Sunday, August 15, 2010

Civitavecchia (Rome)

If mommy had to pick one place out of all the places we went to that she enjoyed the most it would have to be Rome! I mean who could resist the Trevi fountain, all the churches in the Vatican, the Greek history too, the list goes on and on. Despite the language, people, food, etc, etc, etc it was just too much to take in for one day. I would love to go back one day soon to see all the things we missed.

I think the girls enjoyed it too although our land excursion was way too long for them to endure in the heat. That day alone I think mommy and daddy lost a few pounds from all that walking, pushing the stroller, and did I mention the heat?....100 degrees+ To make it up to the girls mommy did give in to a couple trips to the gelato shop.


Sophie, Mommy, Hannah in front of the Trevi.

Sophie, Daddy, Hannah in front of the Trevi.

The coliseum where the gladiators fought to the death. Sophie and Hannah were more into the local birds flying around on the grass.

Mommy and the girls look around the seating area in the coliseum. The girls make friends with the worker.

Here the worker tries to shake their hands and the girls suddenly become shy.

Inside of St. Peter's Basilica.

Mommy, Hannah, Stefania (our tour bus leader) and Angela (our land leader).

It's a towel bat!!!


Naples, Italy

We got over the culture shock in Barcelona, but we got another shock in Naples...the honking and driving! Wow, can I say that our driver of the tour bus we had in Naples was not only shocking, but really good. He managed to squeeze us into small alleys and get us to our destination in one piece.

The tour speaker was nice enough to tell us to sit on top of the bus since there was no AC on the shuttle. Though we were up top and having warm breezes blow in our face we were still HOT! We saw quite a bit from the top of the shuttle, but the girls weren't of course into any of the sites, so to keep them busy I let them take turns playing games on my iTouch and listen to the recorded tour on headphones.

We tried to go see a museum and was unsuccessful since we couldn't find the entrance (very embarrassing). Instead we talked to the locals and roamed some back streets. We also walked around the park and saw the locals playing soccer. It was during the World Cup too so people were all into it. People really took to the girls and wanted to take pics of them (I'm not sure if it was an Asian thing or because they were twins, but it was interesting). I found it strange, but the locals were really nice and friendly. Later after visiting so many locations I would have to say that Italy was my favorite because people were warm and friendly and it really felt nice to be around that.

We learned that siesta time is all around the region and if you ask for a cappuccino it should be before 10 a.m. or you will get some aggravated people. I never really experienced any of that in Italy....only in Spain and France.


Sophie playing with the iTouch and drenched in sweat up on top of the shuttle next to daddy.

From the shuttle you see parts of Naples.

A local bunch of school kids so friendly and nice wanting to take pics of the girls :)

Hannah and Soph get a free mini cone from the nice lady behind the counter and daddy puts some Italian gelato in there.

Story time on the ship before bedtime. "Big dinosaur!!! RAWR!!!" Thanks for the interjection Hannah.

Hannah and Sophie quickly adapt to the suite life.

Elephant towel gets taken in with squeals of delight.

Mommy and Hannah enjoy the sunset.



Silly on the jogging track.



Day at Sea 7/5/2010

We spent the next day at sea on our way to Naples. The girls had fun swimming in a pool made just for them in 8" of water with a slide. The pool on the side was fun as well and we spent a good chunk of time splashing around keeping cool from the warm weather. The girls made friends with some kids that spoke Spanish.

We had fun exploring the ship, but if you can believe it we didn't get to use all of the facilities because there was just too much to see. We missed looking at the ice rink! We did see the miniature golf, basketball court, rock climbing, arcade, etc. We did spend time on deck 14 on cloud 9 which is for kids 3 yrs and under.


The girls enjoying the pool made for munchkins!

Hannah looking for mermaids with mommy.

Hannah and Sophie enjoying the first of many animal towel creations made by our stewart Manuel. The swan towel wearing daddy's sunglasses.