Venice

As the days seem to pass by I am finding less and less time to blog. I don't like this though as I really do enjoy writing and revisiting whatever has filled my day(s).

Venice was such a magical city. I had heard that it was overcrowded, smelly and ridiculously priced, yet I couldn't imagine not making a trip to see it. Kent and I left Florence on a train to Venice. We were excited to leave Florence and we're hopeful that Venice would be all that we had expected. Most people arrive into Venice via the train. Some do have a car and park it essentially at a park in ride and then hop a boat or train. It was so cool to literally walk out of the train station and find yourself on the Grand Canal.



Here is a photo of Kent standing outside the train station. You are literally just smack dab in the middle of this small and confusing island. I knew that we needed to take a vaporetto (water ferry) and I thought we knew the right one, but unfortunately we did not walk far enough down the station and we hopped on the wrong ferry. This left us on the other side of the canal and we were beginning to feel the weight of our luggage. I was wheeling around two big bags and Kent was carrying the rest. That wine we purchased was no longer a good idea, it was heavy as hell. Kent was amazing at finding our B&B, because I could not make heads or tails over a map of the city. Thank goodness this is a little island as it helps your mind relax and know that at some point you will figure out where you are going. If you hit the water, you turn around and go another way.

Here are a few photos of Venice, the Grand Canal, etc.






Our first day in Venice we walked around the city and did our best to get our bearings. We discussed what we wanted to do. We didn't have specific plans or any reservations. We ate the best pizza, like gorged ourselves at a small place around the corner from our B&B. Later that night, as the city lights came on, we hopped on the ferry and sat outside (it was freezing) and glided through the city. It was so beautiful. The architecture inside and outside of the buildings. I wondered what type of parties were once held in these palaces, what famous faces and events took place. We did have one celebrity sighting, Charlize Theron. Kent can always spot the stars, it drives me crazy. When we returned home I realized that Selma Hyak was married that week-end we were in Venice and BONO, yes, BONO was in the city for the wedding. I might have thrown myself into the canal if I had cruised by and saw him in a window! To be so close to my man...yet so far...aahhhhhhhhh.

Kent and I decided the next day that we were going to a small chain of islands outside of Venice. The weather was amazing and I love the ferry system, so we hopped on a boat and went to Murano and Burano. Murano is famous for glass, and Burano is famous for lace. These two islands were so quaint. We did splurge and buy some seriously beautiful glasses and vases, I love them so much. I am not much into doilies, but I did buy a beautiful handkerchief.






What was shocking about these two islands was the colors of the buildings. I felt like I was on an island in the Bahamas, not an island(s) in Italy. The weather was amazing and it really lent to the beauty of these two islands.

Unfortunately the weather did not stay this way. The rain came and I mean it came. It rained so much that by our last day in Venice the city was beginning to flood. We were only in Venice for 3 days and 2 nights, but it was so much fun to see the water coming over the canals and onto the streets. The locals had their rain boots on and we walked over planks to get to our destinations.



On our final day we went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, which is actually in the home she lived in, located right on the canal. It is an incredible collection of modern art, a true highlight of our visit. We discovered a truly fun wine bar that also helped us stay out of the rain. Kent and I were going to be catching an 11:30pm train out of Venice and onto our next destination, so our last day in Venice we did not have anywhere to relax for a bit, so this wine bar was a hit. I loved how my baby packable umbrella looked against all of these strong masculine umbrellas.
I knew that nobody was going to take my little flowered one.



Venice was a great city. The architecture was amazing. Seeing how the locals lived and how everything literally is put on a boat and floated down the canal was cool. The people were very friendly and it was no more expensive than Rome. We did not go on a Gondola ride. They are so expensive, and the water was really just too choppy. I don't regret it one bit. I love my beautiful items I purchased and spending my time with the man I love in this very romantic city.

