Cruise and Rome

The first 2 weeks in June, Chad and I went on vacation to Rome and the Mediterranean. We went with Chad's family for his parents 40th anniversary. We had a really good time. We spent 4 days in Rome visiting a lot of the famous spots--the Colosseum and Forum, Vatican, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and a beautiful black sand beach in Ostia. We enjoyed seeing all the sights of Rome but were grateful for some rest by the time we started our cruise. Although we were in port 6 of our 7 days and did a lot of sightseeing it somehow seemed more relaxing than in Rome. Maybe it was the thousands of calories in delicious food and desserts that made the difference. We were able to see the sights of Genoa, Italy; Provence France, Barcelona, Spain, Palma De Mallorca, Spain, and Cagliari, Italy. It was nice to get away for awhile but we were also happy to come back. The kids had fun spending time with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Alan and family and Grandpa and Grandma Hatch. We enjoyed seeing new things, spending time together and with extended family and being waited upon night and day.

WARNING:  The posts that follow this are boring vacation photos and ramblings.  My memory of the trip is already a blurr.  I had to look up the names of some of the cities we visited.  If I don't post it I will never remember it.  I will never ask if you read about my vacation. 

Cagliari, Italy

Since we had seen our fill of Churchs and old sites, we headed to the beach again.  This beach reminded me of San Diego but had the feel of Mexico with the constant interruption from peddlers.  We ended up buying a paddle ball game from one vender because it was easier to buy it than make him go away.  The beach was crowded so we were glad that we were back in Italy where they believe in bikini tops. Once again they actually had waves. I don't know if this is why it was so crowded.  It looked like senior sluff day at the beach.  I didn't mind the crowds because it was fun to people watch. It is really true that Italians are lovers.  It seems like wherever we were in Italy there was always someone around kissing.  I kept wondering if these teenagers would act the same around their parents.  Teenagers there are pretty much the same as teenagers here. It made me laugh.  I had given up on my camera at this point so I have no pictures of Cagliari.

Palma de Mallorca

This is an island in Spain.  Before we headed to the beach we wandered around some church grounds.  They had some pretty garden areas. We were expecting to find gorgeous beaches but, it had been stormy in other parts of Europe so the waves had brought in a lot of garbage.  The waves were crashing hard against the beach here but like I said in an early post it is unusual so they don't rent boogie boards.  These beaches had more risque views than  in any other country so we had to keep our distance from others.  Luckily the beach wasn't too crowded.  In Italy the little girls don't where tops but older girls and women do.  In France we only saw one elderly woman without a top.  We joked that it was hard to tell the older men and women apart.  We should have had a heads up because of a statue we saw on church grounds.  Amy had said she knew someone who had served part of his mission in Palma.  He had said that is was a difficult mission because of the beautiful beaches and beautiful women.  Now I know literally how hard it would be.  I'm am sure that they aren't allowed anywhere near the beaches.  Although the beaches weren't what we expected, the city was very pretty.

Barcelona, Spain

I really liked Barcelona.  As with many of these port towns I wished we could have stayed a little longer.  Once we figured the city out it was time to go.  One of my favorite things the entire trip was the Sagrada Familia.  It is a church that they have been building since 1883 and it isn't expected to be finished for at least another several decades.  I couldn't believe all of the little details that have gone into the building.  The exterior is covered in statues and carvings depicting Christ's life.  One side of the church is very modern looking while the other side is more traditional.  The interior has a lot of work left but the way the light comes in creates beautiful color in the church.  My pictures aren't that great because my camera became possessed at this church.  It started focusing in and out whenever it felt like it even when it was off.

Provence, France

After so much site seeing Chad and I were ready for another beach day.  We broke off from from the rest of the family and spent the day enjoying the white sandy beach of Provence.  This was the best beach of the entire trip.  The Mediterranean is very calm. Later in our trip it changed but we were told it was very unusual to see large waves. The water was freezing cold so I watched Chad swim laps in the ocean while I soaked up the sun.  When we were ready for a little more adventure and activity we rented a sea kayak and explored the coast for a couple of hours.  It was so nice to spend the day relaxing.  I really liked this city.  I actually though the French people were very kind and accommodating.  They even stopped for you when you tried to cross the road.  They would have rather run you over than stop in Italy.

Genoa, Italy

In Genoa we did a bus tour to see all the sites.  Then we wandered the city and did some shopping.  It is a very pretty city.  When I think of Italy this is what I picture--Narrow alleys of old building decorated with hanging flowers.  It lacked the graffiti of Rome and and was much cleaner.  I don't have many pictures because our camera ran out of batteries.  We didn't do any shopping that we couldn't have done in the US but shopping is always fun.  Besides there isn't an H & M in Utah and I love that store.  We were able to even enjoy the sites of the city while shopping because the shopping district was so intricately decorated. 

Vatican

I thought the Vatican tour would be my favorite part of the trip but it wasn't.  Although we saw a lot of beautiful artwork it was by far the most crowded place we went the entire trip.  The Sistine Chapel was the worst of it.  It is supposed to be a sacred, quiet area.  It is far from that.  It is wall to wall people.  You get driven through like cattle. I just wanted out.  I enjoyed the artwork of the Sistine Chapel better from the outside where our guide was able to explain each part of the ceiling.  It is very noisy so the guards spend the entire time shouting, "quiet" or "no pictures".  There are no pictures allowed in the Chapel because some Japanese company paid to have the ceiling cleaned so they own the copy rights for 10 years.  They even left spots to show how dirty it was before the cleaning.  I was shocked how disrespectful so many people were.  The crowds wouldn't have been so bad had they obeyed the supposedly strict rules. You don't even get a chance to enjoy it. 

St. Peters Basilica was much more enjoyable.  It is very pretty and much more reverent.  Even the area near the Pieta was much less crowded then we had experienced in the Vatican Museum.  I don't regret doing the tour because I can't image going to Rome and not seeing the Sistine Chapel but I was a little disappointed.  If I were to go back I would go back again, I would go to Vatican city without going through the museum.

Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon

I still don't get the Spanish Steps.  We came off the subway and turned the corner and there were hundreds of people sitting on some steps.  Chad said "I wonder what is going on?"  I said "I am sure it is lunch (they close their shops for 2-3 hours in the afternoon) and people are just waiting for everything to open up again."  Both of us were wrong, these are the famous Spanish Steps.  I am not sure why they are a tourist attraction.  Any way we sat on the steps and ate our lunch even though we found out later that you really aren't supposed to eat on them.  Oh well they are on the way to Trevi fountain which is definitely worth seeing.  Although it was also crowded (what in Rome isn't crowded) it is really pretty. 

Colosseum and Forum

As soon as we got off the plane and dropped off our luggage at our hotel we headed to the Colosseum. It is crazy because you come out of the subway and there it is. It was one of our favorite sites of the trip. Our guide spoke English but with a thick Italian accent and it was pouring rain most of the tour so it was a little hard to understand him but what we heard was really interesting. I am glad that I didn't live in these times. I can't believe that the events at the Colosseum were considered fun family entertainment. My kids would have had constant nightmares. I definitely got more out of the Forum tour the following day because our guide was Canadian. It is amazing that these sites are so well preserved amidst the buy modern city. They were still excavating the area.