Italy day 5

Today we went back to St. Peters, which is amazing.  When I went to Rome in January in 08, it was far less crowded.  But it was so worth it.  The following pictures show the magnificent interior.

I love seeing soldiers in uniform, these vatican uniforms are soooo bright.   I love that one of them was giving directions.

This is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi on Piazza Navona

The Pantheon is one of my favorite buildings.  It was originally created to pay homage to 12 roman gods.  It was later converted into a church, this is what saved it from having the marble scavenged.  

I was blessed to get there on a sunny day, because the sun really did shine on one of the relics.  

Love Always,

Meg

Italy Day 4

Today we went to Pompeii.  That is mount Vesuvius in the background.  I think these pictures speak for themselves.

This is the painting that I was sitting next to at dinner.  As you can see below when you look directly at it, the face looks less fierce.  But every time I looked up I saw this guy giving me the stink eye.

The funniest part is that the painting had what looked like a stab wound.  As if someone else had stabbed the painting after a few hours of looking up at it.  As you can see I am giving the stink eye in this picture.  

Afteer dinner we took a night tour of Rome.  This is St Peter's Basilica. 

Finally our tour ended at the trevi fountain, beautiful.

Love Always,

Meg

Serene Sunday

This Sunday I am marveling at the fact that it has been four years since my trip to Italy...it feels like yesterday...

I was going to the Trevi fountain, and throwing in my pennies.  One coin means that I will go back to Rome one day, the secound is for finding true love.

I sit here today, and cannot remember what this building was.  For some reason I am leaning towards it being a government building, but I can't be sure.  Both these pictures are from the same building, you can almost see the gold leaf behind the gate in the first picture.

One of my favorite parts of Italy was the fresh thin crust pizza that you can buy just about anywhere.  I remember sitting in the middle of the square with two of my friends and being soooo happy.  Gazing at the Pantheon, the crowd of people walking about, and eating the freshest pizza I have ever had.  

Pompeii!!!  As a child I was obsessed with history books.  World War II, the holocaust, the Titanic, and Pompeii were my favorite subjects.  I was so excited to get to go there.  

The day was cloudy, but there were moments where the clouds would pass and you could see Mt Vesuvius very clearly.

It's hard to believe that all of this was buried.  You can still see the red paint, Pompeii red, and the texture of the walls.  I was surprised by how massive Pompeii is, it went on and on and on.

I would go back again in a second, and even if I spend a whole day there, I don't think I will see everything that there is to see.

And this is my favorite picture that I have ever taken.  I don't know why it speaks to me so much, but I have this photo framed in my room.

Well tomorrow I will have a brand new blur picture, come hell or high water.

Love Always,

Meg

Serene Sunday

For my first Serene Sunday, I am going to begin looking back at previous trips I have been on.  On my first trip to Europe, I used my film camera, so I don't have any of those pictures on my computer.

So I am going to begin with my second trip to Europe, which began in Rome, Italy.  This was a school trip that I took my senior year of College, and I was able to go with a few very good school friends.

This was the first picture that I took in Italy, and it turned out to be one of my favorites from the trip.  It is an archway right next to the Colosseum.  I love how the light hit the Arch of Constantine.

I loved the Colosseum, it was huge and colossal and over whelming.  I can't imagine what it must be like to live in the same city as some of these amazing pieces of history.

The next day we were off to Vatican City.

One of my favorite things to visit when I am in other countries are the guards.  I love how colorful and ornate this uniform is.

My favorite part of Vatican City was St. Peters Basilica.  We were able to go inside and see the actual church.  On the floor they have markings showing how big other enormous churches are in comparison to St. Peters.  We were also able to go up onto the roof for amazing views, and we went down to the caticombs beneath.

These two pictures were taken on top of the Basilica, it is the main roof, and from here we were able to climb up into the dome.

The stairs up to the top of the dome start out with the walls perpendicular to the stairs.  As you climb higher and higher, the walls start to curve in with the dome.  I was surprised by how many stair cases there were, everyone was a little bit winded by the time we got to the top.

And this was the gorgeous view of Rome from the Dome.  There was a good bit of cloud cover, but I still love the look of the square.


Each Sunday I am going to either post past vacation pictures, or I may re-edit pictures that I didn't have time to perfect.  I got lazy when it came to documenting my trips, so this will give me a chance to write down all that I can remember.

Til next time,

Meg