Wrapping Up Our Holiday:
On days 7 & 8 we docked at the island of Crete and Sicily for a few hours of sight-seeing at each port. We visited Crete with our new Texas friends that we met on board the Splendida. Since it was December 25th and 26th and the 26th being Sunday few businesses were open for shopping. We ventured to each of the town centers or piazzas, the weather was sunny and the company pleasant. We enjoyed some gelatto and cappuccino, meandering into some old churches. All the museums were also closed for the holidays.
On day 9 we arrived on the outskirts of Rome. We were met by our driver/tour guide, Duoma for a full day of sight-seeing. Only having one day meant that we had a lot to see in short amount of time. Our first stop was the Colosseum . An interesting fact that I learned this trip was that the Colosseum was originally built in AD 80 for boat races, the floor was full of water and small warships were sailed in front of thousands of spectators, it was many years before Christians were fed to lions for entertainment. We then toured the Pantheon so impressive as it is still the largest unenforced concrete roof ever built over 1,800 years ago which was once covered with copper to reflect the sunlight. We visited the Fontana di Trevi where it is believed if you throw in one coin over your left shoulder you will return to Rome someday, 2 coins will guarantee you will be married in Rome-I don’t remember if I threw a coin into the fountain over 20 years ago when Mark and I first visited Rome but I’m glad that I have returned.
We climbed the Spanish steps and first saw St. Peter’s through a keyhole-yes-many years ago the country of Malta was given some land for their embassy between the city of Rome and the country of the Vatican on the grounds that they wouldn’t taint the view of the St. Peter’s. The pope was disturbed when he saw all the building that had occurred on the site but they had creatively left a keyhole view of St. Peter’s. It was special to be at the Vatican during Christmas and view the nativity in St. Peter’s square before viewing St. Peter’s itself, the largest cathedral in the world. As part of the Vatican tour everyone has to visit the Sistine Chapel and see the amazing work of Michelangelo. Our tour guide informed us that the Vatican is the richest country in the world, bringing in $650,000 a day in visitors to the Sistine Chapel alone which took four years to paint.
We disembarked Tuesday morning and picked up a rental car in Genova before driving to Florence where we spent two nights. Florence was just great!! So clean yet so old, so beautiful and everything was enhanced by all the lights that were strung across the narrow streets. We saw some more churches!! We also saw Michelangelo’s statue of David-something that Mark has always regretted that we missed our first trip to Italy and the site he is buried. A perfect finish for a most amazing trip!
The boys have been in more cathedrals and museums and seen more naked sculptures in the last few days than they have in their entire life so far! More than once they have commented, “Another church?” Not once have they said, “More Italian food?” though! We enjoyed a really great meal in Rome and had to stop for a cup of hot chocolate on the way home. Can you ever get tired of good Italian food? Well, I can tell you that the boys are ready for some good Thai food! I guess it’s getting close to time to go home! Until Thursday we continue our quest for the best cup of hot chocolate in all of Italy before we leave. So far Milan holds that title- but we forge on!

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