Venice

Two days in Venice was darn near heaven. The only forms of transportation are boats or your feet, so the city is relatively quiet and peaceful. The meandering canals and buildings with colorful shutters and flower boxes are so charming.

Our hotel looked incredibly cute from the outside...

... the inside generated some great belly laughs. We requested separate beds and this is what we got. There were separate sheets, but don't be fooled by the crease - only one duvet.

This is the hairdryer? Seriously?! I was so nervous it would change it's mind and start vacuuming my head instead.

Needless to say, we decided to spend as little time in the hotel as possible. :)

There were some very fascinating bronze door handles.

Dinner on the terrace... fortunately the atmosphere made up for the mediocre (but expensive) food.

Dessert in St. Mark's Square with a live orchestra serenading us. So romantic, I really missed Matt.

At night, the square floods with the tides. This is the buildings reflected in the rising water.

Venice just might be my favorite place in all of Italy!

Roma . Vatican City

Back to Rome, checkin' out St. Peter's square, which is actually more of an oval. 

The Vatican Museum has an unreal amount of art and artifacts to explore. I was a little bummed that the Raphael rooms were closed for the day, but I was NOT disappointed with the awesomeness of the Sistine Chapel.

More guards yelling "NO FOTOS!!!" but I snapped a couple good ones, incognito.

Lots of beautiful things to see inside St. Peter's Basilica. 

Michaelangelo's Pieta - sculpted at age 24 and the only work he ever signed.

Anzio & Nettuno

Monday Stefani and I took the train to the seaport town of Anzio on the Eastern coast of Italy.

Lunch by the water was some fabulous sea bass stuffed ravioli with rose sauce, yum!

In the neighboring town of Nettuno, we visited the American cemetery where over 7,800 servicemen from WWII are buried.

The beach in Nettuno was gorgeous. Perfect sand, clear water, and gelato stands galore... ooooh yea.

Dipping my toes in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The water was nice, but I forgot my suit.  :(

Roma . The Ancients

Back in Rome, I spent Sunday exploring the world of ancient Romans. No trip here would be complete without seeing the Colosseum. Hard to believe this amazing structure was built in only 10 years, using a math system that did not yet include the zero. 

The wooden stage would have covered the underground passageways where gladiators and animals were kept.

Colosseum view towards the Palatine Hill, where the wealthy lived.

Afterwards I walked the grounds of the ruins for nearly 4 hours. There is so much to see and the scenery is breathtaking. A sobering reminder of just how un-permanant we are and how even profound earthly glory fades away.

Trying my hand at being a goddess statue. ;)

Throughout Italy, there are no metal street signs. Every plaza and street is marked by stone plaques on the faces of the buildings that lay along them. This is in front of the church of St. Peter's in Chains, where Michaelangelo's sculpture of Moses resides.

Florence . Farewell

Today began with a hardy hike up to Piazelle Michaelangelo for what was promised to be a fabulous view of Florence. I was not disappointed - totally worth the blisters on my poor feet.

A replica now stands where David originally stood for 369 years (1504 - 1873), outside the Florence Town Hall. 

More authentic paninis!!!

Ended the day with some light shopping, a stroll along the river and a train ride back to Roma.

Florence . Artsy Fartsy

Day two in Florence was full of artist eye candy. For years I've studied art history and read about the Italian masters, but to actually see Michaelangelo's original work was incredible. I sat in the Accademia Gallery for over an hour sketching David and could have stayed longer. Can you believe he sculpted this at age 26?! Genius. 

There are security personnel specifically there to shout "NO FOTOS!!!" to anyone attempting a pic of the famous hottie, but with the girls' help I snuck a couple. And the people's heads in this picture give a great perspective of just how big he is.

He has a great backside! ;)

For lunch we found a local panini joint called Oil Shoppe and munched some seriously phenomenal sandwiches. Coolest thing about this place is that once the fresh bread is gone for the day, they literally put out a sign that says "Out of bread, see you tomorrow" and close up shop. We were lucky and got there just a few customers before the sign went up.

The Florence Duomo (cathedral) rises high above the city and is gorgeously designed with green & white stone.

Paintings inside the dome ceiling were pretty impressive, especially at 295 feet up!

Next stop - Uffizi Gallery. Spent over two hours wandering the rooms. Almost every one had a painting I recognized by Da Vinci, Raphael, Caravaggio, Michaelangelo, and Botticelli. 

Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus is probably the most famous work there. The only thing I found disappointing was, after years of seeing the paintings vividly reproduced in textbooks, the actual works were much darker and less vibrant. But, they are 500+ years old, so I'm not entirely sure what I expected!

Dinner with the girls, laughing about the day together.

Florence

Crazy how Cari Gaines and I ended up in Italy at the exact same time, completely unplanned. I met her and her friend Laura at the train station for a two day detour to Florence. Planning on checking out Michelangelo's famous David sculpture tomorrow, we figured it was only appropriate we eat at a lunch place of the same name.

I'm embarrassed to say that this ginormous Coca Cola cost me the equivalent of $12. 

David's portrait was even on the dishes! By far best pasta I've had yet... ravioli with truffle cream sauce.

One of the piazza's here has a big carousel and it reminded me of Avery. Cari was kind enough to oblige me and be the dorky adults with no kids riding the carousel for a photo op.

Incredible street artist. Literally on the street, not sidewalk. Practically get run over by taxi's trying to look at the thing...

Ponte Vecchio - Famous bridge over the Arno River. All phenomenally expensive jewelry shops. We dubbed it "the bridge where you can't afford anything." Yes, those teensy weensy, damn-near-microscopic silver stud earrings ARE $300.

While Cari & Laura are staying close to town, my dad so generously used his traveler points to cover my hotel a little further out in the suburbs. I enjoyed spending the evening walking around the less touristy neighborhoods. Here's an Italian version of a playground baby swing... hmm, less than cozy.

Dinner at a little cafe with my book and chocolate pastry for dessert. Perfecto.