Yay! Our trip is booked!

We decided to take the train from Venice back to Rome for one more night.

We got our swag today!

Our Adventure Handbook arrived today!

T minus 5 days!

Europe has been having record high temperatures and Italy has many brush fires. Today, this is what the fire tracking looked like on the map. There don’t seem to be fires near our destinations, only on the train route from Florence to Venice. Fingers crossed 🤞🏽that our trip isn’t interrupted by these fires!

Rome and Florence look hot!

Packing prep 😳

Pre-trip deep thoughts

Stylin’ and ready to travel!

1
Odessa

Woo hoo!

2
Tampa International Airport

Ready for flight #1!

3
Tampa International Airport

One of us got a fancy first class upgrade to Dulles. Guess who?

Someone has had a long day already.

4
Dulles International Airport

Ready for flight #2!

We got to see our plane really up close.

Traveling in style.

We lucked out with an open seat in our row!

5
Fiumicino Aeroporto

We’re here!

6
Castel Sant'Angelo

Stumbled onto some sights…

Castel Sant’Angelo is right by our hotel

7
Via dei Coronari

Strolled on some beautiful side streets. So narrow but they still manage to get cars through.

It’s amazing how there are beautiful churches everywhere.

8
Gelateria Della Palma

While we waited for our room to be ready, we headed out to explore. First stop… gelato 🍧

9
Villa Agrippina Gran Meliá

Our hotel is so pretty. So quiet off the crazy streets of rome.

10
Pantheon

Passed the Pantheon on our way back to the hotel.

11
Giuseppe Garibaldi Monument

We had an early dinner at the hotel. Lots of pizza and pasta!

Then we burned it all of by walking up Giancolo Hill in the 95 degree evening to get the best panoramic view of Rome.

Then… cheers to Rome!

12
Piazza del Popolo

It’s our first full day in Rome. We met with our tour guides Colin and Marco then had the morning to ourselves.

We took a cab to Piazza del Popolo. It’s HOT today! Even hotter than yesterday…97 degrees, no clouds, and no breeze!

We walked up lots of steps to the Terrazza del Pincio for a great few of Piazza del Popolo ⬇️

We walked back along the Tiber to Castel Sant’Angelo and saw the Corte Suprema di Cassazione (Supreme Court of Italy).

13
Piazza Pia

Walking from Castel Sant’Angelo we got a sneak peak of Basilica di San Pietro in the Vatican.

14
Rome

Our tour started!

Simone is our local Roman guide and will be with us for 3 days.

On our way to Rome, we saw the original Caesar’s Palace.

15
Colosseo

The Colosseum!

Construction of the Colosseum began in 72AD, and it was completed in 80AD.

After the great fire of 64 AD, in which a substantial portion of the city burned, Emperor Nero ordered the construction of a magnificent palace for himself in the area that had been devastated. The palace was the Domus Aurea (which today is being excavated and can be visited). Needless to say, the citizens of Rome were not happy about this, so when Nero was deposed and Emperor Vespasian ascended to the throne, he had Nero’s palace complex torn down and ordered that the Colosseum be built on top what had been an artificial lake. The Colosseum was to become a grand amphitheater where all Roman citizens could seek entertainment.

It held 55,000 spectators!

You can see pieces missing where people took materials to build their own houses. Ancient recycling!

The original entrance gate numbers are still present ⬇️

We got to see the underground area up close, where they had the gladiator “locker rooms.”

The architect couldn’t get enough! ⬇️

The Colosseum bagno ⬇️

The “nosebleed seats” in the colosseum where the poorer people sat. ⬇️ Tickets were free to all, though!

The emperor’s view from where his “box seats” were. ⬇️ Close to the ground (no elevators back then) and on the 50 yard line 😆

16
Arch of Constantine

The Arch of Constantine and the Roman Forum.

17
Area Archeologica del Circo Massimo

The Circus Maximus where they had chariot races.

18
Villa Agrippina Gran Meliá

Tonight, we had our welcome dinner at the hotel. The food was great, but this fresh mozzarella was amazing!

And now we have an early bedtime because we have an early start tomorrow morning… heading out for a private tour of the Vatican at 5:30am!

We have a 5:30am start today after a light breakfast at the hotel. We are ready to go!

19
Castel Sant'Angelo

Sunrise view of Castel Sant’Angelo

20
St. Peter's Basilica

Sunrise sneak peek at the Basilica DI San Pietro

21
Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums are amazing! We got to see them all before they open to the public so we had the chance to see everything properly.

22
Pigna Courtyard

We got to have a private breakfast in the Vatican courtyard before our waking tour of Rome.

23
Vatican City

In Rome, you WALK! It’s only 9am and already 6k steps done.

24
Spanish Steps

Our first stop on the walking tour… the Spanish Steps

25
Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain. Legend says that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will come back to Rome. The proper way to do it is with your right hand over your left shoulder, without looking back at the fountain.

