ROME!!

Warning! Many photos coming your way!

We boarded the Trenitalia train at 1pm on Friday and reached Rome 4 hours later. The train stopped briefly in Bologna and Florence before the final stop in Rome. The Italian Countryside was beautiful! The train was definitely a great way to travel! We got to the hotel around 7:30 pm and walked over to the grocery store next door. This store was the equivalent of a Super Wal-Mart here in the States, and we were able to get some food for dinner. We took the night easy and waited to go into the city until Saturday.

Boarding the train in Venice

Our hotel/Wal-Mart dinner! Cheese, crackers, salami, and cold lasagna.

The hotel we stayed at was about 10 miles east of Rome, so we took the Subway into town each day. The weather was pretty crummy on Saturday, but that didn’t stop us! We got into the city around noon and started wandering. Rome is the best place to wander because everything you see is historical! All of the buildings are so architecturally different from anything else I have ever seen, and it’s all beautiful! We saw the Baths of Caracalla, the Roman Forum, the Coliseum, Piazza Venezia, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, and the Pantheon! We sure put in some miles! We had a delicious lunch by the Trevi fountain and pooped out around 6pm. It was a great day!

The Baths of Caracalla

The Roman Forum

Coliseum

Piazza Venezia

Trevi Fountain

I got pooped on at the fountain!

Spanish Steps. There were so many people out all weekend!

On Sunday, the plan was to go to the Vatican and see the Pope! We reached Saint Peter’s Square around 11:45am and Pope Benedict XVI made his appearance at noon! There were so many people in the Square – I would estimate 20,000! It was a pretty cool experience! Here is a link for the video we took. I uploaded it to youtube!

There were so many people waiting to see the Pope!

Pope Benedict XVI in the Papal Office

Just the two of us - plus thousands more!

Kevin takes some awesome photos!

After the Pope’s quick blessing we went over to Castle Saint Angelo. All of the past week Rome was promoting Culture Week, and many of the museums and monuments had FREE entrance fees! Castle Saint Angelo was one of them, so we went in (even thought it was something we had done in the past).

Castle Saint Angelo

The angel on the top of the castle pointing to the "Illuminati Lair" from Angels and Demons

Overlooking St. Peter's from the Castle

Then we decided to go back to St. Peter’s and actually go into the Basilica. We decided to go up to the top of the cupola – again something we have done in the past – so we hiked the 550 steps to the top and certainly enjoyed the view.

Kevin stopped for a beer on the way back

The Swiss Guard

On the way up to the top of the cupola

The ceiling of the basilica

Finally at the top...a ladybug decided to land on the frame of my glasses. Look above the left lens.

What a beautiful view!

This is the very top! You can see the heads of all the people.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Here is a better view of the size of the basilica. They can fit up to 60,000 people at once!

In the Confessional - maybe not the most appropriate photo, but I thought it was fun.

We had a late lunch and then went to the Capitolini Museum. This museum housed a lot of sculptures and paintings that were a part of the Vatican collection for a while, until a past pope donated some artwork to the museum. We started getting pretty tired after walking and climbing so many steps, so we walked back to the Coliseum to get on the subway back to the hotel. It was another great day!

One of many huge statues at the museum. Of course this was one of Kevin's favorites.

This is one of the most famous statues at the museum. It is a statue of a She-Wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus - and the newly added, JPC!

I think this is one of my favorites from the whole trip!

I am so glad we had the opportunity to go to Rome for the weekend! Venice was great as well, but Rome is so much better! We had an unplanned, extended stay in Europe and I think we made the best out of the situation!

We are home now and are so happy to be back! Fortunately there were no delays or problems getting back to the States yesterday! There seemed to be many extra travelers in the airports due to the travel issues from the week before, but we made it home without any additional problems, so I am certainly not complaining! It was a great trip and I am so glad Kevin and I were able to enjoy the experience together!

And the Adventure Continues...

