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

[christannj]

Are Kathy! We ARE family!!! I miss all of you guys!

Laurie

I agree with Laurie. What a special moment in time that we all had. I tell Chuck everyday how much I wish we were back in Italy with all if you. Now that Kristy has reached the welcome reception I can relive the trip over and over. Once again I can't get over how gorgeous the photos are. My little point and shoot camera doesn't do night views nearly as crisp and clear as these are ( although it does have the distinction of correcting the tower of Pisa lean!)

Chris

 

[khertz]

I'm loving this report, and the fabulous photos!!!

We definitely were family.

Are Kathy! We ARE family!!! I miss all of you guys!

Laurie

And what a FUN family to be a part of!! I miss everyone, too, Laurie!

I agree with Laurie. What a special moment in time that we all had. I tell Chuck everyday how much I wish we were back in Italy with all if you. Now that Kristy has reached the welcome reception I can relive the trip over and over. Once again I can't get over how gorgeous the photos are. My little point and shoot camera doesn't do night views nearly as crisp and clear as these are ( although it does have the distinction of correcting the tower of Pisa lean!)

Chris

That's so true, Chris. I miss Italy, but I miss Italy with that perfect blend of people too! I'm excited to get to the ABD parts because we just had so much fun. Thanks for the kind words on the photos. Your camera is definitely a one of a kind with that feature!!!

 

[saintstickets]

I've been back about a week from my DCL/WDW trip and decided to try and get caught up on the DISboards...much to my surprise, you've got another TR going! And not just any TR but an ABD trip to Italy!!!!
WOW!! I am so happy for y'all to be able to take this trip and sooooo jealous! This is a trip DW and I have wanted to take for years. Nothing to do but read the whole TR thus far in one sitting! FANTASTIC TR!! WOW...WOW...WOW. DH's pics are great as always but the subject matter just adds to the beauty! I can't wait for more and this was just lagniappe...

We also discovered that the Who Dat Nation is alive and well in Rome.

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[k5jm]

I'm loving this report, and the fabulous photos!!!

We definitely were family.

Are Kathy! We ARE family!!! I miss all of you guys!

Laurie

Laurie, Christy is picking on me! Can you make her stop?

 

[Dugette]

Once again, gorgeous pictures! Your hotel had some amazing views and is quite photogenic itself.

Neat to see all of your traveling companions. I hadn't really thought through what it would be like to travel with a large group - er, I mean, family - of people. Glad that they welcomed you and everyone got along well. Looks like a nice start with the welcome dinner. Can't wait to see more of Italy!

 

[sayhello]

Laurie, Christy is picking on me! Can you make her stop?

I doubt it, Mike!

Sayhello

 

[OKW Lover]

Laurie, Christy is picking on me! Can you make her stop?

Well, you started it!!!

 

[tgeorge]

I'm really enjoying your trip report. I have two ABDs on my bucket list, Italy and Australia.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Laurie, Christy is picking on me! Can you make her stop?

Sorry Mike! I'm on Christy's side!

Laurie

 

[MinnieGarden]

Laurie, Christy is picking on me! Can you make her stop?

Well, you started it!!!

Sorry Mike! I'm on Christy's side!

Laurie

Thanks everyone for your support!

Kristi - I'm loving your trip report! It's inspiring me to start on a photo book...... Now if only someone would get the rest of the pictures uploaded.....

 

[khertz]

I've been back about a week from my DCL/WDW trip and decided to try and get caught up on the DISboards...much to my surprise, you've got another TR going! And not just any TR but an ABD trip to Italy!!!!
WOW!! I am so happy for y'all to be able to take this trip and sooooo jealous! This is a trip DW and I have wanted to take for years. Nothing to do but read the whole TR thus far in one sitting! FANTASTIC TR!! WOW...WOW...WOW. DH's pics are great as always but the subject matter just adds to the beauty! I can't wait for more and this was just lagniappe...

