Show No Fear! DIS Exclusive Viva Italia+DLP TR Sept 2014*COMPLETE* New TR link added 7/3

[khertz]

What amazing photos of the Colosseum and the Forum! And DH's early morning photos are wonderful! So glad you finally got to see the Colosseum, and knock that off your bucket list!

I, too, get what you say about the new excavations at the Forum. When I went to the Old City of Jerusalem a couple of years ago, there's an area there that they are "newly" excavating. Amazing! I guess there are still many surprises out there!

Sayhello

Thanks! He really was in a photographer's heaven on this trip. So many beautiful things around to take photos of! Italy was one giant bucket list, so it was great to get to cross some things off.

Jerusalem would be an incredible place to visit! I know our church has done trips there in the past to religious sites but it never worked out for us to visit with them. So incredible that there is still so much to be uncovered!

Hahaha, it appears the "Adventure" in Adventures by Disney refers to street crossing.

Oh wow, I would not have expected a memorial to 9/11. That's quite lovely.

Follow the Orange Sign? Well, at least it's not a flag.

Wow, the Colosseum. Now that is iconic. That must be so amazing to see in person.

Yes, that about sums it up! Street crossing in Rome was like taking your life in your hands every time!

I am not sure if it was up when a lot of the group had been on the Viva trip prior, but it seemed like a lot of us were surprised to see it there. It was a very nice surprise, though!

It was absolutely incredible to walk into that building and feel like a part of history has come alive. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to be there in its heyday!

Great pictures and great trip report so far!

Thanks so much!

We also had Cristina on our tour! Wasn't she just fabulous?! Looks like your tour of the Colosseum was a bit different than ours but still fun. I look forward to seeing how your trip was different from ours!

The new hotel for ADB is really close to the Castel Sant'Angelo and Vatican City. I can see it in a couple of your pictures from the Angel and Demons tour. Great TR so far!

Cristina was absolutely amazing! I was actually sad when we had to say goodbye to her at the end of our time in Rome.

I know, I was a bit surprised that we didn't get to tour any of the other areas of the Colosseum that y'all had visited on your trip. Not sure what was up with that? But it was exciting to be there, nonetheless.

That's still a great location & close to a lot of action!

We landed in Rome around 12:30 pm or so, and immediately had to wait in what felt like a huge cattle pen for passport control! DH used his "fill in all available space" technique to avoid the even longer line that had formed as the mass of people turned a corner, and we got through probably a little faster that way. As soon as we got our passports stamped and we walked through, we saw our ABD greeter waiting for us!

Do you remember how long it took you to get out of the airport? I'm planning something for that afternoon (we arrive a day early) and I want to make sure we can make it by 4:30.

Thank you.

I would say it took us about an hour from the time we got off the plane and got to our car, then another 20-30 minutes or so from the airport to our hotel. Hope that helps!

 

[khertz]

I can't even imagine driving a bus through Rome! Part bravery and part crazy!

very cool about the arch and the connection to Constantine. He is referenced as part of the Fraternity I was in - plus his connection the start of the Christian Church and holding the councils of Nicea, etc.

Wow, so the entire Coliseum was built in roughly the same time it is taking Disney to build the Downtown Disney Parking Garage

hmm, is there any downside to being a vestal virgin? Kinda like the idea of pledging my daughter to that

As cool as the coliseum is I kinda find the Forum (or at least the idea/concept of it) even more impressive to think about.

Ok, really got myself confused as when you said "spray toner to cool off" I was thinking of like a printer toner cartridge and that would make a mess, etc.

yummm, Roman Pizza

Driving ANYTHING in Rome seems scary, but a bus?! No way! Our driver was extremely talented!

From what I read on Wikipedia rolleyes1) the battle that this arch commemorates marked the beginning of Constantine's conversion to Christianity, so that is pretty cool too.

Okay, that made me !!! Of course, the ancient Romans had the help of slave labor, but ya know, it is kind of sad that it is taking Disney SO long to build that paring garage!!!

