Today we visited Pisa. A beautiful church and baptistery. A man came and sang and the acoustics in it were incredible. The baptismal font was large and could be used for full body immersion. The highlight of the trip to Pisa was, of course, the leaning tower. We had great fun trying to line up everyone for the right picture. Well I had fun. The kids were probably ready to be rid of me 😊. Carter and Noah also purchased Armani and Rolex watches at quite a steal of price for those priceless artifacts!  Janet, Leah and Jordyn were having a heated discussion of whether there was a door at the top of the cathedral where some stairs were. It was very high. I don’t think Janet was planning to visit up there anyway. 😊

The meals on this trip have been incredible. EF has really stepped up the meal plan with our kids having seconds and thirds of our first course of pasta and third course of pork and potatoes and salad last night. The ice cream/gelato/panna cotta have all been delicious. The breakfasts have consisted of breads, cheese, meat, eggs, croissants, yogurts, juices and coffee. We may put on a few pounds on this trip. I’m just happy the kids are content. 

Our hotel in Rome had spacious rooms in a hillside hotel. In Florence (or just outside of Florence really) the rooms are a little different. Dean’s room is similar to a prisoner cell with it being very small, the boys have four single beds in their small room so the beds make one solid bed from wall to wall, Leah, Janet and Jordyn are sharing a room with a set of bunkbeds and ours is a regular but small room. It is a little hard to completely open all suitcases at the same time. Hahah! The showers are a little limited on pressure and hot water, but they are clean and comfortable. 

Italian words : 

deAmmo – lets go

 allora – all right 

Arrivedeci- I will see you again 

Thank you- graci 

You are welcome  or I pray-  prego

How much does it cost- quanto costo 

How are you- Comma sty 

Ch sound Always hard c.  C is ch sound. Go figure😊

Posted at 130 pm Italian time 

We have finished our day in Florence. We had a city tour, saw a replica of David, (nobody in our group was willing to book a reservation for the museum to see the original) , saw a leather making demonstration (really just a disguise for a leather purchasing opportunity), and had free time to shop and enjoy the city. Our always entertaining group found ways to keep themselves busy:

Noah had an interesting story of some guy trying to sell the kids group a wristband. Carter kept saying that he wasn’t going to buy it but the guy kept wrapping it on his finger. The guy finally told them in an exasperated humorist fashion that he “knew he wasn’t buying” it. There were a few more interesting word choices that Noah told me but I’m thinking they aren’t fit for the blog.

Jackson bought a goo ball that the vendor told him would not break , but he also shouldn’t push his finger into it. Guess what happened.  It broke all over Jackson’s shirt. Oops. Jackson also bought a $9 ice cream, but it was huge. He had no problem finishing it. 😊

Kane is a shrewd bargainer. Only spending $5 euro on a shirt. What a deal!

Carter made an interesting purchase of some underwear that resemble the David statue. He thinks he should wear them for phys Ed and badminton. His mom thinks otherwise.  Carter also had an interesting occurrence. He has a special friend from Rouleau who he spotted in Florence on her own EF trip. What a coincidence to run into a friend from back home! 

Allen and Dean did some shopping in the Hard Rock Cafe. They may have found deals on beer. 

Leah, Janet, and myself (Pam) went for some shopping. We ended on a carriage ride enjoying a glass of wine. What a beautiful half hour of clopping clopping clopping through the Middle Aged streets of Florence. We may have also found some deals on leather jackets, purses, sweaters, cups and bells. We were busy! 

We enjoyed another wonderful Italian meal of chicken, potatoes, salad and chocolate cake. This really is a great eating holiday. Nobody is going hungry! 

Only clocked just shy of 8 miles today of walking. Our friend from Montmartre will be rejoining us tonight as a duplicate passport has been created at the Canadian embassy in Rome. They are to take the train tonight from Rome to our hotel in Montecatini Terme (just outside of Florence towards Pisa). Hurray!!   We will be back to a happy family of 29. 😊

Tomorrow will have us travelling early as we will go to Verona and then in to Austria and way up in the Alps! Ciao!  

Today had us visiting the Coliseum and experiencing the world of gladiators!  The structure of the building is incredible. One of my  questions was if the Romans could put a tarp on it in 880 AD, why can’t the powers that be put a roof on the new Rider Stadium?? The Romans also need knew how to tailgate, support their heroes, hangout in the bathroom together and meet new friends, and enjoy themselves at the Games. I think they were probably the original Rider fans or else we are all descendants of them!

