Day 7: Rome

We used Roma passes to maximize our savings in Rome. It includes your first two entrances free, 50% off the rest, and unlimited public transportation for three days. We decided to see the most expensive places first, which meant the Colosseum in the morning. Another panoramic. In the first 100 days of being first built and open, 2000 men and 9000 animals died in battle. It was just incredible to see and think about. From the top (yes, more stairs) you can see the Arch of Constantine. Yay for Christianity! We went to see it up close as well. Outside the Colosseum there were men dressed as Roman centurions putting on a show. But we learned from Rick Steves that if you take a picture of them, they expect to get paid...handsomely. And they are armed with swords. So we stayed away from them. The entrance included the Roman Forum, Capotoline Hill and some other places. They started looking similar to me, but here are some pictures of them. We read our Rick Steves guide to fugure out what was what, but we were pretty turned around by the end. So we just found a shaded, quiet place and walked around. It really was a pretty place. I believe this is the Arch of Titus. I'm much too lazy to go back in the book and check. After touring, we tried out a Roman water fountain. They run constantly, so you just plug the hole and it squirts up the top for you. They're supposedly safe to drink, but we stuck to bottles of water mostly. After my experience in Mexico, I was not risking anything. Our next stop for the pass was the Borghese gallery. There is a sprawling lawn out front that was pleasant after a long walk there. Pictures were not allowed inside the Borghese Gallery but there were nice sculptures by Bernini. One bust of the pope was cracking as he finished, so he whipped up another one in 3 days. So impressive. There was also a "simple" sculpture he did at age 10 or 11. Our favorite was Apollo and Daphne. The legend says the god of love hit Apollo with an arrow that made him love Daphne, and hit Daphne with an arrow that made her hate Apollo. When he starts chasing her, she asks her father (also a god) and he turns her into a tree.

The details, like the thin leaves (picture from Borghese website) are just amazing.

After our fun times at the gallery, we walked around the grounds for a bit.

Then we went on to explore the city some more and found the Hard Rock in Rome.

Our next stop was the Pantheon, which is free! Luckily it was sunny out because the oculus was wide open.

I taught John about coffering and it reminded me of a tour I took of the Capitol.Outside there were more Roman centurions so we went off a little ways and took our own.

We roamed the city some more and came across many cool buildings. We looked them up in our guide book to learn what they were, but I have since forgotten.

It's interesting how such a bustling metropolis can have these ancient ruins just scattered throughout the city. (I felt like it should be Runes. Thanks Hermione)

Since I was now a devoted Michelangelo fan, we had to stop by the church of St. Peters in Chains to see his Moses sculpture. The entrance at these churches is usually free, but then you put coins in to turn the lights on over the statues. Sneaky.

John with Peter's chains.

John recognized the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa sculpture in the guide book and was excited to see it in person. Plus, after two hours in the Borghese, we felt like old friends of Bernini and thought we owed it to him to check it out, so we headed over to Santa Maria della Vittoria.

We just couldn't get our fill of churches, so we went to the Santa Maria Degli Angeli e dei Martiri (also designed by Michelangelo), which was once the Baths of Diocletian.

The coolest feature is this Meridian Line, which serves as a calendar. The close-up picture shows where the light would enter, and it crosses the line at solar noon, so it can tell time, too. I'm sure John could explain it better, but if we wait for him to blog we'll never get to the end of our trip.

Overall we saw some incredible sights in Rome. Our tired feet dragged us back to our hotel, where we discovered the breakfast cafe nearby moonlights as a pizza place. They sell pizza by the gram, so I was a little nervous about the cost since I have no idea how much pizza weighs. It turned out to be really inexpensive, though, and extremely delicious. Double score.

