ROME - June 28-July 6, 2019

Rome, Italy Tour June 28 - July 6, 2019

 

WE WENT TO ROME in 2019.  I've had this post sitting unpublished for almost three years, and since we are going on a British Isles Cruise in a few days, I thought I'd get this published so I can do a blog about the British Isles Cruise in a more timely fashion after we return. I'm so glad I wrote what I did about Rome, because I can't remember much of this. We were part of a Morris Murdock group that consisted of around 43 people, but our claim to fame was we were the proud mama and papa of hosts Tony and Cindy Sweat.

We departed on Friday, June 28^th. Reagan drove Tony and Cindy to our house and picked us up and drove all four of us to the airport.We flew to Los Angeles where we had a few hours of lay-over while waiting to board an Italian Alitalia plane for the 13-hour flight to Italy. 

We knew there were other people who were part of our tour who were also in the waiting area, but unless they had on their handy dandy Morris Murdock lanyards we had no way of knowing who they were (are you surprised Dennis refused to wear his?). While we were waiting to depart I met a lady about my age who had jet black dyed hair, and her husband was a school psychologist. We stood together outside an airport bar and grill and watched the USA Women’s soccer team play France in their semi-final round. Since we were in the international terminal, lots of the people were actually cheering for France. That was when it first hit me that we were in for an international experience!  

We boarded the plane and were seated directly behind Tony and Cindy. Cindy’s seatmate next to the window was a handful! She was probably 20 years old and didn’t stop moving around - it wasn't just your basic fidgeting - oh no, it was these enormous gyrations and/or either getting up and clamoring out into the aisle (which is a major undertaking when you’re on the window seat of a plane) or periodically opening the window shade during the “night” portion (when it was light outside) and just being a pill! I closed her window myself (on the steward’s orders) but when she returned from trip #156 to the bathroom, she angrily reopened it! 

 

I purchased the blow-up pillow (pictured below) to sleep with on the flight. It worked kinda well, but I didn’t sleep for much more than 20 minutes the whole 13 hours. Even though I’d also brought some Excedrin PM’s - but, doh I left them in the luggage that I’d checked! Note to self - PUT THE EXCEDRIN PM'S IN MY CARRY-ON when we go to the British Isles.

We stumbled out of the plane and made our way to the luggage carousel and met some of the other people on the tour with us. That's when we first met DonnaLeah our tour guide and she set about helping Tony locate everyone.It was as hectic and stressful as you can imagine trying to get the tour group organized and located, but Tony and Cindy and DonnaLeah did great. There were some over-zealous tour members who kept trying to take matters into their own hands. Many different types of personalities all joining together for the trip of a lifetime!

We arrived at our Hotel and checked in. The group was  housed in two adjoining Hotels. We went up to our room and keyed it open and it was already occupied (but the people weren’t in there thank heavens!). So we finally got it squared away and changed rooms and Dennis fiddled with the temperature, which is always the first thing he does when we go to a Hotel. It didn’t get much cooler so he went down to the front desk and asked if our air conditioning was on and turns out you have to ask if you want air conditioning! So it got much cooler (although Tony and Cindy’s room never did get cool and they ended up changing rooms at midnight). We were supposed to try our best NOT to go to sleep that afternoon, but we did nap some, although I woke up much less grumpy than I did 20 years ago in London.

 

The first event of the tour was a “welcome” dinner. We had lasagna for the first course, and sliced meat for the second. Most everyone assumed the lasagna was the main course and it was delicious and we ate our fill, so it was very surprising to get another main course. The dessert was tiramisu, which had coffee dust flavoring in the chocolate. It was funny to see everyone put on the brakes as they gobbled it down and realized it was coffee flavoring. Some people just laughed and finished it, others stopped altogether, and I kinda poked around the coffee flavoring.

Everyone introduced themselves and we found that one couple were celebrating their 40^th wedding anniversary and their children had paid for their trip; another sweet man was battling cancer and had this on his bucket list; another couple (who held hands the entire trip) had been married for 12 years and met online. Both of them were in their 40’s and very shy. 

