Sunday..................

Sleepy and ready to go home in Germany
Our view of Germany

We were on time for breakfast and made it too the airport on time bags packed and under 50 pound each. We were headed to security when we remembered that our carry on had wine and lemoncello in it. Needless to say Brian had to go back and check it. Our plane was late taking off and we knew we were going to be late landing but they assured us ( the six of us on the flight) that the plane was not on time taking off so we would make it and they were expecting us. We all ran......and hit the gate 15 minutes late they other people at the gate told us the plane had left at least 45 minutes prior. Of course we had to stay another night in Copenhagen which would not have been too bad except for the fact we had no clothes. We were lucky enough to be on a 7:00 am flight to Frankfurt and then off to Portland. At least we got a Germany stamp in out passport and it seemed lovely from the air. We only ended up about 14 hours later than we would have been. We get to Portland into customs and they tell us only 1 out of our 4 bags made it to Portland. Fortunately they arrived in Medford the next evening. The kids were happy to see us and we were happy to see them. I thought we would be fine staying up until their bedtime but after a warm bath, Halle and I crawled into bed at 6:00 pm and didn't wake until 6:00 am. Happy to be home in our own bed and with the kids. Thank to the Grandma's who took care of them. I decided to keep the post going hopefully daily and thought I may add my scrap work to it. Until tomorrow.

Blessings,

B&L

Saturday.....................

The something??? Castle
An amazing church
My perfect Cappuccino

Santa Maria
The Forum
The Forum
The Forum Again
on the way to the Sistine

Well....Steve and Leslie left this morning. I traveling buddies are heading home and we are hoping they will join us next year!:)We decided to map out a plan to see the other sites we were not able to see this week. We stated with a longggg walk up to Santa Maria. It is an amazing church. We then caught the 9:30 am bus to the Forum it was well worth it. it had finally stoped raining and the sun was out today just a bit cold. Next stop...The Vatican to visit the Sistine Chapel. The line was soooo long it took us about 25-30 minutes just to get through the first line and the chapel closes at 1:00 so we made it through the museum line at 12:40 and then continues to the chapel. If you are at all claustrophobic this is not the thing for you to do. It is wall to wall people elbow to elbow. You kind of feel like cattle. We pretty much saw the chapel and then headed out that was good enough for us. Then bought a pair of sunglasses at one of the street vendors and headed to the bus stop. From there we rode on the upper level of the bus and was able to see the other sites we wanted to. We headed back to Via Vieneto(SP) to the Paris Cafe for a sandwich,cappuccino,and dessert. Then it was off to the hotel....Brian took a nap and I packed. We had dinner at a place of hotel suggested called Grill and Wine. It was just OK nothing to write home about and then headed the Gran Cafe to see Giorgio for a Cappuccino and dessert. He has to be the greatest waiter in Rome. He came over to our table with a huge Tiramisu and a small glass with some sort of reddish liquid in it. He says it is something he likes to drink and it is stronggggg....I passed it off to Brian after a sip or two. We gave him a very nice tip that he tried not to accept and gave us some candy. We would love to bring him home for a sweet friend we know.;). Until we get home.

B&L

Last post until Sunday................

Vladimiro's,Amazing dinner,all of us with our favorite waiter Giorgio

This will probably be our last post until we return on Sunday unless we can get a connection at one of the 4 airports we hit on the way back. Last night was Leslie's birthday so we went to one of the nicer restaurants on the strip where our hotel was. We had a very nice dinner with a cute little singer named Luciano
Povoriti. He had a great voice and kept us entertained for a couple of hours. Then came back to our hotel and looked over all the pictures with Steve&Leslie. By the way thanks Steve&Leslie for a great time in Sweden and Rome you made our trip an amazing one. I for one still have not adjusted to the time and I don't think I will before we leave. I can't go to sleep until around 3:00 or 4:00 am and then I don't want to get up in the morning. none the less I am sure I will be back on schedule when we return home. The weather was horrible again today so was the traffic. We decided to take the tour bus again to see all the things we missed yesterday. Did not happen.......it took us almost 1 1/2 hours on the bus just to get back to the Vatican. So, by the time we arrived the Sistine Chapel was closed for the day. Needless to say it was the one thing I really wanted to do in Rome. I know think that the best way to see everything is an organized tour. We could go tomorrow again on the bus but the weather is suppose to be bad again and it would take another 38 euro(1 1/2$=1 Euro).So today we were able to see the Trevi Fountain, it was insanely busy and the Vatican museum,Castle St. Angelo. We unfortunately will not make it to Florence, the forecast has been snow for the past 2 days.Dinner tonight????? We had read in the tour book that Harry's on Via Vineto was a top 10. DO NOT GO TO HARRY"S! We tried however they were extremely rude. We walked up and were cut off by the host who asked if we were there for dinner we said yes and he looked us up and down and replied "oh we are very busy". Busy my foot!!!!!!!We arrived well before the dinner hour and the place was empty. Well I have to say it was a good thing we didn't we heard how bad the food is. We came back to our hotel and asked the gentleman at the front desk for a recommendation. He promptly sent us over to Vladimiro's on Via Aurora and told us not to go any where on the main strip. We walked in and to tell you the truth I wanted to walk out but I was vetoed. Thank Goodness! It was the best meal we have eaten thus far and probably the least expensive. They start by bringing bread and bruschetta (yum my fav) The whole meal was amazing I think Brian and I will return tomorrow for our last dinner.Steve and Leslie are headed home in the morning so I think we are going to give up on seeing any more touristy sites unless it is sunny and just hang out around our area like villa borghese and what not.Can't wait until we see our bambino's. Until Sunday,








Blessings,


B&L

The Tour bus.....................

