Italy

Ciao! We had a really great time in Italy and I know some of you have been asking to see pictures. It was a very busy week, but we got to see so much... I hope you enjoy browsing through our adventures. There are SO many because I had a hard time choosing :)

Doing everything I can to stay cool!

First off, the weather was incredibly HOT there! We had upper 90's the whole week with very high humidity... nothing like anything we've felt living in Enlgand for the last year and half! Luckily, I had a great husband willing to tote around the backpack with loads of water and snacks to attend to his preggo wife! In spite of the few discomforts we experienced, it was definitely worth the trip and we got to see so much! Oh, we took this trip with another couple and along with being great friends, they were the best travel partners (Clint & Alicia).

The first day, we went to Switzerland and stayed in a quaint town by Lake Lucerne. We enjoyed some Swiss food, amazing scenery and headed out to Italy the next day.

The second day was more traveling with us checking into a motel near Milan. Our first full day in Italy was spent in Venice (the city on water). Our first stop here involved a demonstration in glass blowing where they make Murano glass. The guy effortlessly whipped out a vase and then an horse out of glass - AMAZING is really all I can say about that! We have it on video and will have to share it with those interested in the near future. To our disappointment, the tour through the workshop proved to be one of many dreams as everything, being so unique and hand made, was no where within a price we were willing to pay. My absolute favorite piece was a mear 43,000 euros (about 65,000 dollars), so we enjoyed the experience but came away empty handed. We made up for not getting in glass by getting a really great oil painting that you'll have to see when you visit!

The glass horse and our "taxi" for the day...

Part of one "island" and one canal...

Next we took the boat over to St. Mark's Square where we went on a walking tour of Venice, seeing some amazing architecture. I have to admit, we were slightly disappointed in the cleanliness of the city and how many of the buildings seem to be unkept and falling apart. We also spent about 45 minutes on a Gondola ride through some of the canals - although, try as she might, Alicia could not convince the gondolier to sing to us as he paddled!

The Bridge of Sighs and a spiral staircase...

Our tour guide (who knew fanny packs are in?) and St. Mark's Basillica. We went up the Bell Tower to the right to take some photos of the city from above...

The 4th day, we spent time in my favorite city (of all that we saw in Italy), Assisi. It was a beautiful town set on a hillside and more of what I thought Italy would look like. Amazing architecture again, but lovingly cared for! The highlights here were the Basillica's for St. Francis and St. Claire, not to mention really good pizza! :)

Town street and Shaye showing off the local castle.

More of the town & Basillica of St. Francis.

The 5th day was spent on a trip to Rome. SO much to see here. We spent a large portion of the day at the Vatican City (where St. Peter's square is and the Pope gives his talks), inside St. Peter's church and museum. We also spent time at the local Harley Davidson store, the Spanish Steps, and Trevi Fountain, and outside the Colliseum. How amazing to see all these things in person! We stopped off at the local Hard Rock Cafe for dinner that evening.

Us in St. Peter's Square & Me with some of the MANY statues in the museum.

The Pope's special guards (great attire eh?) & Trevi Fountain.

Shaye at The Colliseum & Us in front of the Spanish Steps.

Day 6 was spent in Florence with some more of the great Michealangelo's work (he decorated a lot of St. Peter's Square and the Sixteenth Chapel). This too was a nice place where we enjoyed a walking tour and the sites. We also had a great lunch with Clint & Alicia and another couple we friended on our tours! We got to go to a nice overlook of the entire city before our tour, which you'll see below :)

Overview of Florence and Us.

Church of Santa Croce where Michealangelo is buried & the famous "David" (one of Michealangelo's works) and one of the MANY statues around Florence.

Day 7 was spent in the picturesque town of Montecatini. We stayed in a hotel here for 2 nights and the town itself is situated in Tuscany and is quite beautiful. There was a cable car that you could take to the top of a hill to enjoy more of the town from up above. We spent a nice afternoon here having lunch and sightseeing. We also took the opportunity of being in a town to visit a local grocery store and stock up on some local wine (Shaye says he'll save it until the baby comes so I can have some, but I won't hold my breath!). We then spent a few hours that afternoon at the hotel pool. It was a nice day... and I have never loved water more than now that I'm pregnant. I never really appreciated being weightless until this 5th month of pregnancy hit!

View of Montecatini & the cable car we rode

Town center where we ate lunch & Preggo profile (24 weeks) since Jess has been buggin me!

Finally, day 8 and our last day in Italy, we stopped off in Pisa before heading homeward. Of course we did some "classic" tourist pics with this famous tour and I'm hoping you'll enjoy them! I still need to get the "best of the best" from our dear friend Alicia, but I'll display what I've got so far!

The last night was spent in France and boy, was it a challenge getting there! There was loads of traffic that day and apparantly our bus got some bad gas. We barely coasted into the hotel... 3 hours later than planned for a 10:00 p.m. supper. After many attempts to get someone to fix the bus OR get us an alternate bus, it was clear that no one was working in France on a Sunday. Our driver got it running and was convinced it was fixed...

The 9th day was all travel and took us much longer than intended. We arrived home at 2:00 a.m. instead of the intended 10 o'clock estimate. After quitting several times and some assistance from some of the mechanics on the bus, they got it cleaned out, got some new gas and we were well on our way again! We did get the opportunity to stop off at another American Military Cemetary on the way though - in France. It amazes me at how many of these are overseas, but it is always nice to stop by and pay our respects!

The infamous Clint & Alicia (in case you were wondering who they were)!

Well, hope you enjoyed all the info from out latest excursion. We had lots of fun, but I have decided no more long trips until baby is born. I enjoy my freedom to roam and eat as needed! :) Baby first for the next couple of months! Speaking of, I'll update next week with some official baby bump photos again - so, until then...

Love to you all!