I don't have a daughter, but I'm sure if I did (or ever do) I'm in the same boat as you. And from what I have read there doesn't seem to be a downside at all.

The Forum is also VERY cool! It's amazing to think how much of the life of ancient Romans happened there!

I didn't quite know what toner was either when Dusty brought it up, but I ended up LOVING toner time! He always had it ready at just the right time, and it was very refreshing on a hot day in Rome.

It is great that the group all got along so well together. That much is clear from some of the back and forth banter in the comments. Just make sure to link back to that introductory post if you're going to keep referring to names.

I just have to say, the sign Dusty is carrying around makes me think of the Brazilian tourist groups in Disney World with their leader and his flag. Did people run the other way when they saw you guys coming?

The Colosseum is amazing! I'm sorry you spent a valuable chunk of time there in the line for the restroom. But at the same time I'm wondering what exactly would be considered to be a restroom in an ancient Roman ruin... I think the pictures Dustin got made it well worth his having to run to meet up with the group. Great shots of the Colosseum!

Yeah, with 30 people, it can be tough to keep it all straight! But luckily we had a lot of name overlap, so if you ever forgot one, you had a short list to choose from to maybe get it right. We had 2 Dustins & a Dusty, 2 Kristys (Kristy & Christy) and a Chris, 2 Kathys, 2 Johns, 2 Mikes, and a partridge in a pear tree. And yes, we all got along great. They were very welcoming to us two newbies!

Well, they only ran away when we would bum rush the entrance and shove everyone else out of the way while chanting at the tops of our lungs... No, people actually were very interested and would frequently stop one of the guides to ask about the Disney connection.

The Colosseum was definitely an amazing sight! Something I have been looking forward to for a very long time. The bathrooms were actually quite nice, but I imagine they are a recent addition. I heard horror stories of public restrooms that were nothing more than a hole on the floor. Luckily, our guides kept us well informed of better kept restrooms to use along the way.

He said it was worth the run.

Ok, this is Dusty:

With the amount of Dusty merchandise he left Florence with, I wouldn't be surprised if he started to resemble this picture after awhile!

What gorgeous photos! Really enjoying your report!

Thanks!!

I was chatting with Bill B (SaintsTickets on these boards) about getting Saints tickets for the 49er game in a couple of weeks (I am taking the family down from NY to see my beloved Saints). We got to chatting about recent Disney trips and planned trips. I mentioned that for my DDs sweet 16 next year we are thinking about doing the Italy ABD... Bill said I got to check out the trip reports his WhoDat pals were writing on the DIS.... and Bill is so right. Great pics and great commentary.

While DW is a nervous nelly and wants to wait for Ebola and Isis to wane before booking, maybe showing her some of these great pics will help her "get over it"

Thanks for taking the time to write the TR and I am looking forward to reading the rest...

PS - If you know anyone w spare Saints-49er tix, let me know!

I'm so glad to have you here! I hope that this TR will help you get DW pull the trigger on the sweet 16 trip. It was so incredible! Hopefully the current state of affairs will settle down and help her feel more comfortable.

Hope you can get those tickets. They can be hard to come by! Who Dat!!!

Enjoying reliving our trip through your posts!

I can hardly wait until you get to the flag waving troupe that is so authentic to Italy.

Thanks, Jeff!

I mean, yeah, we were practically tripping over those flag waving troupes, weren't we?!

 

[khertz]

Sorry for the delay in updates, it has been a BUSY weekend for us! Friday was DS's 4th birthday so we spent the night in New Orleans to take him to the big Halloween event at City Park, which he really enjoyed. It's definitely not the same as being in the Magic Kingdom as he has been for his last 2 birthdays, but it was still fun! Saturday we had his birthday party, and then today he went to a birthday party for one of his friends from daycare. So needless to say, we are pooped! But I'm ready to continue on with our tour of Rome if you are!!​

Day 3 Continued: Wednesday September 17th

When I left off, we had gotten to our lunch location, Recafe, for some delicious pizza!

