Let me set the stage... The week preceding our trip to Italy was probably the rainiest, coldest, and most dreary one I'd had in Paris. It was constantly drizzling, cloudy, and foggy. Chessa and I woke up early Tuesday morning, caught the RER B to Orly, and headed south...
Chessa started the trip off right - sleeeeeeep..... (I can't sleep in large, moving, airborn vehicles)
And she woke up like this :)
It was a "10 minute" walk from the station to the hostel. You have to realize that Europeans are much more lax about time then Americans (in general). So it was a good 15-20 minute walk lugging our bags in the hot, sticky weather (not that I was complaining - it was great to see the sun again!).
Once we got there, our host wasn't even at the site. I wasn't happy about waiting for "10 minutes" while he came to meet us. We ended up having to walk another 15 minutes to the hostel where we were actually staying. There was a lot of walking on this trip.
In the courtyard at the hostel
Looking in
You know me and metros... And graffiti - couldn't pass up the photo op
We got off of our stop and TA-DA - the COLISEUM!
First stop - dinner
View from the cafe :)
She got penne and pesto
I opted for a real Italian pizza - YUM
It was soooooooooo good...
It's colossal! Hahaha... ha... ha...
A miniature l'Arc de Triomphe
A piece of a statue on a pedestal
The place was massive...
And again
Stretch!
I like the colors in this shot
We're actually in ITALY!!!
It was soooooooooo pretty... and looked almost tropical at times
Another cool shot
We did it - conquered the Coliseum!
Gorgeous fruit stand
And coconut fountain
I can't exactly remember who this was a statue of... Oops... There will be a lot of that (forgetting names of things/places/works of art - sorry in advance!).
Ruins
L'Altare della Patria (I think it was a governmental building)
Statue outside
Parthenon!
We didn't make it inside but it was still cool
My first REAL ITALIAN gelato!!!
Kiwi and strawberry - SOOOOOOOOOO good...
A cool looking restaurant
He was roasting nuts right by the Trevi Fountain
Trevi Fountain!
It was sooooooo pretty
You can't go to the Trevi Fountain without making a wish!
1... 2... 3....
...WISH!
Quite lovely
And again...
Yup, we're still here! *pinch me*
Next day - the Vatican!
So Chessa had booked our tickets for the Vatican and read that we needed to cover our legs (no skirts, but I saw some there so I guess knee-length is ok) so we wore jeans in the sweltering (but lovely) 85 degree heat... What we didn't know is that you had to cover your shoulders as well. She had to run across the street and buy a scarf printed with Italian landmarks quickly before our 11 am ticket time.
It was full of all kinds of art - Egyptian, Greek, Roman (duh)...
View of the courtyard
This guy looked kinda cool
Just chillin :)
Again, sorry for not remember the name...
She looks like a peasant :-P
The anticipation mounted as we saw more and more of these signs...
I generally find the ceilings to be the most interesting part of European architecture, but this floor merited a photo.
Apparently this statue of Hercules was struck by lightning. As was customary, the Romans buried him. He was dug up hundreds of years later and now resides in the Vatican.
Another cool floor - mosaic style
But the ceilings soon caught up
This was the most ridiculous ceiling I've seen by far.
Ridiculously awesome, that is...
The hall with the ridiculously awesome ceiling was a hall of maps that all looked similar to this one.
And quite abruptly, we came upon the Sistine Chapel! I will admit, it wasn't at all what I expected and therefore a little anticlimactic...
Guess what I saw...... :-D
Haha, silly us
It was sooooooooooooo cool!
The whole ceiling...
Told you it could look tropical sometimes
The stairs down
And looking up
Spanish steps! Also a little anticlimactic because the fountain was out of commission.
Look at this hot couple... WOW.... Can you imagine getting married in that???
And here we are!
Back again to Trevi Fountain
This guy made me laugh
The beginning of our tan lines...
Oh. My. Gosh. I thought about trying to be diplomatic here and calling these the 2nd best meatballs in the world, but Dad, I can't lie - these were the most amazing meatballs I've ever eaten.
Sooooooooo good... Can you see me trying to save the meatball for last?
Quite delicious
Yup, that's the Coliseum made out of Heinekin bottles. I thought it was pretty ingenious.
Hotel in Florence... Sooooo nice...
There was a cute restaurant that operate right next door and they had there outdoor section right outside our window.
You can barely see the Dome
This shower... Oh my... I'd never seen anything like it
It spreads out like a cobweb
And presto - shower curtain!
Kinder flavor gelato... SOOOOOOOOOOO good...
As in sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good...
View from the room
Myspace angle!
Another shot from the window (Chessa slept in while I got up to get breakfast, so I had some time to kill while waiting for her to wake up).
Mmmm, can't remember which square this was...
The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore aka the Duomo (a cathedral)
It was huge and the entire outside looked like this
On another square...
That was full of statues!
Look at the guts spilling out of his neck!