So we left off on Tuesday, when we expected to be on a flight Wednesday morning back to the states.....wrong! We made some phone calls on Tuesday night to confirm our flight for Wednesday, only to find out that only one of us was booked on the flight, and since the flight cost was $2100 per person, neither of us left Venice. We were then rebooked on a flight leaving Tuesday, thats right...next Tuesday, from Venice to Paris, Paris to Minneapolis, and Minneapolis to Colorado Springs. At that point Derek (Kevin's Boss) suggested flying out of a different city, possibly Rome, to see if it would get us out of here any sooner. We now have a CONFIRMED flight from Rome to Chicago, and Chicago to Colorado Springs leaving Monday, April 26th! The good news about all of this:

- We get to come home one day early
- Since we are flying directly from Rome to the States, we shouldn't have any more problems with the Volcano (Southern Italy was not hit nearly as bad (if at all) as the rest of Europe)
- And we get to leave Venice and explore a new city! Don't get me wrong, Venice has been very good to us, but it is a little bit small and there is only so much to do here.

All of this being said, we have purchased our train tickets to Rome for tomorrow (Friday) and we will be spending the weekend there until we leave to come back home. We have definitely been able to make the best of our time here, but it will be so nice to be able to sleep in our own bed, spend some time with the cat-dog, and get back to work. Unfortunately because of the delay, I have missed out on a week long sub job, but I am sure I will be able to make up the missed time (especially with the long-term job beginning the following week, and lasting for the remainder of the school year)!

I have told many people that if I could return to any one place that I have already been, it would be Rome; so at this point I am ecstatic that we are boarding a train tomorrow and going to ROME! I am also really looking forward to seeing the country-side of Italy. The train ride is about 4 hours and we will be in Rome tomorrow around 5:30 p.m.!

That's all for now! As always, we will keep you posted if anything changes!

P.S - I apologize for the lack of photos, and I realize the photos from the previous post did not come through, but the photo upload function on the blog does not seem to work with this wireless network. I will try to upload some photos in Rome, but I can't make any promises. I can promise to fix everything when we get back home! Just be patient. :)

Stuck in Venice Now!

So when I posted that we were stuck in Munich, I was really just joking! We thankfully made it out of Munich and into Venice on the first standby flight we were re-booked on, making our time in Munich a whopping 4 hours (apparently a lot of people on our standby flight, had a hard time making it to Munich). We arrived in Venice the day we were supposed to, and now it seems we will be here for 3 extra days. We were supposed to fly from Venice to Lisbon on Sunday, April 18, but it turns out, we are totally skipping that part of the trip and (hopefully) coming back to the states no earlier than Wednesday, April 21, one day later than planned. Of course all of this is dependant on the outcome of the Iceland Volcano! Only time will tell! I guess we could be stuck in worse places, right?

So many cancelled flights in Munich!

 

There were lines of people every where, trying to get re-booked! Fortunately we didn't have to stand in any of these lines!

It is now Tuesday afternoon, and from what we can tell, we should be able to make it out tomorrow! Our flight is scheduled to leave from Venice and fly to Rome, and then fly from Rome to Miami. They are starting to open airspace in Northern Europe for domestic flights. The Venice airport was closed through today, but they too are now allowing domestic flights to leave. Hopefully this means we can make it to Rome tomorrow - I do not believe Rome has been as affected by the ash cloud, as they are further south - which hopefully means we should not have any problems getting back to the states! What an adventure! Again, only time will tell! Here are some photos for your enjoyment!

Kevin was having some fun with his new camera.

In case of a fire...this is your exit! I love it!

Gondola's on the Grand Canal

We went on a date - complete with wine, cheese, crackers, and cards! So romantic!

The other half of the date :)

In Saint Marc's Square! Finally a picture of the two of us. Thanks to the American tourist we saw!

Kevin in front of Dodge Palace

Our new snail friend that we found on the way back to the hotel. 

Kevin refers to this as the "money shot" of the trip. It is a great picture!

Pizza with French Fries! What more can I ask for?!?

We have definitely tried to make the best of the situation. If we have gotten nothing else out of our extended stay, the food has been phenomenal! Certainly can't complain about that aspect! We are going to enjoy our (hopefully) last day here and fingers crossed, will be on our way home tomorrow! I will try to update again if anything changes. 

Stuck in Munich

Hello from Munich! Kevin and I are on our way to Venice for work, and because of this lovely ash cloud from the Iceland Volcano, we are experiencing some issues! No news yet on what will happen, other than we lucked out by flying into Munich! All of the other major airports in Germany (and Europe for that matter) are closed! So far everything in Italy is still running close to normal as well! We are on standby for our next flight, because our flight in this morning was late, but hopefully we will make it! Will keep You all posted!

Really I just wanted to create this entry because the keyboard here in Germany is fun to figure out! Have a great Friday!

