A Beautiful Italian Street

Amazing! Wonderful! Life Changing! Adventurous! Educational! SOOOOOO MUCH STINKIN' Fun! are only a few of the millions of words I could use to describe the trip to Europe Adam and I just returned from! My Christmas present this year from Adam was a trip to Europe! For years we have talked about going to Italy and though I've wanted to go, I always thought it was something we'd do later in life or with other people! I was wrong on both accounts as Adam presented me, Christmas morning, with the Itinerary of our first trip to Europe, with airline tickets for TWO, departing in April of THIS year. I was stunned at how secretly he pulled off all the planning and surprised me with hotel and airline reservations! April seemed so far away as I read through the itinerary and now, all of a sudden, we're already home! It was a trip we will never forget with many, amazing memories of our first European adventure!

To say I was nervous about going, just the two of us, is an understatement. Neither of us have ever been outside the US or Canada (well, Adam has been to Tijuana , we don't speak any foreign languages and the thought of the two of us surrounded by strangers who we can't communicate with absolutely terrified me. Of course after about the first 2 hours in Germany I realized how silly it was for me to be scared. Every where we went, and every one we met, was so nice, helpful and kind. I could go on for hours, and actually, probably will, talking about our trip. I'll try just to give the highlights but for us every part of the trip was a highlight! I hope you don't get bored! If nothing else, reading this will either help you revel in your own memories of similar vacations or dream about the day when you go yourself!

Day 1.
We flew directly from Denver to Munich, Germany on Air Lufthansa, which for the record was fabulous! Thanks to mom and dad and their "gift" to us before we left, we were able to sleep for about 5 or 6 hours of the 10 hour flight! When we landed it was 7:55am Thursday morning, Munich time (11:55 pm Wednesday night, Denver time). We took the advice of many seasoned travellers and hit the ground running. After dropping our bags at our hotel, we asked directions to the U-bahn (underground subway) and S-bahn (above ground train) and headed off to visit Dachau- the first Nazi Concentration camp from WWII. We were amazed at the efficiency of the public transportation in Germany. Trains coming and going on time, people going every which way and direction, transferring platforms and trains like nothing we'd ever seen before. It was amazing to see!

The Sign marking the S-Bahn and U-Bahn Train Stations

One subway, one train and one bus later we arrived in Dachau, picked up an audio tour guide and headed off to see this reverent memorial. We both were amazed by how huge the camp was. At one time there were over 45 000 prisoners in the camp living in terrible conditions. One thing that was interesting to us was to see how many teenagers were visiting the camp. TONS of school field trips of German Teenagers. Obviously WWII is a huge part of their history so it was cool to see these kids learning about it.

Listening to the Audio guided tour

The Crematorium

Adam in front of the ditch. If you look behind him you see a tower where the shooters would shoot anyone who set foot on the green grass.

After Dachau we took the bus back to the train and went back to check into our hotel. Adam was having a hard time staying awake on the train so while he slept I watched this little boy play with his Spider man motorcycle. He was about 5 years old and his mom was playing with him. It was adorable to watch and see that boys will be boys wherever they are in the world! I am certain that Garett and this little boy would have hit it off perfectly, even though the only word they would have been able to understand with each other was SPIDER MAN!

Our next stop was the Marienplatz or main town center of Munich! WOW!! is the best word to describe how we felt when we walked up from the the underground! The buildings were beautiful, old, amazing! We wondered around for awhile and then found the meeting place for MIKE's BIKE tours-a tour company we had been referred to by a friend. Unfortunately Adam and I and a mother and her 10 year old son were the only people who showed up so the guide wouldn't do the tour for us! We were a bit bummed but thought we'll just walk around and follow our guide book suggestions (Rick Steves guide books, by the way, are our TRAVEL BIBLES, more on this later!) As we wondered away, this guy from Ireland, "Steve-O", who was riding a bike that had a covered seat for two in the front, approached us. Previously he had helped us while we were searching for the meeting point for the bike tour. He told us he used to work for Mike's Bikes and would be happy to show us around on his bike! He was soooo cool and showed us some amazing places around the town square! It started to rain and we were dry and covered while he did all the work and got soaked! We learned a ton about the city from him and saw some great sights!

