Patti was excited to climb a long set of stairs and hear Italian music being played on an accordion. She felt she had truly arrived in Italy.
We had warned them to beware of pick-pockets.
Part of the Rome experience is riding the crowded buses.
In downtown Rome we saw:
Piazza Venezia and the Moses
The Pantheon and Piazza Navona: Patti purchased an oil painting for their family room.
Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. Peter and Patti must be planning on returning to Rome someday, because they threw a coin over their shoulder into the fountain.
Paul Outside the Wall
And the Coliseum: Of course there is a funny story to tell about the umbrella. (Too long to share here, sorry.)
The Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel, plus of course, St Peters, which is kind of the symbol of Rome and is a must see.
We climbed up between the inside and outside dome for an incredible view of the city and the Vatican gardens.
Ascending and descending the stairs are an experience in itself.
The inside St. Peter’s is enormous and very elaborate.
The day Patti and Peter enjoyed Borghese Museum, Giuseppe took Elder Sommerfeldt and I over to a street in Rome with beautiful, detailed architecture. Later, Patti and Peter insisted that we take them there as well.
This was Luciano Pavarotti's house
Outside of Rome:
One of our favorite places close to Rome are Tivoli and Villa D’Este with it’s 300+ fountains.
We waited around just to hear the water organ. So impressive!
We enjoyed Florence and Pisa together.
The evening we arrived in LaSpezia, we drove to the little fishing village of Lerci. The lovely, warm sun and beautiful blue water and coastline were a dream.
The next day we took a boat to Cinque Terre. It was fun to see the rugged coastline from the water side.
In amazing Cinque Terre, we wandered and shopped and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
In each place we shopped,
Ate lots of pizza and pasta, plus fresh fruits and veggies,
Visited the mall,
And, of course, ate gelato at least twice a day