I sincerely hope you & DW are able to take the trip to Italy. It was life changing for us! I have always wanted to travel the world, but never thought I would and thought I would be too afraid. This trip definitely opened my eyes, and now we can't wait to take our next ABD! It's an addiction! I'm glad you are enjoying the TR. And if that one fleur de lis made you giddy, just wait till we get to Florence!!

Once again, gorgeous pictures! Your hotel had some amazing views and is quite photogenic itself.

Neat to see all of your traveling companions. I hadn't really thought through what it would be like to travel with a large group - er, I mean, family - of people. Glad that they welcomed you and everyone got along well. Looks like a nice start with the welcome dinner. Can't wait to see more of Italy!

The hotel was in a GREAT location, just a few minutes walk from pretty much everything. That night that we took a cab back from the food tour was the last time we took a cab for the rest of the trip! We just enjoyed the walking too much.

It was a little intimidating at first, but getting to know a few people in chat beforehand really helped. And everyone was so friendly, it wasn't long before we felt part of the family. The welcome dinner was a nice introduction to our guides, our travel companions, and what ABD would be all about for us.

I'm really enjoying your trip report. I have two ABDs on my bucket list, Italy and Australia.

Welcome along! I'm glad you're enjoying it. Italy was always top of my bucket list, so now any other place I get to go to is just bonus from here on out. I'm really interested in the Australia trip too!! It looks incredible.

Laurie, Christy is picking on me! Can you make her stop?

I doubt it, Mike!

Sayhello

Sorry Mike! I'm on Christy's side!

Laurie

Thanks everyone for your support!

Kristi - I'm loving your trip report! It's inspiring me to start on a photo book...... Now if only someone would get the rest of the pictures uploaded.....

Seriously, this is why I love you people!!

Thanks, Christy! I'm definitely going to need to do one too, although I think DH is going to hate me when it's all done because I'm going to have to add so many extra pages!! I'm guessing Mike at least has them all edited? I am still cracking the whip on Dustin to edit in basically every spare moment he has! Uploading them is a whole 'nother beast that I'm working on!!

 

[Imagineer5]

So nice that you spent the time before the trip getting to know everyone and you had this first evening to meet up over some great food. Looks like the hotel is beautiful and well situated too - can't wait to see what the next day brings!

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Thanks, Christy! I'm definitely going to need to do one too, although I think DH is going to hate me when it's all done because I'm going to have to add so many extra pages!!

I finished mine up last week - 56 pages ! Yep you read that right! I just couldn't narrow it down! Fortunately, books were 50% off, which is why I rushed to get it finished!

Laurie

 

[khertz]

So nice that you spent the time before the trip getting to know everyone and you had this first evening to meet up over some great food. Looks like the hotel is beautiful and well situated too - can't wait to see what the next day brings!

It was definitely a plus getting to know people online beforehand!

 

[khertz]

I finished mine up last week - 56 pages ! Yep you read that right! I just couldn't narrow it down! Fortunately, books were 50% off, which is why I rushed to get it finished! Laurie

Yep that sounds about right!! lol I'll have to make mine when I can and sit on it until a discount comes out, for sure. Awesome you were able to get yours done already! Did you use Shutterfly?

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Yep that sounds about right!! lol I'll have to make mine when I can and sit on it until a discount comes out, for sure. Awesome you were able to get yours done already! Did you use Shutterfly?

I did. I had a groupon for a photo book and then the extra pages were 50% off, plus free shipping. I was almost done when the 50% came up so I decided to just get it done.

Laurie

 

[scottny]

Okay following along to compare pics. LOL. I think I took around 6000 pics also.

Wow! All that food looks so familiar. LOL.

Um, Bradley Cooper is Italian. LOL

Nice pics of the ruins and that church is pretty.

The food tour looked great. That pizza is so big.

Nice pics of the steps. I never got there.

