The Scudder Family: Utrecht & Rome~ July 2nd

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Utrecht & Rome~ July 2nd

Today, we finished up packing and got ready to check out of our hotel. After checking out, we met Michiel and headed to the Farmer's Market at 10:15 am. We enjoyed walking around, looking at all of the different items for sale. We bought some Dutch candy for the kids. After leaving the farmer's market, we went in St. Martin's Cathedral, also known as Dom Church. It was the cathedral of the bishopric of Utrecht during the Middle Ages. Once the Netherlands’ largest church, dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, it is one of the country's two pre-Reformation cathedrals, along with the cathedral in Middleburg, Province of Zeeland. It has been a Protestant church since 1580. On the way to the church, we went in a small shop (Cocon) and bought dresses for the little girls. They are beautiful and all unique!

For lunch, John and all of us girls got sandwiches from a deli (Bakker Bart's) while Neil & Granddad got french fries. Some of us also got an ice cream cone. The ice cream/gelato in Europe is delicious! After we were finished, we walked back to the Mary K Hotel. We sat out on the patio and waited for our taxi to come. We said goodbye to Michiel and Sarah (who was off to Paris later in the day) and took a few pictures outside the hotel. Then it was time to head to the airport. Our flight to Rome was not the best, to say the least. John and I had seats toward the middle of the plane in an exit row so we had a little more legroom, but Grandmomom, Granddad, Neil & Ryann were in the very last row. Our seats couldn't recline at all and we were right by the bathroom. The flight was about two hours long. We arrived in Rome a little after 7 pm. After checking into our hotel & getting situated in our room, we headed outside to look for a restaurant to eat dinner at. We chose Hosteria Pizzeria "Da Vito e Dina." It was a great choice! Grandmom, Ryann & I shared Caprese salad, pizza (mozzarella, tomatoes & ham) and Pinot Grigio. We also had some bruschetta. Sarah had recommended we try the caprese salad and I'm glad she did. It was wonderful! We ended up ordering it for dinner every night in Rome. It's a simple salad, made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with salt, and olive oil. It was made to resemble the colors of the Italian flag: red, white, and green. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel, Papa Vista Relais. Our room's windows looked out to the Vatican Museums entrance. We were on the 4th or 5th floor and the elevator looked ancient, so we used the stairs every time!