Florence

Kent and I had heard from a few friends how great Florence was going to be. I even altered our vacation to have 1 additional day in Florence. I knew that Michelangelo's David was there, the Uffizi gallery, Italy's most prestigious gallery, and a few other famous places. I did research the city well so I felt prepared. We arrived into Florence in the early afternoon by bus. This was an easier route than taking the train from Siena. The area around the station was dirty feeling, so I was glad once we finally hailed a taxi to take us to our hotel. Our hotel was great. It was about a mile outside of the main downtown, but easily walkable. It was nice to be just a little bit removed from the crowds. Crowds...this is what I remember from Florence. SO many people. It was different than the crowds of Rome as these were touristy crowds that were obviously on some sort of tour in Italy. The young kids and their school outings was by far the worst in Florence. I felt over-run and as if I was no longer in a "special place." This was not the city that I was prepared for. Kent and I really did not like Florence. When we tell people this they either are shocked, or in complete agreement. It is a city that is far more commercial than the other cities we went to. We did have some fun highlights though and I am glad we went there. I personally do not need to return.

After checking into our hotel we grabbed some sandwiches and ate in the park and went to the Accademia Gallery that houses Michaelangelo's David. I was smart and had pre-booked our reservation. When you enter the gallery and pass through the metal detectors you take a right into the first wing and down the corridor is David. It is amazing, and shocking that it was the first thing to view in the museum, especially after our visit through the Vatican Museum. As you approach David you walk through unfinished sculptures that Michaelangelo never finished, they were really cool to see faces, hands, feet emerging from the rock. The sculpture of David is beyond words. First of all, it is big, like HUGE. I had no idea it had this height and width. I kept circling it and just could not get over how big it was. The museum has a wonderful corridor it houses the sculpture in which helps to make it a special way of viewing it. After some time we went through the rest of the museum and realized that David is the true reason to visit. There was nothing else that was honestly magical, very bland, and many copies of other sculptures. Copies..who wants to see a copy!

We left the museum and sort of looked at each other like...now what? We literally finished so much earlier than I had thought we would. I figured this would at least get us through to dinner, but nope, done by 3:30pm. We decided to walk around town and ended up climbing to the top of Giotto's Bell Tower, a true bell tower that is connected to Florence's prized Duomo. It was approximately 350 steps to the top, and once again, I found us huffing and puffing to the top. It was worth it though, the view was beautiful.




The Bell Tower




After we left the Bell Tower we walked around some more and went to the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence that is located on the Arno river which runs through the heart of Florence. The bridge use to have butcher shops all along it but the famous wealthy family in Florence decided it should have shops of gold, which is still does to this day. I purchase a small pair of earrings here, but did enjoy the beautiful jewels.



Florence's weather put a bit of a damper on our trip. Our first day was grey and cloudy and put a bit of kink into our day. The second day we were in Florence we luckily had great weather, as this was the day we rented our Fiat 500. I found a great tour that was listed on Trip Advisor and we had a blast, it was by far the best thing we did in Florence. There was a total of 4 fiats, with the lead car containing the tour guides. We drove through Florence and they had a walkie-talkie speaker system in each car so as we were driving they would explain the buildings, monuments etc. The people in the town would wave, cheer and take our picture, it was hilarious. Kent did a great job at maneuvering the very tricky manual engine. I believe our car was from the late 1960's. So much fun!!!










We went to a beautiful villa a few miles outside of Florence and into the hills of Tuscany. It was amazing. Here we enjoyed a great spread of food and a taste of the wines that were produced here. One of our dumbest, but now OK decisions, was to buy 1/2 a case of wine. After we purchased it and started driving back to the city I was thinking to myself, "how are we going to carry this around?" That wine was heavy, and a pain in the butt! Now we have it at home though and it feels special and we will someday enjoy it and go down memory lane.

We cascaded back through the hills and stopped for one more beautiful view of the city. Kent was feeling super confident with the car by now, so I didn't feel very stressed anymore; he did great. We had a really fun group of people on our tour and the operators couldn't have been more pleasant. If anyone makes it to Florence soon, this is the thing to do.



