Italia...Day Six

Day six...I can't even fathom writing this one without sinking into the couch, laughing, but also feeling a little sad. You'll soon know why.

If you've missed out thus far and want to catch up, you can read about what led to the trip here, and about days one, two, three, four, and five.

On day six, in a nut shell, we saw the Baptistery, the Campanile, and Museum Opera del Duomo. We walked the streets and we made a large purchase.

After another "ho-hum" breakfast, we made our way back to the Baptistery, which was originally a pagan temple. Post Constantine, it was converted to a Baptistery. We stood in line to get in, and passed some professional beggars, complete with dirty, barefoot children. It nearly broke my heart.

On our way to the entrance we passed the Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti. Only catch, the ones on the Baptistery are fake...replicas of the orginals, which took 21 years to complete (the originals that is). Wow. (Even though they were "fake," I still thought they were amazing.)

Of course, everywhere you turn there is beauty...

The inside of the Baptistery literally glowed with a golden color. The ceiling was amazing. All. Mosaics. Unbelievable.

Antipope John XXIII is buried in the Baptistery. (No flash allowed.)

More of the mosaic ceiling...

After touring the Baptistery we made our way to the Museum Opera del Duomo that housed the original Gates of Paradise. We were shocked by the incredible detail found in the originals that was lost in the replicas. Several of the panels were out on tour, so we only saw a few of the originals. If you are ever in Florence these panels are worth the time to see. They are some of the most amazing pieces of art we have ever seen.

Also in the museum was a sculpture of Mary Magdalene by Donatello. I found this to be very moving.

Another incredible mosaic.

And, lest I forget, we also saw John the Baptist's index finger.

After time well spent at the museum, we climbed the stairs (all 414 of them!) to the top of the Campanile. The stairs were fairly narrow and seemed to narrow more and more as we climbed. There were times when we'd literally have to flatten ourselves against the wall so those coming down could scoot past us. (I also had to guard against "what-ifs." You know, like, what if the tower falls while we're in it!?)

The view from the top was worth every step!

Beautiful, beautiful Florence...

Santa Croce...

A side peak at the Baptistery. Until we were there, I didn't realize just how "on top" of each other the buildings are.

Post Campanile we made a quick stop at the hotel and then wandered the streets.

Before we left for Italy, I'd decided I wanted to keep my eyes open for a purse or pair of boots as a "memento."

That afternoon I saw a purse in a store window that peaked my interest. I stepped in to inquire about it and immediately knew we were out of our league.

(And how ironic that T would take this picture...)

Before I could step out, T joined me inside. And just writing about this, remembering it, makes me feel a little sick. And a little sad. But sometimes I can laugh about it. One day, it will be really funny. In fact, as T read this, he commented he hadn't realized I am still so sensitive about it.

On with the story.

The owner, we'll call him Mr. Leather, was 100% Italian. He sported a suit, an unbuttoned dress shirt, thick cologne, and his hair was perfectly placed. T describes him as "stereotypical Italian." I don't really know how to describe this interaction. Point is, he offered to "make a deal" with me on the purse I'd admired. I was straight up with him and said we were WAY out of our league and headed towards the door. So he turned the sales pitch on T. He made offer after offer, and a few purses were do-able price wise, but I just didn't like them. My gut was screaming RUN! But T insisted we stay.

The thing is, the guy was fascinating. He is the fourth or fifth in a long line of leather designers and the first in his family to make a go at his own label. He was nice. He also wanted to make a sale. And he had another store a few blocks over where he designed coats and custom tailored each one to fit perfectly. And truth be told, though my heart and gut were screaming RUN, RUN, RUN, there was an element, a part of me, that was enjoying our time with him...hearing family history and about his family's vineyard...about life in Italy...his take on marriage...

