Sorrento to Capri to Roma

Good evening from Rome - or rather - near Rome, where we have checked into a hotel for a VERY short stay. This morning, the plan was to leave at seven AM for Capri, but we were delayed a bit (again) by several of the girls. (Aside: Parents of graduating students - if you are looking for a graduating gift for your daughter, please consider a watch - especially if her first name ends with an 'A'.)

Eventually, we made it to the Sorrento port and boarded the ferry for Capri where we spent several hours walking, eating, and enjoying the lovely weather. We then took another ferry to Naples, where Osvaldo, our driver met us for the trip to Rome. He has now left us to get up to Venice for tomorrow and we will be travelling to the airport with an American group from Houston. We also have a new tour guide, Marianna, who joined us for the last two days after Mary headed north to take care of a trip of older ladies who are doing a spa tour - yep, you read that right - based out for Florence for a week.
 

The 1st photo is by the ferry port this morning. The 2nd is from the Capri gardens, and the 3rd is in the main piazza in Capri. Not sure what the guide is saying, but the girls look interested. 

We are now at a fairly nice hotel. It's old and with a lot of character, but very clean. Each room is decorated differently. Some of the girls found the rooms to be rather disturbing; they do look they are from an old mansion, redecorated of course, with high ceilings, different wall paper, and different furniture in each room.

We won't be here too long as we have a departure by bus for the Rome airport at  ... wait for it... 3:30AM for our 6:35 AM flight to Munich. We suspect that several of the girls will not even wrinke their beds tonight. It'll be a fatigued group that arrives at Pearson International on Sunday evening, and it will be interesting to see who's on the Madonna campus on Monday.

In Sorrento and Capri, we travelled some of the time here with a group from Chaminade. They joined us for the Capri ferry rides and also the small boat tour around the coast of Capri. Not too, too much shopping was done today. Capri is quite expensive and a good number of the shops don't even display prices. We saw the hotel at which DiCaprio and Clooney stay ... at 1000 Euros per night! Nevertheless, overall, a few of the girls will be close to their declaration limit, we think. Not sure if anyone actually went over the allowable purchases - yet - but we know that our stay in Heathrow airport will be tempting for the shoppers and those left with money.

... and just to finish off, here are a few of the girls with members of an Italian boys soccer team who were on Capri at the same time as us. Shortly after taking this photo, our guide Marianna, told us that the MCSS girls broke the boys' hearts when we left. Shattered dreams on the romantic island of Capri - the Madonna legacy.

Not sure if we'll be able to post again before getting to Toronto. If we can find a wifi connection in Munich or London, we'll see if we can send a travel progress report. If not, see you in Toronto in not too, too long.

Ciao a tutti.

A Few Catch Up Pics from Rome

Pompei and Sorrento

From Rome this morning, we drove to Pompei for lunch and a guided tour of the old city that was buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD. Everyone enjoyed the tour and the detail of the buildings that have
been excavated. We then drove to Sorrento for dinner and our hotel for the night. The drive was rather spectacular as the road was carved along the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. We had a good dinner that included roast duck and then went for a walk through the town of Sorrento.

So far, no major problems have arisen. We have had a few minor illnesses, but the girls have recovered quickly. Today at dinner, we met up with a group from Chamonade who are on a similar trip. We will be joining them for the visit to Capri tomorrow. And congratulations agan to Vanessa, who has a reached a third major accomplishment on this trip. Yay, Vanessa!

Tomorrow, we are off quite early to go to Capri and then back to Rome for part of the night. Since we have a very early flight home, we will be up quite dark and early. Not sure if we can post tomorrow, but we will keep our eyes open for a place with internet access.

Ciao a Tutti.

Roma oggi

We have just returned to the hotel after a long day that began with the painting class and ended with gelato at Piazza Navona in Rome. The painting class was at a local hotel and the girls had a choice of drawing, painting, or both. Some very good pieces were produced. We hope some of them show up along with the fresco pieces at MCSS.

Then we were off to Rome, stopping downtown for a walk to the Spanish Steps. From there, the girls were off for some free time. Some sat and people watched, a few others went to see some sights, and several others shopped. We had quite a few more bags coming back to the hotel than we had when we left this morning. My small group visited the Pantheon, the oldest Christian church in Rome, dating from AD 69, and then via Piazza Navona and St. Agnes Church, to a tour of Castel Sant' Angelo. We had great views of Rome from the highest level of the fortress, which began as Emeror Hadrian's tomb and later bcame a fort to protect the Pope in case of invasion.

We collected again at the Spanish Steps for a walk to dinner and real orancini, then off to Piazza Navona for gelato and the bus ride back to the hotel. We will be smaller from here on as the Cardinal Newman group leave for home tomorrow as we head south to Pompei, Sorrento, and Capri. The hotel in Sorrento is supposed to have internet access, so we will try to post from there.

Ciao a tutti.

Art Class... some good artists here

During the art class. Got to run. Roma awaits.  Ciao

Painting Class...

We are in Rome at an art class. We have a wifi connection so we will try to post a photo or two of the art later. Some rather tired MCSS chiquitas here this morning. They will probably be recharged by the time we get to the shopping hot spots in downtown Rome. No major problems at all. Mary, our EF tour director has been super. She is British, but has lived in Rome for 19 years or so. Osvaldo is our driver. We have a very modern and comfortable bus with an espresso maker on board. Osvaldo has been great. Funny guy and a really good driver, too.
Va bene. More later.
Ciao a tutti.

From Rome

Well, let us just say about Florence that "whatever happens in "Florence, stays in Florence.." Of course, if you would like any details, you may be able to pry some loose from Sara "Crash" Santini. Nuff said. (Don't ask...don't tell)

We visited so many churches in Florence and they really like to name their churches after Mary. We visited Santa Maria dei Fiori (Il Duomo) and so many others that we forget the names. We think we visited Santa Maria della come ti chiami and also Santa Maria della che sucesse... and a few more. Va bene.

Now for Roma... we had a long drive down to Rome, slowed a bit by an accident on the highway. Today, we visited the Vatican. Spectacular and awsome. We had a very good guide who took us through the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters Basilica. Everyone was awed by the size and the artworks. It is so different from the churches at home that it is easy to forget that we were in a church.

After this, and some lunch in Rome, we went to a cooking class/competition where the girls made fresh pasta, orancini, and some other Italian dishes before dining on a sumptuous repast. Tomorrow, we have an art class in the morning so the girls can release their inner Da Vincis... and then a bit oif a walking tour centered around the area near the Spanish Steps and the local shopping area by the Gucci, Benetton, and other designer stores. Time to give those plastic cards a work out.

We have plenty of photos to share, but internet access here is very limited. Hopefully, when we get to Sorrento, we'll be able to post several photos to get everyone caught up. The weather has been exceptional.

Thanks and hi to all the readers and especially to those who sent comments. We all appreciate them.

Ciao a tutti.