As we started walking back to our hotel, lugging our wine, we finally found a shop that sold original artwork. It was an artists work space and when we walked in her boyfriend did his best to help us. He only spoke a little English so it was difficult to communicate with him. Kent found a piece of art that he really liked. The price was steep, especially since we needed to pay cash. We told him we would return the next day and went back to our hotel. Again we had a little nap and reading time.


The next day we were scheduled to go to the Uffizi Gallery. We had reservations, which was a must and started to go throughout the museum. I am not the best at museums. I don't understand the long lines and the rushing to get from room to room. I wish there was more narrative, but now you must pay for everything. The audio guide was OK, but nothing great. We did see Bottichelli's Birth of Venus, which was beautiful and on such a grand scale. An entire wall of one beautiful item. So fabulous!


After the museum it started pouring, the type of rain where it feels like a giant bucket is being dropped on your head. Kent wanted to stop by the artist's gallery again and luckily she was in. We did a little negotiating to purchase the painting and I feel bad, but I lied and told her I could only get 700 euros out of the ATM. I had yet to really barter in Italy, but this was a good deal for her. Plus we had to have the canvas taken off the frame (so she was able to keep the frame, which made me feel better about stiffing her 100 euros). Kent and I had to make a mad dash though for the ATM and found ourselves probably going 1/2 a mile to find one that would work!!! We were soaking wet, but we had the artwork Kent had been hoping he would find in Italy. He was a happy guy.

Florence was a mixed bag for us. I think if the weather would have been better we might have liked it a bit more. It was sort of average food and nothing spectacular (at least for us). Florence seemed like a wonderful place for a person who had never left the US before. People were very friendly and everyone spoke English, or at least enough that anyone could get by. We were very excited though to hop our next train to Venice!

Siena

Kent and I were both looking forward to Siena. All of the guidebooks gave it huge praises and when we would tell people we were headed there...we would get nothing but good things. We purchased our train tickets a few days prior so to make sure we had a first class ticket and things would go smoothly. We arrived at Termini station in Rome and again, we were amazed at the amount of traffic and chaos. We started looking for our train and this was where I had wished that I had spent more time learning about the schedules. When I traveled from Prague to Berlin with my friend Molly she was in charge of these items. She knew what she was doing, so I let her do it. Now Kent and I found ourselves standing in front of this huge board looking for the correct train. I was getting frustrated as we didn't really know the rules. Our departure time was getting closer and closer. We eventually understood that you basically look for the exact departure time and that is the train you take. It never says all of the stops it will make so it looked like we were taking a train to Milan, when actually we would just be getting off eventually, and the train would end in Milan. A little kooky to me, but once you get use to it, no problem. As we started going towards our particular train a man came up to us and asked if we needed help. Before I could say anything he snatched the itinerary out of my hands, scanned it, said something too fast and picked up one of our bags. I knew right away this dude did not work for the railways, but he had my bag, and I was going to follow him. I do think that Kent thought he worked for them, which was our true only mistake on this trip. That man weaved us throughout the station, to our particular car, jumped on the car and actually threw our heavy ass luggage on top of the racks and pointed us to our seats. Then his hand came out and he had this look on his face. I knew what he wanted and I was prepared with a few euros to please him. He left like a speeding bullet and Kent looked at me sideways. I laughed though because we were discussing earlier how we were going to lift my heavy crap (Kent has a bad back...and I'm a lady...I hate being a strong he-man who does boy type lifting).

We started on our train trip and it was great. Seats were comfortable, we read and had a little snack.


After about 2 hours we switched trains and arrived in the town of Siena. Rick Steves gave perfect instructions on how to catch the bus into town as the taxi service is not reliable and very limited. Kent, being the best navigator, figured out exactly where we needed to go. We piled in with our luggage and filled the bus. It was about a 15 minute ride into the main city center. From the last stop to the main bus terminal we would then be on foot. I tried to look at the information for our B&B and I realized I didn't really have the directions. I had heard from our fellow train riders that there is pretty much one main road that winds throughout town so just stay on this road and you will meet your destination.