So...after exhausting the purse store without making a purchase, I figured we'd see the coats and hit the road. I mean, I certainly did NOT want a coat. So... with his glass of family label wine in hand, he insisted we tour his coat store. (Now, I'm certain any native, and probably several tourists, saw us and thought, "suckers...") Mr. Leather took us on a short detour to see his personal residence. He clicked the chandelier on and off with his remote clicker and told us all about his wife, son, and daughter. On to his coat store we went. He opened a bottle of his family's finest (his own label, from the family vineyard) and offered us each a glass. T accepted, while I declined. He had his assistant bring out every coat they had in my size.

At this point, I was sweating and wanted to cry. I dare say I literally felt nauseated. As soon as T agreed to a glass of wine, I knew we were committing to spend money with this guy. And. I. Didn't. Want. To. Not because the things he had were beautiful, heck, gorgeous, but because I never intended to spend that much money. It was a quantity thing.

So...I tried on all these coats...they were putting them on me one by one... and I kept telling him I didn't need a coat and thanks, they were gorgeous, but no thanks.

Now, he did bring out a chinchilla fur coat. (Supposedly he sold one of these to Bill Gates for his wife...hmmm....) It was sweet. Had it not been THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of dollars, I might have agreed to it! (Maybe we should start a chinchilla farm? Just kidding.)

Oh the softness...

Anyway, so he kept bringing out these coats for me to try...one of the last ones he had was black leather. It hit above the knee and was classic.

T fell in love with it. And. Insisted. We. Buy. It.

At this point the room was spinning. And I felt angry.

While Mr. Assistant measured me for the coat, Mr. Leather starts telling T that the purse I was currently carrying just would not suffice and what a great deal he would give him if he added a purse to the tally.

From this point on I think I felt such a mix of anger and nausea, not to mention panic, that I'm not totally sure what even happened. I mean, how would we eat for the rest of the trip??? How were we going to pay for this??? We spent YEARS eating beans and rice to pay off debt. I DID NOT want to go there again.

I numbly followed T, who was beaming, and Mr. Leather, back to the purse store.

Mr. Leather pulled a few bags from the shelf and began his pitch. I felt awful. T was still beaming and encouraging me to "pick one." But, I didn't like any of them. I mean, how could I? Finally we settled on one. I asked for a few words with T, in private.

We stepped aside, but there was nothing to be said. He said he wanted to buy me a nice coat and purse. This was important to him. I asked where the money would come from? How would we eat for the rest of the trip?

He informed me he'd moved some money from our emergency fund into our checking account, prior to leaving the country, so we'd just pay for it with that.

EXCUSE ME??? That money was for EMERGENCIES!!! This most certainly was NOT an emergency!!!

I remember standing there while I watched Mr. Leather take our card and run the transaction. He got our mailing info, to send the coat at a later time. He gave me a pair of black leather gloves as a thank you. (He asked T first...)

We left. I cried.

And cried.

And cried.

We walked around town more.

I cried.

We had pizza for dinner in a little hidden courtyard. Though the food was wonderful, I just picked at mine.

That was pretty much the tone for the remainder of the night.

I cried more when we turned the lights out that night. I wrote a lengthy excerpt about the day in my prayer journal. I should probably tear that portion out and burn it.

And I felt so guilty. The deal was done. My tears and anger upset T. Here we were in this amazing country, with the clock ticking, and I couldn't even enjoy it for the anger and tears.

We're (at least I am) still a little sensitive about the whole thing.

I refused to wear the coat until we'd fully paid back our emergency fund. I just couldn't enjoy it. Doing Dave Ramsey does that to you. It makes it hard to enjoy something when you don't have cash in hand to pay for it. Even when you have the cash...but it's coming from your emergency fund. Call me a tight wad. Tell me to loosen up. Whatever. Dave says a woman's face relaxes and she's much prettier when there's an emergency fund in place. He's right. At least in our case.

Anyway...while we walked around that afternoon we saw a lot of this:

In fact, we heard one street referred to as "Gucci, Lucci, Pucci Lane."

Florence is uptown. A, if not THE, design mecca!

So...day six was kind of rough. At least towards the end.

