Day Eight (Last Day in Italy)

Last day in Italy so we crammed in a bunch of stuff. We started the day back at St. Peter's.


This amazing wooden alter is one of several built one on top of the other directly over Peter's grave.

The dome above the alter.


Next we did the Vatican tour. Actually our tour guide never showed so we did a self guided tour wich really worked out better anyway and saved us about $60. To get to the Sistine Chapel you have to go through the Vatican museum which is a very long labyrinth of overcrowded hallways full of the most incredible artwork. Expect to spend some time here if you want to or not.


You are allowed to take pictures in the museum but not in the Sistine Chapel. So here is the illegal picture Penni took. (Shh.... Don't tell anyone.) It is a little out of focus because she took it blindly snapping it from the waist. What a rebel.


The Vatican is guarded by Swiss guards. Here they are getting onto a tourist. Leave it to my people to have the silly clothes.


The Roman Fourm.



And of course, the picture at Trevi Fountain.


We did thow a few coins in.


Final shot in Rome.


These are our friends from the bed and breakfast. They are the friendliest people in Rome. If you ever visit Rome this is the place to stay "Guest House Arena". Great people, nice rooms, and only two blocks from the Colosseum.

Day Seven

Day seven was a side trip to Pisa and Lucca. Not really a lot more to see in Pisa other than the leaning tower.



Of course when you go to Pisa you always have to take a cheesy picture of someone holding up or kicking over the tower. I decided to do the kicking over picture. I might should change the title of this blog to "The dork traveler." Look at that goofy picture.What they don't tell you about Pisa is that the baptistery on the other side of the church from the tower also leans. This amazing structure was build with such brilliant acoustics that it will resonate a note for 10 seconds. Each hour the guard demonstrates this amazing resonance by singing three notes that sustain so long that they form a cord. This is inside the church in Pisa.


The wall around the city of Lucca. This is a medieval walled city in the heart of the Tuscan valley.


A very small beautiful city that was at one point given by Nepolean to his sister as a gift. She did not care fore the wall because it gave the city a military feel, so she built parks on top of the wall at each of the corners.

Day Six

Day six. We did a little shopping in the markets and then took the bus to Fiesole (a small village just up the hill that overlooks Florence.

The Tuscan hillside. View from Fiesole.


looking back down on Florence.


You can see the Duomo through the fog.
This is at the San Miniato al Monte. This artist is painiting with a fork.


The ceiling in the San Miniato al Monte.


We met up with John and Angela and walked back down into town to have dinner. We had a really great time with these guys. (Look us up if you are ever in Texas!)

Beautiful view.

Day Five

Today we started with the street markets. The markets are all over the city of Florence. There are a lot of great leather goods priced very low. The streets fill up vey quickly, but there are great bargains.


Second stop was the Duomo. A student from New York University in Florence gave us a tour in English.



This is the inside of the dome. Amazing fresco of the final judgment.

Right next door is the Baptistry. These are mosaics inside the dome of the Baptistry.

Here is a close up.


We bought some more paintings. Here is Penni closing the deal.

The view from the river.
The Ponte Vecchio...


Of course there are a lot of famous sculptures here. Since there may be viewers of various ages, this is the only one I could post. Not much clothing in these stone works.

PS . Happy Birthday Uncle Howard!

Day Four (Florence)

Ok, day four. We packed out bags and headed to Florence. This first picture is the view from our room in Rome. I took it as we packed. We will be back here on Friday. PS - the people who work at this guest house are amazing. If ever in Rome you must stay here. They are one of the best parts of Rome! (and two blocks from the Colosseum!)


Arrived in Florence. Penni and I just did a lot of walking around. Florence is a smaller city so it is not as crazy. Took today to relax and get to know the city. This is the Duomo (Santa Maria del fiore). We will tour it tomorow.


The tower at the Duomo.


Penni bought a few paintings form this kind man. His name is Sami (Samy). A very talented painter.

Another view of the Duomo. You can see it all over the area near our guest house.

Not a lot of pictures today. We really took it easy and eat two very amazing meals. The food here is beyond discription. Cheese and pure olive oil, oh my it really does not compare to what we buy at the local store. It is the most fantastic food in the world. Florence is in the heart of Tuscany and the countryside was better than all of the pictures you may have seen. Vinyards and olive groves everywhere. We do not have an internet connection in the room here so the pictures may take a little longer to be posted. There is an internet cafe about three doors down from us so it is not a big problem. Much more tomorrow.

Until then, ciao.

Day Three

Well hello from Rome. Day three and even though Rome is like New York on crack, this is an amazing city. We started the day with the Pope at St. Peter's. Look at the sea of people we got to worship with.



Pope Benedict at the window. He gave blessings in at least seven languages. Very impressive.


Here we are receiving the blessing. See the Pope in the window.


Finally made it inside the Colosseum. Hard to imagine what kinds of things happened here. It is actually more impressive from the outside.

They have a piece of the ground rebuilt to give an idea of what it would have looked like.

We made a couple of friends at Buffato Pizzaria near Piazza Navona. This is John and Angela from Los Angeles, CA. (hey guys) We hope to meet up with them in Florence later this week.


One more night shot of the Colosseum. A little photo magic with a time exposure to get all the lighting just right. (all those years as a commercial photography major paying off)

Day Two in Rome

Well friends, the first part of today we were not allowed to take pictures. It was a tour under St. Peter's Basilica called "Scavi." The necropolis is like an underground city for the dead, complete with streets and building fronts. It is also where St. Peter was buried. The tour takes you right to the spot. Unfortunately you can not take pictures down there. It is extremely cool though.

Ok, so we can't show you the inside, but here we are in front of St. Peter's.


Self Portrait. (look close)


Vatican City. That is St. Peter's in the top left.

Castle Saint Angelo.

One of many great statues in the castle.
Victor Emmanuel Monument.



Cell where St. Peter was held. You can see the column that he was chained to. This picture is with a flash, but know that it is extremely dark down there. In the floor (bottom left) is the well that sprang up for Peter to drink. Also notice the upside-down cross.

The Roman Forum.

Museum on Capital Hill.

Night shot of the Colosseum.