I have to begin by saying that for 2+ weeks in Europe, this is all I took – a carry-on, a sweat shirt, and my satchel.
[mygal=europe_bags]
I actually packed everything I needed to and had a lot of extra room so I started adding extra clothes – I wish I would have packed warmer ones as most of our trip was during a cold spell throughout Europe. We all froze and I caught a cold. But, we looked on it as funny and chalked it up to experience. We had a great time!
So to begin our trip we started in Italy. What do you do in Italy when you have 2 1/2 days? We tried to split it evenly with one and a half days in Florence and another day in Rome.
Florence (Saturday/Sunday):
I arrived in the Florence airport first so waited for Mom and Haley’s flight to arrive. We didn’t waste any time on our adventure. We checked into our hotel and immediately went out to explore the city. Our first official stop was to Galleria dell’ Accademia to see Michelangelo’s “David” – wow! No matter how many pictures you see, there is nothing as awe-inspiring as seeing this in person. The statue is so lifelike and you can just imagine him facing Goliath with his muscles taut.
[mygal=david]
We went to Museo di San Marco, an old monastery where there are paintings in each cell. I really enjoyed the monastery library where some of the books the monks copied were displayed. The books were huge and the writing was beautifully done. I found it interesting what spices, minerals, and materials they used to make the different colors. I am sure the monks would envy our use of computers and printers now but you cannot beat the art form they created.
We walked around more of the city and saw the baptistery with its bronze doors, the Duomo, the famous Florence bridge, as well as many more statues. Just remove all the tourists and it’s a quaint city full of rich history.
[mygal=florence_sites]
Sunday we attended church. We were thankful that a study-abroad group from BYU was attending that day so one of the missionaries was translating. I found singing in Italian not too difficult, if you understand how Spanish works.
Afterwards we headed out to the big art gallery, the Uffizi. Thank goodness, Mom is a planner because the line for ‘no tickets’ was huge and we later found out some people didn’t get to go in after standing in line for most of the afternoon. We stood in line for maybe 5 minutes. I’ve never been an art person but I have to say this was a beginning of a new appreciation for me. This is the print I picked up in the gift shop to bring home:
[mygal=cherub_print]
For all the hype of the Uffizi, if you ever go to Florence, skip it and go instead to the Pitti Palace. Each room we went into was set up as it was supposedly when the palace was in use. But, there were different art pieces in each room – so a double museum! There were frescoes on the ceilings of each room which were just amazing.
This is the print I picked up from the Pitti Palace:
[mygal=pitti_print]
This is our hotel, Hotel Pendini, and the view from our hotel into a main square of the city. There were musicians at all hours of the day performing, but mostly at night.
[mygal=florence_hotel]
Rome (Monday):
We took an early morning train to Rome where we met our tour guide, Sonia, at the Rome train station. We were able to tell Sonia the things we wanted to be sure to see and she helped us manage our time to be able to see everything, no matter what it took.
The Roman sites were amazing because of their ruins. Where in the US can you go to see ruins? It made me really realize how young our country is. We saw the Forum area where Julius Caesar was cremated.
[mygal=rome_forum]
We went into the Colosseum. A lot of the bottom floor of the arena area is gone so you can see into the underground area where animals and gladiators were kept. What amazing planning went into that structure. It truly is amazing.
[mygal=rome_colosseum]
We stopped in the Pantheon, saw the Spanish steps, and threw money into the famous Roman Trevi water fountain.
[mygal=rome_sites]
Our last stop with Sonia was the Vatican. This is where Sonia showed us she would do whatever it took to get us to see everything we needed to. Originally she told us she saved that for last because in the afternoons there is never a line. When we walked up to it, the line wrapped around forever! I think everyone thought the same thing. So, Sonia briefly surveyed the situation and told us to stick close to her. She just dodged right into the line and worked her way to the front, flashing her tourism badge to anyone who tried to stop her. Of course, Mom, Haley, and I didn’t have anything to flash so we just got dirty looks and with me bringing up the rear, I was sure someone would try to grab me and pull me back. We made it to the front in record time and then shot right through the halls to get to the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo’s works in there are just amazing – 5 years to do one painting just blows my mind – of course, it’s one entire wall! Such an amazing person!
[mygal=vatican]
Leave a Comment