I learned a lot about myself on this trip. I am very moody/feisty when I don't know where I am going, particularly when I am pulling heavy luggage up and down cobble stone roads. It seemed like we had been walking forever when we arrived at our B&B. I was nervous of this choice as they didn't have their own website, but they were connected through a large European B&B site. We arrived and a woman was sitting inside, on the steps, with her jacket on. She was so excited to see us, but I realized she spoke no English. We used smiles, hand gestures etc to learn enough about our room, the key, the door and breakfast. We walked in and our place was awesome. I realized I forgot to take a picture of the room, but here is Kent at the sweet little spot we ate breakfast every morning.



We were going to be in Siena for the next 2 days before we headed to Florence. After dropping off our luggage we were starving and went to find a bite to eat. It was around 3:30pm and it was very obvious we were no longer in Rome. Most places were closed. We did find a small place that had a fabulous soup and salad and pizza. So yummy..I miss those days of eating whatever we wanted! We decided to go back to the B&B and take a little nap before our dinner reservation.
We were excited about going to this restaurant I read about in Trip Advisor as it had amazing views and it was built into a cave. The photos turned out terrible (Kent was embarrassed that I was taking pictures in such a small and intimate setting).


As we entered we were greeted by the Chef who I had been exchanging emails with to make our reservation. We had a seriously delicious meal. I can still see the pasta dish Kent ordered, oh...how I would kill for it now. We ate to our delight and even splurged on a Florentine Steak. We did not eat very much of it though as their style of serving steak medium rare is not the way we like to eat meat. We tried ordering it medium-medium well and the waitress laughed and said no, it would not taste good. Thick raw meat is not my style, but we did our best. It was a great first day in Siena. We crawled back to our room, bursting at the seams, and watched a little CNN/BBC as it was the only English program on TV. We were so excited to get a good nights sleep as the bed was so cozy. Around 5:30am I was hearing commotion outside our window, which looked out onto the street and realized that this was the main thorough fare to get goods throughout Siena. Oh the trucks were so loud. It just echoed and made sleep impossible.



Here is a photo of Kent walking in front of our B&B. This is what it was like walking throughout the town of Siena. Very Gothic, medieval and dark. It was a clear change from Rome. Within Siena there is a large open square that has a horse race every July. There are 18 "areas" or somewhat like communities within Siena and they each have a horse/rider compete in this race. It is amazingly popular and people come from all over to witness it. I don't know how they pack the thousands of people into the square, but from photos we have seen, it is incredible. They even put mattresses up on the sides of the buildings in case horses slip on the cobblestone and go sliding into the sides. The horse race is referred to as the Palio di Siena and takes place in the Piazza del Campo. Here are a few photos of the square that I did my best to take.




Here is a photo I found showing the crowds as they crowd into the center of the square and await the race. It is crazy to me that the race takes place around the people!


Kent and I spent our second day walking aimlessly throughout the town. It was beautiful and the people were great. We stopped into an English book store and Kent picked up the last Harry Potter (reading is not his passion, obviously) and we really enjoyed speaking with the owner, whose name was Lisa as well. We had a light snack in the Campo and again retreated to our daily nap. We woke up for dinner and walked to the restaurant. I made reservations for this place as well due to the popularity and Siena is small, it is not made up of 1,000's of restaurants. We arrived and were greeted by the woman I had been emailing. Her name is drawing a blank, but not her hospitality. We had a lovely dinner and were really enjoying each other's company. Italy is very romantic and has this feeling about it that is contagious. As we were ending our meal the lights became quite dim. I figured, mood lighting, but then the music kicked in. I mean, like started blaring. I looked at Kent and figured that this place must change into a bar/club in the later hours, even though it was only about 9:30pm. The music continued for a good minute until I heard the singing and then saw a swarm of people coming up to us. They were holding 2 glasses of Prosseco with flashing red ice cubes, a dessert and some confetti. They were singing some sort of love song and then wished us a happy honeymoon. I forgot that I had told them that it was our honeymoon (I just wanted a good table, not a professional song and dance). We were mortified as the music abruptly changed and the lights came back on. It was great though and it made us laugh for days.




