June 20-21, 2007

Roma, Italy

the CAST:
Tina Wilcock Melissa Wilcock Austin Wilcock Jennifer Takacs Gideon Takacs Karin Yamada Kebra Roxstrom Annamarie Pontius Kim Cole Ross Smith Jane Smith Bethany Smith Kristin Smith Megan Smith Ben Smith Ammon Smith

Well, school is out and we headed off on a whirlwind tour of Rome! The last time I went, I didn't take the kids or Jacob. This time, the kids came! Poor Jacob, he couldn't get time off of work. :( It was another early departure - we left at 4:00a for the 6:10a flight. We packed two lunches, seeing as I knew we'd be hungry by 9:00a!

We arrived at Ciampino airport and took a bus tino the center of Roma. This time, we had to wait for a bus, which kind of stunk but gave us an opportunity to have 'first breakfast' (a little LOTR humor there!) ;)

We arrived at the Termini and walked to our hostel, David's Flat. After checking in (which took forever due to the amount of people we traveled with ... 16!) It was decided we would try to walk to Vatican City the first day, see the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, then on Thursday, we would tour the Roman Colosseum and Roman Forum. Well, the best laid plans went astray this time. We didn't account for the heat. HEAT (I say again). It was hot - 86 and humid. Remember, we came from England and it's been in the 60s recently.

First stop - GELATO! I had the yummy caramel whilst Austin and Melissa had the 'After Eight' (mint chocolate chip). Smooth, creamy and delicious!

Onward to the Vatican! (ha) Well, we stopped at a large white building which turned out to be a military museum. In front was the Italian version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a beautiful building! We all decided to take some pictures and whilst I was clicking away (351 total pics at the end of the trip, fyi), Austin decided he needed to sit in the shade. Of course, the shade where everyone else in our group was sitting must not have been good enough. Well, I couldn't find him. Ross and Ben went to look for him up in the museum while I looked around the steps and lo and behold, there he was. Copping a squat just as cool as can be. I won't even get into the horrendous thoughts I had of my son wandering the streets of Rome by himself ... there were a few tears (me) when he was found and a quick prayer of thanks.

After that fun, we continued our trek. It became quite apparent after this that the sun and heat was getting to everyone, so we scratched plan A and went to plan B - to the colosseum and forum!

We arrived at the colosseum about ready to wilt. The queue was a tad bit long and an emergency meeting was held. It was decided that only those who wanted to go into the colosseum would go, and those who didn't want to, went to the forum. The only people who opted to go were Annamarie, Kristin and Austin - I volunteered to go as the token adult.

The inside of the colosseum is a little anti-climactic. I believe Annamarie said we could have gotten away with paying 5 euro instead of 11 euros. She was right - but she didn't want to go all the way to Rome and not see it, so hence the entrance. I took many pictures of Austin there ... hopefully someday he will appreciate the visit! ;)

Heat stroke ... that's what a couple of people may have suffered from! We made our way back to the hostel via a place to eat. Did you know you can buy pizza by the hectogram there? I have never seen this ... cool! We had some margherita pizza and some blessed cold drinks. There were some who ordered the lamb kebab and it was thought to have been awesome! hmmm ... too bad I don't eat lamb. ;)

The next day, we really went to the Vatican - we left early enough to try to avoid the blistering heat. After a nice red orange juice and a pastry, we headed off. Did you know there are public drinking fountains (and I mean fountains, not bubblers) and the water is cold? Thoughts of Montezuma's Revenge entered the mind, but we haven't suffered from any ill effects yet. Now, there is a lot of graffiti in Rome and it's not the cleanest place I've ever visited; however, Vatican City was strikingly clean. We went to St. Peter's Basilica and made our way to the Sistine Chapel. I was unaware that the Sistine Chapel was in the Vatican Museums. WOW! You had to go through a lot of museum to get there! Pictures were prohibited - BUT, being the rebel I am, I snapped a shot or two. I will repent (one day). ;)

Then came the part that everyone had waited for ... shopping! (okay, maybe not everyone) Knockoff purses, glasses, belts - you name it! We did warn everyone - you buy it, you carry it! Seeing as we were only armed with a backpack, purchases had to be limited. Austin bought a hat, a shirt and some sunglasses. Emmy bought two purses. I bought Jacob a shirt and two purses.

