Italy Day 14

As promised, more pictures of the Piazza of San Marco.  My gut reaction was to run up to everyone who was touching a pigeon and douse them with Purell.  It was only by the second day that I could calm down enough to take a picture. 

Another picture of St. Marc's clocktower.  

The next stop on our trip was a glass blowing factory.  Now this isn't technically venetian glass, because venetian glass is made on the island of Murano. But it was really cool to see this man create a horse in like three minutes.  

isn't this cool?

Now this is the Bridge of Sighs in the back ground.  When people were arrested by the secret police and brought to the Doge's palace, they would then be brought by this bridge to the prison.   

We were able to enter the Doge's palace and this is a view from inside the Bridge of Sighs.

This is the Bridge of Sighs from the other side.  They call it the Bridge of Sighs because the builder imagined that the prisoners would sigh as they saw one last view of venice. 

On our last day we took a motor boat around the sites of venice.  

I love to see the cracks in buildings and the flaws.  There is just so much texture to these buildings.

This was the last day of our trip and I had such an amazing time in Italy.

Love Always,

Meg

Italy day 13

This is the Piazza San Marco.  I have tons of pictures of people wandering around the square the next day, but to be honest I was too shocked day one, as the pigeons were everywhere. Also, there was construction going on to the left of this picture, that is why you are not seeing the whole square. 

I love this clock tower, amazing.

This is Michael the most gorgeous gondola driver in the history of all time. 

Hahahah, I took a ton of pictures of him, which thankfully he must be used to. 

I love this Venice picture, one of my favorite.  

I think this might be my favorite picture of my father ever, of all our trips this is one of the moments that he could not keep a smile off his face.  

Many people told me that I would not like Venice, but I truly loved it.  I will definitely go back.  

Love Always,

Meg

Italy day 12

I took this picture specially for my friend Jess, and it just so happened to be my favorite picture of the Ponte Vecchio. She was on the dragon boat team for her work, so when I saw this crew team paddling along the arno I had to take a picture.  I also edited this picture more then normal, I tend to like more muted pictures, but the bridge is so bright in real life that I had to tweek the picture a bit.

Now I have to be honest, I was sick this day.  I had so many plans, which never came to fruition...but that will just give me another excuse to come back  :  )

A beautiful morning picture of Florence's Duomo.  Ahhhhhh, I love this picture. 

I love absolutely everything about the Duomo.

The detail is amazing.

This is the door to climb up into the dome, but I was feeling pretty sick so I didn't do it.  I'll be sure to climb it when I make my way back to the city. 

I just walked around the Duomo and took hundreds of pictures.  

This is a panoramic photo, and I know that the perspective is way off, but for some reason I still love it. Imperfect as it is, I had to include it.  

This is my favorite picture.  It is also a panoramic shot, and while the perspective is also a bit off, it's not as dramatic as the previous photo.

Love Always,

Meg

Italy day 11

Truthfully I don't know what the name of this church, but it caught my eye.

This is city hall.

This is the aerial view of the duomo from our hotel room.  The Duomo is my favorite Cathederal of all time and the main reason why I wanted to go to Florence.  Once I got there I discovered so much more. 

This is another aerial view from the hotel. 

Love Always,

Meg

Italy day 10

I have no words for these pictures.  This is the magnificence of Cinque Terre, it was a sight to see. 

We viewed the coast by boat, and I will never forget this day.

Love Always,

Meg

Italy day 9

This was San Gimignano day.  Now I have to tell you that I love twilight.  As a twenty-eight year old woman this is not something that I am proud of, but it's true all the same.  This fountain reminded me of the final scene in new moon.  

Another beautiful areal view of Italy.  Tuscany is just soooo picturesque. I am convinced that it is impossible to take a bad picture there.  I submit the following two pictures as evidence. 

Love Always,

Meg

Italy Day 8

Today we visited Assisi and visited the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.  Assisi has a special meaning for my family as my Uncle is Franciscan Friar.  I loved that it was an overcast day, it makes the photographs more striking.  

After lunch my father and I made our way back to the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi, and the weather had cleared up for a few minutes.  

I took a few panoramic shots during our walk out of Assisi.

Love Always,

Meg

Italy Day 7

Today we went to the town of Orvieto.  My love for clocks has not diminished so I had to take a picture of this amazing clock.  

This is the duomo of Orvieto.  duomo means cathedral, not dome, so that is why this cathedral is called a duomo even though there is no dome.  

This duomo is so magnificent because a miracle is believed to have occurred here.  During a mass, when the priest broke the host, the host bled.  This is why the duomo is so sacred.

I had to climb up the bell tower in town, so that I could get some amazing aerial views.

This is the same town from the opposite direction.  My favorite part of this town is that I had the best chocolate I have ever eaten in my life.  Nothing will ever compare.

Love Always,

Meg