Day Four: Travel Day from Rome to Florence with a little extra for good measure

 

Travel days on a Eurotrip are always an adventure. Today was no exception.  It is about 10:40pm and I am sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Piccadilly in Montecatini, Italy. It is a small city nestled in between Florence and Pisa.  We arrived much later than expected, but we made it just in time for dinner.  I will explain in a bit, but lets back up a bit and return to the Ibis in Rome where we woke this morning.

The Ibis Styles hotel breakfast, as I mentioned yesterday, is pretty extensive. I actually ordered food last night while typing and skipped breakfast for my leftovers, lol...but I did try to get a few photos of the spread.

A wide varieties of pastries. I heard that the donuts were amazing!

Here you can see a long line of other breakfast foods to chose from.

After yesterday's coffee debacle, I ordered extra this morning.

We had such an ambitious day yesterday that many of us either skipped breakfast (for some extra sleep) or just picked at a little food. Others had multiple servings, lol.  We had told the kids to be in the lobby ready for the bus by 8:30 and they all were on time.  It is so helpful to be punctual on these trips and the kids have been great so far. We hope the streak continues.  That said, we did a passport check after loading the bus and disembarked for the Vatican.  We exited the bus at the base of one of the Vatican Walls and Kurt led us to the group entrance.

We waited there for our guide to arrive.

Some of the kids waiting for the guide to arrive.

We were a bit early because of our expert driver, Joseph, and Kurt explained to us that our guide was an old friend. For those who traveled to Rome last year, Jon Luigi was coming back to Saugus High School!!!  Luigi, as his friends and family call him, was with us during our Colosseum and Forum visit last year. He is a very engaging speaker and is so knowledgeable. He has a certain knack for making eye contact with someone and making them feel like they are the only one in the area.  He comes from a long line of guides and even married one as well.  It is always fun to see a familiar face and for our new students, Luigi didn't disappoint.  

Luigi introducing himself to our group!

Saugus took up the entire escalator to the Vatican musuem

Luigi giving some introductory remarks before entering the museum exhibit.

Last year, Rome was so much busier than it was this year.  The crowds were insane.  It would be a lie to say that there was hardly anyone in the city this year, but that is kind of what it felt like at times.  Throughout the tour, however, there are some tight quarters and congestion points.  I hardly took any pictures inside trying to make sure our group stayed together. I will comment on the few that I took as we go.

The previous two pictures are cut-outs of two very famous works of Michelangelo.  They are also both in the Sistine Chapel.  You are not allowed to photograph them, so Luigi made sure to explain the details to our group while we were outside in a courtyard.  It was a beautiful day, so we were happy to have the fresh air.  Some of us attempted to walk on the grass, but it is prohibited...and we wouldn't want to break the rules.

This little pup reminded me of my dog Monty.  This friendly guy greets folks as they enter the museum, but Luigi warned us to stay away from the other dog because it is a little more aggressive.  Seeing the dog statues makes me want to thank my folks for watching Monty while I travel. I know when I first adopted him some on Facebook were worried that I travel too much, but he is up in Maine and enjoying his grandparents and daycare. 

As we entered the exhibit, Luigi explained quiet a bit of what we were seeing. With the halls being, relatively, empty, we were able hear and see much of the sculptures and tapestries.  The kids took a lot of pictures and I hope they will show you their favorites.  The one that stood out to me, today, was the Torso.

The sculpture is from Athens and dates to the 1st century BC. Luigi described it was such passion that it was clear it means an awful lot to him.  The details are very clear and he says that many of us know the word, Torso, because of the importance of this piece.

In this photo, I am at the very end of our group taking a photo down the exhibit hall. If you look closely, you can see a bright white dot all of the way to the end of the hall.  We are looking through three different halls to the end...but you can really see how clear the museum was for us today.

At the end of the hallways, we took the stairs to entry the Sistine Chapel.  The chapel has some strict rules, hence why Luigi explained the artwork earlier, of silence and no photography.  It was the emptiest I have ever seen it...which was really cool.  We all were able to appreciate the work and some took several minutes to inspect different aspects.  