Siena was a really cool place. I do wish we had a car so that we could have gone throughout Tuscany and seen the beautiful hills, scenery, wineries and castles. We did look into staying at a castle, but without a car, it is a tricky town to stay outside of the city limits. The views were beautiful when you were on outskirts.
The food was excellent and the people who live and work in this town are very generous. Lisa, the owner of the bookstore, did express her concern as the town was becoming more and more popular that it was going to lose it's charm. Rick Steves, the internet etc has made travelling more convenient and accessible. The entire world is slowly morphing and becoming more tourist trap like and less accessible for local artists and vendors. We scoured Siena for art, but only found Jesus type paintings, that were amazing, but probably beyond our price point. The pottery was all mass produced. We did buy some beautiful hand made wooden bowls, serving tray and linens. I can't wait to have an Italian feast one night and use all of the kitchen items we purchased. I love party items...table cloths, glasses, platters. No clue why, but how I love them so. Siena was a total delight. From here we were taking the bus and ending up in Florence. I did not know what to expect of Florence, but many people we spoke to said it was their favorite place in Italy....I will give you our take on Florence soon; let's just say it was our least favorite place.

Rome- Day 4

Today was our last full day in Rome. At the end of our trip we would spend one evening in Rome and fly out the next day. We were both tired, but fully enjoying that we had our home base finally figured out. Kent was excellent with navigating us through the city. Today I had booked us to go to the Borghese Gallery. I had read about this gallery in Rick Steve's book and he stated it was one of the finest collections of art around the world and to book early. I secured us a reservation weeks in advance and I am so glad I did, as the museum was sold out. They only allow 300 people at a time in a two hour window. After having our previous day with 1,000's I was quite excited to be among a friendly few. When we arrived at the museum I enjoyed the beautiful park it was located in. It is at the Northern tip of Rome, but a definite hub within the city. It had beautiful gardens, cafes, an outside theatre, bike rentals etc.

Kent standing in front of the Gallery.



I so wish I could have taken photos. They practically strip search you as you enter. I couldn't even bring my purse. Below was my favorite piece in the gallery. It is of Pauline Bonaparte, who was married to one of the Borghese's and considered to be the most beautiful woman in all of Europe. This picture below, from the gallery website, does not do it justice. The technique to get marble to flow like a sheet; honestly amazing. Kent has such a serious eye for detail that it wasn't until he really started pointing these things out that I started to consider things like very intricate detail.


My other true highlight was Bernini's sculpture of Apollo and Daphne. It was amazing, truly, amazing. The detail in her hair turning into branches, her hands as well. It was located in the middle of a room and I found myself circling around and around as each time your eyes would notice something different.


I did not know how great this place was going to turn out. It was my favorite gallery in our travels. It could be that I enjoy art in smaller crowds, but I honestly just enjoyed the heck out of this place. We walked around the park and stopped for a light lunch. It was a perfect afternoon.


After the gallery we walked several miles back to our B&B. We took a long nap, probably too long, but no problem in Rome. We had a great meal again, in fact, I think two meals. We were going to eat light, but then I wanted a pizza and gelato super late in the evening. We were possessed at this point by the cuisine. We walked again to the Trevi fountain and enjoyed the view and chaos of people tossing a coin into this fountain, as a wish of a speedy return to the city. My camera could not take the full image of this fountain, so here is one from a website.



From my camera


I loved Rome. I did dislike the constant cigarette smoke as you are walking the streets and the vespa's that drive like mad men. The city is great though with all of the chaos it has. That night Kent and I enjoyed a final drink and went home to pack. In the morning we were headed to Siena, a small town about 30 miles outside of Florence. We were looking forward to a smaller city and a bit more quiet after 4 days of craziness. Siena was smaller, but not as quiet as we hoped.........