Last Sunday I wore the coat to church. A friend asked about it. I told her. She said, "aren't you glad he did that? Now you have a nice coat and purse and it's all paid for." I'm getting there...just not there yet. I will say, it's been really nice having a warm coat that fits perfectly. I know T doesn't regret it. Doing that for me gave him great pleasure. I just wish we'd had cash in hand, rather than coming home to pay ourselves back.

On that note, the BIGGEST blessing of this fabulous trip, was that T and I worked and saved for a LONG time and paid for the entire trip ahead of time. It's really wonderful to take a trip and not have it follow you home (you know, paying for it later...) Only, we didn't exactly budget for an up and coming (?) designer purse and coat. :)

Italia...Day Four

I know you're wondering why I'm blogging about Italy instead of that precious little bundle! Well...it's because T and I work on the Italy posts together and he's home and available right now...and since it's been nine months since that wonderful trip...we've got to finish or we'll forget.

In a nutshell...we took the train to Florence and rambled about, saw some great art, ate a delicious dinner, and crashed. 

So...to fill in the gaps...we rose early and had our last most fabulous breakfast ever, checked out of our hotel, and literally wove our way through a gay rights parade. Lovely start to the day. The train station was several hundred yards from the hotel, making for a brisk walk.  (We're laughing about it now, but the walk was "brisk" due to a little disagreement we had...)

Our train tickets were pre-paid, and as uncomplicated as that should make things, we didn't realize all we had to do was get on the train...there was a bit of a language barrier on exactly what we needed to do...eventually we decided to just get on the train and hoped we'd done things right. We had.

On this particular train ride we sat with the Ts from New York. She is a hairdresser and he is a, well, that's why we should've done this sooner. We can't remember what he did for a living.  Anyway, we also met a couple from CA. He was a CEO and she was an accountant. At 10am they had that "it's five o'clock somewhere" thing going. They pretty much kept to themselves while we yakked it up with the Ts. It was a great ride and my T got to explain nuclear power - which always fascinates me.

Upon arrival in Florence we realized I had picked up the wrong "Florence" travel book...and thus we did not have a map or our list of things we wanted to see. Great. So T made his way to a tourist-y booth and paid way too much for a map. Thanks to me. Then we spent more than we should have on a "guide to Florence" that was a bummer of a read...and then we found a bookstore that had the "lonely planet" guide book in English...much better! 

It was an overcast day and was drizzling as we plodded along the sidewalk of about eight city blocks to reach our hotel. Ok...the people in Florence are in a hurry. I thought we might get knocked off the sidewalk multiple times. We were thankful we'd packed so light!

The hotel...Hotel Campioni...was exquisite! My very favorite in terms of decor! There was a single door beneath a striped awning. We entered and there was no lobby...it felt like we were walking into someone's private residence. At the end of a beautifully decorated narrow hall there was a small desk where we were greeted by the attendant. This is where we made a mistake. Perhaps. Our travel agent told us we didn't have to accept help with our bags, and therefore no tip would be necessary. When Mr. Butler (an older gentleman) stepped forward to take our bags, we declined. His nose, immediately, went up in the air and there was an aura of disdain. He showed us to our room which was on the third floor. It was gorgeous. Tiny, but gorgeous. The walls were papered in a light buttery and cream wide stripe. The bedding was all white. There was a tall armoire with mirrored doors against one wall, two twin beds pushed together along another wall, with sconces on either side, a huge window that opened and looked out over the street below. The bathroom was a cream colored stone...all large tiles...and it was pretty cramped, but beautiful! The room was carpeted and felt so gorgeous. It was very well done. And so welcoming...I loved it!!!

After we settled in, we walked around for a while. We walked past the Duomo, Baptistry, and Campanile. I, personally, was shocked. From the slides and images I'd studied in art history, I thought the Duomo was black and white...very cool. No. Not quite. Try green and white with salmon pink accents. I wasn't such a fan. T, on the other hand, was. 

We headed over to the Piazza Della Signoria and checked out several reproductions of famous sculptures...such as David. T loved this part and we spent a decent chunk of time there, photographing and finishing off some delicious gelatto. 