Hey Benjamin - I like lion statues too!
The old bridge... I promise I'll look up names at some point!
I thought these guys were pretty awesome... :-D
All those buildings are jewelry shops....
Yup, here I am!
And here WE are!
Another cool shot
And yet another - see the reflections?
Oh my gosh... Shop after shop of bracelets, necklaces, earrings...
I really liked this one...
Jewels and jewels and jewels...
Lunchtime!
This is the "seafood salad" Chessa got.
She actually ate it. She said it tasted like pickled squid. Eww...
More Duomo
Leather market!
A purse-a-holics heaven...
Bridge from the other side
The necklace I wanted - the one in the middle. Topaz... With matching earrings (not the ones pictured).... I got to try it on and it looked so pretty!
This made me think of you Madeline... I got you something from here... ;-)
And still more Duomo
It'd take you a whole day just to walk around the thing.... (Just kidding!)
Can you see my huge water bottle? I made sure to stay well hydrated Mom :)
Lalalala
More.... :)
My cannoli
Oh so good
Happy Emily :)
No lift = lots of stairs and an excellnt leg workout
Last day in Florence
Decided to stop off at a cafe for a nice spot of peach tea (aka we didn't want to lug our bags around for hours while waiting for our train).
At the train station
One of the bags I bought... :-D
We got a little bored on this ride... Oh the stories I have to tell about our compartment-mates...
Jam session
Chessa loves this picture - she says I don't look human.
In VENICE!!!!
Stylin' and profilin'
We took a water taxi to our hotel
And took many pictures along the way
Dunno what it is but it's pretty :)
Everything is so old and gorgeous!
Mmmmmmmmm.... guess what... Can't remember the name of this bridge...
Yay Venice!
St Marco Square
Another gorgeous Italian building
Part of the building
This was a smart idea - there's only pedestrian traffic on the streets so they put the signs on the ground :)
And they're pretty signs!
There were lots of these glove shops
*sigh*
Look at these funny candies
Made to look like non-sweet things...
With the bridge
A very Venitian snapshot
More of St Marco Square
And the front of the building. I'm going to call it a palace.
:-D
Apparently it's illegal to eat, litter, sit, or lie down on St Marco Square. My question is if that's the case, why are there benches and restaurants?
We "illegaly" sat on a bench
Chessa was so excited about her licorice
Cool building
A huge Pinocchio!
Another street sign (wow, what a literal use of the word...)
I took a lot of these kinds of pictures
Near Accademia
Had to have a picture with a seagull
I really like this shot :)
Oh so pretty
Yay for dresses from senior year of high school that still fit!
I like this shot too
Chessa and I decided that we will each own homes in the US and then one of us will own a vacation home in Paris and the other will own one in Venice. This will be our Venice home.
A church we randomly decided to wander into
Italians are really strict about covering your shoulders in churches. They provided us with these lovely wraps. Mom, note the purse. Yes you may borrow it :)
Hott ;-)
Another cool floor
It was circular
Yet another cool picture
Yes, these colors are for real.
And yes, this structure is for real.
We found some really cool shops in Venice. This one makes custom made Venetian glass products.
I REALLY liked this mirror. I have their business card and will one day order it.
I thought this chandalier was pretty
And these light fixtures too
Produce stand - on the water!
Italian graffiti
I think this should be made into a postcard :)
Pretty :)
This was our nice dinner out - we got dressed up :)
Clean plate - it was sooooooo good... Breaded veal cutlet and fries and an ice-cold coke...
Chessa had salmon
View from our restaurant - it was right on the canal. We ate outside a lot.
Yay for feeling pretty!
Yet another delicious Italian innovation... Kind of a like a non-gooey baclava. Kind of. It was really crumbly.
So yummy!
Ok we have NO IDEA what happened with this picture. We both came out looking 20 pounds heavier then we actually are. I thought it was rather hilarious.
While walking back from dinner we happened upon a pararde in St Marco Square!
Look Benjamin - knights in armor!
And pretty ladies of the court
Hey look Dad - your own brand of cola!
The palace again
I will also be ordering these blue, green, and yellow decanters/vaces/etc.
I think they're soooooooo pretty...
Mathieu told us to feed the pigeous on the square
They were so tame!
We decided to go back to our room and have a pastry party :-D
Ok so I might have stayed hydrated but I completely forgot about sunscreen. Oops.
What you do when it's only 9 pm, your room has no fan and it's too hot to move, and you're too tired to go back out - lay in bed and jam out to sweet tunes.
Last day....
Chessa really wanted this candy
I like this view
And this one is pretty :)
Rose garden!
The bus to take us to the airport
Yes, that's a pizza with French fries already on it. Genius.
The fateful stairs where we got our burns (this is also the church where we had to wear the awesome orange wraps).
I had to try it - soooooooo good :)
Last shot - you can't tell but we're in the middle of lugging our bags up a ginormous bridge.
ITALY WAS AMAZING!!!!!
