Italy - Part 2

Rome
The train from Florence to Rome was amazing! We had such beautiful views of the countryside!! Getting to the hotel in Rome was easy and when we arrived Jason's bag was waiting for us!!! The Daphne Veneto was another great hotel - highly recommend!
Once we got settled we walked around and ended up at the Spanish Steps, which was close to our hotel.

It was great "people watching" again. I had to stop and find a hair straightener because mine stopped working with our converter. So, luckily, there was a place right by the steps. We ended up stopping for dinner at a place right by our hotel and sat outside. This was our best dinner!! The pasta was homemade and the wine was wonderful!! We had such a great first night in Rome!

Wednesday we got up and jumped on the Metro to get over to the Colossseum, Roman Forum and Palantine Hill. We started at the Palantine Hill because the lines are not long there and the same ticket can be used at the Colosseum, which meant we could skip those lines. The Palantine Hill goes on forever! It is basically an archaeological garden full of ruins of imperial palaces. It was pretty amazing to see.



At the end of our walk through Palantine Hill we got to see some amazing views over the Roman Forum and Colosseum.

Next we went down to the Roman Forum, which was one of my favorite places the entire trip. It is hard to appreciate the Forum in pictures but it was so awesome to stand in this area and think about who stood there before us. We were just steps away from where Julius Caesar's funeral pyre burned for 7 days in 44 B.C. Pretty neat!




After the Forum we ended at the Colosseum. For Jason and I, these monuments were our favorite part. We enjoyed the art but these historical places are so interesting to see in person! Here are some pictures - we took a lot!!



After the Colosseum I was exhausted but Jason wanted to walk to see the Circus Maximus, which turned out to be nothing much to see! Haaa!

We then walked and walked until we came upon the Victor Emmanuel Monument and the tomb of the unknown soldier, which was HUGE! It was incredible to see though!

We went back to the hotel after that to rinse off and relax for a bit before dinner. At dinner Jason ordered fettuccine alfredo, which was so good! He was nice enough to share with me. Then we stopped on the way home for some more gelato!!!
Thursday - day 7 of our trip! We started at the Pantheon. This was a Roman temple dedicated to all of the gods. The original temple was built in 27 B.C. but after a couple of fires the structure that stands today was rebuilt around A.D. 120. It looks pretty simple on the outside (simple for Italy standards) but inside is beautiful!



Inside you see such a beautiful dome and amazing tombs. There is the Tomb of Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I - the first two kings of Italy. Also, you can find the tomb of Raphael. Here is a picture of his tomb:

From the Pantheon we walked over to the famous Piazza Navona. It wasn't too busy but has great cafes and shops on the outer edges plus great fountains in the middle. We stopped and had some pizza for lunch and watched all the people!


We also walked over to Campo de'Fiori, which a wonderful outdoor market for anything really! They had fresh fruits and veggies, fish, shoes, plates and clothes!
Then, we started toward the Vatican and St. Peter's Basiilica. It wasn't a long walk and we got to see the Tiber River.

Walking up the street and seeing St. Peter's is such an amazing view!!!

We decided to start at the Vatican Museum and then come back to St. Peter's. We had NO line at the Vatican, which was shocking since we heard so many stories of people standing in line for hours! The layout was a tad bit confusing but we got to see everything we wanted. The hallways leading up to the Sistine Chapel are breathtaking!!!


They did build up the suspense though....we kept walking and walking and every room said "This way to Sistine Chapel." It was hard to sit and really appreciate the Sistine since it wasn't a huge room and there were so many people in there. We were surprised at how small the Creation of Adam was. But, it was still wonderful to see it in person.
We then went back to St. Peter's and the line to get in was so incredibly long we decided not to go in. We will always be back!! We took the Metro back over by our hotel and walked to the Trevi Fountain so we could see it during the day. Such an amazing fountain!

We went back to our hotel to rinse off - we were walking so much and the weather was so warm we were getting a workout every day! We decided to go back to our new favorite place - the restaurant we went to our first night in Rome. We ended up sitting next to a man eating alone so of course a conversation got started when he found out we were from the states and it was our 5-year anniversary. His name was George and he worked for the U.S. Embassy, which is always a nice connection to have. He was very nice and even gave us his cell phone # if we needed anything. Special Agent George was a great guy to meet!
After dinner we decided to walk over to a cafe and have a drink to wind down. Then we figured we should go and experience a pub in Italy! We walked a few blocks and found Old Bell Pub.

We went in and there weren't any people there so we had one beer and called it a night.
Friday, our last full day in Rome we decided to take it easy and just walk around - no schedule, no lines, no fuss! We went and walked through the gardens by the Borghese Museum. It was so quiet, relaxing and beautiful!



We finally realized we were back at the top of the Spanish Steps and found this wonderful area that had great views over the city!



We finished with some shopping at the bottom of the Spanish Steps and then walked back to get ready for dinner. We had reservations at Il Chianti, which was suggested by some friends who visited in March. The crostini wasn't that good but the soup and pasta was delicious!! We were so full! The restaurant was around the corner from the Trevi Fountain so we went back and tossed our coins in and made our wish to visit again!

Overall, we had such a wonderful vacation! It was so hard to come home!! The food was excellent, the sights were incredible and we hope to return sooner rather than later!!