26
Pantheon

We came back to the Pantheon but this time we got to go inside. It was an ancient Roman pagan temple that was made into a church. Because it was a Roman temple first, it’s round, not in the shape of a cross like most churches are.

The roof has an oculus, an open hole for sunlight (and rain). It’s a marvel of ancient architecture and engineering.

We learned that the dome is 5 feet larger than the dome of Basilica di San Pietro. It is thought that Michelangelo intentionally made the Vatican dome slightly smaller out of respect for the ancient architecture of the Pantheon.

The tomb of Raphael ⬇️ in the Pantheon.

We walked to Piazza Navona with its fountain with four sides dedicated to the largest river on four continents.

27
P.za della Cancelleria, 92, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

The Museo di Roma is housed in the last noble house built in the city. After the King of Italy increased property taxes, noble houses this large weren’t built anymore.

28
Campo de' Fiori

Pizza lunch in Campo de Fiori

Pizza #1 Margherita

Even Papa loved the pizza and cleaned his plate!

Pizza #2 prosciutto

Pizza #3 salami

Pizza #4 Nutella

29
Villa Agrippina Gran Meliá

We WALKED today!

30
Via Giustiniani

After a few hours of downtime at the hotel, we headed back out for some souvenir shopping in the streets between Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.

Then, another early night with bedtime snacks 😊

31
Villa Agrippina Gran Meliá

Riyaan got to see the Vespas he’s been on the lookout for.

32
St. Peter's Basilica

We are headed to Basilica di San Pietro for a morning tour, then on the bus for a drive to Orvieto.

We took a secret passage from the street across from our hotel to Piazza San Pietro. We emerged right into the square.

On our way to an afternoon in Orvieto.

33
Orvieto

We had lunch and a little free time in Orvieto. Orvieto, a medieval town built on a steep mountaintop, has many homes, shops, and restaurants below ground to keep things cool.

We had lunch in an underground restaurant.

We had some free time to walk around.

It was HOT so we found a cool treat 😊

On the way to our Tuscan hotel, we watched Pinocchio on the bus. The movie takes place in Italy and many souvenir shops sell Pinocchio dolls.

34
La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort

After arriving at our hotel in Tuscany, we had a dinner, then the kids had movie night with the tour guides while the adults had time to mingle.

The hotel is built from buildings made for the Pope’s home. It is made of several different buildings, resembling a medieval town.

The dinner was mushroom risotto with truffle, pork chop wrapped in bacon with mashed potato, and breadfruit cheesecake. All were amazing! Riyaan had pasta with red sauce and chicken scalloppini; also delicious!

We also got our first taste of Tuscan wine in Tuscany.

35
Siena

We finally had a slower start this morning, at 9am 😊

After breakfast, we are taking the bus to the farm where we will have a pasta-making class and wine tasting.

The drive through the hills of Tuscany was beautiful!

36
Fattoria Poggio Alloro

We learned how to make pasta!

We saw their wine-making process. The red wine is aged for 12 months in French oak barrels.

37
Fattoria Poggio Alloro

Amazing wine- and pasta- tasting lunch at the farm.

The kids got to make flavored olive oil. He very thoughtfully made a bottle for mummy 😊

Trush graduated from Pasta University

38
Fattoria Poggio Alloro

After 3 courses, wine tasting, and dessert, we all needed a break.

Tuscany is hotter than Rome 😱

39
La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort

We are off to dinner in a castel!

40
Agriturismo Castel di Pugna

Sunset over Siena ⬇️

41
La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort

We are off to Florence! A beautiful start to the day but it will be HOT later.

42
Accademia delle Arti del Disegno

We got to see Michaelangelo’s statue of David up close. It’s carved from one piece of marble and took 3 years to complete. The level of detail in the carving is incredible.

43
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

The Duomo is amazing!

44
Piazza della Signoria
45
Ponte Vecchio
46
Gelateria dei Neri
47
Ristorante Boccadama
48
Florence
49
Firenze Santa Maria Novella

We’re off to Venice today!

50
Bologna Centrale

Train stop in Bologna

51
Stazione Centrale Di Ferrara

Gloomy stop in Ferrara

52
Padova

Even gloomier in Padova (Padua)

53
Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia

Arriving in Venice

54
Giardini Papadopoli

Colin keeping the kids entertained while waiting for our gondolas.

55
Grand Canal

Rainy start up our Venetian gondola ride but it’s still amazing.

56
Piazza San Marco
57
Saint Mark's Basilica
58
Canale della Giudecca
59
Riva degli Schiavoni
60
Hilton Molino Stucky Venice

We have the loveliest view from our hotel room!

61
Bacaromi

Dinner with a view

62
Doge's Palace

The Doge’s Palace (the Duke of venice)