The New Town Center

Steve-O, our tour guide in Munich

A Beautiful Church

After a little shopping in the Marienplatz

That night we stopped at a small, delicious restaurant for dinner and then headed down to the underground to head back to our hotel. It was about 8:00 and we were exhausted! Our goal was to stay up until then so we were happy with ourselves for making it through the day. While we waited on the platform for our train, the train to the Olympic Park arrived. Though we were tired we both really wanted to go to the site of the 1972 games. We thought, "what the heck, let's do it" so we jumped on the train and headed out to the park. It was AMAZING!! The park is huge and beautiful. We peaked inside the Olympic Swimming and Diving pools, saw the large arena and hiked up to the top of this man made hill that overlooks all of Munich, in every direction! It was such a peaceful evening, the weather was a bit cool but not cold and we reveled in the fact that we were standing on the top of a hill on the other side of the world from where we had started 24 hours before!

On our way back to the train to go to our hotel we passed by the BMW museum. It was still open so we popped in to check out some gorgeous shiny new "Beamers"! Very cool!

Olympic Park

The Lake at Olympic Park

The top of the man made hill at Olympic Park

The BMW Headquarters

Day 2.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Day 2 started with lots and lots and lots of rain! Our plans were taking us out of Munich so with hope that the skies would lighten up, we headed out to find Munich's main train station where we were to meet up with our tour group. We were heading out to a town called Fussen where there is a huge castle, built in the 1800's and is the castle that Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland was inspired from. After finding the station and then getting lost while trying to find our meeting point, we finally were on our way, by train to the castle. The whole getting lost thing gave me a HUGE understanding of how the people on The Amazing Race must feel when they get lost...and I wasn't even playing for a million bucks! Anyway, the train ride was about 2 hours and our group had 16 people in it. It was beautiful to travel through the German Country side and catch a glimpse of the German Alps. All the people in our group were so nice and I especially enjoyed not getting stared at by the people sitting next to me. Instead, I was able to talk to them. Yippee!! It was really cool to find out that of the 16 people in our group 6 of us were LDS. The other 4 were a husband/wife from NY and two girlfriends from Arizona. None of knew each other before they met on the tour either. How crazy is that?

Our LDS Friends

When we arrived in Fussen we met our Tour Guide/Magician (I'm serious, he's a magician, a member of the "Circle of Magic", a prestigious Magician group). He got us onto the bus that would take us up to the castle! By the time we got off the bus the raining had stopped and after eating lunch Brad gave us the option of hiking up to the castle or taking the bus. Adam and I opted for the hike! It was soooooo beautiful! With the sun breaking through the clouds over the lake and valley, the scenery was breath taking! My favorite part of the hike was going across the little bridge that overlooks the castle. Below the bridge is this raging river/waterfall coming out of the mountain! Literally breathtaking! We were able to take of tour of the Castle (have I mentioned the castle is called Nueschwanstein Castle?) and then hike back down. The Castle itself was amazing! The architecture, the design, the rooms...amazing! The castle belonged to one of the Bavarian Kings, King Ludwig and after it was completed he only lived there for a few months before he mysteriously died! Very cool story but you'll have to take the tour to learn about it cause it will take to long to tell. Anyway, just 6 weeks after his death they opened the castle to the public and it has been a tourist attraction ever since. All this happened in the 1800s. Crazy!

Scene from the Castle

Us on the hike to the castle

Us standing on the bridge that overlooks the castle

A Veiw of the Castle from the Bridge

One of the girls we met on the tour. She reminded me SOOOOO much of my cousin Bonnie. Not only did she look like her, she sounded like her too!

Our Tour Guide Brad

Brad after showing us some cool card tricks!

After the tour we watched Brad do some REALLY REALLY amazing magic tricks and then jumped on the train back to Munich! We were both totally exhausted so after showing our new friends a few of the cool sights we'd seen the day before we headed back to our hotel, ate dinner in the restaurant at the hotel and crashed!! As a little side note, when you eat dinner at a restaurant in Munich (and Italy for that matter) it is an ALL night ordeal. I think we started dinner at 7:45 and didn't get back to our room till almost 11:00. the crazy thing is you're not even eating that much food. They just take forever bringing it to you, taking it away and bringing your check!

Adam pretending to fall asleep while we waited for our dessert. It took 45 minutes for them to bring it to us. It was a brownie sundae...did they make if from scratch while we waited?

Day 3. Florence Italy.

