks for the birthday present!  We walked around listening to a Rick Steves audio guide on the iPad, and saw this amazing city in remarkable condition still.  There was a bar, with shelving behind it and a wash basin below for washing dishes.  You could see the grooves in the floor for the sliding wooden door.  The amphitheater was also neat to see and they still use it today!  After that, we head home to the hotel.  We rest up a little and check Facebook and email, before heading to an 'early' dinner at 7:00.  We head to a cafe in the travestere neighborhood.  We get seated outside at a cramped 4 top.  After we get our pitcher of wine and appetizer, they seat a woman from Canada next to us.  She was a professor on a trip to a conference.  It was fun talking with her and suggesting what she should see.  Our food was great and so was the wine.  We then walked around the area near the cafe.  There were some outdoor performers about to start.  Laura told them it was my birthday and they told me happy birthday.  They proceeded to juggle and say some Italian jokes we didn't get.  Then they called me in to the middle to hold fire lit juggling sticks.  The one guy climbed on the the other guys shoulders, standing on them.  Then had me toss them one by one to him - fortunately, no one got burnt!  After that we head home to the hotel.

June 9, 2011 - Ancient Rome day

Laura not feeling good again, so stays home.  Mark goes to palatine hill and roman forum.  Can't even tell them apart - not very impressed overall.  Then heads to Colosseum.  Awesome - incredible how similar modern day arenas it is.  Could hold 60,000 people and fill/empty it in 15 minutes, free tickets.  Truly remarkable to see in person.  Heads back to hotel to rest a little before we both head to the Spanish steps.  We take a scenic route there from our hotel and pass by the US embassy - neat to see.  Then we arrive at the top of the steps.  We buy Rachel a fake Louis Voitton purse on the steps, then head to the bottom for a better look.  Then we went into several high end stores nearby before heading back to the hotel.  We head to dinner at a cafe near the campo de fiore area.  Rick Steves recommended it, but we were unimpressed.  The service was terrible, we were cramped, food was only mediocre at best and there was no good view, due to a plastic liner on the side of the patio.  We walk around the pantheon on our way home, then grab a bottle of wine to drink on our rooftop patio.

June 8, 2011 - Vatican City day

We head to breakfast at our Rome hotel for the first time and are pleased the large breakfast buffet. We can't sit long, because we were recommended to get to the Vatican 2 hours before the pope's 10:30 appearance so we can get a good seat.  It is just a short metro ride away, but then a 10 minute walk to the Vatican entrance.  It's pretty crazy to think of how small this 'country' is, despite being so powerful.  We make it through security and find a seat near an 'intersection' that is heavily guarded with Vatican security.  In the crowd, they have several lanes set up that I assume is for the pope mobile to drive through.  We write our family's postcards while we wait for him, in the hot sun.  At about 10:35, he emerges from around the left edge of St. Peter's riding atop his pope mobile - no glass bubble though.  He rides in style - an interesting Mercedes vehicle.  He drives around the lanes several times including going within 15 feet of our seats twice - it was awesome to be that close to the most powerful catholic leader in the world.  After driving around for a few minutes, the pope mobile drives him right up the steps to the stage and drops him off.  For the next hour or so, they alternate having a priest from US, Germany, France, Italy and a Spanish speaking country, get up to recognize any groups from a country that speaks their language and then a short prayer. The pope spoke between several of them, showing off the many different languages he can speak fluently.  He opened with a lengthy speech in Italian that Laura and I have no idea what he was saying.  Laura had to go to the bathroom, so we started over to the bathroom during one of the foreign priest's talks.  They ended the ceremony with singing the Our Father in Latin - I thought I would remember it better from high school Latin, but it didn't even seem all that familiar!  Near the bathrooms was where he had originally entered, so we walked up there and waited for him to leave - he came within a few feet of us again - this time I got it on video!
We are starving by this point, so we head to lunch, just outside the Vatican.  We realized earlier that we didn't have the addresses with us to send the postcards to, so we would have to come back later to mail them from the Vatican (so they'd have the Vatican postmark).  We then head to the Vatican museum for our 1:30 reservation.  It is a mad house getting through the swarms of people in guided tours.  We just used Rick Steve's book's description for our trek through, until we got to the highlights - first Raphael's rooms and then the Sistine chapel!  It was truly remarkable to see in person.  After admiring all the different scenes, we head next door to St. Peters.  Huge is all i can say.  I don't think pictures will ever do it justice for how massive that church is.  They said that more than 60,000 people can fit into the 6 acres inside - ridiculous.  We try to buy holy water there, but it is 3:30 and they don't offer it for sale again until 4:00.  Laura heads to the bathroom outside, while Mark waits inside for 4:00.  They give the holy water away for free, but you need to buy the 3.5 euro viles from the gift shop, if you didn't have your own with you - cash only.  I only have 18.5 euros and wanted 7 viles, so add that to what I need to do in the return visit.  We head back to the hotel and find all the addresses, then mark heads back to the Vatican to mail them and buy the extra 2 viles of holy water.  after getting back and a short rest, we head to dinner in the Travestere neighborhood and then home for bed after a long day...

