09.01 & 09.02.17 Longest day of the year. 48 hours in 4 countries and 7 time zones

Departed KC 4:30 Friday, planned on going to Toronto and on to Rome. Dan and Pam Cravens (college friends), coming from NM and scheduled to arrive 15 min before us in Rome on Saturday am, find out their plane  was cancelled due to a gas leak, and they were now re-booked to arrive Sunday am. They will miss our Vatican Tour.

Trip of a lifetime! 

En Route, prepping for what's to come

Our KC plane was late arriving, so we RAN through the Toronto airport trying to catch our flight to Rome - missed the doors closing by about 1 minute. Our choice was stay overnight in Toronto and miss our 3:30 Sat private Vatican Tour, or, head to Rome via Frankfurt and take the chance of no bags upon arrival. Who needs clothes? Within an hour of landing in Canada, we RAN to the new gate, and were on the flight to Frankfurt - squished in the center row seats, not together, but headed to Europe!

For 6 of the 8 hours on the plane my neighbor from India does not know her light is on ... 

Arrived in Frankfurt, no gate, so had to take bus from tarmac to terminal. RAN through customs and security, RAN through the big airport to the new gate to try to get new tickets and check in on Lufthansa. Stern German gate agent softens over our story, and fixes all the glitches - we RAN and were the last on the plane... up, up and away, we were Rome bound! Arriving at 2:05pm, hoping we might make that 3:30 Vatican Tour.... our travel agent Dyni Egner (college friends) and our KC born and raised Italian concierge Sally from A Slice of Tuscany are keeping up with us all the way, helping us coordinate everything. Love those girls.

Ahhh, tickets to Rome - finally we are on our way from Frankfurt! 

We arrive to Rome late, RAN through the airport to see if our bags arrived - they didn't, so we RAN to file a claim ( & find out our bags are in Toronto).  Coordinate with our tour guide, who says if we arrive by 4pm, not a minute later, we can still do the tour. We RAN to find a driver, and promised to tip him big to drive fast to the Vatican - he's Italian, this is no problem! He makes the 45 minute drive in 35, we arrive at the Vatican 3:50! Voila! We make the tour. We RAN to coat-check our carry on bags, and finally breathe. Have a super knowledgeable tour guide Valeria (thank you Sally @ Slice of Tuscany!), and are in awe over the grandeur of  it all. "Splendid, just splendid."

Michelangelo designed the Basilica in his 70's. 

Gallery: The Hall of Tapestries.

 Jesus' eyes follow you as you walk past. 

The detail and 3 dimension of the tapestries are splendid.  

Girl power.

Gallery: Hall of Maps, 

better than the Sistine Chapel for me. 

Gallery: Hall of Animals, side one, very cool. 

A view from a Gallery

 of Pope Benedict's home at the Vatican. 

So humble. 

The Basilica is pure grandeur, and, the largest in the world. 

Valeria, Chris and I panic when we realize 

the coat -check holding our only possessions, 

is 15 minutes away 

(we have to get all the way around the walls of the Vatican City), 

and we have 10 minutes until it closes, if we don't make it, 

we won't be able to go back until they open on Monday.... 

which is when we leave for Florence....   

We RAN! With Valeria at our side, we RAN out of the church, 

RAN through St. Peter's Square, RAN down the street, 

RAN under the bridge and RAN up the stairs to hail a cab, 

and promised to tip him large if he can get to the entrance 

before they lock it up. He drives like Mario Andretti.  

We laugh the whole way 

while gripping anything we can to hold on. 

We tip. 

We RAN from the car to the entrance, 

and arrived 2 minutes before it closed.

Valeria our guide  - she was, well, splendid too! 

We leisurely head to our contemporary 100 year old penthouse apt 6pm (I could live here!) with the charming agent Marcella. Near the train station, Roma Termini. Affiliated with a restaurant we adored, Tomoko Tudini. We eat at a table out on the street of course.  Apertivos, Bistecca Florentine, & Porchini Pasta. We were hungry & thirsty from all that running. It was amazing.

Church bells ringing. Italians singing opera on the streets. Wide open doors to balconies at night. Rainstorm. The perfect end to a 48 hour day. We are charmed by everything in Italy so far....

Stunning apt on 7th floor with 2 terraces

Our view of the street below

Outdoor dining on every street

The Vatican is just beyond words. As is Rome. Grand. The history, wow. The people - so expressive. The food, incredible. The city, so historic. The streets, intriguing. The monuments, unbelievable. The weather, perfect.

It was worth every step we RAN to get here to do it right!

Next Post - Dan and Pam arrive! And, learning how to survive a long trip in Italy with our suitcases in Toronto. And how to make our phone batteries last more than 1/2 a day...