Making our way back to the airport was actually a highlight - we didn't walk, we took a bus (for 3 blocks) and the Metro (underground). The metro was air-conditioned and a welcome relief! ;) Our plane was an hour late (card games abounded) and the customs line at Stanstead stunk, but we arrived home around 3:00a, totally exhausted, totally grimy, totally happy to have had the chance to see such a remarkable city with friends we love! ;)

Dunwich, England

June 15, 2007

We spent the day at Dunwich, a place I've wanted to see and is supposedly haunted by villagers past .... oooooh! (don't get too frightened!) The Smith clan, headed by Ross and Jane and accompanied by Bethany, Kristin, Megan, Ben, Ammon, Samuel and Jacob came along as did Jennifer Takacs, her children Thrin, Caden and Gideon, and Parker Garrett.

The beach was very "pebbly" (nice word, eh?) and it was rather tiresome dumping them out of my crocs! :| argh! The waves were actually quite strong, as was the undertow ... it is no wonder the city fell into the sea! yowsa! We had lunch there and then walked our way to the ruins of the priory. After checking that out, we went to the museum and then needed to head back home because Emmy had a birthday party to attend.

Here's a litte (but very interesting) history of Dunwich -

Dunwich ... it was once a prosperous seaport and center of the wool trade during the early Middle Ages. There was a natural harbor formed by the mouths of two rivers - I believe I read that Dunwich (at the height of it's prosperity) was the 6th largest city in England. The town was first referred to in 632 and is said to have been 'the former capital of East Anglia'.

In 1286, a large storm swept much of the town into the sea and the Dunwich River was partly silted up.

In 1328, another fierce storm came, which swept an entire village a few miles up the coast (Newton) into the sea.

A third storm (1347) swept some 400 houses into the sea. Queen Elizabeth I lent her support (I mean money) to help Dunwich recover, but it was too late. A quarter of the city had been already lost by this time through a form of coastal erosion. Buildings that sit on the present day cliffs were once a mile inland.

The remains of a Franciscan priory (Greyfriars) and a building constructed as a hospice for lepers can still be seen. A popular local legend says that at certain tides, church bells (from the churches lost to the sea) can still be heard from beneath the waves (boooooo!)

Austin's New Bed

June 14, 2007

Not only was today the last day of school for this year, Jacob and I finally did something about Austin's bed ... turns out the loft bed he had was "too high" and I think he was a little frightened. Needless to say, there was a little boy in my bed quite a bit lately and I have grown accustom to sleeping on the couch, thank you very much! Thanks to IKEA, Austin now has a bed which has 3 drawers underneath it! Because we are dog-sitting Oliver, Gabby had a sleepover with Austin on his first night in his new bed ... snores were heard from both parties! It's hard to spot the real dog and the stuffed animals! ;)

Toothless Austin

June 2, 2007

Well, Austin lost his 5th tooth today ... We were at a movie (Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End) in Bury St. Edmunds. There we were, sitting very comfortably, when all of a sudden, Austin starts crying and holding his tooth. He was wiggling it when it got stuck (you know, when a tooth lies horizontally and then it's stuck vertically) ... OUCH! Well, I promptly did what any woman would do - told him to go to his father! ;) muah ha ha ha! Jacob took him out and told Austin that he was going to have to pull it. Of course, he didn't want that! He only complied when a cinema worker told him she would get him some chocolate. That's my son! The tooth fairy was very generous and gave him $5.

May 24-26, 2007

Geneva, Switzerland

Melissa and I went to the wedding of (former Elder) Erickson Denina. It was AWESOME to see him again! And his bride ... Celine - how sweet! We fell in love with her immediately! Let me give you a rundown on our trip ...