Rome Day 3

I was very excited about our 3rd day in Rome. We were going to Vatican City to see the Vatican Museum, home of the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. Vatican City is actually its own little country that is surrounded by the city of Rome. It was about a 25 minute walk from our B&B which was great so that we didn't have to take public transportation. I feared for my life each time we needed to take a taxi. I had read quite a bit in the guidebooks about going to the Vatican and how to make the most of it. I pre-purchased our tickets and made reservations. I scoured what the highlights were for us to see as we were only dedicating one day to this region.

Again what I love about Italy is how you are walking down a street and bam, here is the most incredibly beautiful place I have been in (St. Peter's Basilica).

As we approached St. Peter's Basilica we were amazed at the sheer size of this church and area, and the massive amount of people in line. I started freaking out that we were going to miss our reservation. We couldn't quite figure out all of the people and the various lines. Luckily, after about 15 minutes, Kent figured out that we were not in the area for the museum. It was quite a ways from the Basilica entrance, which I was not expecting. We finally found the museum and honestly, we were still confused. Maybe I didn't read enough to get all the rules etc. I know there was one crucial point I missed, how incredibly HUGE the museum is. Some people would send me to hell for saying this, but the museum was like IKEA. I can't stand IKEA, and here is why. The building is shaped like a maze. You are on a path and once you are in, you can't get out and must finish. Even if you only want some cheap tea light candles, you are forced to pass departments of furniture and masses of people. The museum was this way as well, except we weren't looking for a checkout counter, we were looking for the Sistine Chapel. Here is what was amazing about this place...it was beautiful. The ceilings, the walls, the sculptures, the paintings, the artifacts. This museum is overwhelming to the senses. Trying to capture it with my camera was impossible. Here are a few pictures we have.


After awhile I started to have almost glossed over eyes. It was sensory overload. PLUS, the constant signs pointing, This Way to the Sistine Chapel. It was such a teaser, honestly. We walked 4 miles, 4 miles of this museum to get to the finish line, the Grand Dame of the museum. I almost didn't realize we were within the room that houses this famous ceiling, because it was a crushed rat race. Guards were ushering you in and demanding no photos. There were so many people that it was difficult to strain your head up to fully get to take in the magnitude of the painting. I am mad that I didn't better prepare ourselves for this museum to be the length it was. I should have had a cappuccino before entering. I honestly was sad when we left and drained. I knew that we had already had an exhausting trip through the museum and now we would need to walk back and stand in the amazingly long line to get into the Basilica. I was beat. I looked at Kent and I swear I was going to cry. I was so excited to see this place, and it was just too much. Too long, too packed, too much information.
Kent knew I was ready to have a meltdown so we stopped and had a sandwich and beer and a handful of Excedrin. We made our way back to the main square and entrance to the Basilica. I remember when the Vatican was choosing the current Pope and seeing the thousands of people crammed into this area on a daily basis, waiting for the white smoke to spew into the sky as a notice that a new Pope had been chosen. This square is amazing. I mean HUGE, and beautiful.



I wish I could have taken a large panoramic photo to show these amazing columns that surround the square and basilica. It is hard to notice but there is just a small glimpse of the line that was wrapped around the square. Luckily we only had to wait 45 minutes. As we started getting closer and closer to the entrance I became very aware of the sheer size of this church. Honestly, I've never seen anything like it. The corridor alone is the size of most church's. As you walk in your eyes have to make an adjustment to the bright light from outside to the darker, formal interior of the church. The church has different sections, as it is truly large. There was a small mass that was taking place in one area, completely in Italian and Latin, so I didn't understand anything. I stood in line to touch the feet of St. Peter, but embarrassingly, I don't know why this was important or significant. Kent laughed at me, but I figured, everyone else is doing it. Here are a few photos, but again, they just don't do them justice.



After we finished the inside I knew we had one more thing left, climbing to the top of the dome. We had been touring for a good 5 hours, with a 30 min walk to the Vatican and back. I didn't care though, because I really wanted to do this. We paid an additional 2 euros so that we could take an elevator 1/2 the way up, but this still left 400 stairs to climb. In my younger, fitter days 400 stairs was a joke. I use to run the capitol hill stairs in Seattle and once did 1250 stairs without stopping! These stairs were different though, they were in a tight, hot stairwell and they went in a circle, then it would get so tight that as you were spiraling up to the top you had to hang on to a rope that was in the center...no railing! It took an act of God to get my butt up to the top, but it was worth it.

