Last Full Day in Rome

Post by Sebastian:

Today it was my lucky  day  because a bird pooped on me and I rolled my ankle. I had  pizza for lunch. I had rolls for breakfast.For afternoon tea  we  had  icecream. It is called gelato. We saw churches, we looked over Rome and we played down ball in the park. There were lots of head statues in the park! It was fun.

Post by Boris: 

It's our last full day in Rome today. We visited a few more churches. I think the kids have had enough churches, but each one is beautiful and has its own history. The main one was Santa Maria of Trastevere Basilica. We wandered the beautiful streets and walked up into a park to look over Rome. The kids enjoyed playing down ball and catch in the park. 

St. Peter's Basilica

From Sebastian:

Today Boris and I went to the tower in St Peter's Basilica. Boris was very scared he screamed because he was so high.

Last night I ate pizza for dinner. 

From Boris:

We climbed up all the stairs to the top of the dome St Peter's Basilica today. In some places the dome leans in over you and you feel like you are losing your balance. It was a weird feeling! There were some really small, tight spiral staircases too. For one of them you had to hold onto a bit thick rope as you were climbing. That was cool. At the top was another great view and we could even see where we staying. 

The Basilica is a church. Inside it was magnificent. There were lots of people praying. It felt like a very special place to be. We kept hoping that we'd see the Pope, but we didn't.

In the afternoon we caught a bus to the visit the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. It was raining and Sebastian stood under the big circular hole in the roof and tried to catch the rain in his mouth. 

Then we came back and I helped Sebastian with some homework. 

Visiting the Pope

(The post today is by Sebastian, not Boris. Boris is tired from all the walking!)

Boris  and I went to the Vatican City. Michelangelo painted a whole roof and one wall and Raphael did some too. The room was called the Sistine Chapel. The part that I liked the most was the Castle Sant'Angelo. 

(Boris just woke up...)

The Vatican City was very impressive and beautiful. Sebastian thought the "3D effects" on the ceiling were amazing. Milana loved looking at all the paintings. We saw a painting of Saint Sebastian from Milan, which we thought was funny. 

I  really liked the castle too. It reminded me of knights, Kings, queens, wizards and dragons! It was so old. It had canons and catapults. It had winding staircases, deep holes, tunnels and lots of rooms to explore.  It had lots of paintings like the Vatican. It was even linked to the Vatican by a walkway along the wall and secret tunnels underneath so they could keep the Pope safe many years ago. You could see all of Rome from the very top of the castle too. Tonight, Sebastian and I are going to dream that we live in a castle.

Be A Gladiator

We made it. Here we are in Rome, the capital city of Italy. The first leg of the flight to Dubai was a long 14 hours, but it was night the whole way, so we just slept. We also watched movies and played video games. The next leg to Rome was only 6 hours. We caught the express train into town and the kids got their first taste of the Roman Metropolitan.

We checked into our room and then went for a walk to the Vatican. We were all pretty tired so it was just a quick look at St Peters Cathedral. We will go back tomorrow and visit it properly. It was home for tea and bed. Everyone was asleep by 7.30pm! 

This morning we got up and headed down the street for an Italian breakfast, Coffee and Cakes standing up in a little cafe. Dad and Milana loved it, but poor Sebastian and Mum can't eat the cakes. That was ok because we found a little fruit seller and Sebastian ate a whole punned of fragola (strawberries)...and Mum bought Sebastian a bread roll... In Italian! Milana and Sebastian were shocked. 

I lead the way to the Trevi Fountain. It was early and quiet. It was the time of the day they collect the coins out of the fountain. They collect about 3000 Euro a day. That's about $5000AUS just in coins tossed into the fountain. You have to throw in two coins; one is a wish and one is to return to Rome. When we went back this afternoon it was so crowded, but it was a beautiful place.

Then we wandered. Mum loved the buildings and narrow, cobbled streets. She took lots of photos. Then we wandered towards the Colosseum. This was Sebastian's favourite part of the day. He even bought a toy gladiator to play with and remind him of it. 

Milana loved the Roman Forum (old ruins) and then we got to the Colosseum. There is an archeological dig happening there still. They are still finding buried artefacts and learning about ancient Roman life. It is hard to believe it was built so long ago. 

Getting Close

Well I am getting excited. Not long now. I have my departure card ready to go. Still looking for my passport though! This is my 4th overseas trip. I am a bit of an expert now. I have been to lots of different airports.  I’m not the best at counting but I think I have been to 11 airports and flown on lots of different planes including an A380 Boeing 747, Boeing 777 and A330. I’m looking forward to this trip the most because I get to take Milana and Sebastian with me this time. Milana has been overseas before but Sebastian hasn’t. I’m hoping I get a window seat.

