by Christie Kelley
First, I have to say I'm so sorry about the late post. I'm hiding deep in the cave to get my book done on time and completely forgot the date until I turned the calendar this morning!
So we had talked about blogging about our vacations and I thought I'd share my impressions of Italy. My husband and I celebrated our 25th anniversary this year and this was our present to each other. A trip with no kids, just us! We started out in Rome and stayed one night not too far from the Va
tican. We were about two blocks from St. Peter's Square and the Basilica. The first day we walked up there and toured the basilica. We arrived just in time for the Saturday night vigil mass. Being Catholics, we sat right down for mass in St. Peter's. I can't describe what an incredible feeling it was to listen to mass being said in Itaian in such an awe inspiring place.
The next morning we toured the San Angelo Castle, which was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and is now a museum. Then we headed over to Piazzo Navona and then the Pantheon. I loved the Pantheon. It's amazing to turn a corner in Rome and stumble on something that's been there for 2000 years.
Ne
xt we headed to Florence. I have to admit something here. Everyone we knew told us Florence was the best, take an extra day in Florence. We did enjoy Florence but it wasn't in the top two for us. We climbed to the top of the Duomo, which included a catwalk inside near the top of the dome. That just about scared me to death.
We took an afternoon trip to Siena, which is a medieval town that still has it's old wall that used to close off the city. It's a picturesque town that has very little traffic (because of the size of the streets) and lots of adorable shops.
Next up was Venice...ah, Venice. We both loved Venice. I've heard people ta
lk about the smell of the canals, rats and garbage. Well, we arrived there when it was over 90 degrees and humid. Neither of us noticed any canal smell, in fact, parts of Florence smelled worst than Venice. Neither of us saw a rat and there was no garbage to speak of. But what a beautiful city. Very tourist-y though. The highlight of Venice was the water taxi to Murano to see the glass shops and glass blowing. I have never seen so many beautiful glass pieces I wanted to take home with me.
We then headed back to Rome and stayed near the Colosseum. My husband h
ad had enough of pasta at this point so we walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for burgers. I'll admit, it was a fantastic burger. But all the food in Italy is good. After our nurishment, we walked to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Yes, I threw a coin in the fountain over my back so I'll return to Rome again someday.
The biggest surprise of this trip was the graffiti. I have been to NYC so many times I can't count, I used to live outside of Phili and yet, I have never seen so much graffiti as in Italy. Still, this trip was by far my favorite vacation. Good food, good company and tired feet. It doesn't get any better than that.
So tell me about your favorite vacation. We did you go? What did you see? Or maybe it was doing nothing at the beach for a week. Tell us all about it. Or tell me the biggest surprise of your trip.
tican. We were about two blocks from St. Peter's Square and the Basilica. The first day we walked up there and toured the basilica. We arrived just in time for the Saturday night vigil mass. Being Catholics, we sat right down for mass in St. Peter's. I can't describe what an incredible feeling it was to listen to mass being said in Itaian in such an awe inspiring place.The next morning we toured the San Angelo Castle, which was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and is now a museum. Then we headed over to Piazzo Navona and then the Pantheon. I loved the Pantheon. It's amazing to turn a corner in Rome and stumble on something that's been there for 2000 years.
Ne
xt we headed to Florence. I have to admit something here. Everyone we knew told us Florence was the best, take an extra day in Florence. We did enjoy Florence but it wasn't in the top two for us. We climbed to the top of the Duomo, which included a catwalk inside near the top of the dome. That just about scared me to death.We took an afternoon trip to Siena, which is a medieval town that still has it's old wall that used to close off the city. It's a picturesque town that has very little traffic (because of the size of the streets) and lots of adorable shops.
Next up was Venice...ah, Venice. We both loved Venice. I've heard people ta
lk about the smell of the canals, rats and garbage. Well, we arrived there when it was over 90 degrees and humid. Neither of us noticed any canal smell, in fact, parts of Florence smelled worst than Venice. Neither of us saw a rat and there was no garbage to speak of. But what a beautiful city. Very tourist-y though. The highlight of Venice was the water taxi to Murano to see the glass shops and glass blowing. I have never seen so many beautiful glass pieces I wanted to take home with me.
We then headed back to Rome and stayed near the Colosseum. My husband h
ad had enough of pasta at this point so we walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for burgers. I'll admit, it was a fantastic burger. But all the food in Italy is good. After our nurishment, we walked to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Yes, I threw a coin in the fountain over my back so I'll return to Rome again someday.The biggest surprise of this trip was the graffiti. I have been to NYC so many times I can't count, I used to live outside of Phili and yet, I have never seen so much graffiti as in Italy. Still, this trip was by far my favorite vacation. Good food, good company and tired feet. It doesn't get any better than that.
So tell me about your favorite vacation. We did you go? What did you see? Or maybe it was doing nothing at the beach for a week. Tell us all about it. Or tell me the biggest surprise of your trip.
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