Santa Maria Novella and the Duomo

We woke up in Munich to a BEAUTIFUL, sunny warm day. Our taxi driver was soooo excited to drive us to the airport because we got to drive on the Autobahn where there was NO speed limit. He said when it rains or is foggy there is a speed limit but sunny clear days you can go as fast as you want! I think we hit 150 KM/hr at one point. Maybe even faster!

Arriving in Florence was amazing! Flying in over the Tuscany was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. Lush, green fields and beautiful Tuscan homes were everywhere. We landed and headed into the heart of Florence to check into our hotel. This hotel was the only one on our trip that was not a Marriott (we used points for our trip but there is not a Marriott in Florence)! We were a little nervous about the hotel we were to stay at. Adam didn't tell me this before we got there but he'd read a review AFTER he had booked the hotel that said how terrible it was! It was supposed to be a 4 star so we were interested to see what it was like. Honestly, it wasn't too bad but did make for some fun jokes. The rooms were old, there was no air conditioning, there was no screen on the window and if you laid on the bed in the wrong place it would dip and tip you onto the floor! We got the giggles quite a few times over our hotel but by the time we left two days later, we realized we'd grown quite accustom to it. It was called the Grand Majestic Hotel but Adam and I refer to it as the NOT SO Majestic Hotel! It did have a FABULOUS location, a block from the train station and walking distance to EVERYTHING in Florence!

Our NOT SO MAJESTIC HOTEL

After checking in we headed out to walk around. We saw the Duomo, Medici Chapels, some great shops, and the Accadamia where we had reservations to go in and see the David! Words cannot describe how both of us felt as we walked around the museum and turned the corner to see the David standing at the end of the long gallery. It literally took our breath away to see this massive, beautiful sculpture that we had only ever seen in pictures! To be there was surreal, and real, all at the same time!

Our first taste of Gelato! One taste and we were HOOKED!!

Me outside the Accadamia after seeing the David

Checking our email at an Internet Cafe

One of the many busy streets in Florence

We left the Accadamia and continued exploring through the streets of Florence. We did some "musts" when you travel by going to our first Internet Cafe and checking our emails, we tried a McDonalds cheeseburger just to see what McD's tastes like in Europe. All I can say is "the same"! We OF COURSE ate our first of MANY MANY Gelatos and then found a great little restaurant nestled in the heart of the city. While walking through the streets trying to find the restaurant it started getting dark. My nerves, of course, returned and I started to get a little irritable. I was sooooo not looking forward to walking back to our hotel in the dark, winding through these narrow streets. To my surprise, and sheer delight, when we walked out of the restaurant it was as bright as the middle of the day because every street had TONS of lights. We were never in the dark and again i realized how silly I'd been to worry about travelling in Europe!

Diet Coke: AKA in Europe as Coke Light. Tastes different but still satisfying

McDonald's Cheeseburger: tastes exactly the same\

The first of many Pizza's Adam would eat in Italy. This one was actually the worst of all the ones he had.

DAY 4.
Before leaving on our trip I did some research on tours and guides and different things. I wanted our trip to be planned and organized so we wouldn't waste time. Anyway, I found a tour company that would pick us up at our hotel and take us on a private tour through the Tuscany and out to a little town called Lucca and then on to Pisa for the Leaning Tower! Our guides name was Giuseppe! He was AWESOME!!! When you think of an Italian you are thinking of him. His accent, his look, everything. It was sooooo much fun to have his show us around. He took us to a little town called Monte Catini, right in the midst of the Tuscan countryside. He said it was a quiet little town that not many tourists know about! It was amazing. There was a serenity about the town that made us both want to come back and stay. While in Monte Catini Gueseppe took us to a "SPA". We thing he met "Spring" but basically it was this beautiful park that had some old fountains all over with water coming out. He said the water came from different "Spas" (again we think "Springs") and doctors from around the world would sent patients their to drink water to be healed. Very cool!

Fountain of Healing Water

From Monte Catinini, Giuseppe drove us to Lucca. A cool old town that at one time had over 100 churches with bells. We fell in love with Lucca. From all the old churches to the fun little trattorias and cafe's.

LOVE this picture. Very "Italy"

View from a window as we climbed the tower of a church in Lucca.

A View from the top and one of MANY self portraits!

A look over the town

The tower we climbed from the ground looking up.

Adam taking a drink from a fountain. They have fountains with drinking water all around Tuscany. I was too chicken to drink the water but Adam said it was really good, and cold.

