Christmas in Orvieto

I went to Orvieto I took 2 trains. One took a half an hour and one took an hour. After the train we had to take the "funiculare" up to the city of Orvieto on the hill. The funiculare is like a little train that is pulled up the mountain by a cable.

After we checked into our bed & breakfast, Ripa Medici, we went to a restaurant where we had the traditional Christmas eve dinner of seven fishes. I didn't try them all but I did try the shrimp, the octopus, clams and mussels. We went to midnight mass. It was in Italian and was in a very old church called a duomo in Italian.

We also got a small christmas tree for Christmas. Then we went on the Santa tracker. After we went to bed

Papal palace in Viterbo

We visited the papal palace in Viterbo today after going to a spaghetti restaurant that serves over 300 types of spaghetti. The pope lived in Viterbo a long time ago. We saw the il corso di Babbo Natale race. Everyone that ran dressed up as Santa Claus. I had my first white hot chocolate.

In Viterbo

Bob and I are in Viterbo where my sister lives. Bob chose and I bought a small Colosseo and he plays and sleeps in it. Colosseo is the Italian word for Colosseum. We are staying in the medieval section of Viterbo at La Locanda del Riccio. I had real Italian lasagna and stayed with my sister's host family last night. It was so cool because they only speak Italian. I am on my way to get some white hot chocolate for the first time.

My first two days in Rome

I flew to England on Sunday, then to Italy on Monday morning.  Bob and I saw the Colisseum and the Piazza Venetzia.  I think we walked 8 miles.  Bob is a dog with a red hat from Kilmer 203.  We ate gelato and Italian pastries and spaghetti and meat sauce and a grilled pear.  If you look closely you can see Bob.  Today we went to another country.  It is called the Vatican.  It the smallest country in the world.  It is guarded by the Swiss guards. They can't get married and their uniforms are orange and blue.  We had a tour and we learned all about Raphaelo and Michaelangelo.  They painted frescos which means they had to paint the picture when the plaster was wet.  Michaelangelo painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and one of the walls.  That wall was called the Last Judgement and one of the people made fun of Michaelangelo got painted in hell.  Michaelangelo was not very nice.  Before the Sistine Chapel he was only a sculpture and he didn't want to do the Sistine Chapel.  Pope Julius asked him to do it and finally he did.  It took four years to paint the ceiling and nine years to do the Last Judgement. There is a painting of a map from when Columbus discovered America in 1492.  Columbus was an Italian explorer, but Spain paid for his boats to go on his journey.  We also saw St. Peter's Basilica.  I think it is the largest basilica in the world.  146 popes are buried downstairs in the Basilica.  One pope was buried in a glass coffin and he had a mask over his face.  I also saw the pope's balcony.  It looks out over St Peter's Square where people can see the pope. 

Later in the day, Bob and I went to the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.  We stopped and had some more gelato on the way home.  We are going for a guided tour of the Colisseum tomorrow morning.  We can see the Colisseum from our hotel when we are eating breakfast.