The Vatican

(Actual post- end of October 2009)
On our last day in Rome we went to the Vatican. Vatican City is actually a City-State - almost it's own country (although it is surrounded by the City of Rome). It is very small- 110 acres and has a population of approximately 900 people.

Vatican City as seen from the Castel Sant Angelo.

We went on a tour of the Vatican Museums and had this little British tour guide (she was about Kailey's height)who was fabulous! She told us that if we walked through all of the Vatican's Museums we would walk over 9 miles. (We walked almost half of that!)


The kids listened really well and answered questions, too! (Our guide was impressed. This is definitely a first for the Carrell family.)


Jake with a modern art sculpture of the world in the Vatican Gardens.

Before we even entered the museum, our guide gave us an overview of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. She told us some fun details and had us look at a book where we could see the painting up close.

Emery and Claire took the book around for all to see.

We saw some amazing things! The tapestry room was incredible. I thought the Raphael paintings were amazing. (And his women looked like women whereas Michelangelo's women had some serious testosterone in their blood...)

Us with some of our favorite heads.


Here is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It really is amazing. (However, Danny wasn't overly impressed.)


Us- looking at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

We also walked through St. Peter's Basilica which is huge and ornate and elaborate. I got to see the Pieta (a sculpture of Michelangelo's of Mary holding the crucified Christ on her lap) and it was incredible. That man could do amazing things with marble...

Shelby is rubbing St. Peter's foot (it's good luck).


The Carrells in St. Peter's Basilica (don't look too close- we're blurry- this is what happens when strangers take your photos...)


St. Peter's Square at night. (You see the Basilica and the Pope's apartments are on the right.)

Rome- the Gladiators and More...

While we were in Rome we stayed in a great little apartment and had a kitchen, etc. We enjoyed it and so did the kids. While we were there, Madison found that she really enjoys nutella- preferably by the spoonful.


So, our tour guides (Danny and Kailey) found this place where you could go and be GLADIATORS! It sounded like fun...

Here are our gladiators. (Notice the tough fighters- and then there's Kailey. The only gladiator with fashion sense.)


The cheering section.


Our gladiator trainer really made them work! They had to stretch and get ready for some heavy fighting.


They had to do some cool maneuvers.


Jake is running the gauntlet.


After the initial stretching and warm-ups another family arrived. Raj (the dad) and Adam (who is Jake's same age) from Michigan made it really fun for the dad and son in our family.


Sword fighting practice.


The boys were having such a great time!


See what great form our fighters have?


Danny and Raj have armor on and are ready for combat.


Danny versus Adam, Raj versus Jake


Father against son...


Now Danny appears to be Poseidon.


The mock battle- Raj and Danny - they used padded swords so no one was injured.


Adam and Jake fight to the death (not really- but it was almost that intense!)
The gladiator experience was great! We would highly recommend it!


We are at Castel Sant`Angelo. It was originally a mausoleum for the Emperor Hadrian but was later used as a fortress for the Pope. It has a great view of Vatican City.


There's also a Merry Go-Round right next to the Castle and the kids had a great time- especially Madi. She didn't want to get off her horse.

Rome- the beginning...

Rome is a fascinating city with ancient and modern all side by side...


Our first stop in Rome after we got settled into our apartment was dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Here are the kids with Elvis.


The next morning- we got to see a lot of Rome. We went to a fun "Time Machine" that took us back through the history of Rome. We saw Julius Caesar, Michelangelo, etc. It was fun. Then we had a bit of lunch- yes there is McDonald's in Rome! (But we ate lunch in front of the Pantheon!)


All of us in front of Rome's Piazza Venezia. We went on a Walking Tour of Rome and saw the ancient highlights- the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Old City, the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon.


Emery with the Colosseum behind her. This is a face that her mother really loves.


The kids... They were so good for the tour!


Claire enjoyed climbing around at the Colosseum.


The Carrells at the Colosseum. The weather was gorgeous!


Madison had pigtails in her hair at the beginning of the day- she looked adorable! Then she took them out and lost the hair bobbins. She's still a cute little trashy thing!


Us by the Trevi Fountain. Emery was toured out!


Dinner- with some of our favorite things- note the water, the olive oil (we LOVED dipping bread into it) and Italian hot chocolate (the thickest hot chocolate you will ever have- one of my absolute FAVORITE parts of Italy!!!- you can also see that Emery enjoyed it...)


The hole at the top of the Pantheon- it is open- so rain can come in! The Pantheon is probably the oldest Christian church in the world. It is a fascinating place. (Of course, it was originally a temple to the Roman gods- then converted it to Christianity!)

Bella Venice #2

We stayed at a great little hotel on the Lido. The Lido is Venice's beach island. We had fun walking along the beach.



Then we rented these cool bikes and rode around the island.



It was really fun- although I was a bit irritated when Shelby asked me why I was so slow! (I'll have you know that we kept up with the boys.)



Jake and Danny powered the other bike.



At our favorite little restaurant in Lido, they made this cute little pizza for Madison.



Kailey in the Doge's Palace courtyard.



Of course, we had to go on a gondola ride! However, they only allow 6 people in one gondola. So- we split up! This is Danny and his crew (Shelby, Claire and Madison).



Jake, Emery and Kailey were with me.



Here we are with Anthony- our gondolier. He was really interesting. He has been a gondolier for 27 years and owns his own gondola. His father and his father's father were also gondoliers. I asked if he had a son (he does) and if he would follow in the family tradition (he wasn't sure...). On our motorboat tour, our guide told us that the gondoliers are very successful and make as much money as an attorney or doctor.



Shelby



Claire (the Doge's Palace is behind her.)



Jake has this fascination with Ferraris. (Just ask him what cars he would like to own when he grows up!)



On the Vaporetto- Water Taxi. We spent lots of time on these babies.



One Day we went to the island of Murano, where they make beautiful glass creations.



Danny and Claire at the same place- just looking the opposite direction.



Gelato makes every day even better! Thanks for all of the great memories Venice!