St.Peters

spanish steps,Louis,Mcdonalds

Happy Birthday Leslie!!!!!Went to dinner with The new friends to a place called Ciao something and the waiter was a complete jerk. It was the cutest place and he then had the nerve to write in his own service charge??? What's up with that? We will bypass this resturant from now on. We went to the Spanish steps and down the primo shopping street. We could only afford to look. I really wanted a Louis Vitton bag badddddd and was content to look until I almost walked into the mirror at the store. EmbarassedI ran out and waited for everyone else to come out. The sad thing was as I was looking up at the purses and trying to get to them and tried to side step this lady come to find out the lady was me.LOL!I was able to take a picture of the store front which will have to do.We spent all day out on the tour bus and only saw two sites.We clearly underestimated how tour bus trying to see the rest of the attractions????Any suggestions? We could probably maybe do both as long as the rain goes away.It is hard to sight see while it is pouring.So we started early caught the tour bus at 10:20. There were a few things to see where we didn't have to get off the bus we could take pictures as we passed such as the Santa Maria and the Presidents palace.Then we stoped at the Colosseum clearly we did not plane well because we needed to be at the Vatican at 1:15 for our Scavi tour. We need to head back to the Forum etc...in that area. We just made it to the Vatican in time and followed the instructions on where we were suppose to go.For whatever reasons we did not have to go through the huge line of security that is on the right of St. Peters?????We were instructed to go to the left and ask the Swiss guard for the excavations office. The first guard said "yes I know where it is but I am off duty" I promptly called him a jerk under my breath. Like the majority of Danish&Swedish men he was not at all a gentlemen. So I can now add Swiss men to the list as well.I am not referring to the men who have lived in the US for years just the majority of men we have encountered. I would love for them to prove us wrong. Ok so back to the Scavi tour.....if you are going to the Vatican this is the way to do it.We emailed the Vatican and requested a time to take this tour and gave them a wide range of days that we would be there. It was amazing, it is a small group of people in our case all American exchange students with an American guide. You get to go down to all the original tombs underneath the St. Peters. You even get to see the original tomb that St. Peter was buried in and there is a small glass box that NASA built that has a few of his remains in it.What an impact it has on you when you see all this. When were finished with the Scavi tour it was pouring(the weather channel was wrong) and we didn't bring our umbrella. We quickly slipped into St. Peters and took some pictures to escape the rain and cold. Having nothing to eat since 8:00 am and it was now 3:30 we decided to skip the rest of Vatican city in hopes that weather would be better tomorrow. We hoped back on the bus after a 20 minute hungry wait in the rain and decided to go to our favorite cafe next to the hotel and get a panini and a cappucino.Ahh...and we were greeted by our new favorite waiter Giorgio(will tell more about him later).

Until Tomorrow, blessings,
B&L

Another day in Rome......

church

The pizzaria
The Pallazo

The Rain

Ahhhh....another day in Rome in the pouring rain. Today we decided to just take it easy and see what part of the city we could on our own. It was a good thing because it stated to pour at about 1:00. We went to the Palazzo Barberini Museum the architecture was amazing we couldn't take pictures inside. All the paintings were of biblical scenes and the saints. It use to be a palace and each room had amazing paintings on the ceilings. We then ventured down Nazionale street. Lots of high end shops and a few churches. We then went to lunch at a pizzeria we had no recommendations but the place was busy with locals so we knew it had to be good. It was wonderful....we will up date the exact name tomorrow. We then went to Prenatal (http://www.prenatal.it/cataloghi_moda/index_ita_ai07_08.asp) to wait out the rain and did a bit of shopping for Halle. John and Molly you have to go to this store. We then hiked the 10 blocks back to the hotel in the pouring rain. If people thought Americans were crazy drivers they need to visit Rome. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right away you literally have to jump out of the way when a car or scooter come along. When the light changes for the cross walk you RUN. Tomorrow we are going to hop on the tour bus that stops at all the major Rome attractions you can get off and on at your own leisure and thought since we are going to the Vatican for our tour it would perfect to see all the sights.

Ahhhh...Rome...........

