Rome if you want to...

 It seems that when we go on vacation we don’t rest. We keep going. Take today for instance. Today started at 600 am wake up, 630 in a taxi to meet up with our guide for a Vatican tour. There were six of us, two cabs worth, I had the trusty instructions in my hands for cab #1, with my mom and uncle Rick as out team.
 
Little did we know Cab #2 had no idea where we were going and went right past the meeting point. We were a bit panicked, calling MaryLou on her cell, emailing her, and also calling Mellissa just in case they called her. But just as we needed to make a decision – go on the tour or give up and find Cab 2 occupants - they ran up last minute.
 
Our guide was terrific, entertaining us with stories and fascinating information about the Vatican, the Pope, and…well…the Popes throughout history stealing stuff…  We went into the Sistine Chapel to start, so we had fewer than 100 people in there with us. It was great, especially since we had a pre-Sistine chat about what we were about to see.  It is amazing how much artwork one person can create. Michelangelo was a busy guy, as a sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer…
 
It was 27 degrees today so it was hot and sticky. Perfect. My kind of weather.
 
We had another tour only a few hours later. It was an “eating Italy tour” called Twilight Trastevere Food Tour, with our guide Anna from Boston who came to Rome to study and somehow stayed.
 
It was great, we had an assortment of meat, cheese vegetables, pasta, wine, and of course Gelato. She told us that 80 % of the gelato in Italy is fake powder. You can tell real stuff when it is not fluffy and flowing over the sides of the container, when the banana flavor is white and not golden coloured (the inside of the banada is white of course), and so on. So I had a carrot cake and pumpkin gelato from one of the best places in Italy and it was super duper.
 
Now we are home, catching up on email and blogs and all things red. Tomorrow is cruise day. Time to see the brand new ship, the Koningsdam, where we will be on her for her maiden voyage to places like Croatia, Turkey, and Greece. I now have The Lover Boat running through my head. And now it wil run through yours...sorry about that...