It is 8 am in Paris (in the midwest US it is 1 am). We got into Paris yesterday morning and got internet access last night. We had no internet access in Italy, so sorry no updates from Italy.
So where have we been and what have we been doing? I think we were in some kind of race to walk around Rome. We did a whole lot of walking. Taxis are expensive and taxi drivers are known for taking customers for rides.
We arrived in Rome about 9 am. We all slept some on the plane (which was our plan). In order to avoid jet lag, we had to stay up that whole day in Rome. So, the first day, we had breakfast with Jeff’s friend, Liz and her daughters and son. We then headed to our apartment. Rome is expensive. Renting an apartment was a better deal than a hotel. The apartment was large. There was a super market down the street, so we were able to buy breakfast food and drinks, and lunch meat. The first day in Rome we wondered around with the idea of getting to the Trevi fountain. We never did find it that day. Walking through Rome is like walking through Chicago using only the alleys and streets that are named in honor of someone. Then lay those streets out like it is Riverside. We did see the Piazza Popolo and some obelisks along the way. We made it an early night because all were tired.
The second day in Rome, started off running. We met Liz and her daughter, Gulia, at the San Angelo Castle. The popes lived there at one time. Liz is an art historian in Rome, as well as one of their premier tour guides. We went to the forum and the colisseum. She had the girls rapt attention with the stories of the founding of Rome. They might learn a thing or two on this trip. After that we found the Trevi fountain. Jeff then decided to lead us back to the apartment with some shortcut he figured out from the map. I will leave that whole experience up to your imagination. We then went to mass with Liz’s family and her mother. Liz’s mother is the US Ambassador to the Holy See (also known as the Vatican). We had dinner at the ambassador’s home. The girls played out in the garden with Liz’s son, Josh. It was a very nice evening.
Well, I think I am going to stop there. I need to get the girls up so we can go to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre today.