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We sat at a table with Mike, Christy, and Joyce, and the adventure guides joined us for the few minutes they actually sat down to put some food in their mouths. First we started with bread and salad.

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Kevin & John surprised us with some pressed pennies for our visit later to the Trevi Fountain. That was nice enough as it was, but they also went through the trouble of pressing them with a Lady & the Tramp image since we were in Italy!

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Then our pizzas began arriving! We were served family style, and each table got 4 different kinds of pizza. We had a veggie pizza, a margherita (cheese) pizza, a Quattro formaggi (aka the best pizza EVER – 4 cheeses with white sauce. Andy, I know how much you & I love this pizza at Via Napoli, and I gotta tell ya, it's even better in Italy!!), and diavolo (red sauce pizza with hot salami).

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Mike & DH were both holding out for the salami pizza, which of course, came out dead last. So they had to make up for lost time while the rest of us were enjoying the other pizzas!

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They polished off one, and a second one was brought out! I begged DH to just stop and not eat anymore, but he can’t leave pizza uneaten. Eventually he stopped eating the crusts to save valuable stomach real estate and this is what was left when he finally stopped binge eating pizza.

ABD 02-143 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

I was smart enough to leave a little room for dessert! We had a fruit tart with strawberry sauce and slices of kiwi. I have in my notes that others had different kinds of fruit on theirs, but that’s what I had on mine according to this photo. It was really cool and refreshing for dessert after a hot lunch on a hot day.

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We headed out of the restaurant and started towards our next stop on foot. Along the way, Cristina pointed out the high end stores based in Italy.

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Because a woman can never have too many shoes!​

Our first stop after lunch was the Piazza di Spagna to see the famed Spanish Steps. They were certainly a lot more populated than when we had seen them early the morning before on our way to the Angels & Demons tour!

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Obelisk of the Immaculate Conception


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A fake window!


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Our next stop was the under renovation Trevi Fountain. The line to walk across the platform they have set up looked pretty long but actually moved quickly.

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Showing off our custom pennies!


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Well, this is probably a bad omen for me ever returning to Italy because I threw mine all wrong before I heard there was a right way to do it.​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Wednesday September 17th

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DH got it right!


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Dusty apparently gave away one of the extra pennies to a little girl who was REALLY enjoying her chocolate gelato! Talk about Disney magic!

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Our next official stop was the Pantheon, but Cristina had some interesting spots for us to take a quick peek along the way to get there. First was a little courtyard that had paintings depicting how women should behave to be good wives and mothers.

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Just a cool light fixture​

The second side stop was St. Ignatius church to check out their very peculiar dome.

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The dome looked perfectly ordinary when we first laid eyes on it. But as we walked closer and closer, it became obvious that it was not what it seemed. The oculus was moving! And once we were underneath it, the oculus looked to be completely on the side.

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Apparently, when building the church they ran out of money before they could complete the dome. So instead, the ceiling was painted to look like the inside of a dome, but it is actually flat.

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disneymom1024, on Flickr


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A dome inside of one of the chapels​

Eventually, we made it to the Pantheon, which was crazy crowded when we got there. This is another one of those things I had learned about in high school and couldn’t wait to see! As Catholic as I am, I can’t help but be a little disappointed that I couldn’t see it the way it originally was in all its pagan glory. Lord, please don’t strike me down for saying that!!

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The roof of the entryway


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Walking in


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The oculus​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Wednesday September 17th

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These are the holes in the floor to drain any rain that would get into the Pantheon through the oculus. Cristina told us that this past winter, it was actually snowing in Rome and she went to the Pantheon to see it filling up with snow!

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Raphael’s tomb


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Being silly!


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We went back outside after just a little time inside. I wish we could have spent more! We actually had plans to go back during our “on our own” time but we never made it back. Oh well, just a reason to plan another trip!

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Everyone got a chance to have their family photo taken in front of the Pantheon.

