Monday, July 20, 2015

Ciao, bella!

Dan, Marcus, and our friend Laurie and I just returned from a fabulous vacation in Italy!

We covered a lot of territory, starting in Rome ... after that, we spent time several days in Tuscany, visiting small hill towns and wineries. Then we made our way to Cinque Terre where where we hiked and swam, followed by a couple days in the Dolomite region, before ending our trip in lovely Venice!

It's going to take a few days to get all the pictures posted, so here's the first installment:  Rome



Rome's Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism



 

This was the first church we stumbled upon and went in during our first day in Rome. It happened to be pretty impressive!
 

This would be the first of many stops for gelato!


A view of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican from our apartment

The Pantheon



  









A view from our dinner table..not to shabby

These guys...rocking the shades.




Marcus spotted every dog in sight



Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately it was under construction. Ironically, it was under construction when I saw it 25 years ago.


Heading back toward the Vatican in the evening



Finally asleep after being awake until 3 a.m. our first night

A glimpse of the courtyard during our tour of the Vatican Museums
 






View of the Vatican from our lunch table

More gelato!!



Break time - temps were in high 90s during most of our trip. Needless to say, we went through a lot of water...
The Roman Forum

Colosseum










Laurie and I at the Arch of Constantine


Heading up toward Palatine Hill


This is where we had dinner for our second evening in Rome. Marcus climbed these stairs roughly 25 times.

Nightlife in Rome.

Finally made it to the Spanish Steps. It was packed with people!






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