Justin's family company won a rewards trip to Rome, Italy from Shell Oil that we were fortunate enough to take. It was unexpected and wonderful to return to the country where we had both served as missionaries. Shell did a fantastic job of organizing everything. We felt truly pampered, wined and dined. I will try to give a short summary of what we did.
We arrived in Rome on Tuesday morning and took a short walking tour of the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps (and everything else along the way!). One of the great bonuses of this trip was having incredible guides for everything, which greatly increased our ability to appreciate and enjoy the sites we saw. The trip included a tour of the Colliseum and the Roman Forum (the ruins of Caesar's imperial palace, various temples, arches and the main "downtown" area of ancient Rome, all excavated below the street level of modern Rome). As fluent speakers of Italian, Justin and I were able to get directions to some incredible restaurants, a little off the beaten tourist path, and enjoy some truly fine cuisine. We were also really excited to see our friend, Gabriele de Matteis (a native of Rome), one of Justin's mission companions. The first group of photos are as follows: the Hotel Exedra by night (a photo we actually took three years ago as an example of the type of hotel we could never afford to stay in!), the Trevi Fountain, Gabriele eating pizza with us, Justin & I in front of the Colliseum, the ruins of a temple-turned-christian-church in the Roman Forum, the family that owns and runs the best restaurant in Rome (Santa Cristina), and Justin & I on a bridge over the Tiber River with St. Peter's Basilica in the background.
Our trip also included a private after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel (amazing!), a day trip to Florence, an optional wine-tasting/pasta-making experience at a 300-year-old family-owned convent-turned-winery in the hills outside of Rome, an upscale awards dinner at a Villa in the hills overlooking the city (complete with Ferrari cars of all models sitting outside our hotel just for us to check out and members of the Ferrari/Shell Formula One racing team as guest speakers, not to mention the private firework show over the terrace just for us!), and a family-style meal at an old medieval tavern-turned-restaurant as our last night out (complete with torches, a quartet of "minstrels" serenading us, and caricature artists just for our group). We had so much fun with the other wonderful people who were part of our group. They really made the trip extra enjoyable. The next group of photos is as follows: the cathedral in Florence (check out the difference between the part that's been cleaned and that which hasn't!), a view of the Arno river in Florence (classic Tuscany), a fruit vendor in Florence, some of our group eating lunch together in Florence, our pasta-making class, including our teacher, Domenica (she'd been the cook for this family for 35 years), some of the Ferraris, the Villa Miani, the Taverna dei Mercanti restaurant.
While in Rome, a wonderful friend I met while on my mission in Milan, Livia Fabbrini, and her mother, Ileana, took the train down to Rome to spend a day with us. After the Shell group trip was over, we picked up a rental car and went to church in Rome with our friend Gabriele. Another guy from our mission, Francesco Di Lillo, married Gabriele's sister and is now living in Frankfurt, but was in town on business, so we were able to see him too. Then we headed out for the long drive to Sicily (nine hours!). It was a beautiful drive. We went to Catania on the island of Sicily to visit our friend Bartolomeo (Bart) La Ferla, another missionary we served with. His family was so kind and fed us the two nights we were there. His mom and dad are amazing cooks! They had just moved into their house the day before we got there, too, and they were hosting dinners. That's typical Sicilian hospitality for you. We drove most of the way up Mount Etna (Sicily's active volcano) and were amazed at the craters, black rock and buried house we saw. The mountain was steaming, smoking, and issuing magma the whole time we were there! Then we drove up the coast to a small town called Taormina, famous for it's beautiful cliffs and beaches. The water was the most unbelievable clear blue. We went to Isola Bella (beautiful island) and relaxed in the sun for a while. The last group of photos is as follows: Justin with Livia and her mother, various views of our drive up Mt. Etna, Taormina and Isola Bella, Bart and his family, and of course the incredible gelato we had there (For some reason the last photo is rotated and I can't figure out how to unrotate it, so you'll just have to turn your head!). This wasn't the best gelato we had, but probably among the best presentation (hence, the photo!). The best gelato was a toss-up between Giolitti's and Old Bridge in Rome, with D'Agnino coming in as best pistachio ever! Yum!
Early June was a great time to visit Italy. It was very warm, even hot, and not too crowded yet. We had a fantastic time, were exhausted when we got back, and can't wait to do it again!
Me and Tony before the start.
Here I am crossing the finish line with my time on the clock.
Here's me with Daphne after the race ended. I needed help up once I crouched down!
The front of the church at the Alamo compound.
These first three photos of the Riverwalk were taken from the tour boat. There are a lot of restaurants and shops lining this narrower section of the river. They drain and dredge this section once every year. They say the most common thing they find is silverware from the restaurants.The Riverwalk reminded me, on a much smaller scale, of Venice, but more than anything, it reminded me of the Blue Bayou part of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.
This is the view of the San Antonio River walking back to our hotel from the historic King William district. Justin and I went running here our first morning in San Antonio.
This is an outdoor theater on the Riverwalk. The seating is on the opposite side of the river, where I'm standing.
The Anton Wulff House, built in 1870.
The Mitchell-Oge House, now a bed and breakfast, built in 1857.
The Ernst Altgelt House, built in 1878.
The George Kalteyer House, built in 1892. This was one of my favorites. I love the Florentine style of the stone.
The Steves Homestead, built in 1876.
This was one of my favorites, though not included in the information brochure.
Our last night in San Antonio, the Shell Regional Managers took us out to the Rio Rio Restaurant on the Riverwalk. Good food and good company. 
