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

[MEK]

Oh yeah - the whole rose thing! Annoying!

 

[khertz]

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.

Oh yeah - the whole rose thing! Annoying!

Welcome back, Mary Ellen! Hope your trip was fabulous!!

DH thought I was weird taking a photo of the payphone, but I thought they were interesting looking. Plus something you don't see too often anymore in the USA!

Dinner that night was great. The food was good, and the company was even better. I never got tired of listening to Dusty tell us about his adventures working for Disney! After seeing the pictures, I was regretting not going down in the wine cellar myself. It looks so cool!

Ugh, the peddlers were downright infuriating!

 

[Txshadow]

Excited for this report! I saw some pictures Pete posted on Facebook and recognized you from your other reports so I was hoping you would post for this trip. I was fortunate enough to visit Rome years ago with a 3 and 6 year old in tow. It was overwhelming trying to take in all the history and art but we loved every minute of it. The kids were troopers and still have specific memories from that trip that my husband and I are amazed they can recall in such vivid detail. Seeing the city again in your photos and hearing your experiences makes me eager to return.
Looking forward to to reading more. Thank you for taking the time to share.

 

[scottny]

Day tour sounds like fun. You know all of things in the pics, come by my tr and tell my readers what everything is. LOL. I just post we went up a mountain. I took no notes.

Pretty pics of the coliseum. We were all the way down on the bottom of the pic that was fisheye.

OMG! All the pizza he ate. That is impressive.

Nice pics of Spanish Steps area. Sad we never made it there but oh well. LOL.

Beautiful pics in the church.

The Talenti gelato is so good.

Dinner looked good.

 

[k5jm]

Excited for this report! I saw some pictures Pete posted on Facebook and recognized you from your other reports so I was hoping you would post for this trip. I was fortunate enough to visit Rome years ago with a 3 and 6 year old in tow. It was overwhelming trying to take in all the history and art but we loved every minute of it. The kids were troopers and still have specific memories from that trip that my husband and I are amazed they can recall in such vivid detail. Seeing the city again in your photos and hearing your experiences makes me eager to return.
Looking forward to to reading more. Thank you for taking the time to share.

...and ya'll are just down Louetta (or Cypresswood) from us!

Oh, and we get to see Dusty tomorrow! He is in Houston!

 

[khertz]

Excited for this report! I saw some pictures Pete posted on Facebook and recognized you from your other reports so I was hoping you would post for this trip. I was fortunate enough to visit Rome years ago with a 3 and 6 year old in tow. It was overwhelming trying to take in all the history and art but we loved every minute of it. The kids were troopers and still have specific memories from that trip that my husband and I are amazed they can recall in such vivid detail. Seeing the city again in your photos and hearing your experiences makes me eager to return.
Looking forward to to reading more. Thank you for taking the time to share.

Glad you found me! That's great you were able to share it with your kids and they remember it. I hope someday we can go back when DS is older and enjoy it in a different way.

Day tour sounds like fun. You know all of things in the pics, come by my tr and tell my readers what everything is. LOL. I just post we went up a mountain. I took no notes.

Pretty pics of the coliseum. We were all the way down on the bottom of the pic that was fisheye.

OMG! All the pizza he ate. That is impressive.

Nice pics of Spanish Steps area. Sad we never made it there but oh well. LOL.

Beautiful pics in the church.

The Talenti gelato is so good.

Dinner looked good.

I am so used to taking diligent notes for Disney trips, it was just habit to take them on this trip too! Especially with so many days and so many sites, I knew I would need help remembering everything. I'll have to come over to yours and see if I can fill in any gaps.

I wish we could have gone down onto the floor of the Colosseum. I'm not sure why we didn't? It's listed on the ABD website and another TR said they had, but we didn't.

The Spanish Steps were cool, but don't feel too bad that you missed them. They are not THAT exciting!

I can't wait to try the Talenti! I am missing gelato something fierce.

...and ya'll are just down Louetta (or Cypresswood) from us!

Oh, and we get to see Dusty tomorrow! He is in Houston!

Did you get to see him? I saw on Facebook that he thought he might be working all day. Hope so! If you did, post some pics! Miss those guys!

 

[khertz]

Day 4: Thursday September 18th

The next morning, we were up pretty earlier because our meeting time was 8 am today instead of 8:30 as it had been the day before. We went down and had breakfast, then went back to the room to make sure we had everything we needed for the day, then to the lobby to meet up with the family.

Today, we were headed to Vatican City for a visit at the Vatican Museum, a chance to see the Sistine Chapel, and to tour St. Peter’s Basilica. As an FYI for anyone taking this trip, we were reminded to be mindful of our clothing choices for the day. For both males and females, shoulders and knees should be covered. I wore a sleeveless sundress, but I made sure to have a thin wrap in my bag that I could throw on to cover my shoulders, and I brought a scarf that could go around my waist to make sure my knees were completely covered if my dress didn’t make it. I checked with Cristina before we left and she assured me my dress length was fine. I think they just don’t want women walking around in miniskirts or very short shorts. Also, large bags were not allowed inside. My small crossbody was okay, but DH’s camera bag had to stay on the bus.