The Fountain

Grabbing some lunch at a quiet little cafe in Lucca! We loved these cafes.

Next was Pisa. Visiting Pisa was completely surreal for us! It truly was awesome to be standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We kept saying to eachother "We're at the leaning tower of Pisa!" So wierd to see something that you have only ever seen on TV or in pics. It was actually taller and wider than I imagined it.

Looking at Pisa as we drove in. You can see the tower in the picture.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Church next to the Tower

Cheesy, we know, but we had to do it!

On our way home from Pisa, Guiseppe drove by way of the back roads right through the heart of the Tuscany vineyards. It was BEAUTIFUL. We took some pictures but they don't come anywhere near doing it justice. Just something you have to see for yourself to truly appreciate it.

The Tuscany
A Beautiful Tuscan Home

Once we got back to our Hotel, we decided we'd better go over to the train station to check the schedule and buy our tickets. Also to get a feel for how the whole train system works since we've never done it. Of course, it was completely organized and efficient and easy to figure out. While we were standing in line to buy our seat reservations this man came up and stood RIGHT beside me. He wasn't really in line or anything, just standing there. He was holding a little kids hand and as the line would move, he would move with me. Finally I turned around and stared him STRAIGHT in the eyes. He didn't even blink. I tried to step away from him, but he just stepped closer to me. Again I turned around and stared at him, eye to eye and he didn't even flinch. Finally, after a few more minutes he and the little boy walked away. I looked at Adam and said "that was weird". He agreed and then it hit me. The train station is the place where pic pockets hang out (according to my trusty Rick Steves guide book). My sister in law Nicole had told me they use children and babies to help distract and do the picking. I said to Adam, "I think that guy was the decoy and the kid was the one trying to pick pocket me. Why else would he walk right up to me, invade my personal space, not even flinch when I try to stare him down, and then walk away without buying a ticket. Although the whole thing sounds a bit far fetched and even creepy, I am convinced the guy was a pic pocket. I am also convinced that my new over the shoulder "anti theft" purse was the key to my successful avoidance of being pick pocketed. The purse is awesome and even the slyest of theives would not have been able to pic it. It had a locked zipper, a wire mesh lining so it could be cut with a knife and the best part, it fit all my stuff! After we figured out that the guy was probably a pick pocket, I was totally giddy! We didn't get pick pocketed and my purse saved me!! Yeah!!

After we got our tickets, we cleaned up at the hotel and headed out for another yummy dinner! The place we ate was PHENOMENAL. It was called ZaZa's and had been recommended to us by both Guiseppe and Rick Steves. We ate outside under the canopy as the streets darkened all around us. It was so romantic and the food was SOOOOOOO good. I had some sort of pasta with "Truffle" sauce. TO. DIE. FOR.!!! So good. Adam's was delicious too. Instead of desert we opted for some Gelato (of course we did) on our way back to the hotel. Another Fantastic European day!

Day 5.
This day was another day of adventure! We started out at the Medici Chapels. I was soooo looking forward to it because I had read a book that was loosely based on the Medici Family and was set in Florence. The chapel was beautiful but the coolest part was the room where the Medici Family tombs are. Each tomb is topped with a statue that was either completely or mostly sculpted by Michaelangelo but even more significant was that the room itself was, at one time, Michaelangelo's studio. One wall even has faint sketches on it, beleived to have been drawn by the great artist. The wall is covered with a glass covering to help preserve the drawings. When we came out of the chapel we headed off to find the Ponte Vecchio. It's a famous bridge that stretches across Arno River. Just walking along, shopping a little, taking pictures and enjoying the ambience of being in Italy was magical. We crossed the bridge and found a fabulous restaurant on the other side. The location was fabulous and the table the sat us down at was even better. It was the corner table that overlooked the Arno and the Bridge. Another romantic spot and more fabulous food!

The Medici Chapels

Walkway next to the Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio

This boat was parked under the bridge.

Our favorite restaurant of the whole trip!

When we were finished eating lunch we grabbed another Gelato and headed to our hotel, grabbed our bags, checked out and headed for the train station. When we got on the train we were both, again impressed with how efficient the whole experience was. It was a smooth ride with a few stops as we headed towards Venice. We called the kids to tell them we were on a real train just like in Harry Potter to which Garett replied "Except that Harry Potter is in England and YOU are in Italy". Right you are G-Man, right you are!

