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

[Cousin Orville]

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

There are a bunch of youtube videos of it.... search Louis Vuitton Rome

like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7kwGA-NEvo

 

[OKW Lover]

I've very much been enjoying the trip report. I'm glad you took such good notes as I've already forgotten what some of those spots were called. Now I've got a reference.

Looking forward to more...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The pizza looks really good! We have a place in the town where I work that makes pizza very similar to that (not saying it is as good but the size and style reminds me a lot of that). They do one with spicy meats on it that they then add honey to for a sweet & spicy mix that is really great.

That is a sold effort out of your husband! I know how he feels though as 1 more slice doesn't seem like that much .... and then 4 slices later you feel a tad full

That fake window is pretty cool - love stuff like that!

also love the painting "depicting how women should behave to be good wives and mothers." reminds me of that article from Good Housekeeping on how a good wife behaves. Including - don't bother you husband with details of your day as what he wants to talk about is more important

Pretty cool about the "fake" dome ... can't imagine how they could possible run out of money building such a simple and plainly decorated structure

Love a good Gelato!

 

[KelleyK75]

More wonderful pictures that makes me wish I was there.

The pizza and gelato look amazing!

The Lady and the Tramp pressed penny is so cute! I think I would have wanted to hang on to that one.

It sounds like your DS had a nice birthday.

 

[marDgreen88]

I honestly don't even know what to say about all these updates, except I really enjoyed reading them. The tours all sound so interesting, the architecture is incredible, the food looks delicious... I mean, I guess Italy is pretty cool. Can't wait to read more!

 

[khertz]

There are a bunch of youtube videos of it.... search Louis Vuitton Rome

like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7kwGA-NEvo

So cool!! Thanks for sharing that video!

I've very much been enjoying the trip report. I'm glad you took such good notes as I've already forgotten what some of those spots were called. Now I've got a reference.

Looking forward to more...

Thanks, Jeff! I knew I would forget, so I made sure to take as many notes as possible.

The pizza looks really good! We have a place in the town where I work that makes pizza very similar to that (not saying it is as good but the size and style reminds me a lot of that). They do one with spicy meats on it that they then add honey to for a sweet & spicy mix that is really great.

That is a sold effort out of your husband! I know how he feels though as 1 more slice doesn't seem like that much .... and then 4 slices later you feel a tad full

That fake window is pretty cool - love stuff like that!

also love the painting "depicting how women should behave to be good wives and mothers." reminds me of that article from Good Housekeeping on how a good wife behaves. Including - don't bother you husband with details of your day as what he wants to talk about is more important

Pretty cool about the "fake" dome ... can't imagine how they could possible run out of money building such a simple and plainly decorated structure

Love a good Gelato!

Unfortunately, we don't seem to have any pizza places around that make that good, soft, thin crust like we enjoyed in Italy. Or maybe it's a good thing, because then I'd want it all of the time! His excuse was, "Well, they brought us a whole 'nother pizza, we can't let it go to waste!"

That's exactly what Cristina compared it to! I guess since they didn't have those kinds of magazines in ancient times, they went for the next best thing...life-sized portraits on public walls!

Right?! Not like the rest of it is extravagant or anything! As cool as it was to see, to be honest, that has to be pretty embarrassing to the people funding the building of the church!

More wonderful pictures that makes me wish I was there.

The pizza and gelato look amazing!

The Lady and the Tramp pressed penny is so cute! I think I would have wanted to hang on to that one.

It sounds like your DS had a nice birthday.

Thank you!

It tasted just as good as it looks. Possibly even better!

We did end up hanging onto one and throwing the other! It was such a nice gesture from John & Kevin.

He did! He got LOTS of new toys to bring home and had tons of fun playing with his cousins and going trick or treating in City Park.

I honestly don't even know what to say about all these updates, except I really enjoyed reading them. The tours all sound so interesting, the architecture is incredible, the food looks delicious... I mean, I guess Italy is pretty cool. Can't wait to read more!

Thanks, Marissa, glad you enjoyed! Yes, Italy, is pretty cool.

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Wednesday September 17th

When I left off, we were leaving the hotel to head back to the Piazza del Popolo to spend some more time in the church since we had been in there so briefly for the Angels & Demons tour. But first, we stopped one more time at the Spanish Steps so that we could get a chance to walk to the top since we hadn’t had that chance either of the other two times we had been by there.

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Halfway up


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Made it to the top!