 

I can’t even remember how much I slept that first night, but nevertheless morning arrived for me at 3:15 a.m. and that was all she wrote. I had checked out a couple of Mary Higgins Clarke books from the library to read and did the very same insane thing I did in London 20 years ago, I retired to the bathroom to read so I could turn on a light and not bother Dennis (although 20 years ago Amy was with us too and I didn't want to bother her either!).We all met each morning in the lobby of the other Hotel and then were driven to our destination each morning in a big “Fancy Tours” bus. Every morning Tony would give a “thought” as we drove along. He also divided us into 11 groups of four and we would count off at certain times to make sure we had everyone. We were group 11 with Tony and Cindy. (The “Sweats-ah” in LoraDonna Italian lingo). We were also the “old Sweat-sahs” to her.

  

Our Italian tour guide was named either LoraDona or DonaLeah (I've written it both ways, but three years have elapsed and I can't remember which one is right). She was capable, confident, good humored, and patient. She was one of the hundreds of Italians who zip around on their scooters to get to work and back every day. Everything she said in English ended in "uh" - "we-uh are-uh going-uh to-uh climb-uh these-uh steps-uh." 

Of course the whole impetus for going to Rome was the fact that there was now a Temple in the heart of Italy. Who would have ever dreamed of that happening? Having Tony and Cindy as our tour guides made it really special. We were able to do a temple session and that was unforgettable. The Italian people are so tiny. The Italian women who were temple workers wore adorable crocheted white collars, almost like little shawls as part of their temple clothing. We got to wear headphones and have the Italian temple ceremony translated into English.

We were on the other side of the world together.

 

 

 

This is the glorious stained glass window at the Rome Visitor's Center. It was such an unforgettable experience to be there together and also to attend the fireside where Tony shared his insights and experiences as one of the three writers who joined together with stained glass artist Tom Holdman to produce the beautiful companion book to the stained glass window, titled "Come Unto Me."You can barely see Tony's stained glass image on the far left of the mural, right in the center. (The rich young ruler).

These are some of the Italian saints who came to Tony's fireside. It was an older group and they were so interested and asked lots of thoughtful questions. Also in attendance were all of the competent young missionaries who were rock stars! Tony had an interpreter who would repeat everything he said back to the audience in Italian. He was a young man, a returned missionary, and his darling wife was chasing after their three little kids the whole night. He didn't look Italian but he actually was and had served his mission in London and that's how he learned to speak excellent English.

 Italian Book of Mormon in the visitors center.

 

Seeing this beautiful space with Christ and the twelve apostles was a highlight, and a never-to-be-forgotten moment. One of those moments that only increase with the beauty of the memory with the passing of time. The backdrop painting has its own painterly light to it, but then when you include the natural sunlight into the mix, it's just so reverent and beautiful!

Everyone on the tour had a unique story and reason for being there. This man had been battling cancer for a few years and wanted to do this while he was still strong enough. He was a trouper, and his wife was a whirlwind.

 

Here we are in front of the iconic Trevi Fountain in the heart of Rome. Oh this was magical. "Three Coins in a Fountain!" I really felt like we were in a space on this earth that is special and unforgettable. It was PACKED with people and of course blazing hot (I've got my fan AND my wetted blue cloth with me, which were lifesavers!). This is one of my iconic memories. The fountain was immense and we came upon it suddenly which is one of my favorite ways to come upon famous places. It was teeming with people. I thought I might use the mini-fan to stay cool (and which Dennis said he wouldn't be caught dead using) but I didn't use that as much as the towel.

I caught Tony's coin toss into the fountain mid-flight! Tony and Cindy went  back to Trevi Fountain that night and I wish we would have done that too but we were just too tired at night. I'm glad we took this trip when we did because man, we were wiped out by the time dinner was over. It was like there was no gas left in the tank when it was time to do any of the night stuff.

 

This photo below, with some of the wonders of ancient Rome such as the coliseum, was taken with a panoramic lens. It's interesting to be somewhere so many centuries old. Different from when we went to New York and so much of what we saw so instantly familiar because of television. Paris and the Eiffel tower and Big Ben in London are icons, but the Roman ruins are a different thing. They were created so long ago I can't quite wrap my head around their stature.

After all of the obvious highlights, one of the simple pleasures was eating Italian gelato in 120 degree weather. We were HOT and had been hoofing it all afternoon. When we stopped and ate the gelato boy did it taste good! I've never been a huge gelato fan, but this was different - the stuff that people rave about.

