Rome

Our day in Rome was the complete opposite of Naples from the get-go.  We arranged a private tour to make sure we could get around, go at our pace, get all the information we were craving, and be able to hit all the highlights in Rome that we wanted to see in just one day.  It turned out so perfectly  We got off the boat and were met by our private driver for the day who had a huge van for us.  We brought our stroller so that made it a lot easier for us as well.  Our driver, Valentino, was very personable, so kind to the kids and every time we turned around he was making faces at one of the babes or listening with interest to one of our boys stories.  He was awesome.  He drove us about an hour to the Vatican and the conversation along the way was great.  As it turns out this is a theme in Italy.  The conversation was so easy with the Italians we met and it was really refreshing to be met with such warmth by complete strangers.  Quite the opposite of most of our social interactions with Saudis.

Miss Grace met us at the Vatican.  I can't imagine what must have gone through her mind when she discovered that her tour for the day was with a family group of 7 including four young kids.  But I'm glad she came to work that day anyway!  Miss Grace made our day.  Our first stop was the Vatican and after she led us through security and ticket lines she stopped at this bench and told our boys stories about the Sistine Chapel.  She told them about Michelangelo painting for years standing up.  She showed them details and quizzed them on bible stories.  She showed them how he painted some of his contemporaries who he didn't like or who had peeked at the painting before it was finished, into his paintings naked, or headed to hell.  She had so many stories and pictures and told them all with such animation that they were really drawn in.  We fell in love with Miss Grace.  She couldn't have been a more perfect fit for us that day.

We wandered pretty quickly through some of the halls of the Vatican museums on the way to the Sistine Chapel, Miss Grace stopping us occasionally to tell us about a particularly important statue or...

tell us stories about the current pope and point out his modest residence out the window.

Here we are, with Miss Grace peeking around the corner making sure we were following, headed to the Sistine Chapel.

Pictures weren't allowed and I didn't want to get into trouble.  Plus I was holding a baby and whispering to two busy boys.  Glenn and Mallory, however, took the prohibition as a challenged and managed to get a few sneaky pics.

It was breathtaking.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  What I might feel when I saw this room that I'd heard about all my life.  It was more than beautiful.  It was awe-inspiring.  I hope I never forget the feeling of walking through the doorway and looking up.  It felt like a gust of wind hit me and I was stunned.  Completely in disbelief that I was really here.  In the Sistine Chapel.  We were ushered into the chapel and it was very crowded.  We stood in a huddled group surrounded on all sides and whispered I spy games with the boys trying to help them see details of the ceiling that Miss Grace had told them about.  Every once in a while the Vatican guards told people to quiet down.  It was easy to forget that it was a Chapel and not a museum.  I could have stood there staring at it for much longer but the boys were about done so after a few minutes we walked out and headed to our last Vatican stop, St. Peter's Basilica.  The boys needed a break so we found a little spot outside to give them snacks and then headed into St. Peter's.  

The girls did great up until we walked into St. Peter's.  They were all smiles even though they were so tired.  

It's funny.  For months over the summer I'd had a recurring dream that I'm standing, holding Kenna, in front of the Pieta.  THE Pieta, and she starts melting down.  Crying inconsolably because it happens to be nap time and she's exhausted.  I was so worried about being in the most special, reverent place I could think of on our trip, and having a baby meltdown in that spot.  AAAAaaand that's what happened.  She calmed down after a few minutes, but that moment, when my family was admiring the Pieta and Miss Grace was telling stories of the crazy man who tried to break it and showing more pictures on the ipad (seriously, she was so amazing), I was walking around trying to decide if I should just leave because Kenna was crying.  Oh well.  

This is the only picture I got of the Pieta.  It's super blurry but at least I managed one before I had to walk around.  Such a beautiful and powerful piece.

It was another really hot day and the boys were ready for a break so we took a quick stroll around St. Peter's and Miss Grace's commentary was perfect.  Perfect details of information for us.  Just enough but not too much.  And when the boys needed something she knew when to let us handle it and when it would be helpful if she distracted them with, "Hey, do you want to see something gross?!" and she'd take them over to see one of the Pope's bodies, entombed right there in the church.  She was so good.  