Just a few feet away was the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. They were doing some major renovating and as we waited in line, we watched painters (as in, fine art painters) matching paint colors and carefully restoring portions of murals. As we walked further in, we found ourselves in a sort of stone courtyard. There were statues and a fountain and a huge staircase leading upward into room upon room of fine art and ornate furniture. It was, quite frankly, beautiful. There was beautiful painting after beautiful painting...breathtaking fresco after breathtaking fresco...it was unbelievable.

By the time we exited, the rain was falling steadily and we headed over to a corner restaurant. Ordering was completely confusing. Finally we unknowingly went "buffet style" which meant we pointed to what we wanted and the woman behind the counter served our plates accordingly. We paid (and the guy behind the register was very gracious and helped us with some translating) and made our way to the covered outdoor seating area. We sat...and were shooed away by a waiter...we'd ordered off the buffet, not the menu. So we sat where the buffet people were allowed to sit. 

(more gorgeous doors/sculptures)

Then we walked around the Piazza di Santa Croce looking for a certain school for leather craftsmen which I was so hoping to visit. The travel guide (the one left in the USA) indicated this school was known for turning out skilled leather craftsmen whose hand work is sold at great prices. I wanted a first hand view... It turned out the school was in the back of the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella and it was closed. We opted to head back the next day.

We made our way back in the direction of our hotel and decided to try a restaurant (marked in the guide book) called La Coquina. Oh what a fine, fine, FINE decision that was!!! We waited a few minutes and were seated. We ordered an appetizer of pears, fresh bread, and Gorgonzola cheese...which was divine. I pulled out my camera for that one, but put it away after the look T gave me. Too tourist-y? So...I don't have pics of the divine food, but oh how good it was! T ordered Gnocchi. That's a heavy pasta made from potatoes with some kind of mushroom sauce. I ordered the vegetable pie. Oh that vegetable pie was D-I-V-I-N-E. It was sliced like a traditional piece of pie...layer upon layer of thinly (like slivers) sliced vegetables - zucchini, egg plant, tomatoes, etc. It was so good. We both enjoyed a glass of Chianti. Unfortunately, by this time, T was running fever and had a headache, so we asked for the check. The waiter - the only waiter in the restaurant, who was skinny and ran around like a crazy mad man, was offended. He thought he'd done something. We assured him T just didn't feel well and paid our ticket.

We headed back to the hotel and T was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

I stayed up and journaled. 

The end of day four.

Italia Day Two

I don't know why, but I have a bug to write about Italy tonight. I am afraid I am going to forget. When we first got back, I fought through some mixed emotions...I wrote a little about that in the first post. However, as the days grow between the here and now and the sweetness of that trip, the memories become all the more precious to me. T was right. It was a good thing. I am glad we went. I am so thankful we went. Oh...I LOVED it! I love to play back the memories while I'm washing dishes or folding clothes and those very memories make my heart stir. What a precious and special time in our marriage. What an investment. Thank you, T.

And just fyi...it will be long. To quickly sum up for those of you with better things to do today: We saw Vatican City and took a tour of Rome by moonlight. There, you have the highlights. Now for the details...

So...day two. We set our watches to go off around 7am, but being exhausted, we slept right through them and rose shortly before 8am. We dressed and headed downstairs to what was the most fabulous breakfast EVER!

I described it in that first post...ahh....yes, so yummy! Cheese, cappuccino, cheese, cheese, cappuccino, rolls, breads, nutella, aqua frizzante, etc. SOOOoooo yummy! And T was so kind to me. Almost every morning he allowed me to serve my plate and then sit down while he made our cappuccinos...it's so wonderful to be waited on hand and foot by such a chivalrous man! After we ate I tucked a mini round of cheese and a few pieces of wrapped toast in my purse for later...

We headed out the hotel doors and into Rome for day two of the most wonderful adventure I've ever been on! We spoke with a worker at the bus station and learned we needed to purchase a bus ticket that would be good all week. We wondered over to a magazine/newspaper stand and purchased two tickets. Thanks to Frommers (our guide book), we knew which bus number to take to get us to Vatican City!

