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.

Day One in Rome

Well we survived the flight. Oh goodness that is a long flight. Penni and I are never able to sleep on the plane so after the first day we are wiped out. Totally unexpected event happened on the way from the airport in Rome to our guest house; we ran over a porcupine. First of all I did not know porcupines lived in Italy and second I did not realize that they had such disregard for the dangers of Roman traffic habits. Our shuttle driver was very upset by the whole ordeal. Although, after only one day in Rome Penni and I both almost became that poor porcupine. They drive crazy here. Worse than they drive in Mexico which is amazing in itself.



Ok on to the first pictures.
I know all of you are just waiting for a picture of the
Roman Colosseum so here it is. It is two blocks from our guest house.



Ok, check out this cool door. I know not all that impressive right. Just an old door.


But look at it with Penni standing in front of it for perspective. Now that is a massive door.



A few more pictures i will add text to when my brain is working better.

Trip Schedule

Thursday
Flight leaves from Dallas at 1:00 pm


Friday
Paletine Hill
Roman Fourm
Capital Hill – San Clemente
St. Petere in Chains
Pantheon Tour
Trevi Fountain – Spanish Steps

Saturday
Scavi Tour
Castle San Angelo
Largo Del Pallaro
Victor / Mamertime
Gesu
Tibet Theater

Sunday
Trastever flea market – porta portese
Chiesa Sante Cecilia
Bathe of Caracalla
Vittorio Emanuele Monument

Monday
See any sites missed earlier
Train to Florece
Duomo / Bapistry
Medici Chapel

Tuesday
San Lorenzo
Accademia

Wednesday
Fiesole
See monks chant at Miniato
Ponte Vecchio

Thurdsay
Siena

Friday
Back to Rome
Tour of the Vatican
Sistine Chapel

Saturday
Flight home