Spring Break Part 1

Two weeks ago, Kevin and I spent the week in Melbourne, Florida with his parents! We all flew in on Monday (Kevin and I came in from California, and Bill and Lynn from Colorado) and prepared for a week of fun!

Monday was a very casual day. We took Bill and Lynn to the climbing gym, checked them into their hotel, and then had a nice home cooked spaghetti dinner. Very easygoing, but great way to start the week!

Bill and Lynn in front of On the Edge

We got a little bit of a late start on Tuesday, so we decided to explore the thriving city of Melbourne! We drove around the city and stopped at the beach, although it was pretty cold out (for Florida) so we didn’t stay long. We took a nice afternoon nap and then went to see the team at the gym. We finished the day with dinner at Sonny’s BBQ. Another easy-going, and relaxing day!

We got an earlier start on Wednesday, so we decided to go up to the Kennedy Space Center. I was the only person who had ever been, so I think it was a great experience for Bill, Lynn, and Kevin! We started with the bus tour that took us to the Launch Pad Observation Deck and the Saturn IV building. The tour also went to the International Space Station Center, but we bypassed that because Kevin had a conference call (which ended up being cancelled when we got back to the visitor’s center). We spent a short amount of time at the visitor’s center and left for the day.

All of us in front of the NASA sign

Me and my new spaceman friend. I have a picture just like this from when I was 5! Such great memories.

Kevin and I in front of the launch pad

Close up of the launch pad. You can see the shuttle Discovery on the pad. It is scheduled to take off on April 5th!

Muscle men!

This is the Saturn IV rocket. These were used for the missions to the moon!

And here is one of the many gators we saw throughout the day!

That night, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day at a local bar called World of Beers. It was a great way to celebrate the holiday!

On Thursday, we drove up to Coco Beach and went shopping at the Original Ron Jon Surf Shop! This store was huge! We did a little shopping and then walked over to the beach. It was still a bit chilly, so we only stayed for a few minutes. Then we decided to try and find some Manatees at a Manatee Park – again, I think it was too cold and we didn’t have any luck. We went back to Melbourne and after a quick nap, we went back to the gym so Kevin could climb. While Kevin climbed, I ran on the treadmill – 3 miles! It was so nice to run at altitude! We had a delicious Indian dinner and then called it a night since we had a 7am flight the following morning. Kevin and I flew to San Juan on Friday and Bill and Lynn flew back home.

Super cool sand sculpture outside of the Ron Jon Surf Shop.

We all had such a great week! It was so fun to spend some time as a “family.” I hope we can all do it again in the future!

Panama

Wow! I cannot believe how horrible of a blogger I have been. I promise I will try to do better...think of it as a New Year's resolution!

At the end of February, Kevin and I went to Panama. We arrived in Panama around 7pm on Saturday, February 27. When Kevin was on the Oasis last October, he met a girl from Panama named Rachel, and she picked us up from the airport. She took us on a quick tour of Panama City and then dropped us off at the hotel. We had just enough time to change before she came back with her husband, Robert, to take us out for dinner. We ate at this incredible restaurant called Jimmy's - a Greek restaurant, but with great seafood! I am not one to choose to eat seafood, but tried everything that was put in front of me. We had plantains, fried eggplant, mussels, ceviche, snapper and whitefish! It was sooo delicious! After dinner, Rachel and Robert took us on another small tour of  the city. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a street full of night clubs and bars (the name right now escapes me) and Kevin and Robert had a glass of 30 year old rum - apparently this was quite the treat! We got back to the hotel around midnight and crashed!

Eating some mussels and drinking a Panamanian Beer.

This is the snapper we ate! Kind of scary to look at, but tasted oh so good!

On Sunday, we went to the ship. The ship docked in a city named Colon, which is apparently a very dangerous city. So Rachel helped us hire a driver to take us up to Colon. Our driver took us right to the ship (about an hour north of Panama City), waited for us while we worked, and then took us back to Panama City. On the way back to Panama City, we briefly (about 5 minutes) stopped at the Panama Canal! I told Kevin before we left, if we saw nothing else, I wanted to see the Canal. So even though we didn't spend much time there, I was so glad to see the canal!

This is the Canal at the Pedro Miguel Locks. You can see a large cargo ship going through the locks on the left of the photo. Pretty neat to see!

Just me!