The bus rides were always interesting. We saw people from so many different walks of life.

We hopped off at our stop and headed into Vatican City...only St Peters Square was PACKED! We thought, "oh great, we made a HUGE mistake picking today to come..." However, it turns out the Pope had sold people tickets to allow them to have their things blessed by the Pope...so thousands of people were there to have the Pope bless their stuff. Thankfully, they had no interest in St. Peter's Basilica. T and I rented an audio guide and began...and it was AMAZING! AMAZING! We saw the Pieta by Michelangelo...FANTASTIC! It was behind glass...but still, AWESOME! The entire church was amazing. You simply cannot fathom the amount of detail, the expense, the hours, the lifetimes that have gone into creating this place. Unreal! It was unreal! It was also, yikes, dare I say this, in my opinion, a tad bit overdone...don't stone me, now. And, it made me sad to think how many people gave of their time, resources, and talents to build such a place...all the while thinking what they were doing would secure their eternity, or put them in more favorable standing with God. That, to me, was sobering.

The following "run" of pictures were taken outside of St. Peter's Basilica...you simply have to see it to get a sense of how massive and intricate it is...the sculpture alone was enough to make me swoon...add in the amazing architecture...the outside was unreal...over the top!

Yes, that really is the ceiling...and it really is exposed the the elements...just like that.

Again, outside, and exposed the the elements...

I took a bunch of pics before we even set foot inside, and then shortly after stepping foot inside, the battery ran out. I had NOT remembered to pack the extra batter!! So...just a few more pics for day two. That was enough to put a damper on the day. I literally had to lecture my attitude at that point, that I was NOT going to let that take away from the day. However, I am so sad that I missed photographing all that we saw! We figured we couldn't take pics in the Vatican Museum anyway, so we didn't return to the hotel for the battery. That was an error in judgement. They DO allow photography, just no flash photography...oh well. I guess we'll just have to go back! (and anyway, going back for another battery would've taken too much time!)

So..we spent almost three hours with the audio guide in the basilica. Wow. The art, the sculpture, the floors, the ceilings, the beams, the posts, the EVERYTHING was unreal. The attention to detail, phenomenal!

St. Peter...holding "the key"

A statue of one of the popes

ahhhhh....take a deep breath with me...the Pieta by Michelangelo! Yes! We really saw it and it was breathtaking. It was beautiful. We marveled at how Michelangelo could take solid stone, hard and cold and chip away at it and polish it and form it into this...it was gorgeous! It was also behind glass...but still, we got to see it! Mary and Jesus seemed incredibly lifelike - almost breathing. It evoked some powerful emotions.

Ok, this is a mosaic. All of the "paintings" in the basilica are actually mosaics...you can see the tiny pieces forming together in the above photo...pretty amazing. Below you can see it in its full context. Yea, this kind of stuff was in churches all over Italy...sometimes we'd walk in and no one else would be there...like, the church is just open, so come on in. They have amazing paintings and mosaics...it's crazy!

By the end of the tour, I was getting tired. T was fascinated by all the history, I was growing a bit weary with it.

One interesting point to note here is that the Catholic Church stole ("recycled" as some tour guides called it) all the marble used in constructing Saint Peter's Basilica from palaces in Rome. Interesting...very interesting.

After nearly three hours, we made our way down to the crypt where all the popes are buried. This was interesting...it was like a room with a low ceiling and tons of stone caskets, each in their own little niche. There were two security dudes guarding Pope John Paul II's tomb. A small crowd had amassed there. T and I were quick to bypass it and move on. We'd hoped to get a tour of the catacombs, but there was a stiff rule that you could NOT go there if you had not reserved a spot at least one month in advance. Hmmm...next time.

So we left the Basilica and headed for the Vatican Museum. On our way we passed a "cute couple." Well, that's what ran through my head. T spoke up and said, "hey, that's R and S from high school!" Sure enough! It was two of our friends, a brother and sister, right there in Vatican City! We stood on the street and caught up for a few minutes...how random! I thought we might see someone we knew while we were over there, but I never dreamed it would be them!

