"Guardate il sole" - "Look at the sun"

Judy, Alaina, Josie, Terry, Gail, Mike, Pat
(Alison, Holly and Charlotte weren't at dinner that night, unfortunately!)

Well, the last 5 weeks have been chaotic and hilarious and crazy and beautiful, and I'm sorry it's over. We had such an amazing visit with my family, and only now are things returning to normal. I have finally posted the pictures - I abandoned facebook picture albums for smugmug (click on the picture above or the permanent link on the right to get to our gallery page). That way anyone can comment - but make sure you sign your name so everyone knows who you are!

Here are what I think were the highlights of our visit, week by week. There are more details in the pictures.

Mom and the Aunties in Rome (family holiday week 1)
On March 4, Terry and Meryck and I met Judy and Pat at the airport, then we all met mom about an hour later. We all headed back to the apartment that would be our home for a week. After helping us find the nearby shops, Terry and Meryck headed back to Perugia and left us girls to start our adventure.
That first night, we had our first look at Piazza San Pietro (St. Peter's Square - the round plaza in front of St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican). We packed a lot of touring into the next couple of days, even though it rained pretty mercilessly the whole time. We relied on the metro at first, and had very little trouble finding our way with the help of tour books and maps. We walked up the Spanish Steps in a rare sunny moment, then stopped for coffee & panini at a little bar on the way to our next stop. We made our way to the Trevi fountain in the pouring rain, and each threw a coin in. Supposedly this means we are guaranteed to return to Rome for another visit - hopefully it won't be quite so rainy! Next we went to the Borghese Gallery and saw some awesome sculptures and paintings, and dawdled through the grounds taking pictures of each other taking pictures of a horse statue. Somehow we found our way back to the Metro and home.
In those first few days, we learned that takeout pizza is THE way to go when you're sightseeing! We did manage to cook a couple times in the apartment, and everyone enjoyed the novelty of the stovetop espresso maker. (Pat even bought one to take home!)
On day two (or three - I've already lost count!) we had a very informative tour of the Colosseo and Palatine Hill across the street. Although a tour is not required, you definitely get a lot more out of it than if you just walk through on your own. Or maybe I'm saying that because when we first walked through Palatine Hill in the summer, we were comatose from the heat and jetlag!
Terry and Meryck joined us on the weekend for our tour of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Only a couple months before our visit, they stopped enforcing the 'no photography' rule in the Sistine Chapel, so we were able to get some photos of Michelangelo's famous works.
On Saturday night, Pat & I went to see "La Traviata", an opera. We left the rest of the crew to their wine drinking and napping, and we had a great time. Really, it was something we had to experience at some point in Italy, right? The boys were leaving for Perugia the next evening, so we made the most of the morning. First we visited a cat sanctuary where Meryck was very popular, and Pat and Judy and I bought a few trinkets to support their efforts. Then we made our way to a local market where I bought a nice espresso maker for 2 euros (about $3). At the market, Mom, Pat & Judy had a brush with a young pickpocket, but he was no match for the combined evil eyes of the Preiner sisters!
For our last two days in Rome, we bought a 48hr ticket for an open top bus tour and tried to see the rest of the "top sights" we had on our lists. The Pantheon was my favourite - it seems to be an ancient ruin when you see it from the outside, but inside it is bright and colourful and awe-inspiring. Piazza Navona was great fun for us. There were some amazing artists, and none of them were very pushy, which allowed us to enjoy just browsing. Mom and Pat and Judy each bought some art to take home, and their artists were very friendly and helpful.
This last full day in Rome was the first day I remembered to wear my pedometer, and we walked about 11km. This was the day we had bus tickets, so I'm sure that every other day we walked 15km+. I was so glad to have my comfy shoes (and my boots on the rainy days!)
Mom and the Aunties come to Perugia (family holiday week 2)
Our week in Perugia was a bit more relaxing, partly because our tour guide (me) made some crucial errors in scheduling. (I have learned from my mistakes, and am now a better guide because of it.) Our days of exploring Perugia were very laid back, if you can call walking uphill, downhill, upstairs and down all day "laid back". And by this point, we had no problem doing that! Mainly because most of the beauty of Perugia is just in being here - there is no Colosseo or Pantheon to get to, but each and every street is just *pretty*. Each day ended on the patio with a glass of wine in hand, looking at a beautiful sunset over the valley. After being together constantly for 10 days, we had developed a new form of communication when we really needed to be heard - repetition. ("Look at the sun, look at the sun, look at the sun!")
We also had planned a few day trips - Florence & Pisa, Assisi, Deruta. I optimistically thought we could do Florence & Pisa in one day by spending the morning in Florence, then seeing Pisa "on the way home" (it's 1 hour in the opposite direction, but we're tourists, so we can get away with that kind of logic). Needless to say, Florence, beautiful Florence, turned into a full day of shopping and ooh-ing and aw-ing, and Pisa was crossed off our list.
The following morning we made our way back down to the train station to head for Deruta, a pretty little town famous for its ceramics. At the train station, I was told NOT to take the train to Deruta, but to take the bus (silly me!). Although the train does technically go to Deruta, the station is several km from the centro. So we caught a city bus up to the bus terminal and bought tickets. Our extremely helpful clerk sold us the tickets, then told us that the next train was in a few hours.. !! Being the flexible kind of travelers that we are, I asked about Assisi, he said that bus also wouldn't leave until after noon. Enough with the screwing around, an Auntie who I will call AJ burst out "then WHERE the heck does the next bus go this morning?" His answer was basically that we had missed all the buses for the morning. Couldn't he have said that in the first place?
Oh well... we still had 2 whole days - we could do Deruta one day and Assisi the next. (counting on my fingers) Wait a second, we only have ONE day! Deruta falls off our list.
We made our way to Assisi the next day. No problem, because this time we knew WHEN and WHERE to catch the bus! Meryck joined us and was a fabulous and thoughtful tour guide. He started the day by dragging our old tired feet on a climb to the top of Assisi.. meaning that the rest of the day we were able to walk downhill! What a smart guy. As usual, Assisi was a huge hit. It is a beautiful town, and there are dozens of shops to buy typical food, wine, ceramics and lace. And buy we did! We had to, it was our last day in Italy.

Well, that's all I can manage for now - Buona Pasqua everyone - Happy Easter. Stay tuned for the next installment of the blog, coming soon! (I promise)
More family in France (family holiday week 3)
EuroDisney and Lyon, the centre of fine French cuisine.
Italy with the siblings (family holiday week 4)
Wait a minute, didn't I say I had learned my lesson about poor planning?
Josie and Alaina last couple of days (family holiday week 5)
All roads may lead to Rome, but all tracks lead to Orvieto.