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.

Logan's Class Program

Logan's class had a reader's theater and sang some songs for their class program. Logan was Froggy in Froggy Goes to School. He was very animated. He read so well even though he was nervous. Great job Logan!