So we headed on to the Vatican Museum. The line wrapped around the front of the museum and down a side street, but moved fairly quickly. We had to go through a metal detector to be admitted...T had a leatherman in his pocket, so we got the royal treatment and were escorted to a room where T had to check it with security...then we were free to head on in...

Ok, any idea how big the Vatican Museum is??? Um, try NINE MILES of hallways lined, make that chock full of art! We began in the Early Christian History section...lots of sculpture - fragments of coffins, etc. Honestly, there wasn't anything particularly striking to me or T in this area. I would not have spent as much time there, had I any idea what awaited us!

Next we went to some exhibits that were from parts of the world where the Catholic Church had missionaries. Again, not something to write home about.

Following that we, in our opinion, got to the "good stuff." The paintings and of course, more sculpture! It was amazing to enter a room and there would be a painting I had studied while in school...I don't think I can explain how awesome and wonderful that was! To step up close and see the brush strokes, to see how, from a distance a piece comes together completely, but up close, there was at times, such looseness to the strokes and marks. There were times when my heart literally got caught up in my throat. Yea, I guess I'm a bit of an art junkie. 

We spent hours...until minutes of the museum closing, staring and taking it all in. By the end of our time there, we were both so overwhelmed and exhausted it was hard to find words...we were on overload. There was no way to take it all in, just no way. 

Some of the highlights of the Vatican Museum were seeing The School of Athens by Raphael...which I'd studied in depth in school. Ahhh...to see it in person! To be able to reach out and touch it, don't worry, I'm a rule follower, I didn't! 

The ceilings were amazing!!! You cannot even being to fathom the amount of detail that went into each panel and the layer upon layer of intricately carved crown molding. It was amazing. My neck hurt from looking up the entire time!

We walked down a hallway of HUGE tapestries! We're talking like 20 feet wide by 50 or 60 feet tall...each depicting different biblical scenes. The detail and realism were incredible. We were sobered by one titled, The Slaughter of the Innocent, portraying all the babies being killed under Herod's decree. It was gruesome and at the same time, so beautifully woven. Amazing. Simply amazing. 

Every room had signs that read, "Sistine Chapel" with an arrow, so we were constantly thinking we were almost there...and we'd hit another room.

I regret that I can't remember more of the names of the paintings we saw. I was in hog heaven. It was wonderful! Saturating!

(The Laocoon)

We headed outside to an octagonal room where we saw The Laocoon. (A depiction of a Trojan Priest who was skeptical about the nature of the Trojan horse - "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts," he said...the Greek gods did not like this and sentenced him to death by sea serpents)   We didn't just see it, we got to touch it, to run our fingers over the smooth marble of it and seven other remarkable statues.

We did notice that on every piece of art that had been restored, was affixed a small sign that read, "The restoration of this piece of art was made possible by blah blah blah" - ALWAYS a group from America! Interesting...

So towards the tail end of our visit to the Vatican Museum, we finally came to the Sistine Chapel. The edges of the Chapel are lined with benches so you can sit and look up. There was absolutely NO photography (even without a flash) allowed, and NO TALKING! And you could NOT sit on the floor or the steps...so there were hundreds of people packed into the Chapel, all staring up at the ceiling. 

Thanks to a restoration done a few years ago of the ceiling, it is supposedly much brighter than before..it was amazing, but, again, please don't stone me, not quite as amazing as some of the other works we'd seen in the museum. The overall color/tint of the ceiling was a purple-ish mauve. Please don't get me wrong, each scene was gorgeous and so well painted...perhaps I'd built it up a bit too much in my mind...but it was amazing. We spent a good bit of time in there, and I love that I've actually seen the Sistine Chapel in person! T, who is sitting beside me, helping me reminisce, thought it was "pretty darn good."

