Italy!!!

One country, two travelers,

two trusty guidebooks,

five kids left at home, ten days.

Four flights, one funicular ride, 23 metro rides, nine vaporettos , seven train rides, one gondola, 23 different kinds of gelato, and 1576 photographs.

Italy and our visit there was A M A Z I N G !!!! 
Here is a little synopsis of our trip:

  Let me first say that Tyler is a fantastic trip planner.  I was so grateful for the amount of research he had done over the previous three months.  He had made a great, flexible itinerary, found nice places to stay, printed out train and bus schedules, metro maps, museum reservations, found great restaurants, downloaded Rick Steve's pod-casts with tours, and of course found lots of ways to save time and money. Thanks to him our trip went so smoothly!  We started our trip in Rome and of what could be a better first attraction than the Colosseum.  It almost seemed unreal to walk out of the metro station and see this tremendous, almost 2000 year old structure.  It could accommodate 50,000 roaring fans and could be topped with an enormous canvas awning, hoisted across by armies of sailors to provide shade for the spectators.  The newly reconstructed floor gives a sense of the original floor where the animals were held and then lifted up in elevators, much to the gladiator's surprise!  It was fascinating.

Next, we visited the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, Capitol Hill, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain.  Of course I've got pictures of all of these, but in order to consolidate I'll only share a few.  Trevi fountain was a major nighttime gathering spot and fun spot to just hang out (with gelato, of course!)  It is at Trevi Fountain a traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin over their shoulder into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome.  You better believe we threw our coins in!

Here are the beautiful Spanish Steps, another great spot where we sat and just took it all in.

This was all in day one!  After being up for more than 24 hours and being pretty wet, (getting rained on most of the day) I was pretty tired!
Our second day in Rome we started at Vatican City.  Our reservation for the Vatican Museum was at 9:00 a.m., one of several times I was grateful for Tyler's preparation, it saved us a few hours waiting in line.  The four miles of displays in this immense museum range from ancient statues to Christian frescoes to modern paintings. In addition, I loved the huge mosaic floors.

The museum's visit is culminated in the Raphael Rooms and Michelangelo's glorious Sistine Chapel.  The Sistine Chapel is absolutely beautiful and has been brilliantly restored.  It is famous for Michelangelo's pictorial showing of the creation and last judgment. Photographs are not allowed.
After lunch at a little pizza shop, probably my favorite pizza from our entire trip, we went to St. Peter's Basilica.  Our tour book described it as this, "There is no doubt that this is the richest and grandest church on earth.  To call is vast is like calling Einstein smart."  A few things to note: The atrium itself is bigger than most churches, there was quite a line of people waiting to kiss the feet on the statue of St. Peter's, the main alter sits directly over St. Peter's tomb and under Bernini's seven-story bronze canopy, the church is filled with mosaics, not paintings, Michelangelo's Pieta is inside behind bullet-proof glass(a Pieta is a work that represents Mary with the body of Christ taken down from the cross. This was sculpted this when Michelangelo was only 24 years old.), the Holy Door is only opened every 25 years and won't be opened again until 2024, and the Crypt is downstairs containing tombs of popes and memorial chapels.  After touring the Basilica, we went up an elevator and stairway (323 steps) to see the dome and rooftop views.  The dome, Michelangelo's last work is the biggest anywhere. The view of Rome (even though overcast) was BREATHTAKING!!  No building in Rome is allowed to exceed the height of St. Peter's.  Here is a photo of St. Peter's Square below.

 

After this we walked through the Crypt below and St. Peter's square (you may remember from the movie "Angels and Demons").

After this, the sun came out and we never had rain again - yah! We visited the Borghese Gallery, got dinner at a yummy restaurant that Rick Steve's recommends (we knew it was good when it filled with locals within twenty minutes), and went back to the visit the Colosseum as the sun set.

The third day of our trip we took a high speed train to Florence. Oh those trains are nice! Florence is a charming, beautiful, and FULL of culture city that we both quickly loved! We found our bed and breakfast (my favorite one, super nice), got some lunch (Doner kabobs), and headed to the Accademia. This museum houses Michelangelo's David. At the end of a hallway, under a well-lit dome, this statue was breathtaking. Next we went to the Uffizi Museum (greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere), Ponte Vecchio bridge (famous bridge lined with jewelry shops), and Pitti Palace (several museums in lavish palace). After dinner we took a bus up to Piazzale Michelangelo, where this hilltop square has stunning views of Florence.