We got on the bus and drove into Vatican City. The first thing we saw as we walked around the building to the entrance was the enormous line of people waiting to get inside. And our guides let us know that as long as the line was that morning, it was nothing like how long it can get in the busiest of times!

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Wouldn’t want to be standing in that!


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Before we could go inside, the guides handed out different radios than the ones we had used the day before on our walking tour of Rome. Apparently, inside of the Vatican all tour groups are required to use their radios. They were not nearly as good as the ones we had been using the day before, which kind of sucked. It was not as good of a connection, and with so many groups and only a few frequencies, it picked up a lot of extra noise.

We took some family photos before heading inside!

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Kind of chaotic in the security area!​

Once we got through security and were all together again, the guides handed out our tickets.

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We stopped to look at this interesting piece of artwork that was a reproduction. I say “interesting” because it was painted! Cristina explained that most of the marble statues we appreciate now that are completely white used to be colored back when they were first created and displayed.

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Then we headed up the escalator. From the bottom…

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And again from the top!

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We made our way out to a terrace where we were overlooking the gardens and could see the dome in the distance. We stopped to take photos with the dome in the background.

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Because tour guides are not allowed to speak inside of the Sistine Chapel, we found a quiet spot over to the side where Cristina gave us all of the information about how the chapel was commissioned, how Michelangelo (a famous sculptor) came to be the one to create the amazing work of art found there, and lots of little digs Michelangelo put in the painting against the Pope. Also, the most important thing we learned was that his name is pronounced ME-chelangelo, not MY-chelangelo! In that time, we all had a brief moment of panic when Dusty set the precious orange paddle down on the balcony and almost knocked it off!

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Peeking over the wall at the gardens​

I absolutely love the famous portion of the Sistine Chapel where God is creating Adam, but I had never noticed that God is actually depicted inside of a brain while he is creating Adam. She asked us what is wrong with Adam’s anatomy, then a quick look at the mischievous faces staring back at her had her laughing and warning us not to be naughty! What she was getting at is that Adam has a bellybutton, but since he was not born of a woman, he shouldn’t have one. She also showed us where Michelangelo did a self-portrait in the face of the prophet Jeremiah. She told us how difficult a medium frescoes are, so you can imagine all the work that went into Michelangelo creating this masterpiece over 4 years.

We headed out into a courtyard to cross over into the museum. There is an enormous bronze globe in the center that Cristina said can actually be turned, but only by guides and did we want her to spin it? Of course, we said yes!!

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This pinecone has some significance, but I don’t remember what


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There is the big globe, although it doesn’t look so huge amongst those buildings!


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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Thursday September 18th

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We headed inside of the museum and began looking at the exhibits. I took some notes, but of course we were passing through things very quickly so I didn’t always get everything down. Plus, it was crowded as all get out, so I was also making sure I didn’t lose the group, or DH as I was always watching out for him as he was hanging back from the group to take pictures. Eventually Dusty noticed what I was doing and told me not to worry, he had his eye on the photographers!

This will give you an idea of what we were contending with as we navigated the halls of the museum.

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These busts were interesting because we learned that quite often, marble bodies or torsos were reused and just the heads were changed out!

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There’s a torso


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Statue of Apollo


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Laocoön and His Sons​

So the story behind this sculpture is one I had never heard. Laocoon was a Trojan priest who warned the people over and over to destroy the Trojan horse and not allow it to remain in the city but the people didn’t listen. Athena became angered and sent two sea serpents to kill him and his two sons. His face shows the agony as he tries to free his sons from the monsters, and the tension in his muscles show how he is trying to rescue them with every ounce of strength. A very beautiful piece, and very moving. It is so full of emotion.

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More zoomed in on his face


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Floor mosaic


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Another torso


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This bronze statue is one of the few bronze works still around because it was struck by lightning and considered unlucky. Most other bronze statues were melted down and turned into weapons, but because this one was considered unlucky, any weapons made from it would be unlucky in battle.

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Another intricate floor


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Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 4 Continued: Thursday September 18th

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We went into a hall full of large, intricate tapestries lining the walls. The largest one depicted the Resurrection and took 15 years to complete!

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Resurrection tapestry​

Next, we went into a room lined with maps of the many different areas of Italy. Cristina asked if anyone had family from any of the areas so she could point that specific place out to us on the maps. I was too far back at first, but eventually I was able to work my way up to her to let her know my father’s family comes from Sicily. She was very excited because she herself is Sicilian!

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Sicilian girls! Although only one of us looks it… lol I have my English grandmother’s skin tone!


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The ceiling in this hall was clearly beautiful!!


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One of our future stops on the trip, Venice!


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Dusty pointing out where our hotel in Venice is located.​

At that point, we were ready to head into the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling in the hallway leading there was also beautiful, with a large dome.