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After everyone got their photos, it was time to head to the next location.

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We ended up back at a familiar sight, the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. Originally when we booked the Angels & Demons tour, I was a little nervous that we were going to end up with a lot of overlap with our ABD tour, but luckily, that wasn’t the case at all. And I didn’t mind visiting the Piazza Navona again anyway, because it’s seriously the prettiest piazza ever. It looks like a movie set!

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Cristina is just so funny. As she was describing the fountain, she would direct our attention to the 4 different men around it by pointing out where the pigeons had landed on them. Such as, “And that one, with the pigeon on his head is depicting the Nile River. The one with the pigeon on his hand is the Danube in Europe.”

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Family photo!


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Our last stop of the day was also one of the best…Grom! What’s Grom? Only one of the best gelateria’s we came across on our entire trip!

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Cristina and Marco helped us to order because the flavors were all in Italian. Dusty suggested the salted caramel, so I went with his suggestion and got that paired with dark chocolate. That’s the one thing I love about gelato, you automatically get two flavors! Actually, I should say, that's one of the MANY things I love about gelato!!

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DH went with dark chocolate and lemon.

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Dusty was SPOT ON with that salted caramel…it was so freaking good! Probably my most favorite gelato we had over the entire trip. And believe me, we had a LOT of gelato.

After our delicious treat, we got back on the bus and went back to the hotel. DH and I had some time to freshen up and Skype with DS back home.

IMG_0841 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

He was so happy to talk to us, and that was the one time it hit me when we hung up and I had a mommy crying moment. I had been having such a great time, but that moment totally reminded me how much I missed him! I took a deep breath and got my mind right so we could head back to the Piazza del Popolo for another shot at going inside the church. A quick Google search had told us that the reason we had found it closed when we’d gone back the day before is because it closes from 12-4 pm. So knowing it would be open, we decided to head out for EVEN MORE walking!!

UP NEXT: More Rome & Dinner

 

[DDuck4Life]

Sorry for the delay in updates, it has been a BUSY weekend for us! Friday was DS's 4th birthday so we spent the night in New Orleans to take him to the big Halloween event at City Park, which he really enjoyed. It's definitely not the same as being in the Magic Kingdom as he has been for his last 2 birthdays, but it was still fun! Saturday we had his birthday party, and then today he went to a birthday party for one of his friends from daycare. So needless to say, we are pooped! But I'm ready to continue on with our tour of Rome if you are!!​

Come on! Don't bury the lead, The party today was for his girlfriend from daycare!

 

[WebmasterMike]

I was a little hungry.

 

[Dugette]

What a great day!

That pizza sounds so good! That's an awesome pile of crusts your DH made!

So many great sights you saw! That painted dome is so strange.

Your gelato combo sounds amazing! Love salted caramel and dark chocolate - and gelato, for that matter.

 

[Imagineer5]

The pizza looks fantastic! I love the margherita with some spicy olive oil drizzled on top. MMM. Yes we also ate full pizzas when we were there (each) so Dusty's pile of crusts looks familiar! You only live once!

How cute with the pressed pennies! Though I'd be tempted to keep that lady & the tramp one and throw a regular one lol! Speaking of pressed pennies, I can see that being something Aria starts collecting at Disney - every machine she wanted to do on the last trip! I only did it once (at DHS waiting for DH to ride RnRC) but she never failed to point them all out.

Anyway...that is a cool story about the snow falling into the Pantheon! MM gelato looks fantastic too. What fun

 

[WebmasterKathy]

Another great day, and more incredible photos!

A few of us are missing from the after-lunch family pictures. This is when a small group of us split off to do some financial damage at Louis Vuitton!! Seems our dear DisneyKevin knows more about their product offerings than most of the staff there.

I sure wish I had some gelato right now...

 

[missangelalexis]

Happy birthday to DS!

Such a cute thought that they gave you Lady & the Tramp pressed pennies!

The pizzas looks so yum!