We spent a romantic evening watching the sun set.
Day four was full of a few little side trips out of Florence.  Our first stop was a darling town called San Gimignano which was one of our favorites.  Of the original 60 or so towers, only 14 survive.  In the heart of Tuscany, the views were beautiful!

After lunch and gelato at a world famous gelato shop we headed for Sienna. Although not the first place we saw people using their talents in asking for money, I loved this man's chalk drawing on the sidewalk.

 Siena has great walking streets and a beautiful Duomo (means "house of God").  This church was started in 1215 and has a very unique, Renaissance-style nave has striped columns.  There are also beautiful Michelangelo statues, Bernini sculptures and one of my most favorite chapels included frescoes by Pinturicchio.  That night we had a fantastic dinner at a local restaurant with hand written menus and had our first experience sitting kiddie-corner to each other and sharing the table with others, great use of space. 
Tuesday we spent back in Florence.   After a huge breakfast at our bed and breakfast, our first stop was the Duomo Museum.  This was a great museum, it included an additional Pieta (unfinished) by Michelangelo and detailed choir lofts by Donatello.  Next, we climbed 432 stairs to the top of the Duomo for spectacular views of Florence.  After some lunch we were off to find Florence's shopping area.  It was quite large and had lots of Italian leather, ties, scarves, and jewelry.

  It was fun for me, long for Tyler!!  Afterward, we rented bikes and covered some serious ground.  We rode a few of the walking tours in our book and enjoyed seeing some of the "less trodden" (by tourists anyway) areas.

The next day I describe as one of the most picturesque of my life!!  I was so looking forward to this part of our trip and it did not disappoint.  We went to an area on the Italian Riveria called Cinque Terra.  There's not a museum in sight, just sun, sea, sand, and pure, unaltered Italy.  These five villages are connected by seven miles of trails.  You can see the area by foot, bus, train, or boat. 

We loved this area!

That night we caught the bus to Pisa.  It was late, but we still got to see it's three important sights - the Duomo, Baptistery, and the Leaning Tower.  The tower is nearly 200 feet and leans 15 feet off it's vertical access.  The first stones were laid in 1173 and it was already leaning by the third story.

Taking another high speed train, we spent the next two days exploring everything we could in Venice.  Known as Europe's best preserved big city and the world's most romantic, we quickly fell in love with it!!  Almost unbelievable to see, a city built completely on water.  Actually it is 130 small islands connected by 400 bridges and 2,000 alleys.  No wonder I took so many photographs here, every corner, every bridge and alley was unique and beautiful!  After dropping our stuff off at our bed and breakfast we jumped on the vaporetto for our first of many trips down Venice's Grand Canal.  We headed for St. Mark's Square.  This grand square is surrounded by historic buildings and sights: St. Mark's Basilica, the Doge's palace (wow!), the Campanile bell tower, and the Correr Museum.  It is filled with music from these amazing orchestra's playing at outdoor cafe's, lovers, pigeons, and tourists.  After the Basilica we went to Doge's palace (one of our favorite museums) where the tour ends with the Bridge of Sighs and prison.  This is where supposedly a condemned man would be led over this bridge on his way to the prison, take one last look at the glory of Venice, and sigh. Here is the palace:

We loved just sitting by the water, sitting on a bridge, taking it all in.  What a sight!!

The next day in Venice we took a vaporetto to start the day at San Giorgio Maggiore.  This dreamy church- topped island you can see from the water-front by St. Mark's square (you may recognize from the Cheesecake Factory's menu).  The bell tower had an elevator (yah!) and beautiful views of the city.  Afterward, we grabbed some lunch at a local deli and sat in St. Mark's square and enjoyed the fun orchestras.  We walked a lot of the afternoon taking little walking tours, exploring fun gelatories and little alleys.

And then we enjoyed one of the highlights of our trip, a gondola ride across the Grand Canal and through the quiet, back alleys of Venice.  It was so relaxing and romantic.  We loved it!!

That night we got on a night train leaving Venice at about 11 p.m. and arriving in Orvieto at 7:30 a.m.  Another fortress town with beautiful views and an impressive church.  We climbed around the city walls before catching our train back to Rome early afternoon.

We savored our final evening in Rome at a nice restaurant and hit our favorite spots, the Colosseum, and Trevi Fountain.  We flew home the next morning and found our kids happy and healthy.  We are so grateful to Tyler's parents for their willingness to come and take such great care of our kidos.  It was a trip of a lifetime!  Spending 24-7 with Tyler, uninterrupted conversations, holding hands for hours each day felt so good to fall in love all over again!!
It was absolutely one of our favorite memories together that we will forever cherish.