Once we arrived at our Hotel we jumped on the bus and headed to Venice (our hotel was by the airport, not actually IN Venice). Our Rick Steves told us to "get lost in Venice" the first day there. He said that you can't really get lost because it's an island and eventually you'll get to the water. I have to say that you actually can get lost in Venice. The streets are all so narrow and they all look the same that you could truely get lost just walking in circles. The reason I know that is because we did get lost (sort of :-). We walked around for quite a while but didn't really have any idea where we even wanted to go so it wasn't like we were legitimately lost. Anyway, being there, walking the streets, crossing the bridges, seeing the gondolas was another surreal experience. We ate dinner, found a gelato shop (just so you know, ate gelato an average of 2 times a day, and I'm not kidding!), and made our way to the famous Rialto Bridge that crosses the Grand Canal. It was dark by the time we got the bridge and it was BEAUTIFUL. The lights of the restaurants and buildings were reflecting off the water and the sounds of people talking, silverware clinking against plates and the cool, crisp evening air made us feel like we were in a movie. We couldn't wait to see it all in the day time.

There is a little kid on a scooter down the alley.

A bridge overlooking the water way in Venice

A typical view down a waterway

A view from the Rialto Bridge

Day 6.
We woke up on day 6 to rain. Up to that point we'd had fabulous weather in Italy but we knew that with our history of weather on vacation the sun would last long. Luckily neither did the rain. We headed into Venice around 10 am and walked around the rainy streets while making our way to San Marco Square where we met up with a tour group. Our guide's name was Frederika and did she ever know a lot about Venetian history. The rain stopped just as the tour started so we were able to really enjoy all the sights, sounds and stories about Venice. On the tour we went through Saint Mark's Bassilica where the Apostle Mark's remains our buried. The church was breath taking and extreme in its architecture and decor, but there was a feeling of reverence as we walked past the area where Mark, a man who knew and walked with Christ, was laid to rest.

St. Peters

Beautiful Mosaic at the entrance of Saint Mark's

Frederika, our Tour Guide

Frederika continued the tour through some fun side streets and along some water ways giving us a lesson in Venetian language compared to Italian. It was very interesting as we realized that Venetians are NOT Italian even though they are part of Italy.

The Bridge of Sighs

Another Gorgeous Church

Our next stop after the tour was a fun restaurant along the Grande Canal, a little shopping and of course a GONDOLA ride. Our Gondolier's name was Alex and he talked with the coolest accent "exusa mi pleese". We wanted to go back to St. Mark's Square to feed the pigeons so after our Gondola ride we bobbed and weaved through the small streets to find the Square. Feeding the pigeons was so funny! Note our faces in the pictures. We're trying to smile as pigeons are surrounding us but both of us were a little freaked out by all the birds, their smell and poop. Luckily we weren't pooped on, which seems miraculous to me considering how many birds there were. It was so fun to do it though. A definite must when visiting Venice!

The Gondola

Our Gondalier

St. Mark's Square looking at the Cathedral

Here come the pigeons

They are on my arm!!!

Now they are eating from Adam's hand

Standing Strong with the Pigeons

San Giorgio across the Canal

Self Timer's are a beautiful thing

Day 7.
At this point we couldn't believe we were already on our way to Rome. Didn't we just arrive in Italy? Though each day went by filled with lots to do, it didn't seem like it was passing too quickly until we were on our way to Rome. Our last stop. We boarded the train around 10:30 in the morning for a 5 hour train ride. When we arrived in Rome we were again caught up in how surreal it was to be there. Our taxi ride from the train station to our hotel took us by the Colliseum and Ancient Rome which made both of us stare in wonder at the majesty of the old structure. Our hotel was out close to the airport. By the time we got there, checked in, unpacked a little my back had tightened up to the point that I couldn't stand up straight or walk normally. We couldn't figure out what I had done to hurt it but decided to just stick around the hotel for the evening instead of explore Rome. We went to the Spa, sat in the hot tub (or warm tub rather), relaxed in the steam rooms and then had a couples massage. After some pampering we dressed up a little and had dinner at the nice hotel restaurant. It was nice to have a "day off" from walking around and sight seeing.

"Rush Hour" on the Grand Canal

My Strong Man! Those suitcases were not light and there were TONS of stairs to carry them up and down!