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Stepping inside of the Sistine Chapel was UN. REAL. Another one of those “pinch me” moments that perpetuated this trip! It was just breathtaking to look around and try to take in every inch with your eyes. The guards command absolute silence in there, and photos are forbidden. However…DH may have snuck his phone out of his pocket and snapped a quick one! Or rather, he meant to take a photo and actually took a 3 second video by accident. Lol Here’s a screen cap, which does nothing to depict the beauty of the ceiling in there.

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We had a little bit of time in there on our own to look around. And something amazing happened while we were milling around. A priest (or possibly a brother, I’m not sure) came in to say the “Glory Be” prayer with us. That was so cool! Never in a million years thought I’d be praying inside the Sistine Chapel! I asked Dusty about it later, and he said he has only ever seen it happen twice himself, so it seems pretty special and not something they do every 15 minutes or something.

After not nearly enough time to take it all in, we met up with the group near the exit to head over to the Basilica by way of the square.

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This stairway was a roped off entrance into the Sistine Chapel not accessible by the public. However, we saw a brother in brown robes leading a family down that way, so they must have known someone high up!​

Finally, it was time to enter St. Peter’s Basilica! But I think I'll save that for next time.

UP NEXT: Entering St. Peter's

 

[carpenta]

Beautiful pictures. Yes the Sistine Chapel is amazing. Back in 2007 we were on the Disney cruise and had an after hours tour of the Chapel and the guards let us take pictures and video. They are great but can't compare to being there as you can attest. The ceilings in the map and tapestry rooms also were amazing for they all are painted to fool the eye. The stairs were opened around Easter by the Pope and in our group we exited from the chapel down those stairs. Thanks again for your exquisite pictures and narrative.

 

[missangelalexis]

Well it seems I'm a little behind, oops!!

Wow that does sound annoying about the people trying to sell you stuff, so aggressive.

Mmm DH's risotto looks yum. As does your pasta! I'm totally a pasta girl myself.

With so many courses, it's no surprise that it takes so long. But also nice to give you time to relax and actually enjoy your meal.

Beautiful pics, I am sure the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking.

 

[afwdwfan]

Just amazing to see all of the sculptures and art they have there. So much history contained in those walls!!

I'm glad that you got to see the Sistine Chapel and have the bonus of a prayer during your visit. I guess I'll just have to settle for the Spaceship Earth version of it here in about a month.

I appreciate Dustin's stealth mode photography to give us at least a little taste of it!

 

[skier_pete]

Very cool! Some really nice pictures as well.

I miss the "paddle of power".

 

[skier_pete]

Very cool! Some really nice pictures as well.

I miss the "paddle of power".

 

[TheMaxRebo]

First, I love how you are referring to the group as "family" now

I don't know what your problem was ... there were what, 3 or 4 pieces of artwork to keep up with my goodness, the volume of art produced / commissioned by the church is incredible ... and to think the amount on display is just a fraction of what they have in storage

That sounds amazing to be there while a priest/brother was saying a prayer. As a practicing Catholic and someone who minored in comparative religion definitely really want to get to see the Vatican in person at some point

Maybe Disney just works on ancient Roman times ... I mean, it took them 15 years to make a fancy rug. In comparison, 2 years to build a parking garage doesn't seem so bad

 

[k5jm]

Did you get to see him? I saw on Facebook that he thought he might be working all day. Hope so! If you did, post some pics! Miss those guys!

Sadly, Dusty's schedule was cram packed and we did not get to see him! Oh well, 7 weeks until we are in Orlando and we might see him then!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

"...as long as the line was that morning, it was nothing like how long it can get in the busiest of times!" Kind of like Disney actually.

You know, I never considered even the possibility of a security area. I get it, but it never really occurred to me that there would be one.

Haha, I see that globe, I think Epcot. I can't help it, lol.

Wow, I imagine being in the Sistine Chapel would be mind blowing. One of those places pretty much everyone has heard of. I imagine it must be terribly difficult not to take photos just from instinct.

 

[KelleyK75]

Wow, what beautiful pictures and such an interesting update. I learned a lot of new info!

I love that the group is now "family."

 

[courtneybelle]

Geez, how did I get so far behind?! Catching up now!!

LOL fun fact, my first meal in Italy I didn't know there was a meat course after the pasta course, and I was STARVING so I literally ate three plates of pasta. Then they came around with the meat. Oops.

The night shots are beautiful!

I never would have guessed that the Colosseum only took 8 years to build!

Ughhhh that pizza looks so good!!!

GROM <3 lemon gelato was my favorite so I'm pleased with DH's choice.

Ooooh yeah I had a similar rose experience in Florence. Not fun, especially since I'm kind of shy and have a hard time saying no to people.

The Vatican looks amazing! So glad you had such a great experience in the Sistine Chapel.

 

[DDuck4Life]

The night shots are beautiful!

I never would have guessed that the Colosseum only took 8 years to build!

Ughhhh that pizza looks so good!!!

GROM <3 lemon gelato was my favorite so I'm pleased with DH's choice.

Finally someone who shares my love for Lemon Gelato!!! It was soooo good. Where ever we went if they had Lemon flavor that's what I was getting.