Well, this time we tried something a little different - we flew out of Luton airport (as opposed to Stanstead) and arrived in Geneva on Thursday morning.

Eric and Celine met us at the airport (how kind) and drove us around the area. We stopped by a really great manor-chalet-type place (don't you just love my intellect here?) on the shores of Lac Leman (or Lake Geneva, as we would call it it English).

Next, we went back to Geneva to have some lunch. We went to a restaurant which was 1/2 Italian and 1/2 Chinese food. Melissa had a pizza (obvious choice) and I had a pesto pasta dish. Melissa and I ended up switching lunches ... she really loves pesto!

Celine needed to pick up a few things, so Eric showed us around a bit ... we walked to the Jet d'Eau (water jet). It is a large fountain and is one of the most well-known landmarks in Geneva. You can even see it from the air, flying over Geneva. It was moved to its present location to honor the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. ;)

Walking around to view the Jet d'Eau, we walked by the famous Flower Clock (1995), another landmark in Geneva.

Well, Eric's favorite companion, Elder (Gordon) Riebe, came to the wedding and we picked him up at the train station. He was unaware of our attendance, and it was exceptionally fun to surprise him! (I won't even tell you who he thought I was at first ... geesh!) ;)

We went to McDonald's (we're lovin' it) and Gordon told us that the McD's in Switzerland are the most expensive in the world! Well, we had to try it out! We had supper with Gordon, Eric, Celine and her brothers and sister.

Eric and Gordon came to our hotel room to play Settlers of Zarahemla (woo hoo!) ... Gordon wishes he could beat me! muah ha ha ha ... I told Melissa that she was a witness to a "bachelor party" ... cool.

After a hot night in the hotel (it was over 80 and no fans, no air conditioning, no window open ... I'm such a baby!) and a measly breakfast (10 Swiss francs - ouch!), we went over to Eric and Celine's apartment. Eric and Gordon cooked us lunch (chicken, rice and pizza). We played another rousing game of Settlers - Eric won (as he should, it was his wedding day!) He was very calm, cool and collected! We didn't even get ready until about 1/2 hour before we were to leave ... ;)

The wedding was nice ... and hot! It took place in the city hall - again, no air conditioning. Talk about a sauna! I believe "my back is sweating" came out of my lips.

Next, it was off to the reception! It was located at a converted barn a few miles outside of the city. There, in Switzerland, I tried caviar for the first time. The verdict? Well, it wasn't the greatest, it wasn't the worst. The caviar had a creaminess in it that was a little slimy ... I guess I didn't expect that.

The food was interesting, to say the least. They cook food differently ... the courgette (zucchini) was really overcooked (to me) and everything seemed to have peppers in it. Melissa had a lot of bread that night, needless to say! ;)

The cake ... I need to talk about it because it was different. Due to the weather being so hot, the cake was very welcome! The bottom was similar to a raspberry ice cream and the top was a cooked meringue. I ate the bottom part, Gordon ate the top part.

The dancing ... I need to talk about this, also. The dancing didn't start until 11:15 or so ... and Melissa didn't dance much - she just stood there! Funny, she dances all 'cool-like' at home all of the time! ;) Bless her heart, she was at a wedding where French was the dominate language - hardly any of the youth there spoke English (well). She did well!

Well, we arrived at our hotel at 1:30am and were up-and-at-em early so we could hitch a ride to the Bern Temple (1 1/2 hour drive). The temple is actually in Zollikofen and the view of the Swiss Alps is beautiful!

Next to the temple is a little LDS store where they had some American food items - pop (Mt. Dew, Dr. Pepper, A&W), mac 'n cheese, marshmallows and Skippy peanut butter. Okay, I love peanut butter, but would you buy it at almost $10? OUCH!

The sealing was wonderful (I blubbered, as usual) and we enjoyed seeing our old friends and meeting new ones (except for that German woman at the gas 'n sip - she was awful!)