When we got back to the hotel we took a little nap and then Rachel picked us up and brought us to her house. She had a party earlier in the afternoon and had a lot of left over food, so we helped her get rid of some of the food! We also had the privilege of meeting her mother and father in-law. Such a great experience to spend time with 'locals." Rachel took us back to the hotel and we got ready for our early flight out the next morning. It was a very quick trip, but we had a wonderful time! Hopefully we will have the chance to go back again! It sure was nice having our own personal tour guide! And maybe next time I will do better with photos! Sorry for the delay!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ok, so I know I am about 3 weeks late, but better late than never right?

Kevin and I spent Valentine's weekend in New York City! We had a ship inspection on February 14th in Bayonne, NJ, so we went out a few days early and spent some time in The City. We arrived at Newark Airport around 2:30pm (thankfully without any delays due to the massive amounts of snow that had accumulated the day before) and then hopped on the New Jersey Transit Train into Manhattan. The train took us to Madison Square Garden and then we walked about 6 blocks to the hotel (in Times Square) in the slush and cold.

Now my idea of fun in the city is going to see as many Broadway shows as possible, but Kevin could really care less. So on Thursday night (the day we got there) we went to the TKTS booth in Times Square to see which shows were selling discounted tickets. There were so many shows I wanted to see, but I knew the one on the top of Kevin's list was Avenue Q. So around 7pm - one hour before the show started - we got tickets that were marked 40% off for Avenue Q. This is now an Off-Broadway show, but is still located right in the Theatre District. After we purchased our tickets we headed for the theatre, by way of an Irish Pub. Once we got to the theatre they were selling drinks and snacks like at a baseball game. It was a very different, but fun experience and atmosphere. Kevin had a few beers and I enjoyed a "Hairy Monster" to go along with the show theme. If you don't know about this show, it is like Sesame Street for adults or Muppets go Wild. I saw this show when I was in New York last year and it was still on Broadway....and I was slightly disappointed. But this performance was awesome! The cast delivered a better performance and the theatre experience was so much more fun!

Now the theatre nerd in me wanted to go to the stage door after the performance and boy was it a memorable experience! First of all, because it was an Off-Broadway show, Kevin and I were the ONLY people at the stage door! I felt like a total goof, but it was so fun to talk to the cast members. One cast member spent a good bit of time talking with us and come to find out he was from Colorado. Not only was he from Colorado, but he was also from Colorado Springs. Not only was he from Colorado Springs, but he also graduated from Doherty (the same school that Kevin and I both went to)! Long story short - we found out that this person had Lynn (Kevin's mom) as a choir teacher at Sabin Middle School! He is also dating a girl that Kevin sang with in choir in high school. It is such a small world and I am so glad that we had the chance to meet him!

Kevin and I with our new friend - Cullen Titmus. Such a small world!

After we made plans to meet Cullen for dinner on Saturday, we went to see Nick Turner. He is working selling merchandise for the show A Little Night Music - staring Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury. He gave us a playbill and we were able to get CZJ's autograph. Unfortunately Angela Lansbury didn't come out, but we were forewarned that she wouldn't. After our success, we went to see Ryan Heidenrich at Cold Stone in Times Square (this is where Ryan works for the time being)! Silly us, eating ice cream in the cold weather, but it was so fun to see both Ryan and Nick!

Catherine Zeta Jones! Pretty cool!

On Friday we went to Astoria to see Ryan's house and eat lunch. We ended up spending the entire afternoon there! Nick also joined us and we had a great time catching up!

Even though almost 6 years has passed (wow, that time went fast!), we picked up right where we left off! Such great friends!

I think that is the Queens Bridge behind us - but who really knows!?! Ryan and Nick sure didn't!

I wanted to see another show, but Kevin was apprehensive about spending too much money on tickets so I suggested the lottery. The lottery is something that just a few of the shows offer, but it is such a good deal - if you get selected. You put your name in a bucket and each show picks about 20-26 people to win cheap tickets (about $25 a piece). We decided to enter the lotto for In the Heights, and Kevin won! The really cool thing about the lotto is that the tickets are cheap and the seats are always located in the front row! People on stage were practically dancing in our laps! We had a nice romantic dinner before the show and then went to the stage door after the show! Corbin Bleu from the High School Musical movies was the star in the show, so it was very cool to see him at the stage door. He seemed so genuine and excited to meet so many people. It was such a great show and experience!

Does this really need an explanation?