We toured the Forum and truly witnessed the “lasagna” which is the different layers of history of buildings and civilizations in Rome. It makes me question why in Canada we think that buildings need to be torn down after 40-50 years. We could learn some things from the Romans. I guess they put their money into building materials and not so much into labor costs. They mustn’t have had to worry about unions back then. 😜

As we left Rome after lunch, our tour guide played an Italian song, “arrivedeci Roma” as good bye Rome. We were to promise to come back to Rome at sometime in our lives. Our group enjoyed the atmosphere, the hospitality, and the food of Rome very much!  First leg of our journey has been a success and now we are enroute to Florence on our bus with a pirate symbol on it!  One young man from Montmarte enjoyed Rome so much, he and an adult are staying behind to get a new passport created for him. We are told they will catch up to us via train when it comes/is created. We hope to see them soon as no one wishes that kind of bad luck on anyone 😢

We have many pics that we have taken but our wifi has been intermittent so I haven’t been able to post any yet. As a funny side note, Carter has brought a pic of his sister with him and has been taking pics with the pic in different situations. Today we took an Altwasser family pic at the Roman Forum with Justine. 😊.

Jackson and Noah continue to show their youth and exuberance by literally bouncing off the walls on our walks as they run up the walls and bounce off of big stones. I keep trying to capture it on camera, but they are really fast. They both are really enjoying their selfie sticks they have purchased for their phone cameras (many of us have purchased them as they are the “thing” to buy from the street vendors).

Kane’s quiet gentle smile is quite common these days as he quietly drinks in the sights and smells of Rome. He is always quick to notice small details. He quickly pointed out that the lines at the Colisuem were so much longer when we came out then when we came in. He knew exactly where we were and where we had been.

Jordyn is showing that she is a shrewd bargainer as she comes back from the vendors with much better deals than anyone else seems to acquire. She would be great the vendors on the Mexican beaches.

Italian gestures for speaking:

Fingers together and pointing towards yourself- what the hell are you talking about?

Finger in cheek- delicious!

Gunshot – it is finished

Hang 10 symbol – your spouse is committing infidelity

Hand up and sliding away – go away. Add a hand chop and it means or else I will beat you.

Momma Mia- I miss my mommy now.

Ciao Rome and bring on Florence and Pisa!

We stopped at a market and tried some samples of pate, oil, vinegar, wine, hand lotion, etc. A good stop! We saw the train go by us on its track. It was going 280 km a hour. A wee bit faster than our bus. Haha!

Have hit very heavy traffic enroute to Florence delaying our arrival by 2 hours.

We have arrived at the hotel! 2 hrs passed our eta. We have witnessed travel jams in Canada before but nothing like that!  At one point our tour director hopped out of the bus, directed traffic so we could drive down the wrong way to bypass everyone. As he strolled away from us with a purpose, Carter said, “Daniele is going to kick some Italian ass!”  We are all good except for some empty stomachs and very full bladders. All is good!

Welcome to the Montmarte parents who are reading! Hope I haven’t spilled any beans. Your kids are great and very friendly towards ours!  Prairie  kids rock in and out of the country!        

Happy Easter from Rome! 

A rainy day here but everyone has purchased beautiful umbrellas and ponchos. We have walked a lot so far. Over 7 miles so far with probably a couple more to go tonight as we will go on a “Rome by Night” tour.  

Items witnessed: Pantheon. Castel. Trevi fountain. Spanish steps. Montmarte kids trying cigars and drinking beer. Our YG kids are being Angels as expected! They are leaving their chaperones in the dust running up huge blocks of stairs. My I admire their stamina! 

Leslie: Jordyn is perfectly happy and content. She said she has tried to contact you but she can’t access wifi due to bad luck. I have offered my phone but she is a little stubborn. 😊 no worries. We are clucking over her like the 3 mother hens that we are 😘.  

The food on this tour has been fantastic.  No hungry kids or adults this time 😊. Salad, pizza and gelato for dinner tonight. Delicio! 

All is good and we are all happy and enjoying life!  Ciao! 

 Italian words: Piazza. Equals square 

Update: Rome by night was good. We saw the Jewish ghetto which the Italians emptied out and sent the inhabitants to Auchwitz which was a sobering story. We had a chance to visit the Coliseum by night for a few pics. We will tour it completely tomorrow before heading to Florence after lunch. Today’s total for today was 9 miles of walking. A few 😳 are reporting that their tootsies are a little sore.  Ciao!  

We have started the journey to Italy. Just waiting for our flight to leave to Rome All ten of us are eager to fly out of here from Toronto 😀. The boys have totally adopted Jordyn as one of them. All is well. Ciao you crazy Canucks!  Short day of walking today clocking in at 2.5 miles.  

Two more sleeps until we board our flight on Friday for Rome!