Waiting for the Train!

Happy to be sitting on the Train ready to go!

Waiting for the departure

The Eurostar Train. Looks like a Bullet!

Our Date Night staying at the Hotel

Day 8.
Since it was the 1st of May and a National Holiday in Roma, most "touristy" things in Rome were closed. No Vatican, no colliseum, etc. Instead of sitting around we went into the city to explore. There is really is soooo much to do and see in Rome that we had no problem finding things to do. The Castle Sant'Angelo ( I think that's how it is spelled) was open so walked through it. It was built in 118 AD or something like that. Remarkable! We rode the double decker bus over to the Bourgese Park and spent most of the day walking through the park. It is huge and is to the Romans what Central Park is to New Yorkers. There were children, parents, grandparents, and dogs every where. We found the Bourgese Museum which everyon told us we MUST visit. To our dismay it was closed! We peaked in the windows and took pictures of the outside. Just something to do on our next trip to Rome! It was fun watching all the people around us as they were all so happy and enjoying the day off. One thing that I learned on this day of exploring is that RICK STEVES is the ONLY way to travel. When I bought my travel guide books for this trip, they were sold out of Rick Steves Munich and Rome. In Munich it didn't bother me because I didn't know the difference and thought my guide book for Munich was just fine. But after Florence and Venice with our buddy Rick, I couldn't believe the difference. While trying to make our way using the non Rick guide book, I decided that I will never travel without Rick again. His books tell you EVERYTHING you need to know. The good restaurants, the quick tricks for avoiding crowds and directions and maps to getting around. Trust me, if you go to Europe, take Rick Steve's with you! Anyway, my back was still extremely sore and after walking around for most of the day, getting lost a few times, and me being a "little" cranky because of it, we were ready to head back to the hotel. The night before we had noticed that the hotel restaurant had Cheeseburgers on the menu. After a week of eating pasta we were both CRAVING something that wasn't pasta. The cheeseburger sounded perfect so we went back to the hotel, ordered room service and stayed up late watching soccer on TV. We got quite into watching the Soccer games. The announcers were all speaking Italian but after a few minutes it was almost like we could understand them.

Castle Sant' Angelo

View of St. Peter's Bassilica

Self Portrait. The Vatican's in the background

My Hot Husband

A cute family in the park playing games. The kids were so cute as the guy in the blue shirt chased them around. It was adorable!

The walkway through the Bourgese Park

Buorgese Museum (closed :-( )

Riding the Double Decker Bus around Rome

A view of the Ancient City

Day 9.
Our last day was here and we couldn't believe it! We still had so much to do and see. We were up early to get on the bus into the city to meet our tour guide at the Vatican. As the bus pulled up to the Vatican we could not believe the number of people that were lined up outside. It was seriously a see of people stretching down the streets, around the corners and going on FOREVER!! Since we had a tour scheduled we didn't have to wait in any lines at all!!! We met our guide and walked right in. To get in though, we had to go through two security lines, pick up headphones, fight the crowds to get up the escalators but finally we were in. Our tour guide was a really nice Italian lady named Flavia. She told us some really interesting things about the Catholic church, the different Popes, the art work in the Vatican, etc. We were both struck by how, to the Italians, and specifically to the Romans, the Catholic church is THE church. Everything they do is influenced by the church. Quite amazing to think that and then to think of those who left the church to start their own churches centuries ago! Visiting the Sistene Chapel was amazing. The artwork alone is breath taking and beautiful. Of the huge paintings in the Chapel, my favorite is one where Christ is handing a set of keys to Peter, symbolizing the passing of the keys of the Priesthood to Peter. A beautiful portrayal. St. Peters Bassilica was also magnificent! The artwork, the sculptures, the architecture...all were like nothing I'd ever seen before!

Walking through the Vatican

Amazing Architecture

Outside St Peter's. The apartment Just above my head and set back is where the Pope lives!

After our Vatican tour ended we quickly had to make our way to the Colleseum. We ate a quick lunch at a WAY over priced cafe and then met our tour for the afternoon. We, again walked right to the front of the line to get into the Colleseum and then enjoyed an afternoon walking around the 2000 year old World Wonder. To be standing in a structure that was build so long ago is a humbling experience. To think of all the people who have stood where I was standing was too much to take in. To imagine it in the day when it was used for Gladiators and entertaining was awesome! Adam and I kept saying that we'd love to just get a glimpse of what it was like 2000 years ago. Our tour also included visiting the ruins of the Ancient City. Again we commented on how cool it would be to see the city when it was in its glory. How the world has changed since then. We really have no idea!