Italy - Part 1

Florence
We arrived at the Kansas City airport Friday, May 2 at about 10 a.m. to board our 11:55 a.m. flight to Chicago, yet we did not end up actually taking off until almost 3!! So, of course we missed our flight from Chicago to Rome! We then got to wait about 3 more hours in Chicago for the new flight to Frankfurt, Germany. The airport in Frankfurt was some of the best "people watching!" Jason and I played the game "spot the American." After a few hours (and a nap for me) we finally got to board our plane for Florence!
We got into Florence around 8 p.m. and found out Jason's second bag did not make it. We went and checked into our hotel, which was wonderful!!! Our views were amazing!


We highly recommend the Hotel Calzaiuoli!! We decided to just walk around and found a wonderful place to experience our first real Italian pasta - yummy! Then I got to try some gelato - double yummy!! We walked to the Duomo so we could finally see it in person!! It looks so amazing it seems like it is fake.

Sunday we got up and headed to the Accademia to see the David. After waiting for about 30 minutes we finally got in and it was amazing to see the David in person - so much bigger and better in real life.

There are some other great statues by Michelangelo. We then walked around heading toward the direction of the Uffizi and stopped for some Italian pizza - soo good! We stopped at the hotel and Jason's bag still hadn't arrived! I changed shoes, which was a big mistake - got really bad blisters!! Went to the Uffizi, which is right past the Piazza della Signori.

The line for the Uffizi was so long we had to stand in it for about 2 hours. But, we met a couple from Australia who were so nice and made the time fly by. Barb & Pete had just arrived from Rome so they gave us some good information and we shared a gelato - of course! Once inside the Uffizi it was a lot of walking and climbing stairs but I was happy to see two paintings I have always loved!! Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera. We stopped at the cafe on the roof of the Uffizi and gave our feet some rest. We were pretty tired so we took a short nap before dinner. We had dinner outside at the Piazza della Repubblica and of course stopped for more gelato!
Monday we started at the San Lorenzo market, which are streets lined with little tents or shops. We picked up a few things.

After the market we went down toward the Ponte Vecchio, which is an old bridge lined with shops. It started to rain on our walk down so we stopped at a little cafe and shared a sandwich. The rain didn't last long, which was nice.
After we crossed the bridge we just kept walking and walking and finally realized needed to turn around and head back. We were trying to find the Palazzo Pitti, a 15th-century Medici palace but when we found it it was closed. We did get some pictures outside.



We went back to the bridge to take more pictures before heading back up by our hotel.

It was our last day in Florence so we decided to head back to the Duomo and get some more pictures and video. Jason decided he wanted to go to the top of the Duomo and I didn't. He said he didn't want to go alone and I should think of the pictures we could get, etc. Finally, I gave in. Big Mistake!!! First off, for those that don't know me - I am TERRIFIED of heights and closed in spaces. The stairs are OLD and NARROW! There are over 400 of them. Some go straight up, some are spiral. You are in a line so you can't stop and turn around really. I started getting a feeling like I was going to faint but we kept going. I started to calm down a little until we see that we are now about to step onto a 2 foot wide platform that is going around the inside of the dome from the very top!! My hands were shaking so bad!!! I just kept staring at the wall hoping the people in front of me would hurry! There was a man, I think he was from Germany, who was trying to freak out his girlfriend by jumping up and down and it was freaking ME out! Here are some pictures of the inside (the lighting isn't the greatest).


After that I was NOT going to the outside part. Jason went ahead and took some more pictures while I waited.




The last picture shows where you stand outside on the top to take the pictures. I'm so glad I didn't go there!! Once Jason was done we had to go down the stairs we came up through and then back onto the 2 foot walkway to get to the exit - I was so happy to get outside and on the ground!!!
We walked around and had some dinner (and gelato of course) before heading back to the hotel to pack. The next day it was time to catch our train for Rome!!

Just Checking In

Once again, nothing too exciting going on. We are just getting ready for a hectic two months. April & May are COMPLETELY booked for us but at the same time friends and family are coming to visit finally!! Jordan will be here the first weekend in April and I am soooo excited for him to visit! Kelsey is coming the weekend after. Then we have Jason's sister's wedding in Tulsa, which will be fun. THEN WE ARE OFF TO ITALY!!!

Jason's spring break is next week and we are hoping he will get the basement done. Believe me, I am so ready for it to be done! Once it is, I will post some pictures.

We are looking forward to it warming up so we can finally take advantage of our new, big deck! We also recently purchased a hammock, which I am ready to use!!

It has been nice staying in Kansas City and not traveling as much as we used to. We have so much fun with our friends here and there is always something new to do. Downtown is opening a Power & Light district will all new restaurants and bars/clubs and the best is we are getting a LUCKY STRIKE! That will be fun! Some of the places are already open. The girls went to Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar, for Lindsey's birthday. Here is a picture of all us girls!



We are off to Wichita tomorrow so I can go see Keith Urban perform (yet again) with Angie, Sarah and Charlie. Should be a fun girls' weekend!! I'll post some pictures when we get back.

OH! We did update our kitchen a bit more - we have a new tile floor and painted it brown. We are hoping to get new countertops soon! Here are a few pictures: