Italy: Day 1

After months of talking about a summer vacation but not doing much about it, we finally got our act together a few weeks ago and booked a trip to Italy. Here is our trip: (These will be long posts, but everyone wants pictures, so we give you lots of pictures)

Day 1:

We had a short layover in Amsterdam and then landed in Rome a little after lunch time. KLM was great. Probably the best plane service we ever had.

First thing on our agenda after checking in: Food. Mmmm. Pizzas were so good there. Thin, light, and almost refreshing. None of that tasteless gooey 5 pound ball of cheese they call a deep dish pizza in Chicago.

We were pretty tired but our hotel was close to the Colosseum so we decided that would be a good way to ease into our trip. On the way, we wandered into a random church and there were people out back rehearshing for an upcoming opera festival. That was a nice break to just sit there and listen in the shaded garden.

We got to the Colosseum and saw just the outside

and toured some of the Roman Forum ruins.

A little bit farther away was the Piazza del Campidoglio

and then the Monument of Vittorio Emmanuelle II where we think the Italian army is now based. That building was HUGE. Pictures can't do it justice.

After dinner, we headed back towards the hotel and past the Colosseum again where one of those sidewalk sellers tried to harrass me into buying a tripod for taking night shots. His price went from 35 euros to 10 when I kept telling him I wasn't interested. Gives you an idea of the markups they are getting out of tourists. No thanks. Donna's insanely steady hands (and a little help from an image stabilizing lens) can get the job done just fine.