Day Two--Christmas Papal Blessing

Yep, that little white thing is the Pope

As close as we got to a good picture of the Swiss Guard

In St. Peter's Square

The view of St. Peter's Square with the Vatican in the background

Josiah

In our hotel room in Rome, having supper

Here is the first part of day two--Christmas Day. Our hotel in Rome was very nice, actually it was very good-sized, which is not something one finds in Europe very often. Hans and I had a large room with a king-size bed and the kids had a little room down a hallway with two twin beds. The only bad thing about the rooms in Pisa and Rome is that they only had showers and not bathtubs and certain members of our party scream like they're on fire when a shower is suggested. It's Hans. I have the hardest time keeping that boy clean. I kid.

Anyway, we got up early again on Christmas Day and tried to have breakfast. As usual, the European breakfast consists of various meats, cheeses and breads. Great for us, not so great for the kids. This time I got smart and bought individual serving-size pouches of Froot Loops for the trip. Actually, I brought an entire duffel bag filled with food, knowing how fussy they are. As you can see in that last picture, Josiah is enjoying his supper. Annika, who is less picky, was waiting for her room-service pasta to arrive.

Did I mention that the Italians don't start eating until 7:30 p.m? That was a little tough with kids, too. Well, next time we go to Italy, I will be packing a suitcase filled with food and maybe a hot plate, too. I'm learning.

Back to Christmas Day. After breakfast, we boarded the bus and drove to Vatican City for our papal blessing. I know that I wrote about this in my post from Rome, so I won't go into great detail. It was an amazing experience and would have been very peaceful had not two small, bored people been a bit whiny. Luckily, it was a loud affair with thousands of people present and not some quiet and solemn affair, so their boredom was mostly overlooked. Jesus loves the little children, right?

Next post: Day Two--Afternoon in Rome. Hang in there, people.