Today was a long day of travel. Two bus trips and two plane trips.
All has gone well and we are now on the final leg of our journey.
Below are pictures of Orvieto this morning before we left.
This has been a wonderful tour with many memories we will carry with us for a lifetime! 
We had a wonderful day today in Venice! We began with a walking tour and a visit to St. Marko. This basilica was built in an eastern style, like churches found in Constantanople.
Then we walked through the tiny steets and even saw where George Clooney was married and had his reception.
After the tour we had free time to explore, shop, and eat!
Finally before departing we sang for the crowd in St. Marko square and ended with the Star Spangled Banner.
On to Orvieto and our final hotel.
Happy 4th of July.
Don’t forget to visit the Facebook page to see more pictures and video of us singing.
We are having a great breakfast and then off to Venice for our last day in Italy!
Happy 4th!!
The wheels in the bus go round and round, round and round….
We arrived at San Gimignano, which had over 70 towers in the 13th century and now there are 17. This city is a walled city on the top of a high hill that was run by wealthy merchants who stored all their goods in the towers as well as using them to dry their dyed cloth. It was also a stop for pilgrims on their way from France to Rome to visit the 7 holy churches.
It is where we get the term bank, from the bench that the money changers sat on called “banco.” When the person did no have money, they would break the bench and they would be bancrupt ☺️
This all came from the 8th century.
After lunch and exploring we rode the bus to Venice, checked in, and had a great dinner. We also had joke time at dinner!
Now we are off to bed…
We are on our way to San Gimignano and then Venice…
I have now updated the photos for you. Who knew our bus would have better wifi than a hotel.
Good bye Rome, hello Venice!
Vatican Tour 
Friendship Concert
Mass in the Vatican
Gala Dress Rehearsal
Tour of Rome 
Free time 😊 
Gala Concert
Today is our final concert in Rome and we had an amazing day.
We began with a dress rehearsal with the orchestra in the Basilica Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and the sound in the basilica is angelic. We are very excited.
After our rehearsal we had our own sound check and then went out to the steps and performed for the people in the square outside. We then had lunch with our family groups and explored a few squares. Many of us enjoyed gelato and cannoli after lunch.
Then it was a walking tour of the squares in Rome. During that we were able to sing in the Pantheon. Something they do not let every choir do. Did you know the word Pantheon means all gods. It was originally built for all the roman gods. Then we saw the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps, and the Piazza Navona.
Now we are back at the hotel eating dinner and getting ready for tonight. We are so excited!
Today was a great day in Rome! We were able to sleep in until 7:00 and then had a rehearsal to prepare for mass in the Vatican. We were able to finish the rehearsal early and that gave us extra time to explore downtown Rome.
Once arriving in downtown, we explored several of the resurants, stores, and street vendors and spent some of the Euroes in our poches. Mr. Pedde did his normal shopping spree and came back with several bags…
We changed for mass in a large community room by the Vatican and it was an experience. Four choirs all sharing the same room… We had a few uniform mix ups, especially with our character shoes.
Mass in the Vatican was magical. It was an experience that no one will forget. The singers even were allowed to enter through a gate that only VIP’s enter.
After the mass, we had a wonderful dinner that included vegetables grown in Vatican City.
Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and it is filled. We have a gala concert rehearsal, tour of Rome, and our final concert. However, it is going to be amazing.
We are sorry there are no picture up on the blog. The Wifi is again having issues at our hotel.
Please visit the FAcebook page for all the sites on tour today!
Wow, what a day! We started with a rehearsal at the hotel with our new friends, which was a great experience for all of us. We then packed our uniforms and loaded the bus for the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.
We saw most of the museum (even at a fast pace) and made our way to one of the most beautiful places in Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel. Did you know Michelangelo painted his own likness in the Last Judgement?
After taking in the amazing art, we made our way to the buses and Sant’ Agnese in Agone. What a wonderful place to sing!
It was an amazing performance which ended with three of our festival pieces. Then it was off to dinner and some free time before bed at the hotel.
Tomorrow…Mass at the Vatican! We need to get our beauty rest.
Don’t forget to check the Facebook page!
Sogni d’oro.
02 Italy Tour 2015 