Day 6: The Vatican and Rome

Wednesday morning we hopped a train to Rome. First stop was the Vatican Museum. (Wednesdays are the best time to visit because the papal audience at St. Peter's draws the crowd away)

Admiring the statue of Laocoon. Thanks to Dr. Cluff for making me read The Aenied and The Iliad. John loved this 2000 year old mummy. It creeped me out, but I guess he really likes Egyptian artifacts. More likely he was trying to get his money's worth out of the museum. We visited every room of the 4-mile-long building. I Egyptian-walked through some rooms . . . I had to self-entertain after about 300 pottery displays. Don't worry we were the only ones in this room. Actually the whole suite was empty. When I complained about walking so slowly through the boring rooms, John said we had to "urn" our way to the Sistine Chapel. Then he cracked up about his joke, which made it even funnier. Finally we walked through the map rooms, the last long hall before the Raphael rooms! School of Athens is my favorite Raphael fresco. Then we saw the Sistine Chapel, which was great. The ceiling was tremendous and The Last Judgment made me want to behave the rest of the day. Then we went to St. Peter's Basilica, since the crowds had long since scattered. The Pieta there tipped the scales making Michelangelo my official favorite artist. David was the best, but his other works are so incredible. I don't know a lot about art, but some things are just stunning. Outside of the chapel we saw a Vatican guard. He looked like a jester. After the Vatican, we ventured deeper into Rome. First the Spanish Steps. Can you find John? There he is! Then we stepped into the world's fanciest McDonald's. Don't worry, we didn't waste a meal there we just had to see what Rick Steve's hullabaloo was all about. Pretty ritzy for fast food. Then we threw a coin in the Trevi fountain to ensure our return to Rome. We're both safe. And the change gets collected daily for charity. That 4 cents is tax deductible. It was a fun and busy day.

Day 5: Florence

First thing Tuesday was a trip to the Bargello to see the original trefoils. I won't go into detail on these, but I've wanted to see them up close since I learned about them in college. They did not disappoint. I could tell by looking firsthand why Ghiberti won. Despite other people taking pictures and no signs, John was told no cameras. So this is our only indoor picture; no Donatello David. No excursion is complete without some stairs. We went down to the courtyard and enjoyed taking some legal pictures of statues.

Then we went back to the piazza della signoria to see the other statues better in daylight.

With the Sabine women, David and Goliath's head, and this Hercules and centaur, the statues and stories could get pretty graphic. The emotion is visible in the sculptures. While walking to the Galileo museum we saw these barriers covered in locks. People put their name and date on them. We're curious how it started.

Pictures weren't allowed in Galileo's museum either, but we had to sneak one of his fingers. Why on earth people feel the need to save and display his finger is beyond me. We read about the different rumors around it, though, and they're pretty entertaining.

I tried another mozzerella and tomato panino but was vastly disappointed. I think the bread was too thick this time for the cheese to melt at all. Not as fresh or well seasoned (basil and olive oil) as the Pisa one, either. We're definitely trying those at home, though.

We had tickets in the afternoon for the Accademia. AMAZING. Lot's of statues, like the Prisoners, but the best by far, of course, is Michelangelo's David. Truly breathtaking. No pictures I've ever seen have come close to portraying its beauty. I just loved it. John thought it was cool, too. But really. Unbelievable. I'm glad pictures weren't allowed so I could just soak it in.

Next up was the Uffizi, which has roomfuls of great art. Works by Leonardo, Caravaggio, Michelangelo, Giotto, Raphael, Titian, etc. My favorites were Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Spring. Definitely a don't miss. Although I prefer Renaissance art, so I may have a bias.Pictures were allowed on the rooftop terrace, which provided some cool views of the duomo and campanile. On our way back we found an Aveda salon. John's sister, Sarah, works for Aveda, so if she ever wants to move to Florence we'll visit. Such a great city.

They tipped the scales that night with pesto pasta for me, carbonara for John, and Italy's greatest gelato that night a few blocks from our hotel. John had the most amazing pistachio and hazelnut and I had chocolate and cream. I'm not a chocolate ice cream lover, but this gelato was to die for. If only we'd found it sooner!