Tired group

There's still not much to post.  Ian phoned today with a bit of information but said he was going to email me with photos and some updates on the last three days.  Either he couldn't access a computer, or perhaps with the photos the email was too large, I don't know.  In any case, I didn't receive anything.  I can tell you that they are back in Rome.  Tomorrow morning they are doing a three hour tour of Vatican City and then at 3pm starting to prepare for the Mass which takes place at 5pm at St. Peter's Basilica.   They will be packing tomorrow night as it's an early start on Friday as they head home.   It sounds like they are having a great time so I'm sure they will have lots to share.   If anyone has any info. they would like to have posted, feel free to email me and I will post your news.

ikgillis@gmail.com

 

Still no update

It seems there was no internet connection at the current hotel, but all will be back online tomorrow when the group returns to Rome.   We were away tonight when Ian phoned so we only received a quick message with no updates on how the last two days went.  Sigh, leave it to a man!!  There should be news and hopefully more photos tomorrow.  See you then!

No news from Italy

Hi All, 

As you can see by the title, there has been no news from the gang, or at least no news from a certain fearless leader of the gang today.   Perhaps no internet connection from Ortona, or just a tired group, who knows?   Perhaps tomorrow...hang in there!

Some more photos

A few more photos.   I think there may have been more Ian wanted to post but they didn't all come through.  In any case, enjoy the ones that did.  Looks like they are having a great time (minus the bird incident!).  

Here are a few photos of our trip so far:

Day 2

Hi All,

Day 2 saw the Blazers et al getting an early start on things and heading into Rome to see the Ancient City.  With Oswaldo driving and Bruno tour guiding we saw a few interesting sights along the way, including where the big Chariot race was filmed in Ben Hur.  The first major stop was at the Coliseum and you quickly realized that the Romans built things to last.  One could almost hear the echoes of past battles and hunts and the roar of the crowds.  We had a great guide for the morning and she made history come alive for us all.  We also walked the Spanish Steps, wandered through the Forum (amazing ruins), toured the Pantheon, threw coins in the Trevis Fountain and saw many other fabulous sites.  The tour also took some time to shop and try out some gelato for the first time...yummm!

Mind you, good things often come with a price and ours occurred while traversing a 1st century BC bridge when an enormous flock of probably 10 000 birds decided to use us as target practice.  That part of the tour ended quickly, but not before about 80% of us were hit by flying, actually "flying" wouldn't have been as bad, so we'll change that to..um.....falling bird poo.  It was a lovely time.

And during it all I found out that:

Doug loves to barter, Tracy has one kind of luck (and it's not the good kind), Darrell's a great poser/model, Ellen likes her coffee small (and tends to get lost when teamed up with Tracy), Sam loves sparkly things, Michael loves buying roses, Scott likes cold days but doesn't like asking questions in restaurants, Caitlin is bossy, Jessica likes crazy bandanas (and is not good at "pass the pig"), and Mr. Gillis is great at "pass the pig".  More observations tomorrow.  

Tomorrow we head to St. John's Cathedral and from there to Ortona.

Until then...

 

The Blazers Have Landed!

The Blazers have landed...thrice.  The trip has been good thus far with not much sleep happening yet.  We are in our hotel in Roma and the kids have been busy popping from room to room.  Tomorrow we head out early to visit the sites and will be gone for about fourteen hours.  It sounds like it will be a great day.

Kaitlin M. wishes to say a big thanks to security in Heathrow for her first frisking, Sara P. wins the longest unpacking of my bags by security to find my hidden bottle of water while I watch with an ever reddening face award, Mallory M. wins the I'm going to lose my passport first award...then she lost the award when she found it by scouring the plane...also with an ever reddening face, Scott wins the I'm eyeing that cockpit in case I get my chance to jump in when someone says "can anyone land this plane" award and finally Ellen M. wins the "it's really  nice weather here, sure glad I'm not on PEI" award.

Hope you all dig out...we'll try not to let the coconuts from the palm trees fall on our heads.

Ciau

Itinerary

Day 1

November 21

We leave P.E.I.

Day 2

November 22

Ciao Rome!

-Check in

-City Walk (may be moved to Day 3)

-Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona

Day 3

November 23

Imperial Rome

-Guided tour with Whisper headsets

-Colosseum

-Forum Romanum

-Piazza Venezia

Day 4

November 24

Travel to Ortona

Day 5

November 25

Ortona Celebration

Day 6

November 26

Back to Rome

-Cassino

Day 7

November 27

Vatican City

-Guided tour of museums and the Sistine Chapel

-Shopping

-St. Peters Basilica Ceremony

Day 8

November 28

Home to P.E.I.

Flight information

Almost packed!  Here is our Flight information:

Friday, November 21st:   To Italy

                                               Charlottetown to Halifax   AC8875

                                                Depart 7:45; Arrive 8:20pm

                                                Halifax to London   AC 860

                                                  Depart 11:45pm; Arrive 9:35am

                                                London to Rome   BA556

                                                 Depart 2:15pm  Arrive 5:40pm

Home on Friday, November 28th

                                                 Rome to London    BA551

                                                   Depart 7:50am;  Arrive 9:40am

                                                  London to Montreal    AC865

                                                    Depart 3pm   Arrive 5:35pm

                                                  Montreal to Charlottetown  AC 7676

                                                    Depart 9:30pm    Arrive 11:59pm

**All times are local times.

**London is 4 hours ahead, Italy is 5 hours ahead, and Montreal is 1 hour behind.

 

The Countdown is On!

Three days until travel.   Final preparations are underway.   The students are all very excited and energetic...  I'm tired already  :)       I'll post the itinerary later.