June 7, 2011 - Siena to Rome

We ate breakfast at the hotel and had to fight the old men's club that apparently was also eating there today.  Then we headed down the street to catch our bus to the train station in the rain.  After the short ride to the train station, we were on our way to Rome, via Florence.  The train to Rome from Florence was really nice, having beverage service and snacks.  Rome's train station is huge and crazy.  We finally found our way to the metro train to take toward our hotel.  After a couple of stops and a few blocks we arrived at our beautiful hotel!  Marble everywhere and very high class.  The room is small but very nice.  It is really close to Trevi fountain.  We are starving since our train was delayed almost two hours.  We head to a cafe by the pantheon.  It is delicious, cheap and huge portions.   Afterwards, we head into the pantheon and are both awestruck by how massive and beautiful it is.  Imagining the ancient Romans building and using this is remarkable.  Then we head towards Trevi fountain.  We stop on the way to buy Laura a purse from a street vendor.  Trevi fountain is really neat and packed with people.  Then we head to suzanna church to try to get tickets to see the pope live tomorrow during our trip to the Vatican - they had some for us!  We are really excited at the thought of being able to see the pope in person at the Vatican!  Next we head to the hotel to relax before dinner.  Due to our late lunch we might actually hit a dinner crowd.  Usually we are the first ones to the restaurant and 6:30 or even 7:30.  We tried to go to a pizza cafe that was down by piazza de fiore, but it was closed on Wednesday's.  So we found another cafe where we sat outside and had some good Italian food again.  Laura got scared when going to the restroom there because it was down in the basement, down a long, narrow, winding staircase.

June 6, 2011 - Florence to Siena

Laura didn't sleep very well, so we slept in and didn't get out of the hotel until 10:00.  Laura showered night before, Mark couldn't this morning because water heater broke and only cold water.  Washed hair in sink and headed to the merkato centrale for a few minutes - indoor market that sells produce, food, etc.  Was neat but didn't stay long.  Went outside to the leather market.  Very fun and neat - bartered prices on several scarves, bracelets, and a tie for me.  Then we headed to a sandwich shop for some delicious cheap sandwiches.  Then we headed back to the hotel so we could use the free internet before we had to catch our 1:10 train to Siena.  We were almost back to the hotel when I spotted a little sandwich shop with a tv camera inside filming a tiny loud Italian girl. I asked Laura if that was Snooki from Jersey Shore and it was.  We stood outside and caught some up close pics of her and j-wow.  We walked towards our hotel and so did they so we got a picture of Laura with the two "celebs" in the background.
Arrived in Siena at 2:30.  Took bus to stop near our hotel and then had to walk about 5 blocks to hotel.  Hotel really neat - lots of marble floors and decorated ceilings and balconies.  Went to look in San Domingo church near our hotel.  St Catherine in the arch angel of Siena and the church has a bronze bust of her with her actual finger in a display case, then in a little chapel, there is her actual head on display - a little weird.  Next we headed to the duomo.  3 euro entry - very neat.  Lots of decorated marble floors depicting scenes in the bible.  Neat statues and paintings - huge ceilings.  Then grabbed some gelato nearby - pineapple and strawberry!
Then we went and sat in the il campo - the towns main square.  People watched for about 15 minutes then headed back.  Laura stopped in some stores on the way.  Tried to buy stamps at the post office but failed, then grabbed snacks at the grocery.  Sat on the hotels back patio waiting until the restaurants here open at 7 or 7:30!  Went to a neat outdoor seating restaurant on a very steep street.  The tables and chairs all have very different lengths to account for the hill.  The they sat another couple at our table from us - not sure if they were a "couple" or not.  Jessica and Patrick were fun to talk to and compare stories.  Then we headed home to drink wine on the back patio of the hotel.  They are playing a soccer game at the stadium right behind our hotel!