We took a day trip to Pompeii. Each morning, Tony would give a "Professor Sweat" mini-lecture while we traveled on the tour bus. These were some of my favorite moments. I really liked it when at the beginning of our time together he was talking about the Roman Catholic church, and knowing that our tour guide LoraDonna (who was sitting two feet away from him) was no doubt Roman Catholic, he took some time to speak to her directly (and to all of us) about how much we owe to the Roman Catholic church. He also mentioned that it was the protestants who persecuted the Mormons, not the Catholics. It just created a nice warm feeling for the rest of the trip and she really appreciated Tony. She made it a point to tell us more than once how much she admired and respected Tony and Cindy.

Not that we really wanted to know this, but these raised stones were what the ancient Pompeii-ee-ans walked on because the rest of the cobblestone street six inches below them was flowing with sewage. .......Gross.

Part of the tour included walking through a brothel with R-rated wall paintings. I think our tour guide was shocked when our LDS tour group scurried through as fast as we could!

These next seven pictures are NOT R-rated. I thought these ruins were so beautiful with the rich colors that have been preserved for thousands of years.

These boys were brothers and one of them had Tony as a professor at BYU and he talked his mom and dad to taking them to Rome. They were fantastic kids.

The thing about ancient ruins is THEY'RE NOT AIR CONDITIONED! Here I am re-enacting the classic photo of me being utterly exhausted in the Louvre in Paris in 2000. This is entitled "Utterly Exhausted II - Rome, 2019."

Okay, I'm ready to roll!...kinda....Trying to look sprightly!!

Here are some of the others who were on the tour with us.There were four ladies who had heard Tony speak at a "Widow and Widowers" conference on the tour. They were always running late. Another couple who came were bazillionairres and he had just been called to be the Bishop of their ward in Arizona, but they only lived in Arizona part-time. What the heck?

We made good friends with this couple.

You just don't see landscapes like this in South Jordan, Utah.

 

The touristy food items were so interesting. Lots and lots of huge packages like these Pringles. I bought some colored pasta that I thought would be fun to give to people back home, and then a few weeks after we returned I was browsing the aisles at Tuesday Morning, and found the very same pasta packages for sale.

 

I have no idea where this photo was taken, but we can pretend it's Dennis waiting for everyone else to show up on time :-)

Right off Dennis noticed their tiny Italian cars, and he commented that that they were all so dirty! And once he pointed that out, I noticed he was right - they were! They're all teeny like these, and they park so close together, they have to be creative. People mostly ride scooters everywhere and it's pandemonium. Their "gas stations" are just a pull-out on the street with two pumps. And gas prices are unbelievable.

 

  

This photo was taken in the restaurant at our Hotel, when we got back from the temple. Our Hotel was older, but nice, and had a really old elevator that took it's sweet time creakily coming down from the upper floors. It was an open shaft so we could watch it.

The breakfasts at the Hotel were a delectable smorgasbord! They had eggs three ways, two meats (sausage which tasted like a soft version of a pepperoni stick); and BEANS, PEAS, and BROCOLI for breakfast? Fresh squeezed orange juice, pancakes, pastries, you name it. We never had really killer Italian food, and by the end of the week Dennis just wanted a hamburger or Mexican food.

 

We also went to the Vatican which was memorable, but you can't take photos when you're in there. It was packed with tourists. 

These last pictures were all taken in beautiful Florence, Italy. I loved it! The Statue of David was breathtaking. It was truly magnificent and memorable. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I remember going to a Civil War site in Greensboro with Andrew and Andrea and when I stepped onto the property I felt like I was on holy ground. I didn't think the statue of David was holy ground, but when I saw it I got a thrill of knowing that in that moment that I was seeing something spectacular. I didn't write any narrative for Florence so I'm going to leave it like this with just beautiful photos, which are worth 1,000 words, because I can't remember well enough to add anything. It was a special, spectacular trip and we will always be grateful we were able to go!

Oh ha ha I do have to add one more memory. This photo below of DonaLeah (or Leah Dona or Lora Donna :-)) pictured in the pink shirt reminded me of when we were in Florence she was giving her tour and other tourists started gathering around her. She firmly told them, in that firm Italian way, that they couldn't stand there and listen because they weren't paying customers!

THE END. NOW OFF TO THE BRITISH ISLES!