Venice, May 31st

We woke up this morning at 7:30 because my parents wanted to get an early start. Well it was more my Mom wanted to get an early start, my Dad wanted to sleep in! Anyhow we met up with them downstairs for a breakfast buffet around 8. The buffet was delicious! We came up to the rooms to get stuff for the day and then we were off to San Marco’s square again! Bryan took a nap along the way. We got to San Marco’s square and realized that the lines for both the Basilica San Marco and the Doge’s Palace were very long! So we started off by walking to the Scula Grande of Saint Roch. They had some amazing painting by this famous Venetian painter. After that we wandered around some shops and got some trinkets. After that we sat down for some wonderful lunch. The food here is amazing! Italy has the best food by far! After lunch we stepped into the Basilica San Marco and saw the golden ceilings and the famous Pala d’Oro which is this dazzling jewel encrusted gold screen. It has all real gems and stones, I mean it was amazing! After that we were off to Doge’s Palace, which is where the Royalty lived in Venice from 697 to 1797. The apartments were typical for a Royal Palace, but Italians were known for their mapmaking skills, and the maps in the Palace were amazingly accurate! The other fun thing about the Palace was that we got to go to the armory which Bryan loved and the prison! We got to walk across the famous Bridge of the Sighs that is where the prisons take their last look at freedom before going to their cells to live out their sentence! Since we had been touring around the island from 9-5pm we were tired and headed back to the hotel to rest up before dinner! Dinner we went to this little local restaurant and had some amazing brushetta! Well now its time for bed! Goodnight!

bry sleeping

my parents

Bry took a nap on the way there
this is the famous Venice Bridge

us on the famous bridge
this was this dog sitting in the window, he looked fake!

San Marco's square
the courtyard in the Palace
the golden staircase in the Palace

Travel to Venice, May 30th

Today we left Rome and headed for Venice! We caught a taxi to the Rome train station and got some fresh orange juice and croissants for breakfast! The orange juice over here is just amazing! They squeeze it fresh from European oranges and it is just to die for! Anyhow then we got onto our train and we were off to Venice! Four hours later we arrived and quickly made our way over to the water bus area and waited for a bus to Lido which is the island that our hotel is on. It toke an hour to get to Lido because we stopped every 5 minutes at a bus stop! Once we got there we got a regular taxi that drove us to our hotel and we met up with my parents! After we unloaded our bags in our room we were off to the water shuttle area of our hotel. We shuttled over to San Marco’s square and took some pictures and I enjoyed chasing some pigeons around! Then we were off to dinner! We ate at this lovely restaurant and had to typical Italian appetizer which is called Caprese! It’s mozzarella cheese with tomatoes. It sounds boring and plain and the states try to imitate it but its so good here! The mozzarella is soft and the tomatoes are covered in olive oil and vinegar and it’s delicious! Anyhow after dinner we ventured around the streets and got some gelato and decided we had to go on a gondola ride through the canals at night. It was really beautiful and the gondolier did such a good job of not hitting anything. I mean the canals are small and wow he was good! Anyhow then we took a water shuttle back to the hotel and now it’s off to bed! Goodnite!

our hotel The Westin Excelsior in Venice Lido

where the water shuttle picked us up at the hotel

the bridge is the bridge that prisons cross to thier cells
bry and I in San Marco's square

my parents in San Marco's square

leaning tower of venice

bry and I on the gondola
me and my momma

Rome, our last day here, May 29th

So this morning we had our alarm set for 730 am again, and when I got up I noticed that it was overcast. I checked the weather report and saw that is was not going to be hot today, and it was actually suppose to be rainy. So we decided to go back to sleep for a little while. The weather was supposed to clear by late afternoon. So we went out for some lunch and decided to do a little bit of shopping in the rain. We stopped by this suit place and got Bry a three piece suit! It was soooooo nice! But then it really started raining and we didn’t want to get the suit wet so we decided to come back to the hotel and wait out the storm. We came back and within an hour or so it was sunny and warm again. So we went out and visited the Trevi Fountain and did some more shopping. We discussed how much we love Italy, and if we are to come back this is where we would spend most of our time! After shopping we ate some dinner at a nice street restaurant. I wanted to get some hot chocolate on the way home so we stopped in and got some along with some sorbet! Today was the icing on the cake for our Rome visit! We loved every minute we were here and can’t wait to see what Venice is going to be like tomorrow! Ciao! Goodnite!

Trevi fountain

this lookes just like our friend Dave grabbing the horse by the ear and blowing his seashell... so funny!
we are sad that we are leaving Rome, we loved it here!
our green hotel room, we had a balcony too, but all of our laundry is currently drying on it so no picture for you!

Rome, May 28th

So Flaminia suggested that we get up and see Rome before it gets too hot. So we got up around 730 so that we could get an early start. We headed off to the Pantheon again so that we could get there when there wasn’t a huge crowd like yesterday. We stopped at a café bar and got some hot chocolate and croissants and sat at the window tables and enjoyed the bustling Roman streets. Then we were off to the Pantheon! When we got there we noticed again an Egyptian obelisk surrounded by a fountain out front. We read our guidebook and found out that the fountain was front 1575 and the obelisk was front 1711. We also read in our guidebook about Rapheal’s tomb is in the Pantheon along with two Italy kings as well. After the Pantheon we were set on visiting the Roman Forum but on our way we came across the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Flaminia told us yesterday that to the Romans it is called the wedding cake and they hate it! It was rather huge, but we enjoyed the views. Alongside the tomb of the Unknown Soldier are remains of Imperial Forum which was around in 72 AD (I think that is what it said on the sign, not sure). After that we were off the Foro Romano and the Palatine Hill. We walked around for what seemed like hours because it was so hot! After that we decided it was getting way to hot so we headed back to the hotel. We decided we couldn’t go back hungry so we stopped and got some brushetta! The food here is wonderful, we love it! After lunch we came back to the hotel and went swimming, exercised, and relaxed until dinnertime. Then we were off to dinner! We ate at this wonderful little street café. Now we are back home and getting ready for bed! Goodnite!

The Pantheon

the obelisk and fountain in front
one of the kings tombs
Rapheal's tomb

this is the "wedding cake"

view of the imperial forum
another view, you can see they are getting the seats set up here for independence day or some festival (June 2nd), I can't remember which it is, Flaminia told me what they were setting up for but I forgot :( sorryyy

you can see the colloseum
more imperial forum
this is the wedding cake, the right side is facing the street and the left is more away from the smog. Look at the difference! I mean this is shadow, this is black dirty smog that has stained most to all of the building here in Italy, as well as in most of the places we have been in Europe! I mean the fuel exhaust here is horrible!

Foro Romano

believe it or not this is a bathhouse!

it was so hot, that is why I am so squinty


bry on the spanish steps on our way back to the hotel!