Nice pics of Piazza del Popolo. It was so pretty. I don't remember trash. Must look at pics.

Your photos are beautiful.

Pretty view of the city.

The churches are so pretty.

I was at that Disney Store. It was cute but a mad house when we went.

Nice hotel pics and beautiful views.

All caught up (thanks for the links) and cannot wait to read more.

 

[khertz]

I did. I had a groupon for a photo book and then the extra pages were 50% off, plus free shipping. I was almost done when the 50% came up so I decided to just get it done.

Laurie

I tried to start working on mine, and I know it's going to make me crazy trying to get it perfect! Plus I have to start working on Paxton's birthday book!

Okay following along to compare pics. LOL. I think I took around 6000 pics also.

Wow! All that food looks so familiar. LOL.

Um, Bradley Cooper is Italian. LOL

Nice pics of the ruins and that church is pretty.

The food tour looked great. That pizza is so big.

Nice pics of the steps. I never got there.

Nice pics of Piazza del Popolo. It was so pretty. I don't remember trash. Must look at pics.

Your photos are beautiful.

Pretty view of the city.

The churches are so pretty.

I was at that Disney Store. It was cute but a mad house when we went.

Nice hotel pics and beautiful views.

All caught up (thanks for the links) and cannot wait to read more.

You weren't kidding about the food! I guess AlItalia doesn't change it up much.

Okay, I had NO IDEA Bradley Cooper was Italian!

Maybe we just happened to peek in the fountain at Piazza del Popolo on a bad day. I sure hope that's the case, I would hate to think people are just throwing their trash in there all the time.

Thanks for joining in!

 

[khertz]

Day 3: Wednesday September 17th

The next morning was a big one, so we got up bright and early at 6 am. While I took my time getting ready, DH threw on some clothes and went to take some early morning photos.

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We went down to breakfast at 7:15, and were soon joined by another member of the group, Pat. What a sweetheart he is! We very much enjoyed chatting with him while we enjoyed the spread. Once we were full, we went back to the room to grab up all the stuff we would need for a full day of touring.

The group met up in the lobby at 8:30 and we were introduced to our local guide Cristina. Dusty explained to us that she is alternately known as Cruella…Not because she is mean or skins puppies, but because of her driving! Lol We were also given the small radios we would be using to hear Cristina as she talked so that we didn’t all have to crowd around her. It came with a single ear bud but several people from the group had brought their iPhone ear buds and apparently they worked fine.

Time for our full day walking tour of Rome…Andiamo! But first we had to get to the bus, which was parked across the street. Marco told us the first rule of maneuvering the busy streets of Rome is to Show No Fear! He even suggested making eye contact with the drivers to show them you’re not scared. God bless those guides, they put their lives on the line every time we had to cross the street by playing crossing guard and stopping traffic for us. Dangerous job! I hope Disney gives them hazard pay!

We got on the bus and met our driver, who we were told is excellent. He had to prove it less than five minutes later when he had to make a super tight turn in the huge bus and NOT hit the car that was parked on the side of the road.

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Look how close we were!​

After a bit of maneuvering, we cleared the turn and our driver earned a round of applause.

Our first destination was the Colosseum, but we saw some sights along the way that Cristina pointed out to us. First up was again, the Wedding Cake that we had already seen. Cristina explained that it used to be called the typewriter, but nowadays kids don’t know what a typewriter is so they came up with something else to compare it to!

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Cristina had the driver take us around the roundabout to get a better view of the building, and of the balcony where Mussolini famously gave his speeches.

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It got sketchy for a second when we got stuck in the roundabout and had to go around a couple more times, but then we got on our way for real. The next thing we passed that I found really interesting was a memorial to September 11th.

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First glimpse of the Colosseum from the bus!​

Soon enough, we had arrived and it was time to get off the bus. Follow the orange sign!

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We stopped so we could take family photos in front of the arch first.