The Pizzaria
Triton fountain
a hotel
our hotel

The Resturant

Austrian Alps
Italian countryside
some church
the Forum

The Airport in Sweden
The snow

So I think we slept a total of 2 hours last night. After dinner we could not sleep so we packed up, took showers, and tried to sleep since we had to to be up at 4:00 am and catch our taxi at 5:00 am. Needless to say we could not sleep. On our way to the airport it started snowing(gorgeous)planes were delayed and we thought we were going to miss our connecting flight to Rome. As luck would have it the plane we were on was the same plane scheduled to Rome we quickly got off the plane to run to the next gate and were pleasantly surprised to find it was at the same gate with 30 minutes to spare. While I went to buy some special candies Brian decided to break his glasses. We ran to a jewelry store and fortunately the lady gave us a bottle of super glue. On our way to board the plane we were handed a paper from the flight attendant about something to do with not being able to use the q400???? All we really knew it meant was that we felt like sardines the entire 2 hour flight. Thank goodness for lack of sleep because it meant we sleep the whole plane ride. Rome is very different from Sweden and Denmark!!!! Next time I would like to stay longer. After a even scarier ride into Rome we were given a room at the rear of the hotel that was kind of blahhh. Brian asked if we could have a room with a view of the street...we were given a slightly smaller room and bed,bathroom with shower only but an amazing balcony(it was worth it).We then napped for 4 hours and went out for dinner. We tried to find a pizzeria listed in a tour book no luck but we found an amazing little store call pre-nat-al. I thought maternity but no....it is an amazing clothing store for kids(just up my alley). Unfortunately we hit it at closing time so we have to go back another day but the sweet girl in the shop gave us a recommendation for a pizzeria. Much different than ours at home....kind of a burnt tortilla like crust with very little on top but it did the trick and the waitress was very kind. We then headed back to the hotel and sat out front at a cafe and had tiramisu and Irish coffee(yum). I think we are going to go on a tour tomorrow to either Pompeii/Naples or Florence/Tuscany...weather permitting. Then the Vatican and city tour on Thursday.


Until tomorrow, blessings,

The World Travelers (aka Brian&Lashell)

Almost Time to leave................

all the light switches at a pub

dinner at SOHO

The fun Candy store

a view of the city

Our new friend Steve and Leslie

Well we have been in Sweden a longgggg 27 hours and it is almost time to leave already. I wish we would have added more time here. I really wanted to get more pictures of the architecture but there was no time.Today we toured the Volvo factory although we have no pics because you can't take your camera inside. It was a great tour but bitterly cold on the parts we had to travel outside. We have picked out my new car(he he)a pearl white xc90 with tan interior. Ok, grandma's get ready for another week with the kids, but I think we will wait until the winter season is over. We meet a really nice couple Steve and Leslie from Kansas City at the Volvo factory. Steve is a Service manager for a Volvo store in Kansas City and was picking up a car for the dealership there just like we were. They offered us a ride to see some castles however we got a little lost(not great directions from the Volvo factory) so we ended back up at the hotel. We met up for dinner at SOHO (an amazing restaurant and less than the sandwich thing the night before) they are also going to Rome and staying at the same hotel we are. We have planned to meet up with them when they arrive in Rome.


Enjoy this round of pictures, blessings,

The Darby's(aka world travelers)

3 planes and 1 scary car ride.........................

After 3 longggg plane rides,1 scary car ride, and 22 hours of traveling we made it safe and sound. The plane ride was much easier than I expected(dramamine and valium are a good combination when you are an anxious flyer,too tired to worry). Wow it was bitterly cold when we arrived.Our driver didn't show so another Volvo drive took us to the hotel and after a long day of travel we wanted nothing more than to take a bath and eat a small dinner in our room. Little did we know that you can not order dinner and take it to your room. Instead you order it and pay double($80.00 2 sandwiches&apple pie +tip for everthing else theres MasterCard?????) to have it delivered to your room.Our Volvo factory tour is at 10:30 so this will be a short post with more to come later. Breakfast was amazing with all kinds of bread,fruit,meat,cheese,etc......And now Brian is running around the hotel taking pictures of everything, and I thought I was the scapbooker.lol!

we miss you all, blessing

Brian&Lashell

Were sitting here.............

Ok, here we are in Seattle....longggggg layover, were sitting in the SAS lounge(1 grumpy lady and 1 nice lady at the desk). Alex...we didn't forget anything but thanks for the reminder I am glad to see you helped your mom post a message.lol! If the seats on the plan are anything like this we will be in good shape tonight. I'm starting to wind down a bit which is a good thing and Brian,well is Brian. He is taking advantage of the FREE beer on the plane and Free drinks in the lounge.


Until Sweden, blessings

Brian and Lashell

P.S. We miss you already Tay,Cole,& Halle

And were off....................almost

So here we are at the "Medford International Airport" and we are almost off. Ok,so I thought our departure time was 11:20 and Brian was sure it was 12:20 umm....he was right which doesn't happen very often. He is gloating. So our goal is to post our pictures and daily outings every day. Make sure you guys post comments. We miss our 3 sweet peas and we haven't even left Medford yet.

Blessings until Seattle,

Brain and Lashell