Hi Stampers
It is Saturday July 6th and time to get this adventure started 🙂 Well, first we need to tour the Vatican.
The Vatican
Let me say that if you have never been to Rome before, the Vatican is a given, but be prepared for long lines! We had booked “Early Morning Before the Vatican Opens, Skip the Line” tickets. Not! We were there at 7:15 am, walked over to the main entrance with “hundreds (if not more) of people and for 45 minutes, we snaked our way outside the Vatican Museums to the front entrance. Our Tour Leader gave us stats and when we heard the Vatican averaged 38,000 to 42,000 visitors a day, there is no wonder the lineups are long. Then I did the math and guesstimated how much money is taken in each day just in Visitors and it is astounding. Some of the sites:
We made our way back to the hotel as we had to check out by noon…… luckily we had most of our stuff packed before leaving for the Vatican. We checked out, the Hotel arranged for a taxi to pick us up and we are now making our way to the Sheraton Conference Centre. A lot of the Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators are staying here tonight as SU has arranged for busses to take us to the cruise ship tomorrow… OMG… it is really happening.
Would you believe I took no pictures while we were at the Sheraton…. I know. We checked in at the Hotel then put our luggage away and donned our bathing suits. We then checked in with the Stampin’ Up! staff, picked our bus time for the next morning, and went to sit by the pool. This hotel is a bit different. You had to pay for a lounge chair by the pool, or sit in the cabana’s at the bar. We sat and had a drink and watched everyone come in. You know it is different when you see people with the hair in ponytails and wearing sunglasses. Two ladies came to sit with us and chat and when we introduced ourselves, one of them was Terri Gaines.. OMG… I didn’t recognize her. She is such a big deal in the world of Stampin’ Up! and was so sweet. She was with her sister Debbie Engebretson and we ran into both of them throughout the whole trip. What an awesome introduction to the Demonstrator Leaders in Stampin’ Up!.
Since landing in Rome (and it continued for the whole trip), my feet and ankles were swollen… this has never happened before. When we settled in our room for the night, Colleen went in search of ice for me to put on my ankles . She ran into Selene Swiridowsky Kempton, who was in the next room, also looking for ice. Turns out that all of the ice machines in the hotel were not working. They ended up getting ice from the bar by the pool. Everyone has been so super nice. Tomorrow is THE DAY. We got the first bus in the morning that heads to the port. Wheeee.
Thanks for stopping by,Elizabeth, Your Stampin' Up! Demonstrator
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