Italy- Part 1

Our first stop was Pisa. We stayed in an old monastery which was kinda weird. We got there in the evening and walked down to this little bar which had free appetizers.
A couple pics from the walk.



The next day we went to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.





Then we headed off the catch our ferry for the island of Elba. I have no pictures from Elba as all we did was lay on the beach, drink beer/wine, and eat pizza. It was nice and pretty much the only time we relaxed on the trip.

From there we went to Rome where we saw The Colosseum, The Roman Ruins, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Borghese Gallery, The Vatican, Sistine Chapel, and more. Cameras weren't allowed in a lot of places. If you tried to use them they would kick you out (which Craig's buddy managed to get done to him a couple times before he finally learned). Pretty much anything you could want to see in Rome we saw. It was fun except it was really hot (in the 90s) and lots of tourist. We were in Rome 4 nights, 2 of which we spent in a trailer which we had half and Derek and Steffie had half. See pictures below. I think you could hear each other breathe so it was a little odd.
The Colosseum








Roman Ruins


Trevi Fountain.


St. Peter's Basillica

We got to the Vatican at about noon. Turns out the pope addresses the country every wednesday at noon. If you look really close you can see him sitting under the tent.

The ceiling in 1 of the Vatican museums.


Our Trailer



From Rome we headed to Florence. Along the way we stopped in San Marco for lunch. They do a running of the bulls around the city square once a year. In the 1st picture you can kinda see the circle. It looks and sounds like it would be pretty awesome to see.



I think Florence was my favorite stop. It was smaller and cleaner but still had lots to do and see. We could easily walk everywhere and didn't have to deal with the subway like we did in Rome and Paris. And there was lots of good shopping. :) I didn't buy anything but Craig got a couple t-shirts. I think the couple we were with spent my yearly clothing allowance plus some on all the crap they bought. In Florence the main sights we saw were David (which was huge and amazing), Doge's palace, and the Duome. Again, we weren't allowed to take pictures of most things but that was ok since by this time we were a little sightseeing and pictured out.
The Duomo