ITALY, Rome, Vatican City {St. Peter's Basilica}

October 1, 2006

I went to the Vatican City, the world's smallest independent state. It is accessed through St. Peter's Square, surrounded by an elliptical colonade with some 140 saints on top. Straight ahead is St. Peter's Basilica, the center of world Catholicism. The Swiss Guard protect the Vatican.

ITALY, Rome {Spanish Steps}

The Spanish Steps is the place to be at sunset with a great view of Rome's 7 hills. It is located in the Piazza di Spagna.

ITALY, Rome (Colisseum and Roman Forum}

Sunday October 1, 2006

I left Florence this morning and arrived in Rome at 11am. I went to the Colisseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon and Trevi Fountain. The Pantheon had closed by the time I got there. The Colisseum is magnificent from the outside and a little disappointing on the inside. Not sure if I expected to see gladiators battling or lions eating Christians, but I did not expect it to be in such disrepair. Oh well, when in Rome. There was renovation going on when I was there so hopefully one day it will more closely resemble its former glory inside.

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BELGIUM, Bruges

October 29, 2006

I caught the 11:45 pm night train from Milan to Paris. They were sold out but someone advised me to go to the conductor of the 1st car and ask if there was room. For cash there was, 45 euros got me a bed in the sleeper car. I arrived in Paris the next morning and got another train to Brussels to catch the Bruges connection. Bruges has one of the most beautiful old city centers that I have seen in Europe. Belgium is famous for beer, lace, chocolate and frites {french fries} , except they use mayo rather than ketchup. The fountain had soap bubbles in it.

ITALY, Siena

Friday September 29, 2006

After walking through Tuscany I headed back to Siena. Sienna is a university town and there were beautiful women everywhere. Lots of expensive shops in the best preserved medieval city in Italy. The Piazza di Campo is shaped like a bowl. In the best it was the meeting place for the city and today it is still a great place to meet friends, get a bite to eat or just bask in the sun. I climbed the gate tower to get a good view of the city including the duomo. Nice statue of Romulus and Remus.

ITALY, Santa Margherita

September 25, 2006

I originally had no plans to visit Santa Margherita but I overheard some girls talking about how incredible it was and I decided to take the train and do a day trip. It was only an hour from Riomaggiorre. There was a real interesting building as you will see in the picture.

ITALY, Cinque Terre

ITALY, Cinque Terre, Vernazza

I only got to spend a few hours here but it is really beautiful especially the view from the trail. I will try and stay here a few days next trip.

ITALY, Leaning Tower of Pisa

Saturday September 23, 2006

I left Florence early this morning to go to Cinqueterre. On the way I stopped in the town of Pisa to take pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The Tower is the only reason to visit here so my entire trip lasted one hour. 20 minutes to the tower, 20 minutes at the tower, and 20 minutes back to the train station.