Italy 2006

We're back. We had such a fabulous time. There are so many stories I could tell you but I'll just give you the Reader's Digest version of our trip.

We started in Venice, which is such a unique and quaint city. There are no cars and people walk everywhere. There are these little sqaures all around the city where people just congregrate and socialize. At night it is so quite and very peaceful. I really liked St. Mark's Basilica. It is this beautiful church full of moasic images. It is hard to imagine how they did that so many years ago. We also went on a gondola ride which was really neat b/c we saw where Marco Polo and Cassanova lived.

Us in Venice

St. Mark's Basilica

Next was Rome. Rome has a big city downtown sort of feel, with lots of traffic and people. They drive crazy over there since there are limited traffic lights or laws. People weave in and out and it's kind of a free for all. Crossing the street was a challenge because you kind of risked your life. The neat thing about Rome is the fact that even though it is a big city there are all these acient buildings (i.e. The Colosseum) stuck right in the middle. We saw the spot where Julius Caeser was burned after his assasination and other ancient ruins. Of course Vatican City is just spectacular. St. Peter's Basilica is massive and so ornate with several sculptures and paintings. The Sistine Chapel is just amazing. It is crazy to know that one person painted that.

The Colosseum

St. Peter's Basilica

We ended Italy in Florence. Florence is kind of a combination of Rome and Venice. It has the cars and people, but there is a quaintness to it as well. I really liked Michaelangelo's "David" it is so detailed you can even see the veins in his arms. Florence has great shopping and that is where I spent the bulk of my shopping money. At the Uffizi Gallery they were having a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit. That man was brilliant. They had pages out of his sketch book that were 500 years old and were very detailed drawings of the human body. Pretty impressive. We also took a side trip to Pisa to see the leaning tower. Its pretty neat.

The Duomo

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The trip ended with a short one day layover in Paris. We didn't have much time there but we were able to go to the Louvre and see the Effile Tower. Our hotel sucked b/c the hot water heater was broken and we took ice cold showers but other than that not too bad. I really liked the Louvre, we didn't have much time but we saw the main things like the Mona Lisa. It is so much smaller than you imagine. It's probably only 16 x 20 but neat to see.

We had a great time and I definitly recommend Italy to anyone looking to travel internationally. It is full of history and beautiful paintings and sculptures.