We did one stop on the way, at The Reggia Casserta. This palace has 1200 rooms. It was the largest palace in Europe when it was built in the mid 1700's. It has gardens and fountains to equal Versailles. It was built about the same time period as Versailles. The King who had it built never spent even one night in it, as he was made king of Spain before it was completed and he moved his residency there of course.
The grand staircase is gorgeous. There are giant lions flanking the top of the staircase.
The girls wanted to see where the kings throne room was and where the king and Queen rooms were.
They were disappointed to not find the Queens room. We did find a little guest room. But they were not excited.
We did find a picture of one of the Queens whose name was Queen Maria Isabella. We got the two Isabella's picture together.
Charlotte was very sad that there was not a Queen named after her!
As we headed to Rome there were beautiful clouds in the sky, with the threat of rain. We only got a few drops but it cooled off everything nicely.
When we arrived in Rome, we met the Steurers for dinner and we picked up a package from them for Elder Line that was in the office.
We had yummy shrimp. The girls wouldn't eat it but they did hold it for a picture.
We found our bed and breakfast place (that didn't actually serve any breakfast), but it was in a convienient location and had a pool for the girls.
We got a good nights sleep and woke up Friday for a day of sight-seeing in Roma. We drove to the metro station and took the Metro to St Peter's.
We got in line at St Peter's to see the Basilica.
We were there with thousands of other tourists. The line moved quickly however and it wasn't too hot.
But Charlotte and Isabel weren't thrilled with waiting in line to see a huge church! The Basilica is certainly impressive and has a lot of beautiful statues. Our favorite is Michalangelo's "Pieta". The bronze canopy is huge up by the alter and the duomo is really beautiful.
The favorite thing for the girls was the water fountain right outside the basilica where they could get a drink.
Charlotte was a lot happier once we were on our way out of St Peter's square.
There were several street demonstrations that were interesting as we walked along the streets in Rome.
We went and saw the Pantheon which was built about two thousand years ago.
We also walked over to Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately the fountain was turned off for cleaning. But Roland was pretty surprised to see some famous boxer named Manny Pacquiaio there, who is from the Phillipeans. I didn't know who he was, but Roland sure did.
We all had lunch at McDonalds. Not my choice, but the girls were so happy to get a happy meal and get something besides pasta or pizza!
We made it home, a little tired, but no one would admit it, because Isabel and I were having a contest to see who would say "I'm tired" first. So we both held out until the very end when I had to say it first!
The girls swam for one last time in Italy.
We ate out at a family owned restaurant close to our bed and Non breakfast. It was really good. I had homemade ravioli that was incredible. We ended the night with a game of Settlers that Lizzy brought. Paul won, which made him happy.
We got up early and took them to the airport.
Charlotte pulled the biggest suitcase in all by herself. She is a pretty independent girl.
They got off on time and we just heard from Roland that they arrived safely in Detroit.
What a wonderful week we had with them. I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity to make memories and draw closer to Charlotte, Isabell, Lizzy and Roland.
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