A Few Pics From Italy

I guess it is time to post a few pictures of my trip to Italy.
Our first stop was in Venice, where we just ran around the city for half of a day.
Some side canal "streets"



St. Mark's Square

The Grand Canal



Then, we went to Florence--it was a beautiful city and had great gelato! We spent a day and a half enjoying all the architecture, the gardens, and the cobblestone streets.
This is the main cathedral (Duomo) and the center of the town.

I decided that this should be my new house in Florence.

People sculling in Florence

The cathedral (Duomo) up close

Pointe Vecchio, the most famous bridge in Florence. They sell gold jewelry in the shops along the bridge.

The city in the evening from Michelangelo's Hill


On to Rome! Here we got to see the Roman Forum, The Vatican and St. Peter's cathedral, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Novonne, Campo di Fiori, and the Spanish Steps. We even found time to visit the Villa Borghese park.

These pictures are from the Roman Forum, Coliseum (or Colosseum),and Palatine Hill





Here is a picture of me at the Campo Di Fiore. I am in the back by the fountain.

St. Peter's Cathedral at the Vatican

The Pantheon, this building was amazing. It was built only 130 years after the death of Christ and is still standing. It was really great to be in a structure that old.

A bridge in Rome. Notice the sculler on the left of the picture. :)

Trevi Fountain in Rome


To get away from all the heat (Rome was HOT!!!), we next went to the Cinque Terre region--with a quick 1 hour stop to view the leaning tower of Pisa. The Cinque Terre was sooooo beautiful and we spent 4 relaxing days here (I guess they were relaxing even though we climbed a lot of stairs and went on an amazing hike!) I loved the Cinque Terre. Our home base the first 3 days was Vernazza. The fourth day we moved to Monterosso because of the train strikes. We were supposed to head up to Milan, but there was no way out of the region.
Me and the leaning tower of Pisa

Vernazza in the Cinque Terre


The village of Manarola

Garden Terraced Hillside

Another view of Vernazza


We finally were able to get a train at 6:55 a.m. to Milan and then on to Como! It was rainy, cloudy, and wet, but we did enjoy 3 beautiful hours on the lake and at the town of Bellagio. It was so gorgeous! I must return some day. And they had sculling teams out on the lake. It was soooo cool!
This picture was taken from the boat and is the villa used in the Star Wars movie.

The town of Bellagio on Lake Como


After Como, we returned to Milan and checked into the Hotel--then walked down to the Duomo and happened in to the Andrea Bocelli free concert. That was fun. The next day we went back and explored the cathedral. Then, back to Venice and Home!!!
Andrea Bocelli concert in the square at Piazza Duomo in Milan

The Milan Duomo at night

The rooftop of the Milan Duomo


Back in Venice!