This is Robin de Jesus. He was my favorite in the show and he is going to be in La Cage in April! I sure hope I can see him in that too!

And finally Corbin Bleu! He was awesome and pretty good looking too! :)

On Saturday morning I left the hotel a little early and went to the Next to Normal lottery. Kevin did not want to see another show, but I thought if I could get a lotto ticket I would go see a matinee. Unfortunately, I did not have any luck at the lotto, but I got to go back to the hotel and spend the day with Kevin! It was a win/win situation really – see a show or spend the day with Kevin – I can’t complain!

The one thing that Kevin really wanted to do in NYC was go to Katz’s Deli. This is a deli that is located down in SOHO and has been featured on the Food Network Channel – specifically on Man vs. Food. Kevin was going to go to the deli without me if I got a ticket to Next to Normal, but I am so glad I got to go with him. Everything worked out the way it was supposed to! We took the subway down to SOHO and when we got to the restaurant there was a line out the door! This was a very good sign! Come to find out, this is the restaurant featured in the movie When Harry Met Sally – the famous orgasm scene. When you went into the restaurant, you could choose to have self-service or table service. Kevin chose table service and it took us about 15 minutes to find a table to sit at (yes, it was that packed). The wait was well worth it! I am pretty sure the sandwiches and pickles were the best I have ever had – even better than the Stage Deli or the Carnage Deli in Times Square! It was such a fun and delicious experience! I am so glad that I went to the deli instead of the matinee!

The outside of the deli

And the inside of the deli! I'd say it is a pretty popular place, eh?

This sign hangs over the table that Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal ate at in the movie. If you look close you can also see it in the picture above.

We really wanted to go for a walk around SOHO after lunch because we were so stuffed, but it was FREEZING, so we opted to head to the Empire State Building instead. While we were standing in line, we realized that Cullen (from Thursday night) had sent Kevin a facebook message to ask us to meet an hour earlier for dinner – which turned out to be about 30 minutes from the time we saw the message. So we quickly hopped out of line and walked about 10 blocks back to Times Square to meet Cullen and Renee for dinner. It was so nice to finally meet Renee (I have heard so much about her from Linda – my high school drama director – because Renee played Adelaide in Guys and Dolls before I did when Doherty performed the show in the late 90’s) and get to know Cullen better! They were so nice and I really hope we can meet up with them again in the future!

On the way to dinner we stopped at the Hair stage door to try and get a photo with Will Swenson – my mom’s favorite. Our timing was great, but somehow he bypassed me when he was signing playbills. This is my sad face! So sorry mom! I can’t say I didn’t try!

After dinner with Cullen and Renee, we went back to the Empire State Building. I thought it would be so romantic to go up to the top for Valentine’s day (one day early), but I was so wrong! First of all, we ended up standing in line for almost 2 hours! We rode one elevator 80 floors up, then waited in another line, and finally rode the second and last elevator 6 more floors to the top. When we got to the top we of course went outside, which was mistake number two! I don’t think I have ever been so cold, windblown and miserable! I am also pretty sure that Kevin muttered the words “I hate you right now” while we were outside – so much for romance :)! We stayed out in the cold for about 5 minutes for some quick photos and then quickly went back inside! As horrible as it was, I am really glad we had the experience. I am able to laugh about it now and it is a great story for the blog! Lets just say I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else!

The Empire State Building

Just outside the entrance

Just inside the entrance

Can you tell how cold and miserable we were?

Lit up for Valentine's Day

We got back to the hotel around 9pm and grabbed our bags to go to the hotel in New Jersey. Why we didn’t just stay in Manhattan, I am not sure! We got to the hotel around 11 and crashed! We had a hell of a time getting on the ship on Sunday morning (Valentine’s Day), but finally prevailed after about 1.5 hours of waiting in the cold. We worked quickly because it was still so cold and then went to the airport. We got some dinner at McDonalds and saw Montel Williams doing the same thing! Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of Montel, but I thought it would be fun to tell you we saw him. Even stars eat Mickey D’s!

It was such a fun trip and I am so happy Kevin and I got to share these experiences! New York will always have a special place in my heart and I love sharing that with Kevin! I know he doesn’t feel quite the same as I do, but he is such a good sport about making me happy! He really is a keeper and I so look forward to our future!

Sorry this post got a bit long, and took me so long to get posted! Thanks for checking in on us! I will try to be a better blogger in the future!