So...on our way out of the Vatican, post Sistine Chapel Ceiling, we walked down what must have been another mile of corridor, with every spare inch of wall space lined with hand painted armoires, each with different family crests or amazing color paintings. I wanted one. Ha...so we turned off the flash on the camera and attempted to take another shot...and we got a few.

Ok, so we left the museum as they were closing and headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. Oh wait, genius me with such an incredible sense of direction, "felt" my way to a bus stop, thinking we could cut travel time getting back to the hotel...not only did we get completely lost, but we had to wonder and wonder before we could find a bus stop. Once there we waited and waited and waited, hoping to make it back in time for our night tour of Rome! Finally a bus came and it took us quite a while to get back. "Freshening up" kind of went out the window. We did make it back in time for our tour.

A guy showed up in the lobby and between the logo on his shirt and our papers, we figured out we were supposed to get in the car with him. There, we met an Australian couple who were quite fascinating. (Ok, so maybe it was just the accent that made them super fascinating!) They were married and were pretty much say what you think kind of people. Interestingly enough, they'd been keeping up with our election...which sparked some interesting conversation. 

Next stop was to pick up a Jewish couple from upstate New York. They were nice.

Shortly after that pick up we were dropped off at our bus...for a "Night Tour of Rome." Now, I was pretty stoked for this. It sounded extremely romantic! As we boarded, it looked like everyone would be an English speaker...we sat behind a newly married couple who were living in Germany (he had just finished a term in Iraq) and they were preparing to move to Savannah, GA...and of all the things we talked about...she wanted to know a good brand of pest control for their house! I was like, "you are talking to the right girl!" I told her all about Demon WP...which I've mentioned to you before...so that was kind of crazy. As our conversation was just getting going good, the tour guide stood up in the front of the bus and the bus began edging into traffic...

The guide began in English and gave us a short spill about what we'd be doing for the evening...then she switched to German...and gave the same spill...then she switched to French and gave the same spill, and finally in Spanish. That was kind of a bummer...guess I'm kind of a self centered American, huh? The thing was, I don't think she knew what she was saying, she was just reading stuff off a piece of paper...it was a bit crazy. The poor people at the end of the translation list...we'd have long passed something before they were told what it was! 

(at the Trevi Fountain)

So we drove all over the city of Rome and passed so many amazing things! We stopped at the Trevi Fountain...where a group of guys were forcing roses into girls' hands and then demanding payment. It made me feel frazzled. I just kept my hands gripped in a fist...to keep from having a rose forced into them and in preparation to knock one of 'em out if need be...

The fountain was gorgeous and PACKED full of people! It was HUGE!!! Our favorite thing about it was its sheer scale and massive presence. Really, you need to see it!

Following the stop at the Trevi, we headed to Casanova's for dinner. This was a very interesting experience. The restaurant was lit with fluorescent lights receding into a tray ceiling, with an overall blue tint. The tables filled fairly fast, and we wound up at a table with a couple from Japan. She taught English to chefs for hotel chains and he was a pulmonary doctor who had just opened his own clinic in Tokyo. She did the translating to keep the conversation going. They were really a lot of fun.

We have friends who are missionaries in Japan and they are getting to share the gospel with the Japanese through Black Gospel Choir music. Evidently that's kind of the "in" thing right now...so I mention this to the lady - that our friends are in Japan and lead a Black Gospel Choir...she was quick to inform me that's not really their "taste in music." Oh well...

Part way into the first course someone stepped up to the microphone and tapped a fork on the side of a wine glass and then it began...opera! A couple sang song after song while we ate...SO FUN! They were only feet from our table and had incredible voices. 

Dinner wasn't really anything to write home about, but the company and entertainment were!

Following dinner at Casonova, we were the last couple to be dropped off at our hotel. On the way there we almost (keep in mind we were in a huge tour bus) ran right over a tiny car that stopped in the middle of the street to turn around...we were within a hair of smashing that tiny car. It could've been VERY bad. They drive like maniacs over there!

So it was another amazing and fun day...wonderful! I'd love to go back...if only for a little while!

Ok, so that's the end of day two!