Colliseum

Eating Lunch across the street from the Colliseum

Inside the Colliseum

Will he live or die?

Anciet City Ruins

Talking to the Kids!

Where Ceasar was cremated

Being that it was our last day in Rome, there were still a few things we wanted to see. We skipped out on the last 1/2 hour of our tour and decided we would try to walk to the sites we wanted to visit. On the top of our list of things we still wanted to see was the Trevi Fountain. We weren't really sure how far it was to walk but decided we'd have a truer "Roman" experience if we walked so, with map in hand, off we went. Without any problems we walked for about 30 minutes directly to it . The fountain a magnificent site right in the middle of Rome. Surrounded by shops and restaurants and tiny streets, it is a beautiful and a fun part of the Rome experience. After snapping a few photos of the fountain, grabbing some gelato, we were off again to find the Pantheon. Map in hand, we followed the streets and were there within 20 minutes. Another amazing and OLD building! After looking around for a while we headed off to find somewhere to eat dinner. We stumbled into the Piazza Navona which had a bunch of cool restaurants and street entertainers. The fountains in the middle of the Piazza were being restored so we weren't able to get a good look at them but they looked pretty cool from the pictures plastered to the barricades! Our last dinner in Europe was pretty good (not our best but not our worst). And of course, afterwards we had to stop for more gelato! We walked around for about an hour just exploring the tiny, beautiful, quaint streets. We passed some fabulous looking restaurants and wished we had found those places before choosing where to have dinner. We learned that the "touristy" areas don't necessarily have the best restaurants, but that usually the best food is found off the beaten path. We know for next time!

Trevi Fountain

Right before we threw a coin over or shoulders

Thought this would be our last Gelato (NOPE! :-)

The Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

The Piazza where we ate dinner!

While eating our gelato, we made our way back to where the bus would pick us up. We were both a little sad that our long awaited trip was ending, but as we strolled across the bridge and along the river, we talked about all the amazing, fun, educational and adventurous experiences we'd had over the past 9 days. We absolutely LOVED every part of our trip!

Day 10.
Our day started at 4:30 in the morning as we headed to the airport to go home. It was bittersweet as we were both so happy about all we'd done in the past week and a half but were both ready to be home with the kids. We flew to Munich and connected to a flight that brought us directly home. We were able to sleep much of the way home so the transition and time change didn't seem too bad!

Sad we're leaving...
But it's okay, we get to see our kids and we'll DEFINITELY be coming back someday!

We need to give an ENORMOUS shout out to Laura, Kevin, Papa and Grandma and tell them THANK YOU for taking such good care of our babies. It was so comforting to call home and hear the kids' happy, cheerful voices on the other end of the line. Knowing they were being taken care of and loved allowed us to have as much fun as possible with no worries about them. Thank you! We love you so much!

Since returning home we have thought about, talked about, reminisced about every part of the trip. One thing that struck Adam and he shared with me was that we were together 24/7 for 9 days straight and we hadn't been together, uninterrupted, with no kids, friends or family, work, school, etc. for that many days in a row EVER! We couldn't beleive how much fun we'd had just being TOGETHER! Initially I was worried about going to Europe by ourselves. Not because I was worried about us being together the whole time, but because I was scared to go it alone, with neither of us having any experience travelling outside the US/Canada. Looking back on the week I wouldn't change that for ANYTHING!! I am so proud of us. We did everything that WE wanted to. We explored, we planned, we were spontaneous, we got lost, we got found, we ate good food, we saw amazing sights, and we loved every minute of being together. From this trip we learned a lot about ourselves but more than anything we learned that not only do we love eachother, but we still, after almost 13 years of marriage, really LIKE eachother! Whew, it's a good thing, right? :-)

Can't wait to go back....

With all that I've written about this trip, I still don't feel like I've adequately described how amazing the trip was. It was Adam's idea and I'm sooooooo grateful to him for giving me such a life changing and memorable Christmas gift! The only bad part about this gift is that now I'm absolutely HOOKED on Europe and can't wait til we get to go back. Hmmmm, France, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Greece....the list is endless. The problem: which one to we go to next? and when do we go?