Lovely pics of St. Ignatius church and the Pantheon.

Aww totally natural to get a little emotional from missing DS!!

 

[jcb]

Another great day, and more incredible photos!

A few of us are missing from the after-lunch family pictures. This is when a small group of us split off to do some financial damage at Louis Vuitton!! Seems our dear DisneyKevin knows more about their product offerings than most of the staff there.

I sure wish I had some gelato right now...

Cathie and I have survived for two and a half years post ABD on this:

and these babies:

We buy them in Target and Publix and blame Kevin every time we do.

 

[DDuck4Life]

Cathie and I have survived for two and a half years post ABD on this:

and these babies:

We buy them in Target and Publix and blame Kevin every time we do.

WHAT!! damn you Jack now I'll be searching all over for these! Hopefully someplace close by carries them.

Oh no just found a place that delivers.

 

[afwdwfan]

Wow. Gelato and pizza. And I haven't had lunch yet. You're killing me here. Obviously, I have no idea how that pizza tasted, but with our similar views on Via Napoli, I feel confident taking your word for it. It looks pretty amazing anyway. I've got to give Dustin credit for his plate full of pizza crusts. Impressive pile.

Oh yeah, and all that other stuff you saw was cool too.

Come on! Don't bury the lead, The party today was for his girlfriend from daycare!

That picture of him on Skype had me thinking he's really growing up. But this just confirms it.

 

[WebmasterMike]

WHAT!! damn you Jack now I'll be searching all over for these! Hopefully someplace close by carries them.

Oh no just found a place that delivers.

Talenti is all over the place now. You should have no problem finding it.

 

[WebmasterKathy]

Cathie and I have survived for two and a half years post ABD on this:

and these babies:

We buy them in Target and Publix and blame Kevin every time we do.

O.M.G... I'll check Target for this later today!!!

And the pizza was delizioso!!!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Another great day, and more incredible photos!

A few of us are missing from the after-lunch family pictures. This is when a small group of us split off to do some financial damage at Louis Vuitton!! Seems our dear DisneyKevin knows more about their product offerings than most of the staff there.

I sure wish I had some gelato right now...

That's a cool Louis Vuitton store too with the LCD screens on the stairs. We spent some time stimulating the Italian economy on Via Condotti a few cruises ago.

 

[WDWLinda]

I've been lurking and enjoying the details and beautiful pictures, but had to pop in to say the gelato looked delicious and I almost shed a tear for you when you wrote about missing your son. I'm sure he had quality time with his grandparents and this allowed you to have quality time with your husband, but I bet there were times where you missed him like crazy.

Subscribing now so I don't miss any future gelato pics - chocolate works too!

Thanks,
Linda

 

[khertz]

I was a little hungry.

Thanks for clarifying, I couldn't tell!

What a great day!

That pizza sounds so good! That's an awesome pile of crusts your DH made!

So many great sights you saw! That painted dome is so strange.

Your gelato combo sounds amazing! Love salted caramel and dark chocolate - and gelato, for that matter.

The pizza was absolutely delicious! It was a great first lunch with the group and hit the spot after all of the walking we had been doing. DH was trying to maximize his pizza eating by sparing the crusts, and it seemed to work.

The painted dome was definitely interesting! I'm glad Cristina took us on those little detours to see things we wouldn't have found on our own.

I tried a few different gelato combinations, but the salted caramel & dark chocolate duo was definitely the winner in my book.

The pizza looks fantastic! I love the margherita with some spicy olive oil drizzled on top. MMM. Yes we also ate full pizzas when we were there (each) so Dusty's pile of crusts looks familiar! You only live once!

How cute with the pressed pennies! Though I'd be tempted to keep that lady & the tramp one and throw a regular one lol! Speaking of pressed pennies, I can see that being something Aria starts collecting at Disney - every machine she wanted to do on the last trip! I only did it once (at DHS waiting for DH to ride RnRC) but she never failed to point them all out.

