Sunday, October 16, 2011

Rome and beyond

We have had pretty bad jet lag, you don't realize it at first then you start waking up in the middle of the night and feeling tired all the time. 
We got to Rome and had a day to rest before my parents arrived from Alicante where they now live.
I had not seen them for over two years, too darned long but at last we had been able to arrange a mutual stop over in Rome,where we had a couple of days off in a row.


I got a call from the front desk that they had arrived and I almost dive bombed the two sets of stairs to get downstairs to the lobby.
I hugged my mum so hard, it was two years worth of hug! We cried so much that when we stopped and looked at the receptionist she was sobbing right along with us.


You have to understand a little background about me and my mum. We spent seven years together on our own after she left my father, she was my whole family and we are extremely close despite the many miles of distance across the years as I traveled to work in Germany and Canada as well as all over the UK and now of course the USA.  She married my stepdad when I was ten who became our rock and I adore him. He and Steve are very similar, both having dry and wicked humor so it was wonderful to have them in the same room for a few days and a lot of laughter ensued.


We chose to make the Colosseum our main stop as far as sightseeing, it turned out to be about a four mile walk all told, quite enough for the four of us as we were all still tired from recent long flights and early starts. (plus the fact that none of us is in our prime!) 


The Colosseum was amazing! We had an official tour and I learned about what had really gone on there, it was mind boggling. There were lots of things that I was not aware of (I had probably not listened at school) but things like the fact that there was a canvas cover over the top! The Romans were so clever they had designed it so that it was all in small sections so they could open a few or all by a system of rope pulleys. 
The range of wild animals that were made to fight and die was enormous, from porcupines to elephants! It was sad to know that so many animals and people had died there for sport and indeed some animals were brought to the point of extinction.


My parents came to the Rome show with us, the band the boss and Sheryl made them feel really welcome. I am not sure who made who laugh more, the band or my mum. It was a perfect venue for their visit, there was a balcony with a row of comfy seats which was cut off to the public so they could watch the show from there without being surrounded by excited fans.
My mum LOVED the show, she was clapping and gasping at the bosses antics with Cold Ethyl, the monster and the guillotine, I am sure dad liked it too but he is far more reserved. 


I recon that the three shows in Italy have been amongst the best audiences so far, they knew the words to all the songs and had such fun which of course means the band has more fun.


Tommy has been sick with a cold, the bug has been passing around the band and you know who started it all off ...... no mention of a name but he is pretty nifty with drum sticks (: 


We are in Switzerland now, it is grey and foggy. Tonight is the Winterthur show so I will close out by saying that Rome was awesome all way around.








Ok, which way?




The streets of Rome:




Mum and dad holding hands:




The outside wall of the Colosseum:




The inside of the Colosseum, the wooden stage is no longer there so you can see the system of tunnels beneath where it had been.




Padova and Trezzo




Our bus driver, jolly Jonnie:


Tommy is all snotty:


Trezzo show








1 comment:

  1. How lovely to catch up with them after all that time!
    Thanks for continuing to post your insights on the tour, I really enjoy reading them
    xx

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