Vacation Adventures in Rome and Sicily

When we landed in Rome we were all exhausted. We'd been traveling for more than 24 hours with the time change and it was roughly 6:30 in the evening by the time we reached the hotel. We had about an hour before we had to jump back on a bus and get our whirlwind tour of Rome at night. Here are some photos from that evening.

Waiting to get on the bus

A cool doorway

Gate to the Vatican City

A Huge fountain

GELATO!

Inside of a church we visited

The Colosseum - as we drove by - I was so sad we didn't get to stop

Another shot of the Colosseum

We also got to see a town square in Rome at about 11pm at the end of our tour. It was hoppin! There were so many people out, there was music playing, and an outdoor art display! It was sensory overload after all of the travel, but it really gave us a feel for the city and its people. Just amazing.

The next day (Sunday) we got to board the cruise ship after a harried drive.

Not thrilled with Italian traffic or driving.

The ship was neat, but more about her later. Our first port of call was Sicily. We took a tour called "In the Godfather's Footsteps" and got to visit two small villages where scenes for the Godfather movies were filmed. Now, I have never seen these movies, but now I want to. We saw a couple churches where wedding scenes took place and visited the bar that Marlon Brando does business out of (or something like that), and saw several streets that are shown in the movies. It was so charming. I am in love with European villages in general - they have so much rustic charm and character! Here are a couple photos from that day:

Not the best pic of the hubs and I, but the background gives you an idea of the breathtaking views

See? Rustic charm

A photo of the village

This was my view for most of the trip - of other people taking pictures. :)

Katie and an itty bitty car

Mama Derry and her granita - a lemon ice-y drink/slush. It was basically the original Italian Ice first made with snow, sugar, and lemons. It was delicious and refreshing

Another scenery shot

We were on a full-size bus for this adventure up into the Sicilian mountains and it was impressive how our driver navigated some hair pin turns. Here is a short video I took:

Here is one of the wedding scenes from the movie filmed where we were in Sicily.



Pretty cool huh? Now I have to see these movies! haha
Next up - Ephesus!