Even though it is against the rules, I am confident that some of the kids sniped a few photographs of the artwork. I know that I did.

This is my picture of the Last Judgement

My clandestine shot of the ceiling taken with selfie mode!

When we all collected together again, we exited the Vatican and walked around to the front of St. Peter's Basilica. It was closed for the private audiences for the Pope, but we were able to gather for a photo session as we awaited our meet-up with Kent.

Getting some fresh and free water from a Roman Bubbler

Kind of centered in frame is the Sistine Chapel...when electing a new Pope the smoke rises from the peak near the lightening rod.

Luigi took this photo...notice that I am in shorts. I was in pants just before the picture, but they are convertibles. I was very comfortable.

It was time for lunch and Kent took us just outside of the Vatican to an area known as Borgo.  We had the freedom to shop for souvenirs, have a nice sit down meal, or get takeaway. I sat with the other chaperons and had a nice meal (some kids are at the same restaurant) while others shopped and had gelato, lol. When the time was right, we gathered again for the short walk to the bus.

Inside the Vatican, there is an exhibit with large cartographs. They are 80% accurate even though the date from an age long before GPS and computers.  On this one, Rome is just off screen to the bottom right and Florence is top-center.  It shows, sort of, what we were about to travel. 

It was supposed to be about a 3 hour tour, but if you sit right back, you'll hear a tale of how it took a bit longer than expected.  It isn't an exciting story, but I really wanted a Gilligan's Island reference there, lol.

Simply put, we hit two points of traffic...one from an accident and the other from a disabled truck. Each slowed us down about 30-45 minutes...and with European bus safety laws, we needed to add an additional rest stop onto our journey (another 30 minutes). 

A short hail storm slowed us down too.

At each rest stop, the kids loaded up on snacks and burned off some steam...after the past two days of walking, many also caught some Zsss too.  Eventually, we pulled up to the hotel area and walked a short distance to the front lobby.  The hotel is on a smaller road where busses are prohibited.

It was dinner time! This place gave a lot of food, too.

Our first course was pasta Bolognese. It was good and they kept coming around offering more.  Many of us believed this was our only course, lol. We were wrong!

After the pasta, they brought out veal cutlets for us. I thought that was a solo item and took a picture, but then the potatoes came. I thought we were getting those two items, but then the salads came...needless to say, I am not ordering any blog food tonight!!! I am full.

By the time dessert came, many of us were very full, but it was a delicious lemon cake that cleansed the palate and disappeared from many of our plates.  I tried to be quick with the camera, but missed it as a surprise rang out within the dining hall. A surprise slice of birthday cake came out for Max...Happy Birthday...and our group sang to him as it was delivered. He blew our the candle and then an Italian group sang to him as well...it was really fun.

Due to our late arrival, we moved into our rooms after dinner.  I offered to take the kids around the block to see what was up with the neighborhood and we found a nice frozen yogurt store...but we also found a hint from home.  I wrote about these in my retrospective post.  They are little reminders of where we are from and how we should appreciate where we are.

Some of the boys told me the sign matched my hat...and it did, but in this light, the sign kind of represents the Bruins and the Celtics.  It was a great reminder to enjoy the final week of this tour.  It is weird to think that a week from now, I will be landing at Logan with these kids and our adventure will have wrapped up.  The time moves by quickly in spite of weather, traffic, or other obstacles. If we don't take the time to realize this and appreciate it, then it is a shame.  

Tomorrow, we head out to Pisa and Florence...two new places for me. I anticipate some cool photographs, but sadly we may meet some poor weather again.  Regardless, the days will go by quickly and we will take it all in to enjoy every moment.  Like the post office, nothing will stop us and Eurotrip23 will always deliver amazing memories.

It is nearly midnight. I am going to wrap up and head to bed...our kids should be quiet now, but the Italian group is still wide awake...lol...it happens on almost every trip regardless of where I am. Italian kids are the loudest!  

Mr. Lavoie, currently hoping his noise canceling headphones don't block his alarm in the morning!