Florence

Ironically now proud to be the home of Dante Alighieri. He was kicked out of the city and never returned.

This Cathedral greeted us nearly as soon as we got off the bus.

The Mickey Mouse sign was held by our tour guide.  She was very nice, but didn't really give the best info or tour.

Carlo Collodi is also from Florence.  Pinocchio is in every children's shop.

Lovely aren't they.

Firenze is Florence...why do we change the name?  Why? WHY!?

Dante's home and even his church are landmarks.  

This is the most expensive hotel in Florence I'm told.  It looks like an old water tower...maybe it was.

The front and main entrance to Il Duomo.

What once was the largest dome in the world.

The pictures don't come close to showing how beautiful this actually is.  The dark bits are green, just pretend you can see it.

The main entrance to the baptistery, which is not part of the church.  You must be baptized before you can enter the church.  There are famous doors around the corner that our tour guide failed to show or mention.

I just feel like this little lamb is proud of his flag.

The Not David...which our tour guide also failed to mention.  If I hadn't read up on Florence I might not have been mad about our tour, but I did and I was.

Walking across the Ponte Vecchio.

The view out one side of the bridge.

And the other side.

A very small area to put locks on, but if there is a place to do it it will be done.

The view from the top.

A security light I'm sure, but it looks like corn!

Fake David is in the Piazza della Signoria. There are so many other beautiful statues there.  It was so crowded that I wasn't able to get close pictures.

The Fountain of Neptune.  Though, as Percy Jackson fans, we call him Poseidon.

Its hard to tell but this statue is crazy gorey.  All the gooey bits are hanging out of the decapitated head and body.

Nope, I'm still taller.

These are the beautiful doors of the Baptistery, The Gates of Paradise.

We've been there!

I just wanted to hang out by the water with these people.  The thought of getting back on the bus made me want to cry.

 Off to Pisa We Go!

There it is, all leaning and what not.

Way too sunny for eyes to stay open.

As ornate as the tower is from a distance, it also has randomly scattered reliefs.

Py's favorite part of being in Italy was seeing this everywhere.

The shady side of the tower.

Much better for pictures...except LY had had enough, there would be no smiling.

The tower is actually part of a complex, who knew.

What a great lawn for picnics, Frisbee, and napping.

Farewell Florence and Piza.  Florence I love you, I'll be back.  Pisa, not so much, but I like your tower.

Rome in a day

We didn't have time to see Rome and Vatican City...but by stepping into this shop we were in Vatican City. Perfect.

We had to make sure everyone went in, plus, they had a bathroom.

Off on the bus tour we go.

The Capitoline Wolf, the symbol of Rome.

It was a big day at the Vatican.  The pope's first public appearance after coming back from summer holiday.

The Tiber wasn't much to look at, but I would have jumped off the bridge just to cool off.  It was excruciatingly hot that day.

As with most of Italy, it's covered in beautiful churches.

Ancient Ruins. There is no subway system in Rome because no matter where they dig they hit ruins and artifacts.

An absolutely huge, absolutely, beautiful building, The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II.  However this is where IY began to feel sick, at around 10 in the morning.  

I ALWAYS get left behind because I stop to take pictures.  But these are my favorite pictures.  My family off on another adventure.

A beautiful place for a memorial.

Inside and out were amazing statues.

One of many poses LY did being a statue.  This one depicts his body after defeat in battle.

The Colosseum, so close, yet so far.

The ceilings in this church were better looking than anything else in there.  But don't let me fool you, the entire church was beautiful.

In an attempt to cool off and maybe help IY feel better we got lemon soda.  This is the best soda in the world and the kick ass can didn't hurt either.

The came, they saw, they brought home an obelisk.

Pigeons waiting to get lunch from the locals.

We wouldn't be Youngs if we didn't find and catch lizards on vacation.

Ice cream for the kids, beer for dad, everyone loves snack time.

We made it to the Colosseum.  I would have loved to have taken a tour.

But one day in Rome isn't enough time to even see everything, much less get tours of everything.

More proof that I exist.

We tried to walk to the forum but it was closed off for construction/repair. BOO!

The fountain and obelisk in front of the Pantheon.

The oculus in the Pantheon.  No flash allowed so most of my pictures turned out terribly.

And the front just to prove that we were there.

Crazy saters (or fauns) at Piazza Navona.

BY- let's go see the fountain.
LY- let's see if there is anything to buy

So much going on that I had to take 6-8 pictures to get it all. 

Two examples is enough.

I love that random little things remind me of home.  Found my Dad in a deli.

Castle and Bridge of Angels. All the way down the kids kept shouting about Weeping Angels...we didn't stay long ;)

Fun to look at, but if you did more than glance they wanted money.  I'm not going to pay you for sleeping in the hot HOT sun.

Everyone had to have a sticker for our bus to and from the boat.  The girls put them on their arms.  At the end of the day even poor AY who can't tan to save her life (which will probably save her life) had a nice white patch on her arm.

A giant billboard reminded us of Uncle Tim.

Everything reminded us of AY.  Probably one of the few places where her name wouldn't be unique.

So, that was Rome, in a very short photo essay.  I have hundreds of pictures, however, posting them all would have been beyond overkill.