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​

Okay, so one thing you have to know about these big cities in Italy is that there are people trying to sell you crap EVERYWHERE. Everything from “selfie sticks” and balls you throw on the ground and they splat into a puddle of goo to roses and knockoff purses. And they are aggressive! So one of them got me here at the top of the stairs. He kept trying to give me roses and I was telling him no, but he physically put it in my hands and said, “Gratis, gratis.” So I walked off with it…and he followed us asking DH for money for the rose. Lol I had set the rose down by that point, so he snatched it up and finally left. I learned my lesson then to just let things fall if they tried to hand anything to you, even if they said it was free! I was really bothered by how much these people would actually TOUCH you when trying to sell you something. And you just couldn’t get away from them! It got a little better once we got out of Rome, but they were still everywhere.

With that out of the way, we counted the steps on the way down and continued on to the Piazza del Popolo.

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We did indeed find Santa Maria del Popolo to be open, so we went inside to get some pictures and videos.

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We decided to poke our heads into the other two churches in the Piazza del Popolo since they were also open. First we went into Santa Maria dei Miracoli (Mary of Miracles). While we were in there, I decided to say a little prayer and light a candle, since it was the first church I had seen with real candles to light instead of just an electric candle that you push a button to light.

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Then we went inside the nearly identical church beside it, Santa Maria dei Montesanto.

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Then it was time to start heading back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner, so we started walking back. On the way, I couldn’t help but take a photo of the payphone. Despite being completely obsolete in America, they still have plenty of them in Rome and they are actually pretty cool looking!

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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 3 Continued: Wednesday September 17th

Once we had freshened up and were ready, we went down to the lobby to meet the group at 7 pm to load up on a bus and head to a restaurant near the Appian Way for dinner. Our bus driver was seriously a pro…he backed the huge motorcoach into a tight little space once we got there! Dinner was at a lovely restaurant called L’Archeologia where we were eating on a large, covered patio. We dined with Grant & Lesley, Pete & Dustin, and Dusty & Marco.

First up was of course, bread & wine! Oh, and some water also.

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The appetizers came out first, and everyone was served the same thing. We had sliced smoked turkey and carpaccio over arugula. It was topped with dried mushrooms and Romano cheese. It was a nice surprise and very tasty!

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I never thought I’d eat Carpaccio but it was actually very good! But the turkey and Romano were my favorite things in the dish.

Up next was the pasta course. I had ordered a pasta with tomato sauce while DH had chosen the seafood risotto.

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We both very much enjoyed our dishes, but DH couldn't finish his risotto. It's very filling! I got a little taste and it was really delicious but I'm a pasta kind of girl so I was happy with my choice.

A few people at our table asked for Coke, so they brought out a large bottle for us to share. DH got this funny photo of Dustin staring intently at the words on the back of the bottle, and Pete happily reminded him that just because he concentrated very hard, he wouldn’t be able to suddenly read and understand Italian!

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The third choice for the pasta course was a truffle ravioli that looked really delicious. Pete had ordered it and was nice enough to let DH take a picture before he dug in.

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While we waited for the next course, the guides invited whoever wanted to go down into the wine cellar to join them. I stayed at the table but DH went to check it out.

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And apparently he also took a glance at the lobsters in the tank!​

Then came the main dish. I think there were only two choices, so again we each chose one so we could try the other. I had the salmon with spinach and DH ordered the veal with potatoes.

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DH seemed to enjoy his veal, but my salmon was just okay. I’m not a huge fan of salmon in general, so not surprising that this wasn’t my favorite meal. Dessert made up for it though! We had a fruit tart with a shortbread crumble and mascarpone cheese.

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Dinner was a long affair. It was 2.5 hours! But we had a great time getting to know some of our fellow adventurers better. We spent a lot of time talking to Pete and Dustin about how we became such big Disney fans and gushed about DS while Dustin gushed about his niece. And I learned from Lesley that they are not really into the DIS, but just stumbled upon a link to the DIS Exclusive Germany ABD trip that took place last year when they were looking to go to Germany on their own and decided to book it. They enjoyed the time with the group so much that they decided to join them again for Viva Italia. What a great group to just stumble upon, am I right?!

We got back on the bus and spent quite a bit of time talking with Dusty about his history with Disney entertainment (he has performed in Castle stage shows, FotLK, and parades to name a few!) and his experiences doing other ABD trips. He has been with ABD since the beginning and does a lot of the research trips when Disney is trying to add or tweak an itinerary so he is very involved in the process of making the trips so wonderful!

On the ride home, we got a good laugh over poking fun at the on bus music entertainment with Pete and Dustin, in particular the Italian version of My Heart Will Go On, which I swear we heard a dozen times. As we were getting back to the hotel, Dustin said very seriously, “You know what I could use right now?” Pete guessed it was another glass of wine. But Dustin answered, “No, some more fake Celine Dion.” He said it so seriously that it just cracked me up for some reason! Pretty perfect way to end the night.

We got back to the hotel after 10 pm and took some quick showers before getting ready for bed. We had another full day ahead of us as we were heading to the Vatican!

UP NEXT: Our trip to the smallest country in the world!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Those are ridiculously good photos of dinner. Amazing.

This summer I was accosted by a guy selling roses in St Marks Sq in Venice. Sadly, I fell for it. It's so uncharacteristic of me, but it was late, my family had just had an awesome dinner, good wine... We were just trying to have a great time together playing in the square at night... and this guy just kept bugging me. He shoved a rose in my hand. I wish I had put it on the ground. Just didn't think fast enough. Gave him a couple euros to go away. I'm still bitter!

 

[k5jm]

Explaining the wine "situation'" ....priceless


IMG_8108 by k5jmh, on Flickr

 

[khertz]

Those are ridiculously good photos of dinner. Amazing.

This summer I was accosted by a guy selling roses in St Marks Sq in Venice. Sadly, I fell for it. It's so uncharacteristic of me, but it was late, my family had just had an awesome dinner, good wine... We were just trying to have a great time together playing in the square at night... and this guy just kept bugging me. He shoved a rose in my hand. I wish I had put it on the ground. Just didn't think fast enough. Gave him a couple euros to go away. I'm still bitter!

Thanks!

lol I'm glad I'm not the only one that fell for it! DH was pretty much pretending like he didn't even know me when the guy came looking for money. Those people were SO annoying! After that, no one else tried to put anything in my hands, but I knew from then on that if they did, I should just let it fall on the ground.

Explaining the wine "situation'" ....priceless


IMG_8108 by k5jmh, on Flickr

Wine fairy!!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, they are really pushy with their peddling! I will have to remember that whenever I get to Rome. Other than that, looks like more great touring and another pleasant meal!

 

[carpenta]

There is also a scam that some use to rob the tourist. One person offers you an item to distract you while the other rifles through you backpack , bag or lifts your wallet. Unfortunately street crimes (petty) is not unheard of especially in the high tourist spots. We were in an outdoor cafe and someone cut a woman's hand bag off the back of a chair and ran. But all the times I have been to Italy I have never had a problem (knock on wood). Maybe just too ugly I guess....

 

[KelleyK75]

The people trying to sell you stuff does not sound fun. Especially when they are putting it into your hands.

The churches are beautiful!!

Your dinner looks amazing, and it sounds like you had a wonderful time getting to know everyone.

 

[afwdwfan]

Geeze... I don't have enough patience for the pushy sales tricks. That puts a little bit of a damper on an otherwise beautiful setting. I'm glad that you put it down and got out without giving them any money though.

The churches are beautiful, as has been the case with all of them. I'm glad you were able to find one with real candles so that you could light one.

Dinner looks phenomenal. I'm kind of like you though. I like my pasta. I would likely have ordered what you did, but that seafood risotto looks awesome too, so I'd have then been kicking myself for not ordering it. Salmon is definitely not my thing either, but I appreciate you ordering it anyway for the sake of trying everything!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

even more wonderful church pictures! And nice that you got time to light a candle and say a prayer

Ugh, I feel like I have gotten better at not making eye contact with people in NYC trying to sell you stuff or give our flyers, etc. - but sounds like much, much worse in Rome - very not cool to physically make contact

Dinner looks really nice - and now that is a wine cellar! Based on the pictures kinda not surprised that the main course was not your favorit - just looks kinda standard and not as special as the other courses (though, I am with you in not being a huge salmon fan so may be biased)

I then what any situation needs, really, is more fake Celine Dion

 

[saintstickets]

I finally got semi-caught up at work after our trip and had time to get back on the DISboards to read your TR. WOW!! Every time I read it I am more anxious to take this trip. Great pics and fantastic narrative. I can't wait to read more.

 

[silmarg]

I finally got semi-caught up at work after our trip and had time to get back on the DISboards to read your TR. WOW!! Every time I read it I am more anxious to take this trip. Great pics and fantastic narrative. I can't wait to read more.

Great thread Bill.... thx for sending me this way.

And HOW ABOUT DEM SAINTS!

See you next week!

 

[khertz]

Wow, they are really pushy with their peddling! I will have to remember that whenever I get to Rome. Other than that, looks like more great touring and another pleasant meal!

