Italy! Days 1-3

Hello hello!  We are safely back from an absolutely wonderful vacation in Italy!  I have way too many pictures to share, so I'm breaking the trip down into a few posts! Be sure to check back to hear about the rest of our trip!

After a smooth overnight flight from Toronto on Monday, we arrived in Rome Tuesday morning.  Of course, we felt icky from being on the plane for so long, and a bit out of sorts with the time change, but sleeping was not an option!  We got cleaned up and went out to explore!  We stopped for a quick lunch….pizza, obviously!  (That was only the first of many (many) days of yummy pizza!)  We did a little shopping and people watching on our own before we had a group dinner.  We had a 5 course meal which included unlimited wine, which was great!  We all crashed pretty hard after lots of wine and laughing, not to mention, exhaustion from traveling.  On Wednesday, Day 2, we had a busy day!  We had a local guide, Francisco, who was absolutely wonderful, take us to several popular “attractions” and share his wealth of knowledge with us.  We visited the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Sant’Ignazio, Piazza Navona, Palazzo Venezia, the Circus Maximus, the Forum, the Arch of Constantine, and of course, the Colosseum!  Francisco, who is a University Professor, with 2 PhD’s, and who also speaks 5 languages, shared so many wonderful stories and provided us with more information than we could handle!  It was total information overload!  You can’t help but stand in awe at the site of the Colosseum, but the Pantheon was a place I didn’t visit the last time I was in Rome, and was equally as impressive when he told us the details of how this place was built!  Let’s just say “impressive” doesn’t do it justice!  On Thursday, Day 3, we started the day at the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel, and St Peter’s Basilica.  I vividly remember the stature of the Basilica, and all these years later, I wasn’t disappointed!  It is so massive I can’t even do it justice with words. Then, when you really start to think about the Sistine Chapel, you stand in awe of that too.  Knowing the work Michelangelo did, right there!  Throughout all the hustle and bustle of Rome we also had many laughs, many delicious meals, and got in many, many miles!  One afternoon, the girls did about 8 miles around the city, just for the fun of it!  The weather was wonderful!  Very warm, but not very humid, and there were no bugs!  (no bugs make everything better!)  Here are some pictures from the first three days.