Getting Ready for Europe Again

A few years ago I was a little bit more relaxed and my trip to Europe was more like the Griswald's European Vacation, but this time I'm taking my family so I have to be a bit safer and more prepared and we have visited the Australian government's Smart Traveller website suggested a few things to do before we go.

This time I will remember to pack a spare pair of underwear and my toothbrush in my carry-on bag in case my luggage gets lost again!  Ew! No fuzzy teeth or dirty undies for me! Where are we up to?

Passports in date. Tick.
Bank knows we're going. Tick.
Places to stay. Sorted.
Copy of our itinerary and travel documents to relatives. Almost.
List of attractions to visit and how to get around. Mostly, but the list is a bit long!
Get in the mood. Begin reading books and watching movies. Yup! Tick!

• Geronimo Stilton, The Mystery in Venice, by Elisabetta Dami
• Olivia goes to Venice, by Ian Falconer
• Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans
• This is Rome, by M Sasek
• This is Paris, by M Sasek
• Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola
• Gaspard on Vacation, by Anne Gutman
• EJ12 Girl Hero - Ciao EJ, by Susannah McFarlane
• Paddington Bear, by Michael Bond
• The Babar Collection, by Jean de Brunhoff
• Watch the cartoon, "Gaspard and Lisa," "Ratatouille," "When in Rome" (the Olsen Twins), "What a Girl Wants," and "Passports to Paris."

Mum has watched "Letters to Juliet," "The Italian Job," "Chocolat," "Life is Beautiful," "Moulin Rouge," and "Under The Tuscan Sun." She made Dad watch them too. She's also read, "Tulip Fever" again, by Deborah Morggach, "The Wife of Martin Guerre" and has just started "The Da Vinci Code" series again.

Where It All Began

Back in 2012, I went on my first overseas trip to Europe with Dad and Poppa. It started pretty rough when we got to Singapore and found out our plane to Frankfurt was cancelled. They put us on a British Airways plane instead and they lost our bags. Dad got pretty smelly because he didn’t have a change of clothes for nearly 2 days. Yuck.

After Frankfurt we went to the Netherlands to visit some of Dad's friends. They were nice. They own lots of bikes! There are bikes everywhere in the Netherlands. When Dad and Poppa went out in Amsterdam they left me home. 

We went off to Paris and the train got up to 330kmph. That was fun. I got to sit in First Class instead of being stuck in the suit case. It was cool. On the train, Poppa lost his wallet. 

In Paris I loved the Eiffel Tower and the Champs Elysee. I wasn’t allowed to buy anything though. Montmartre was good. Poppa seemed to enjoy people watching the most. We even got to see the Mona Lisa on a whirlwind run through the Louvre. It felt like an episode of The Amazing Race.

Next we went to Grenoble, so Dad and Poppa could ride their bikes up some hill called  Alpe D’Huez. They said it is one of the most famous mountain climbs in the world and is used in the Tour de France. I stayed in the hotel. Lucky, because Poppa crashed the car into a gutter and broke the wheel. Whoops!

After this we went off to Stresa in Northern Italy.  It was beautiful. There was a big lake and we went up Mottarone in a cable car.  I could see all around, there were lakes everywhere.

We got a motor home next and went to watch the famous cycling race, the Giro d’ Italia. On the first day Poppa and Dad argued a lot, I think we got lost! But we ended up in La Spezia. We got to see Cinque Terra, Savona, Sestri Levante and Asti.  We then headed to Lake Como. It rained a lot there, so Dad and Poppa drank lots of coffee.

We headed back to Milan. Milan is pretty special to Dad. We dropped off the motor home and headed to Rome. I loved throwing coins in the Trevi fountain. There are lots of fallen down old buildings in Rome. I loved the gelato. Yum.

Next we flew to London, I felt sick on the flight. London was scary for me. Dad took me to sit on the back of a big lion in Trafalgar Square and then when I was outside where the PM lives a guard had a big sword, which worried me a little. 

Our last stop was Hong Kong. Poppa got lost when he went shopping by himself  and Dad left everything to the last minute. I did like the double decker trams on Hong Kong Island. 

It was great to get home to Sebastian and Milana, but that was the trip I became Boris the Travelling Teddy Bear.

Boris Flies With Qantas

Hi! I am Boris the Travelling Teddy Bear. I have flown with several different airlines, but my favourite is Qantas because it is Australian, just like me.

Here is a photo of me with three friends I met at Melbourne Airport, Australia. 

As you can see, Jacko was exhausted from supporting his beloved Collingwood Magpies play that weekend. I'm not sure what the girls were up to, but we were all Sydney-bound and well-fed thanks to the Qantas club lounge!