Ciao Italia!

Beautiful Italia!!!

Below is the Pantheon, it originally was built as a temple to all the Roman gods but now holds the tombs of important historical figures, one of which is the famous artist Raphael.

I think it's funny in the middle of the busy city is this 2,000 year old structure!

Below is Piazza Navona, it used to be an arena where the Romans came to see "the games". The arena is below ground. The beautiful marble church is Sant'Agnese. This is also the site of the famous Four Rivers fountain by Bernini, but it was currently under restoration.

A picture of Piazza Navona from the other end.

Absolutely beautiful!!!

Our second day in Rome we went to the city of the Vatican(Stato della Città del Vaticano)
We walked through hallways and hallways of ancient sculptures and tapestries. But what was most amazing is the ceiling, they are covered with paintings, carvings and sculptures!

The entire city of the Vatican is made out of Marrble (our tour guide always rolled the "r" when she said this word).

St. Peter's Basilica... what amazing architecture, artwork and design. My favorite part was the 3 tiered dome. Absolutely breathtaking...

Next on our journey was the Roman Colosseum. This place is huge, and the ingenuity to construct something of this size is awe inspiring. Below my friends Tammy Holly, Amy and I are standing above the arena.
Then we visited the Roman Forum, which use to be the center of the Roman judiciary system. I am not interested in politics so much, but most of these buildings are still in use today.

Toward the end of the day we stopped to see the Trevi Fountain, which is the largest fountain standing in Rome. Our tour guide said Rome has a lot of 3 things: Marrrble, Fountains and paintings of Saints.

The last stop this day was the Spanish steps (or Scalinata), which are the widest and longest staircase in all of Europe.

If you look closely you can see Holly and I running up the steps on the right side. :)

Our third and last day in Italy, we went to Pompeii. All of the inhabitants of Pompeii were destroyed when the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted. We were there for only 2 hours and saw maybe 10% of the city. It is amazing to hear of the life they lived and know that this city was as thriving as many major cities of our day.

After Pompeii we went to eat at a little place called Ristorante La Pergola. A family run pizzeria and he made us the best pizza! Ingredients are very fresh, the sauce tastes more like a fresh tomato and the cheese (yum cheese) tasted like it was just milked from a cow!

I ate 4 huge slices of pizza, which is well worth the extra weight on my hips!

At the end of the day we climbed aboard a ferry in Brendisi, and sailed away from our beautiful Italia!