They ABSOLUTELY ARE! They walk up to you and tap you on the arms trying to give you whatever they are selling. I tried my best just to avoid eye contact with them, but that didn't always work either.

There is also a scam that some use to rob the tourist. One person offers you an item to distract you while the other rifles through you backpack , bag or lifts your wallet. Unfortunately street crimes (petty) is not unheard of especially in the high tourist spots. We were in an outdoor cafe and someone cut a woman's hand bag off the back of a chair and ran. But all the times I have been to Italy I have never had a problem (knock on wood). Maybe just too ugly I guess....

Yes, our guides warned us heavily about that! We had to be very careful about our bags. I tried to make sure when we were going into heavily congested spots, like in front of La Pieta when we got to the Vatican, to turn my purse around so that the side pocket was facing me and kept my hand over the zipper. DH got a money belt also. Just can't be too careful!

The people trying to sell you stuff does not sound fun. Especially when they are putting it into your hands.

The churches are beautiful!!

Your dinner looks amazing, and it sounds like you had a wonderful time getting to know everyone.

It was REALLY annoying, some times more than others. In populated areas at night, forget about it. The same guy would try to sell you his crap three times. Couldn't get away from them!

It was a great dinner, one we really enjoyed a lot. It was great company and a beautiful atmosphere.

Geeze... I don't have enough patience for the pushy sales tricks. That puts a little bit of a damper on an otherwise beautiful setting. I'm glad that you put it down and got out without giving them any money though.

The churches are beautiful, as has been the case with all of them. I'm glad you were able to find one with real candles so that you could light one.

Dinner looks phenomenal. I'm kind of like you though. I like my pasta. I would likely have ordered what you did, but that seafood risotto looks awesome too, so I'd have then been kicking myself for not ordering it. Salmon is definitely not my thing either, but I appreciate you ordering it anyway for the sake of trying everything!

DH did a great job pretending he didn't know me when that guy was chasing him for money. I really got annoyed with those pushy salesmen, especially when you're trying to enjoy the sites in a city where you'll only be visiting for a few days.

That was a nice find! I didn't mind making a donation to light a candle, but I really don't like that most churches have gone to the electric ones where you just push a button.

All of the choices from the pasta course sounded really good, so it made it tough to choose! I kind of wish I could have had a little taste of all of them. While salmon is not my favorite, I really don't like veal, so it was kind of the only choice. However, I was definitely doing my best to be open minded when it came to food this trip. It's not so much evident in these first few days, but later on, it definitely comes into play! Show No Fear isn't just in reference to the Italian drivers.

even more wonderful church pictures! And nice that you got time to light a candle and say a prayer

Ugh, I feel like I have gotten better at not making eye contact with people in NYC trying to sell you stuff or give our flyers, etc. - but sounds like much, much worse in Rome - very not cool to physically make contact

Dinner looks really nice - and now that is a wine cellar! Based on the pictures kinda not surprised that the main course was not your favorit - just looks kinda standard and not as special as the other courses (though, I am with you in not being a huge salmon fan so may be biased)

I then what any situation needs, really, is more fake Celine Dion

I have dealt with people trying to sell you stuff in New Orleans a lot, but it's nothing like Rome! They were not afraid to come up and nudge you several times in the arm.

I can eat salmon though it's not my favorite fish, but it was pretty bland that night. One of the more disappointing meals food-wise, but the great company made up for it. And it's also a good thing that Italian meals involve multiple courses, because even without finishing my fish, I left more than satisfied!

I find that to be an absolutely true statement.

I finally got semi-caught up at work after our trip and had time to get back on the DISboards to read your TR. WOW!! Every time I read it I am more anxious to take this trip. Great pics and fantastic narrative. I can't wait to read more.

Thanks, Bill! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! I seem to have that effect on people. The doctor I work for now is taking his family to Italy and Paris for the Christmas holidays after hearing me gush about the trip!

Great thread Bill.... thx for sending me this way.

And HOW ABOUT DEM SAINTS!

See you next week!

WHO DAT! Great game Thursday night, and FINALLY, a road win! Hope they keep that up the rest of the season!!!

 

[MEK]

Day 3 Continued: Wednesday September 17th


Made it to the top!


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[/CENTER]

Wow! What a gorgeous view!

So, I am seriously far behind and just starting to catch up on all my subbed TRs so I am sure I have missed Day 2 in its entirety.

But Day 3 looks fabulous. More amazing pictures of more amazing churches.

I love that pay phone. Very cool!

Dinner looks totally amazing! Especially that dessert. YUM!

That wine cellar looks really cool. I would love to have gone down in there.

How cool to travel with such fun and interesting people.