Rome....in a day

After a lazy Tuesday at the hotel in Barcelona, we caught an early flight this morning to Rome.  We booked the tickets through Travelocity on Iberia Airlines, who farms out this flight to Vueling (pronounced well-ing) Airlines. They are very serious about their boarding and on-time statistics.  We got to the gate 15 minutes before departure time (it was at the absolute last gate in the terminal, gate 67) and they already were almost fully boarded. I know the door closed before the scheduled time. Unbeknownst to us, we were in priority class. Picture a Southwest Airlines flight...that's what this plane looked like and they called the first row their premium class. We had leather headrest pillows and didn't have to pay for a croissant and coffee/tea.  It was less than two hours and we landed in Rome.

We checked into our hotel, the Albergo Santa Chianta, and went to find the hop on-hop off bus.  After quite a hike, we boarded the bus and got a two hour tour of the city.  Saw a lot of really, really old buildings. I find it hard to even comprehend that these majestic structures were built thousands of years ago. And the city is built all around them. We are actually staying one block from the Pantheon. We walked through it on our way to get gelato.

Our "old" building and monuments in the US are so often set apart on a large plot with manicured lawns and here the city continues to grow and thrive around and right up to the edges of these amazing examples of history and architecture.

We got off the bus to see the Trevi Fountain. More amazing, detailed sculpture work from, I'm sure, a famous artist.  Then wandering down the cobbled streets, we found a ristorante and stopped for the best pasta and pizza we have ever had on Rome.  I felt obligated to try the Pinot Grigio....it is an Italian variety...and I am in Italy....and in case you are wondering, yes, it was fantastic!!

Rome wasn't built in a day, but we saw as much as we could in the day we had. And now we are settled in for the night watching Happy Days in Italian.  Tomorrow we are off again....stay tuned.

The wedding!!!

The main purpose of our trip....Kendra and Dave's wedding!!  The beautiful ceremony was presided over by Kendra's friend from kindergarten, Sarah Williams.  She did an amazing job with personal stories and appropriate quotes. The wedding itself was on a lovely patio at the hotel, overlooking the Mediterranean.  The reception was at a patio facility a few steps away.

These kids (I know, they are all adults, but they are still my kids) have an absolutely amazing group of friends. About 40 of their closest friends made the trip and they were all such great people (see, I didn't call them kids again) You could tell they are are such good friends and get along fabulously!  I really feel like, in addition to a son-in-law, I've gained 38 new kids!  Then there were about 11 of the 55-and-over crowd in attendance.

The wedding started around 6 and the DJ played until about midnight.  Even some of the "senior" group were seen on the dance floor showing the kids how to really dance.  Rumor has it some of them went to the clubs after that, but we haven't seen them yet today.  Lol

I would love to include pictures, but I still haven't got that working....suffice it to say, the bride wore a white long dress with lace details.  Her pearl bracelet was given to her by her Grandma Brick, who received it from her grandmother back in 1958.  The groom wore a light grey suit and tie...can you see it?

Congratulations to Kendra and Dave Kennedy, my favorite daughter and favorite son!

Barcelona....day 2

After a quiet breakfast at the hotel, we found the Hop on-hop off bus and went on a two hour tour of the city. Today is St. George's day in Spain. Sort of like our Valentine's Day. The men give the women one rose, and the women give the men (or perfectly acceptable to exchange between friends) a book. There's a long story behind the tradition, but suffice it to say it's a HUGE festive day and people are out everywhere.  

I don't know how I can explain the masses upon masses of people gathered on the streets.  We were on the top of a double decker bus and I was getting claustrophobic just looking down.

Then our own mob of thirty-one gathered at the Restaurante Salamanca for a welcome lunch hosted on by the Kennedys.  Lunch lasted about four hours and they just kept bring out platter after platter of food and too many bottles of wine to count.  Amazing food, mostly seafood and paella.  Since neither Mother nor I eat seafood, they brought us a half of a cow, each. At least it seemed that big!!

We then walked around that area a bit and I was able to walk on the beach and step into the Mediterranean Sea.  The water felt refreshing but not even the hardiest of souls were all the way in the water.

We had quite a time finding cabs to get back to the hotel, so when the kids flagged down one, we jumped at the chance to be the first ones in.  Age has it's privileges.  We are now back at the hotel, waiting for the others, on soft chairs with a glass of cava (Spanish champagne) so if it takes them a while to get back....

Barcelona....

The plane ride was uneventful, just like I like them!  We saved about two hours in line at customs by getting a wheelchair.  It looked like the walk and the wait were long and would certainly been difficult. We took a short cab ride to the Hotel Mirimar in Barcelona.  It's a beautiful, small, boutique hotel with lovely Mediterranean views....AND the wireless is free and strong!!

But,  it seems that I still can't figure out how to include a picture in these posts, so here's what I would have shown....imagine a fountain on a wide walkway and beyond it the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the port area of the city with cruise ships off in the distance.  Can you see it?  I'm pretty sure it looks better here than you can imagine.

Miami...

Found Mother in the Miami airport. She had already picked up two men. Can't leave her alone for a minute!!  We have an hour to relax in the Admirals Club before the next leg of our trip....I'll keep ya posted.

And so it begins....again

We are off on another adventure.  This time we are meeting in Miami. Diana just sent this picture as she waits for the ride to the airport. I was going to do the same until I sat down to write this and found out that the app I was going to use is no longer supported by iOS.   Be warned, the first few days of this blog will be sketchy as I try to remember how this all works.

This is really day one of nineteen. You will have to stay tuned if you don't already know the purpose or destinations of this trip.

So....pictures arent going to work right now  hopefully I will get better at this by Monday.  Stay tuned!

Test

Testing....1....2....3....testing....is this thing on??  Going live again in ten days....