Anyway...that is a cool story about the snow falling into the Pantheon! MM gelato looks fantastic too. What fun

Oooh, that sounds good with the olive oil! We never had that offered to us, unfortunately. I ate more slices than usual for myself, but I didn't come close to DH's final total!!

We actually did save one of them and tossed the other. I kept mine in my lanyard for the rest of the trip and just threw a regular coin. Kevin & John said it was quite the undertaking to make that many L&T coins because every time they made a penny, they had to cycle all the way through the different designs to get back to the L&T photo! DH and his dad collected pressed pennies when DH was a kid (I think my FIL still does, actually), so I can see us doing that in the future too.

The Pantheon filling with snow had to be quite a sight!!

Another great day, and more incredible photos!

A few of us are missing from the after-lunch family pictures. This is when a small group of us split off to do some financial damage at Louis Vuitton!! Seems our dear DisneyKevin knows more about their product offerings than most of the staff there.

I sure wish I had some gelato right now...

Aaaaah, yes, I forgot about that!!! Pete told us later about Kevin knowing more about the store than the employees, which doesn't surprise me in the least!!!

Oh man, I sure do too...

Happy birthday to DS!

Such a cute thought that they gave you Lady & the Tramp pressed pennies!

The pizzas looks so yum!

Lovely pics of St. Ignatius church and the Pantheon.

Aww totally natural to get a little emotional from missing DS!!

Thanks, Alexis, he had a fantastic birthday weekend!

Kevin & John definitely spoiled us, so I can see why a lot of people on this trip pretty much go wherever Kevin tells them to.

Missing DS was tough, but not as bad as I thought it would be just because he did not seem too upset about us being gone. But I still had moments where it just got to me!

Cathie and I have survived for two and a half years post ABD on this:

and these babies:

We buy them in Target and Publix and blame Kevin every time we do.

Oh man, my husband, who NEVER texts, actually sent me a text today to tell me how excited he was about this!

 

[khertz]

Wow. Gelato and pizza. And I haven't had lunch yet. You're killing me here. Obviously, I have no idea how that pizza tasted, but with our similar views on Via Napoli, I feel confident taking your word for it. It looks pretty amazing anyway. I've got to give Dustin credit for his plate full of pizza crusts. Impressive pile.

Oh yeah, and all that other stuff you saw was cool too.



That picture of him on Skype had me thinking he's really growing up. But this just confirms it.

This trip ruined me for food. Every meal is almost disappointing now because it can't come close to the delicious food we ate on this trip!! Hopefully I will still enjoy my pizza at Via Napoli.

Lunch is the priority, OBVIOUSLY.

He is definitely grown! He knows how to Skype and he has a girlfriend. Now, when he starts Skyping WITH the girlfriend, that's where I have to draw the line.

Talenti is all over the place now. You should have no problem finding it.

That could be so, so bad!

O.M.G... I'll check Target for this later today!!!

And the pizza was delizioso!!!

Let me know how it is if you find it! We still have a LOT of sweets leftover from the birthday party to go through before we are in the market for gelato.

Yes, it was!!!

That's a cool Louis Vuitton store too with the LCD screens on the stairs. We spent some time stimulating the Italian economy on Via Condotti a few cruises ago.

We didn't visit there, but that sounds cool. Maybe we should have!!

I've been lurking and enjoying the details and beautiful pictures, but had to pop in to say the gelato looked delicious and I almost shed a tear for you when you wrote about missing your son. I'm sure he had quality time with his grandparents and this allowed you to have quality time with your husband, but I bet there were times where you missed him like crazy.

Subscribing now so I don't miss any future gelato pics - chocolate works too!

Thanks,
Linda

Thanks for commenting, Linda!!!

It was definitely good for him to have the time with the grandparents. They all very much enjoyed it, and DS still regularly asks us when are we going back to Italy so he can go back to Nonni's house! If I had known how much he would NOT be bothered by us leaving, I would have done it sooner and not stressed so much this time!!