After we left St. Peter's Valentino was waiting right outside the walls for us and we decided that it would be best if we took a lunch break for the boys' sake.  They took us to a place they recommended and we had a delicious lunch together.  Everyone perked up a little bit with some delicious pizza, pasta and Caprese salad.  It was amazing.  Everything was amazing.  My favorite part of the lunch discussion was when Miss Grace showed us some of the hand signals that Italians use to communicate without words.  That was really entertaining.  

Then it was off to the Colosseum!  Another dream come true!  It's unreal that I get to see these places at all, let alone on a disney cruise and with my whole family.  What a dream.

No big deal.  Just hanging out on a column at the Colosseum.

It was very hot and we were grateful for all the shade within the walls.  We loved all of Miss Grace's stories about the shows and tournaments held there.  She showed us the bathroom stalls (super gross),

Tons of artifacts and different carvings that advertised the matches.

Unreal.

After the Colosseum the boys were really excited about gladiators...how could they not be?!  And they really wanted to find some gladiator armor.  Miss Grace said she knew a shop that would probably have some so we headed off to our next spot and promised the boys we'd find some before the day was out.  Our last stop with Miss Grace was the Pantheon.

Again, I wasn't really sure what to expect but it was ridiculous.  This enormous, technically perfect structure that was built a hundred years after Christ and somehow it's still standing?!  

Just the sheer size of the place was impressive.  But the way they made the dome so perfectly round, the way the light penetrates the entire room from just one open circle in the roof, it's just so cool.
Finn was at his best in the Pantheon.  He was hamming it up and cracking his sisters up.  He's always had something special with them, but it was even more adorable on this trip when we all got tired and worn down to see him be able to dust himself off and ham it up for his sisters simply because he loves them and loves that he can make them happy.

We only had Miss Grace for 5 hours so the Pantheon was our last stop with her.  She showed us a shop with gladiator armor.  Glenn got an extra sword and they had a battle right there in the side street by the Pantheon.  It was one of the most darling things I've ever seen.  Tate's go-to quote that he kept saying was, "You'll never finish me alive!"  I have no idea where he got it from but it was adorable.

 Our last selfie with Miss Grace.

We got to hang out with Valentino for another few hours before we had to head back to the cruise ship so we did a quick stop at the Trevi Fountain.  We threw some pennies in a tiny puddle they had for the purpose out front but the fountain was under renovation.  Likely for a few years.  It was stunning and we're still so glad we stopped.  

Next we headed over to the Spanish Steps.  The boys had impromptu battles in the road on our way.

So cool.

For the next hour or so we asked Mal to direct us to some of her areas in Rome.  We went to the church and tried to get in but it was locked.  It was kind of surreal to see streets that she lived on, places she grocery shopped, and sights that I'd seen pictures of her in front of from years ago on her mission.  It seemed like such a distant part of her life.  A part I'd never really fully understand and of course, I won't ever FULLY understand it, but it was really cool to be there with her and have her show us places she lived.  And I loved that the boys got to hear her talk about her mission and speak Italian with people all week.  It made my heart smile to hear my beautiful sister speaking her beautiful language.  

Mal really wanted to find this tiny bakery that the missionaries would go to for chocolate filled croissants and as she tried to direct Valentino to it he knew exactly where she was talking about.  He actually lived in that neighborhood and frequented the bakery as well.  It was a TINY little bakery called "wunder" and you had to go around to the back in this sketchy little alley.  It was so cool.  Such a little treasure we never would have stumbled upon on our own but those croissants were incredible.  Here's Mal, so excited that we found it!

Nothing could really top the bakery so after that stop we bid farewell to Rome.  Promising our little pennies in the fountain that we'd come back some day.  The kids all slept on our drive back to the ship as we chatted with Valentino.  It was an absolutely blissful day.  Hot and exhausting, but because we had our own guide we were able to take things at our own pace.  We stopped when we needed to stop.  We hit everything we needed.  We got lots of great information and kept the boys interested as well.  It was perfect.  I loved Rome.  I'm such a history nerd and this city is saturated in so much history I could spend my life there and never know all the layers of history that fill literally every nook and cranny of the city.  What a great day.