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The Arch of Constantine was built in the year 315. You read that right…315! The Roman Senate built the arch to commemorate the triumph of Constantine I over Maxentius.

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We paused for a few moments here while the rest of the group took their photos, then moved closer to the Colosseum where we took more. While we waited for everyone, Cristina also told us about the history of the building.

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She polled us on how long we thought it took to build the Colosseum, and I don’t think any of us came close. Most people were guessing anywhere from 50 to 200 years. But it was actually built in just 8 years!

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I was SO excited to walk under that archway and into the building! I mentioned that I have always wanted to travel to Italy, and one of the very top things on the list of things I was looking forward to was seeing this very building in person!

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This is a close-up of the ceiling where you can see the remainder of the beautiful work that remains and where some of it has crumbled away and left behind only the foundation.

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Wednesday September 17th

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We went up a set of steep steps to a temporary exhibit set up where Cristina showed us some of the things that ancient Roman children used.

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Dusty fanning Cristina after the long trek up those steps!


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This looks like a bucket, but it’s actually what was used as a backpack. Worked perfectly for rolled up scrolls!

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This is a wax tablet children used to practice writing because parchment was too expensive.

Then Cristina took us over to an empty section to explain to us how the different classes of people would have sat in the Colosseum seats for events. Of course in the place of honor would be the Emperor & Empress.

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There they are, arm in arm and being fanned by Marco!​

Also on the lowest level would be the senators and vestal virgins. Vestal virgins were promised to celibacy between the ages of 6 and 10, and were committed to that life until they were 30 when they were free to marry.

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Val graciously agreed to play the part of vestal virgin for the purposes of this demonstration!​

The next level were the priests and ordinary people. Then the women and slaves were places at the very highest levels. But of course, the people in the stands needed something to watch…like the gladiators! Lucky for him, DH was chosen to be one of those, and battling him was Grant!

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I guess it wasn’t a very good match, Roger looks a little bored on the bench there watching.​

Eventually, with this blow to the head, DH was defeated…

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The Emperor had to decide whether to let DH live or die, so DH had to beg for his life, and even batted his eyes.

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The kind Emperor Pete decided to let DH live, and for that, we were both very thankful! Honestly, it had seemed a little silly that we were spending so much time there doing that, but once everyone started getting into it, it was VERY funny! And a good insight into how the Colosseum visitors would have been separated.

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These mosaics Cristina showed us she compared to kids having posters on their walls. Instead, rich families had mosaics made of their favorite battles and had them in their homes.

Then, finally, we went out into the center of the Colosseum to see the inside where all the action once happened! She showed us the small holes in the walls where the bronze braces that had been put in to support the structure had been stolen and used to make weapons. There were also some larger holes, and we found a familiar face through one of them.

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Hey there, Marco!


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Here’s where it sucked for me. We had a little bit of time to spend on our own before meeting back up with the group, but I spent most of it in the huge line for the women’s restroom! Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time that happened. But it was probably better that way because DH went off to take more photos, didn’t realize how long it was going to take him to get to the meeting point, and had to run to get there on time! I wouldn’t have enjoyed that much either.

While he was off taking photos, a few of us ladies who had spent time in the line walked together to the small gift shop to look around. I ended up getting a small Colosseum magnet because we like collecting magnets from our vacation destinations.

This is what DH was doing before his sprint to the meeting place.

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There is a cross inside the Colosseum because it was declared a sacred monument by the Pope at a time when there were discussions of demolishing it for town-planning reasons. I believe Cristina also told us that the addition of the cross meant the end of using the Colosseum as a quarry for marble, lead, and iron.

DH also went down a level to check out the basement level a little more closely. This is where the gladiators and wild animals would be held until it was time for battle.

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It felt SO amazing to be inside such an ancient building with such a rich history. While I would have loved to be inside of it when it was at its most glorious & beautiful, covered in marble, I definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed the gore and bloodshed that it seems the ancient Romans enjoyed.

Continued in next post...