Italy recapped!

Oh wow; totally DELAYED in getting this post to the blog. We should have returned to San Antonio on September 16 but weather in Atlanta had other plans for us! We missed our flight out and spent a night in ATL before returning home. That was fun; NOT!

I believe the last post gave a quick statement of the remainder of our trip so let me pick up where last left off. On Thursday, September 10 Dave and I took a train from Florence to Pisa to see; of course, the Leaning Tower of Pisa! We walked from the Pisa Centrale train station to the town and BAM there was the Tower!


We bought our tix to climb to the top of the tower and also went into St. Mary Cathedral. We had lunch in Pisa (nothing to write home about mind you!) then took the train back to Florence where we spent the late afternoon walking through the Duomo and then over to Ponte Vecchio to see all the vendors.

The Duomo in Florence:


On Friday we had a Tuscan tour of the Chianti Region! We had a very small intimate group with just three couples and our private driver who managed to have ROCK STAR access and could drop us off and all the best entries! We went to San Gimignano, Monteriggioni and Sienna all in one day! The last stop was a wine tour at Casa Emma for chianti tasting.

1.) San Gimignano, a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena.


2.) Monteriggioni; a walled town in Tuscany. One of the oldest Etruscan villages.


3.) Siena; according to legend, Siena was founded by Senius, son of Remus, who was in turn the brother of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. This is a shot of the Piazza del Campo!


4.) Casa Emma; our Chianti wine tasting!


Lastly here's Dave and I showing our appreciation for the Sangiovese grape!


This wrapped up our final days in Florence and on Saturday morning we took a train into Rome. Our agenda was for four nights in Rome; two nights at the Hilton Cavaleri and two nights at the Hilton Rome Airport. The Hilton Cavaleri is known for it's beautiful art gallery as well as superb dining. The problem was that the restaurant we were told we HAD to dine in was closed for a wedding and wasn't open on Sunday nights; bummer!

Saturday day we spent walking the streets of Rome. Our shuttle from the hotel dropped us off at the Piazza Barberini. From there we walked to the Spanish Steps or Piazza Spagna then went inside to the Trinity of Mounts Church or the Trinita dei Monti.


It was then off to the Trevi Fountain and the Piazza Venezia where we went to the very top of the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II.




The next day we started again on foot touring all of Rome that we could fit in! Here are various pictures of our day.


Caught in the rain on our Coliseum tour!


Rainbow over the Coliseum.


We walked all over the city! You could spend WEEKS in Rome and never see all the things you need to; what an incredible place.

On Monday we had our Vatican Museum tour followed by Vatican Square and Saint Peter's Basilica. We climbed to the very top cupola in Saint Peters as well. That night in our room; we watched Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. It was so cool to watch a movie where it was filmed at all the locations we had just been that very same day!

The altar and cupola in Saint Peter's Basilica.


Overlooking the Vatican Square.


The Vatican Swiss Guard.


We spent our last nights in Rome wandering the streets again taking in the night time lit monuments and fountains. And of course if you haven't seen the movie Roman Holiday; you may remember the scene where Gregory Peck puts his hand in the mouth of the Bocca della Verita or Mouth of Truth. Here's us doing the same.


It was a FABULOUS trip and I would definitely return to Rome as I felt as if we just didn't have enough time to get it all in.

Thanks for reading along and check back again for other travel adventures! Pin It Now!