After an extremely long day of traveling... 23 hours... plus a side trip to pick up Kinzi's backpack that she left at the airport, we've made it home!!!! My friends had brought Scruffy home so he was here waiting for us and that was great for us because we missed him so much!
Not much going on here now except laundry and catching up on sleep!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Day 25 - Rome
Hi everyone! It's our last full day in Rome, tomorrow we head home and boy are we ready to be home! Rome is very, very humid and with all the walking we are exhausted. I hear it was 111 in Tucson yesterday, yikes....that will hurt too!
We were going to have a casual day today and not exhaust ourselves but sometimes things don't always goes as planned. We tried to go to the Hard Rock for breakfast (because our hotel said it was open) only to find ourselves there an hour and a half before it actually opened...argh. We ended up finding little snacks and then decided to go geocaching in the beautiful parks here. We only found one out of three geocaches. For the other two, one was missing from the spot and the other we couldn't get to because they were breaking down from a concert in the park and they had it sectioned off and we couldn't get to it. This was also an area of town where very few Taxi's are....we probably walked over a mile to find a taxi stand.....we thought we'd melt before we found one. We'll, now it was time to head to the Hard Rock and every other American in Rome thought so too! It was packed but we still stayed and ate.
Our last stop was a cat sanctuary located in some ancient roman ruins we had heard about. All stray cats are brought here, spayed and neutered and they live there forever or until someone adopts them. Some live inside but most roam the ancient ruins and are free to come and go. All are fat because they know who feeds them! Kinzi took a few pictures.
We are heading home tomorrow so this will be my last post in Europe! I'm sure I'll have Scruffy stories....we miss that little guy!
We were going to have a casual day today and not exhaust ourselves but sometimes things don't always goes as planned. We tried to go to the Hard Rock for breakfast (because our hotel said it was open) only to find ourselves there an hour and a half before it actually opened...argh. We ended up finding little snacks and then decided to go geocaching in the beautiful parks here. We only found one out of three geocaches. For the other two, one was missing from the spot and the other we couldn't get to because they were breaking down from a concert in the park and they had it sectioned off and we couldn't get to it. This was also an area of town where very few Taxi's are....we probably walked over a mile to find a taxi stand.....we thought we'd melt before we found one. We'll, now it was time to head to the Hard Rock and every other American in Rome thought so too! It was packed but we still stayed and ate.
Our last stop was a cat sanctuary located in some ancient roman ruins we had heard about. All stray cats are brought here, spayed and neutered and they live there forever or until someone adopts them. Some live inside but most roam the ancient ruins and are free to come and go. All are fat because they know who feeds them! Kinzi took a few pictures.
We are heading home tomorrow so this will be my last post in Europe! I'm sure I'll have Scruffy stories....we miss that little guy!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Day 24 - Rome
Today's activities involved just a fun tour about the Angels and Demons book that Dan Brown wrote (author of the Da Vinci Code). The tour took us to all the places in the book. As we got to the first place, I go and push click on my camera and boy.....am I a dunderhead! I left the SD card in the computer last night while I updated the website. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't have a camera. The kids really enjoyed this tour a lot and have been talking about it all day.
Cute side story.....the girl checking us in for the tour had a dog that looked like a miniature Scruffy. Trust me this little poodle-ish dog had a lot of bravado and was very much Italian. As the girls husband is walking him he decided to stop, then proceeds to lay down, then proceed to gain a 100lbs and will not move. It was hysterical. After a while, the pup decided to visit all of us. He loved the kids, jumped on everyone and was just adorable. Mind you this dog maybe weighed 5 or 6 lbs. He turned into a ferocious beast when other dogs were around...didn't matter what size....that little dog would take after them. We loved his Italian attitude.....
After coming back to the room to cool off, we went geocaching again when the temperature cooled down. We found three caches by the Vatican. We had to be very careful because there are tons of people around.
We figured out I've been with the kids 24/7 for 24 days with the exception of 15 minutes one time in Poland when I went to the store while Chuck got the kids ice cream....we are starting to need our own space!!! I love them to pieces but we are all ready to be home and are missing our Scruffy something terrible.
Our last day is tomorrow and we're going to take it fairly easy (for us), we are visiting a cat refuge, and visiting some parks. I'll try to get one more post in before we leave on Monday.
Cute side story.....the girl checking us in for the tour had a dog that looked like a miniature Scruffy. Trust me this little poodle-ish dog had a lot of bravado and was very much Italian. As the girls husband is walking him he decided to stop, then proceeds to lay down, then proceed to gain a 100lbs and will not move. It was hysterical. After a while, the pup decided to visit all of us. He loved the kids, jumped on everyone and was just adorable. Mind you this dog maybe weighed 5 or 6 lbs. He turned into a ferocious beast when other dogs were around...didn't matter what size....that little dog would take after them. We loved his Italian attitude.....
After coming back to the room to cool off, we went geocaching again when the temperature cooled down. We found three caches by the Vatican. We had to be very careful because there are tons of people around.
We figured out I've been with the kids 24/7 for 24 days with the exception of 15 minutes one time in Poland when I went to the store while Chuck got the kids ice cream....we are starting to need our own space!!! I love them to pieces but we are all ready to be home and are missing our Scruffy something terrible.
Our last day is tomorrow and we're going to take it fairly easy (for us), we are visiting a cat refuge, and visiting some parks. I'll try to get one more post in before we leave on Monday.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Day 23 Rome - Continued
After a couple of hours of napping we were able to get up and go again. We started at the Hard Rock Rome for dinner and bought the obligatory t-shirts! Here are the kids at dinner!
We took another walk by the Trevoli fountain and the kids threw in money. A saying here is that if you turn your back to the fountain and throw a coin into the fountain with your right hand over your left shoulder you will return to Rome someday. Oops, that's the picture I thought I had loaded but I missed getting that one.....Oh well...Nathan being Nathan will have to suffice. They did throw their coins into the fountain though!
This little guy is called the Mouth of Truth. (We found a geocache near by). In ancient times, people who were being judged (or accused of a crime) were required to put their hand in the mouth of this guy. If they were telling the truth, they kept their hand. If they were lying, they had their hand chopped off. They had quite a bit of help when chopping of the hand by someone behind that wall.....yuck!
Another great day in Rome!!!
Don't know how well you can see this but this is one of the ceiling areas at the Hard Rock. The cherubs/angels have guitars, drums, keyboards and microphones in their hands.
We found our 50th (and more) geocache tonight by the Pantheon. It was actually in this little alley way where this old man was making wooden Pinocchio's. The kids sat down and had their pictures made by this guys creations!
We took another walk by the Trevoli fountain and the kids threw in money. A saying here is that if you turn your back to the fountain and throw a coin into the fountain with your right hand over your left shoulder you will return to Rome someday. Oops, that's the picture I thought I had loaded but I missed getting that one.....Oh well...Nathan being Nathan will have to suffice. They did throw their coins into the fountain though!
Kids in front of the Pantheon again!
Kinzi is always a target for something. This mime decided to latch onto her and lead her in circles around the front of the Pantheon, put on a show with her in front of the crowd and then made her a balloon animal. She had a great time.
This little guy is called the Mouth of Truth. (We found a geocache near by). In ancient times, people who were being judged (or accused of a crime) were required to put their hand in the mouth of this guy. If they were telling the truth, they kept their hand. If they were lying, they had their hand chopped off. They had quite a bit of help when chopping of the hand by someone behind that wall.....yuck!
Another great day in Rome!!!
Day 23 Vatican City (Rome)
We've already had a great day here in Rome and it's only 3 in the afternoon. Our day started with a tour of Vatican City with the same tour company we used yesterday. I was unable to get very many good pictures of the tour today. You are not allowed to use a flash, pictures aren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel and due to lighting hardly anything turned out of what we did take but I'll show you what I can.
Here's the family in goofy "Enjoy Rome" caps that our tour company gave us. Yes, most everyone in our tour wore these hats! This is us at the meeting point for our tour. The graffiti on the wall behind us is very typical and all over Europe.
This picture, although it's not any good, is really interesting. This tomb was actually built for
Constantine. He died very far away from Rome, so they buried the remains of his mother, Helena, inside the tomb. She was incredibly important because she is the reason Constantine de-criminalized being a Christian. She brought the cross Jesus was crucified on to Rome while she was in Jerusalem and a twisted pillar and more artifacts. Long story short, her son Emperor Constantine allowed Christians and even converted to Christianity. The Catholic church has since removed her remains and buried them in a cemetery but the story is very cool!
St. Peter's Basilica balcony where they make announcements.
Inside St. Peter's Basilica.
Inside St. Peter's Basilica. These curved columns are replicas of what Emperor Constantine's mother, Helena, brought back with her from the holy land.
Here's the family in goofy "Enjoy Rome" caps that our tour company gave us. Yes, most everyone in our tour wore these hats! This is us at the meeting point for our tour. The graffiti on the wall behind us is very typical and all over Europe.
This is as we entered the Vatican. This area I believe is called Pine Cone courtyard. The pine cone is a pagan symbol of fertility. Yep, pagan. The Vatican is the largest holder of pagan art in the world. That was a surprise to us.
From the same courtyard, you can see the top of St. Peter's Basilica.
This is a Greek statue is a father and his two sons fighting off the serpents. Michelangelo used this sculpture as his inspiration in painting the Sistine Chapel. Yes, Kinzi has seen one to many male body parts!!!!!
One of many, many, two thousand year old mosaics in the Vatican Museum.
This picture, although it's not any good, is really interesting. This tomb was actually built for
Constantine. He died very far away from Rome, so they buried the remains of his mother, Helena, inside the tomb. She was incredibly important because she is the reason Constantine de-criminalized being a Christian. She brought the cross Jesus was crucified on to Rome while she was in Jerusalem and a twisted pillar and more artifacts. Long story short, her son Emperor Constantine allowed Christians and even converted to Christianity. The Catholic church has since removed her remains and buried them in a cemetery but the story is very cool!
The Pope's coat of armor.
Looking from St. Peter's Basilica out to the square.
The window in the grey above the statues are the Pope's personal residence.
St. Peter's Basilica balcony where they make announcements.
Inside St. Peter's Basilica.
Inside St. Peter's Basilica.
Inside St. Peter's Basilica. These curved columns are replicas of what Emperor Constantine's mother, Helena, brought back with her from the holy land.
We thought this was an absolutely fantastic tour!!!!!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Day 21 and 22, Rome - Italy.....yeah!!!!!
We've arrived in Rome. Hip, Hip Hooray!!!! I must admit we were ready to leave Poznan. After another day of traveling, the kids were pretty goofy. The first picture is of them at a restaurant the night we arrived!
This was a typical street. We are on our way to meet our tour group.
The family inside the Colosseum.
We are exhausted. I took 120 pictures today and these are just a few!!!!
In true Blank fashion we have already geocached in Rome. While waiting for our tour, we started finding caches. This is our first one in Rome. It by Castel Sant' Angelo on the bridge.
We actually had to use some stealth kills because there are so many muggles around!!!!
We see tons of small cars but this was ridiculous.....see how small it is compared to the kids!!!!
This is the second geocache we found in Rome. It was in a yucky part but it was very cleverly hid! The next two pictures are of this cache!
This was a typical street. We are on our way to meet our tour group.
The family at the Roman Forum
The family in front of the Colosseum.
The family inside the Colosseum.
We are exhausted. I took 120 pictures today and these are just a few!!!!
Day 19 & 20 Poznan, Poland
Monday and Tuesday were our last two days in Poznan. Monday ended up being rainy and all we did was stay in the room and then finally for dinner go out. On Tuesday, we gathered and packed up our belongings....returned things, copied pictures from other people's cameras, and traded books....the normal stuff.
Here is our last dinner in Poznan with our friends, from left; Don, Chuck, Linda, Lori (Bosses Wife), Kinzi, Nathan, Addie (Bosses daughter) Hoss (the Boss) and Griffin (Bosses son). This was our favorite restaurant called The Sphinx.
Here is our last dinner in Poznan with our friends, from left; Don, Chuck, Linda, Lori (Bosses Wife), Kinzi, Nathan, Addie (Bosses daughter) Hoss (the Boss) and Griffin (Bosses son). This was our favorite restaurant called The Sphinx.
We found a geocache near this spot.
Pretty park in Poznan where we were walking around with our friends.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Day 17 and 18 - Poznan, Poland
It's our last weekend in Poland so we spent most of the time geocaching and seeing a castle. Chuck had the squadron car for the weekend and we were able to go at our own pace without any trouble. We started geocaching which lead us to the zoo, we didn't find the geocache but we did visit the zoo. Here are some pictures.
Those folks need no explanation.
Ostrich, emu....something like that!
Those folks need no explanation.
Meerkat
Can't remember!
They had a golden eagle and this was an exhibit beside it where Mackinzi was seeing how far her arms spread compared to a golden eagle.
Ostrich, emu....something like that!
Ugly little guy!
Can you see the owl?
After the zoo, we drove south and toured the Kornick Castle. It's a big museum now but it was pretty interesting.
The last thing we did on Saturday was find another geocache that was pretty easy. It was by a kids playground so Mackinzi was happy to go play awhile. She persuaded Nathan to teeter totter with her and then she persuaded mom and dad to teeter totter and we all got laughing pretty hard because we were acting like we've never done that before and well....we looked like goofy Americans....hahahahahahaha.....no pictures.....sorry!
On Sunday, we found ourselves looking for a cache near a meteorite site. This one was a lot of fun to find, it was in a beautiful area. We meet someone from the states while looking for the cache. Oh, and Poland has GIANT MOSQUITOES LIKE LOUISIANA!!!!!!!
Days 15 and 16 - Poznan, Poland
This last week will be quite boring before we head to Rome. The kids and I have been just hanging out. Not much to else to see here but we'll be geocaching on the weekend so I'll have more to update.
During some walks we came upon this park and thought it was pretty.
During some walks we came upon this park and thought it was pretty.
Street in Poznan
Looking at Cathedral Island in Poznan.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Days 13 and 14 -Back in Poznan
We are back in Poznan now for another week before we head out to Rome. Here we are doing every day stuff. Kinzi is eating a kids meal from KFC....yes, that is Kentucky Fried Chicken and Nathan is waiting for his Pizza Hut pizza to arrive.
This is the local (but one of many) ice cream stores the kids get ice cream at almost every day.
Yep, I made them pose with their ice cream.
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