Vacanza di Roma! Thursday - St. Peter's Basilica

Next stop was St.Peter's Basilica. One of the most gorgeous churches in the world. Wow! It was really cool. And we say the catacombs of the popes and Pope John Paul (the recent one, whatever number that was) tomb! Of course it was a place of worship and lots of people were praying. There were guards reminding people to be respectful and quiet. However, Karis was DONE! And was yelling and screaming... so we walked quickly! And then she chucked my water bottle and it broke and spilled water everywhere in the church! AGH! Two year olds!

This was the view of the Basilica from one of the windows in the Vatican Museum.

After the Basilica, Jessy bought a Prada for 15 euro! LOL! She actually got the purse I wanted! :( But that's okay... I got mine later that day, a little different, but the same price. Gotta love Fradas!

Vacanza di Roma! Thursday - Pantheon and Piazza Navona

After St. Peter's Basilica Jessy wasn't feeling too well, so she and Dillon went home for a nap. Ang, Dustin, me, and the girls headed towards the Pantheon. We got on the metro and were supposed to take a bus to the Pantheon. One person told us it was the #52 bus and one person told us it was the #42 bus. We ended up walking to the Pantheon (maybe half a mile) because we couldn't find those number buses at the stop!

But it was cool, we passed a fountain, turned right down a alley (and bought a few Fradas!) and went we exited the alley this is what we saw!

WOW! Right at the end of a regular looking alley! I love Rome!

It was small, but very pretty on the inside. So we decided to walk another block towards the Piazza Navona for some Gelato and Tartufo!

And they had some 'statues' that are really people painted. The girls wanted pictures with them!

There were fountains at each end of the Piazza.

And this is the last picture I took in Rome! A picture of a building that looked cool while we were waiting for the bus back to the metro... it wasn't 52 or 42... it was the #62 Bus! LOL! We saw some cool buildings and sites on the bus ride back, but unfortunately we didn't have more time in Rome!

We got up at about 4:15 the next morning and started our trek back to the airport. Got there with plenty of time to spare (we thought we might miss our flight the night before with the train ride times the website showed!) But we got on the flight and back to our house Friday afternoon!

Burg Lichtenberg

Today after church we headed to the Medieval Market at Burg Lichtenberg.  It was only about 30 minutes from us, but it is one of the largest castle complex in Germany.  The castle itself is really ruins, but the outer wall is still in contact and they had Medieval Market this weekend with all sorts of tents and wares.  Lots of people dressed up and lots of yummy wine!!!

 

Sierra's favorite thing was the Belly Dancers!!!! We watched them for quite awhile and Sierra was upset when we finally dragged her away. The one lady was balancing a sword on her head and dancing.

A minstrel playing some music

 

Part of the castle ruins... we walked up that large tower on the right! Lots of stairs!

View from the top of tower

Sierra doing a ballet pose at the top of the tower.

 

Look closely... Sierra, Dillon and Ruby are in the archway.

Castles on the Mosel

We took a long day trip today and planned on seeing two castles.  Well, there are A TON! of Castles/Schloss'/Burgs along the Mosel. WOW!! We saw probably 4-5 castles from afar and actually took tours of two of the more famous ones.  They were so lovely (if you don't count the uphill hike with 4 kids to actually REACH the castle! LOL)

Burg Eltz

This is the view from the top of the hill... yep! We hiked all the way down to the castle.  Burg Eltz is owned by the Eltz Family Company. It is actually three houses in one. Each brother of the Eltz family had their own section of the castle. So total it had 80 rooms, 40 fireplaces, 20 bathrooms and 3 kitchens!!! It was quite nice, and the family descendants still stay there for holidays if they choose!

A little bit closer pic! Gotta love zoom! ;)

From inside the courtyard area

This is the base of the castle. Just a rock wall the girls sat on while we took a potty break.

The arch right before the courtyard with the castle in the background. Thanks Jessy for the family pic!!!

Inside the courtyard - isn't it lovely!

Wall ruin on one side of the castle

Apparently this is one of the only castle that was NEVER bombed in ANY of the wars. The tour guide joked that the family was always on the 'right' side and had sons in certain armies, so their castle was never touched.  LOL!

 

Cochem Castle - Reichsburg

This castle was so GORGEOUS!!! It was totally destroyed from 1689-1889 when it was acquired by Mr. Louis Ravene and reconstructed as a 'summer cottage'  He did stay true to the original plans though, with the hidden staircases and symmetrical construction. They had one room with a false door because there was a door on the left, so they made a false one on the right to make the room symmetrical! LOL!  The brochure says its a medieval castle from the outside and an 19th century chateau on the inside.

Entry way up to the castle. This one we were actually able to park close and only had to hike a bit to get to the actual castle.

Lovely chateau!! I want a summer cottage like this!!

 

Okay! I think that is enough pictures for now! We are planning on the Dino Park this week, next week is Rome - so you'll probably get those pictures on Saturday. And then Jessy and I are going to the Zell Wine Fest on Sunday the 29th, so hopefully we'll have some great pictures of the Mosel River!!