Janice Weightman, Page 93

I will open today’s post with another door picture.

Mussolini’s Balcony where he made many of his famous speeches.

Learning moment 🙂  Castel Sant’Angelo.  It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and hs family.  The building was later used by the popes as a fortress and castle.  Now it is a museum.

Time for our daily gelato break.

I asked him about his future tattoos.

On the way home, we had to stop by Rome’s version of the tourist Dollar Store.  Nothing more than one Euro. 🙂

Winner for today’s drawing:  Deb McClellan
Look for happy mail!

All blog prizes & cards went out yesterday afternoon.  Look for lots of happy mail coming your way!!!

Friday Smiles…

It is like a Dr. Seuss book for cats!

Let the weekend begin!!!

After a quick nap to refresh, we were ready to wander the city.

Sometimes we just took a quick cab ride to our destination and then we would walk around.  It was very reasonable; about $10.

Even the steps have character.

We decided to take an early dinner break by the Spanish Steps.

I’m not a beer drinker, but Paul said it was interesting in a good way.

Paul and I shared a dinner of bruschetta and fettuccine.

Cobblestones everywhere

I had to get a fashion picture.  Kind of cute and comfy looking.
Spanish Steps – 138 marble steps…They were very slippery coming back down.  I needed shoes with better traction.

Did you get all of that? 🙂

I love to get pictures of Paul playing tourist.

At the corner on the right as one begins to climb the steps, is the house where English poet John Keats lived and died in 1821; it is now a museum dedicated to his memory, full of memorabilia of the English Romantic generation.  I wish I had know this at the time, I would have loved to stop in.

Our view from the top looking down.

Our view from the top looking up.

Our friend, Angel, who is a frequent visitor to Italy, suggested that we go the Spanish
Steps at sunset and visit the artists at the top. 
I chose a piece that reminded me of the beauty of European doors.  I got a picture with the artist.  It was less than $20.  Now I need to frame it. 🙂  It was fun to be able to watch him paint.  How cool is it for him to have his art all over the world!

At the base of the Spanish Steps is the “Fontana della Barcaccia” (Fountain of the Boat).

Reminder!
Don’t forget to redeem the $5 coupons earned in July from Bonus Days… don’t let those coupon codes go to waste!!!

Winner for today’s drawing:  Deanie Caudle
Look for happy mail!!!

Thursday Smiles…

We finally made it to our AirBnb in Rome. (Sun., July 14, 2019)  It was our first experience using and an Airbnb and we loved it!  So much more charm and less expensive than a hotel.  A friend who travels frequently suggested that we use a Superhost.   They come highly recommended.  Plus, we got emails for suggested sights, experiences and restaurants within the area.  We went through these doors that opened into a large courtyard.

No hotel card key here. 🙂

The tile work was so beautiful!

Lots of charm, but no elevator or bell service.  We had four suitcases (one with all of my SU gifts), two carry-ons and we are old.

Our view from the bedroom  looked out onto the inside courtyard.

We were literally about a block from the Vatican and the hustle and bustle of Rome, yet we could hear a pin drop in our rooms.  I don’t know how, but those walls kept all of those noises out.

Our bathroom even came complete with a bidet. Another thing we learned is that it is not common in Europe to use washcloths.  How do people wash their face???

Coming Up:
Fri., 8/16/19 – Stamp a Stack – My Home – Roscoe, IL
$25 – 12 cards (6 designs/2 of each)
Just let me know if you would like to attend, and I will set supplies aside for you.  

Blog Prize Changes:
I’m still going to draw a name every day and send a hand-stamped card.  I will do random drawings throughout the month for larger prizes (stamp sets, full packs of DSP…)  That will happen about 3 to 4 times a month and you never know when it will happen!

Starting today, anyone who places an order will also receive a hand-stamped card and a gift.

If you still have a blog prize coming from the end of July or early August, those will be mailed out later today.

Winner for today:  Colleen Beier
Look for a lovely card coming your way!!!

Wednesday Smiles:

It was a wonderful week on the cruise ship and in Greece, but now it is time to disembark and enjoy Rome for a couple of days. (Sun., 7/14/19 – Day 8 of the trip)

We got off the cruise ship, collected our luggage in the big white building, and caught a “shared van” with two other couples from the cruise port of Civitavecchia, into  Rome.  It was a little different being on our own now, without the SU group with us.  I always feel a little safer traveling with the SU group.

It was still fairly early in the morning when we arrived in Rome and we had several hours before we were meeting up to get into our AirBnb.  We could have used that time to explore the city a bit more, but we still had our luggage.  Later we found out that there was a luggage storage place about a block away.  We found an adorable little pizza shop about a block away from our accommodations, and the owner let us just hang out, eat pizza and drink sparkling lemonade.  It was fun to watch all of the different kind of pizzas he made that morning.  Now that we were back in Italy, we were once again surrounded by Italian.  Not as many people in Italy speak English, so it was fun to just listen and be immersed in a new language.
Non Solo Pizza – Not Just Pizza

Great prices and variety!

Pizza by the slice or cut pizza

We loved it!!!

They seemed to have variety of customers who were regulars!

Time to pay and wait for his pizza to be wrapped up.

Coming up…

FB LIVE – Tues., 8/13/19 – Tonight
8 pm – Stampahowlic Stampers FB Group
Stop on by while i show some great new samples!!!

Winner for today’s drawing:  Shari Pass
Look for happy mail!!!

Tuesday Smiles…

We have this giant milkweed plant that comes up every year in our front bed.  It is the home and food for the monarch.  This year it is loaded with caterpillars and boy are they chowing down.  Truly, Very Hungry Caterpillar(s)!