Here is a photo of Kent as he was doing his best to make it to the top!

This was an exhausting and frustrating day at times, but it was so worth it. I felt so blessed to have been able to visit these two places and share in the history that makes up the Vatican. I was baptised Catholic, but I don't attend church. I have my own values, but I still have respect for those in the world who find such solitude and peace within the Catholic church. The evening was finished with a nap, a wonderful meal (like we seriously gorged ourselves) and a trip to our little neighborhood wine bar. The owner and waitress both recognized us and gave us a little extra touch of Italian hospitality. Life is good!

Rome Day 2

Even though this was our second day in Rome, it was our first true day of scouring the city. With a map in our hands we began the task of looking for the Roman Colosseum. When Kent initially wanted to go to Italy I was not terribly interested in going to Rome. I have never followed the history of the Roman empire so to be honest, I was not sure what the draw was. Within minutes of walking the city I became blatantly aware of how awesome it really is.

Kent and I left our hotel and started towards the Colosseum. After a couple of minutes of walking we stumbled on a beautiful square and this amazing building. Like seriously, smack, you are walking around a corner and these crazy buildings that are centuries (centuries!) old are amongst newer and updated buildings.

Here is a photo of the building that was unknown to us for the first day, then we realized it was the Pantheon. A now present church (since the 7th century AD) that was built in 126AD. I mean seriously, think about that!

My two favorite parts about this church are the incredible doors, their thickness and height and the way it's lighting happens inside. Their is an opening in the ceiling that is the only source of light, other than candles, and it is not a window, but a true hole. This dome was amazing and is still considered a true marvel, particularly when you think about the time it was constructed. I wish the photos I took would do it justice, but again, that seemed to be a constant problem. Everything was so beautiful and on such a grand scale that photography was limited.

Here is one other photo that shows the light as it moves across the church based on the sunshine.

After discovering this gem we kept our maps at bay and made our way to the Colosseum. As we were walking, and getting confused, I kept thinking, "wow, this place is amazing." I loved the streets, the flowers hanging from window boxes, the smell of delicious food and never really knowing what is around the next bend. We saw so many cool fountains and architecture (I did take over 600 photos). As we were crossing this insanely busy intersection, which is more difficult than it sounds, I caught a glimpse of what we were en route to.

It was so exciting to get closer and closer to as the crowds were swarming and after discovering the Pantheon, I couldn't wait to get here. This place was awesome. I loved walking around inside and seeing the holes in the walls from canyon balls! The Colosseum is still in decent shape for being constructed in 80AD. At its peak it could hold 50,000 spectators. Some things were gruesome to learn, but this a different time, where executions were public and a man being eaten by a tiger was a spectator sport.

There was so much history to be understood, it was overwhelming. Kent and I did our best to get a feel for everything, but truth be told, we wouldn't win a Jeopardy category on the history of the Roman empire. Learning and understanding for me is not necessarily about route memorization and a list of dates. What was so beautiful about this part of Rome was the fact that there were thousands of people from all over the world here to experience the same part of history. The guidebooks that were being sold in 15 different languages was fascinating to me. It was a true highlight for me.
Within the area around the Colosseum is Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. These three attractions could easily take a serious history buff a good 3 days to take in. The entire roman empire was operated out of the Roman Forum and the extensive historical places and events is too much to discuss in this little part of my blog. Here are a few beautiful photos though.




This was a great day for Kent and I. After this much sight seeing we had a very late lunch and a nap. I'm not much of a napper, but wow, we took advantage of a little R&R in the afternoons. We went out later that evening and had another yummy meal. We both knew that this was going to be a tough trip for our waistlines. In fact, I started to notice that we looked different in our photos as the trip progressed...we were getting puffier! It was totally worth it though.