June 5, 2011 - Florence

Laura woke up feeling sick.  We went to church at Santa Croce church.  Very pretty, huge ceilings, mass was said in Italian, hard seats and kneelers, scaffolding from rennovation blocked most of altar.  Laura went back to hotel.  Mark went to orenmichele chapel, got pizza then headed back to share and get Laura.  Went to baptistery of duomo - very neat bronze doors and painted ceiling was awesome.  Then went to medici chapels - very neat, but had major scaffolding blocking part of exhibit.  Went back to hotel for bathroom break.  Went on Rick steve's Renaissance walk - by Medici palace, then duomo - went in duomo and bought a scarf from street vendor while in line.  then showed Laura the orenmichele church on way through courtyard of uffizi museum.  Stopped to admire the copy of David statue and others.  Then on to ponte vecchio bridge over the Arno river - bunch of gold and silver stores.  Across that to look at the pitti palace.  They had white tents in front for wine tasting.  Mark did the wine tasting for ten euros, got to keep the wine glass.  Almost done, it started pouring, then thunderstorms.  They let us behind the counter in the white tent.  Started hailing.  Stayed almost two hours in tent until rain slowed.  Went to chic restaurant nearby that looked pricey and weird food, so went to hotel to put dry clothes on and then to cafe nearby.  We found a good little Italian cafe with good prices too.  We were the only table sat due to the rain, but soon after it was full.  Laura's salad had a funny taste, so they brought her a great pasta instead.  We befriended the older woman from Australia dining alone next to us.

June 4, 2011 - Cinque Terre to Florence

Took 7:10 train to Riomaggiore (city #1) from Monterosso (city #5) and hiked to city #2 - very easy but very pretty, right on the coast.  We kept running into swarms of bugs.  Easy Trail to #3 was closed, so we took a bus up mountain to avoid hundreds of stairs, then took 1.5 hour hike to #3 - much more difficult but fun and beautiful.  Both glad we did it, but very tired after.  Took train back to hotel (after missing first train because we were on wrong platform and then waited 30 minutes to find next train delayed additional 15 minutes) and got showered.  Mark checked out while Laura finished getting ready.  Went to lunch at outdoor cafe - took forever and very tired, with no room, so took early train to Florence - 3:00 train instead of 7:00 - got us in at 6:10 instead of 9:30.  Hotel nice, good location, old palace (supposedly).  Went to Rick steve's recommended cafe - pasta and meat and water and wine and veggie for 12 euro each!  Very good and filling.  Went to nearby laundromat to do our laundry!  Headed home for early night after long day.

June 3, 2011 - Bologna to Pisa to Cinque Terre

Ate quick breakfast at hotel, then headed to train station.  We headed for Pisa.  When standing in line to store our bags at the station, the father behind us started talking to us.  He was mark, wife Lisa, son Ryan and daughter Amanda, all from New Mexico.  They had Rick Steve's book and knew exactly how to get to the leaning tower, so we just tagged along.  We took pics of the tower and then headed to an outdoor seating pizza cafe together.  It was fun comparing stories with them.  Then we all headed back to the train station, since we were on the same train towards Cinque Terre!
In Cinque Terre, we didn't know where to go for our hotel, so we followed our knowledgeable friends from a distance.  Ended up just getting us lost.  Finally asked for directions that got us on the right street, but still couldn't find the hotel.  Asked another local standing nearby who directed us into the restaurant there.  Through the restaurant in the very back was a desk to check us in.  The attendant spoke little to no english.  They finally called someone who spoke English and put me on the phone with them.  They told me there wasn't a room there but had a room a block away with a room for us and would send a free taxi for us.  I said we didn't need one and just needed directions, but just then, it started pouring rain.  So we accepted the taxi, only to find it would be another 30 minutes.  We waited until the rain slowed and the attendant walked us to our room.  It was right on the main street facing the beach and sea.  Unlocked the front door that led up two flights to another locked door that led to a narrow hallway with six more doors.  Inside the last one was our room!
That afternoon we walked along the beach and then settled on dinner at a beachside cafe.  We befriended the couple next to us.  Both were Italian looking but hailed from Switzerland.  They were fun to talk with about different things.  He was interested to hear about us's healthcare system.  When Laura said she was from Texas, he said 'bush from there'!  Then we walked to the old town of monterosso.  On the way, we took a detour to photograph this old castle right on a cliff by the shore and started walking up more and more steps towards a convent at the top.  Each turn had better and better views!  Finally at the top was a very old cemetery cared for by the comment.  It went on and on and had spectacular views of the old city.  After that we headed into the old town for some pictures and gelato, of course!