The train takes you right into the airport though finding where to even check in was an adventure! For international flights, you do 3 security checks, then get on a bus to go to the actual terminal. Our flight was delayed a bit – as were all the flights this am due to headwinds – but we made it on and were off and running by 11am Rome time.

And now here we are! We both miss it terribly already, and we’re plotting how to get back!

Another hour or so home, then dogs to pick up and a holiday to celebrate!

We’ll post a wrap up gallery of the last photos – and our favorites of the whole trip- later this weekend.

Much love to you all.

Ciao ~ k &b

Buying tickets to get to the airport via train was super easy, and we had a lovely dinner at a sweet pizza place (complete with wine from south italy and cappuchinos all around) to cap the day off.

Before we forget about all we did today, we’ve got to write it down.

After a lovely buffet breakfast at our hotel, we started off toward the Colosseo – which is on the south end of the city. About a mile from our hotel, the walk went quickly and we took in rush hour around Rome. Its amazing to see guys and ladies in work clothes zipping through traffic on their way to work on their mopeds – Vepas, etc. Fantastic. On our route, you turn a corner and down a long street you can see the facade of the colleseo from the north side – GINORMOUS, even from so far away. Throngs of people all over the place – seemingly out of nowhere – the colleseo sits among a bunch of other incredible relics – all from 2000 years ago (the Colosseo was built in 80 AD). The famous Arch – Arco d’Constantino (yes, that emperor), the Palatino, the Forum, and the Colosseo all sit on the same plot of land. We opted to brave the site ourselves – there are TONS of tour guides waiting to take you through – and with the help of Rick Steve’s Tours on our iPhone (check him out at RickSteves.com, totally cool and fantastically helpful for any city!!!) We stood in line for about 30 minutes, and listened to what we would be looking at. Really incredible. As you have seen in the movies, the Roman’s were an interesting bunch – and kept people and animals below the structure (which seated 50,000 people) for the “fun” of the day. The floor of the amphitheatre is now open to the cells and rooms beneath, but they used to put down boards and 9 inches of sand for the games. We walked through the second and first levels and shot a bunch of pictures. An amazing place, and a feat of architecture. Neither of us has ever been in a building that is 2000 years old!

From there, we rested for a bit and decided to walk around the Palatino – ruins of the original roman city to get a look at some of the archeological sites they have there. We walked all the way around the site – and saw buildings that are older than the colleseo. From there, we agreed that we’d head to the Vatican, and hit the Pantheon on the way back to the hotel. It would make for a long day – but you are only in Rome a few times in your life if you are lucky.

To get to the vatican, we had to walk through wonderful streets, and by some amazing monuments – first, through the Piazza Campidoglio, then to see the great Monumento a Vittorio Emmanuele. He was the first king of Italy, and the building they built in his honor is amazing. gold statues, marble gods, and chariots with four horses each adorn the tops of the piazza. Stunning!

From there, we walked through Piazza Navonna and had a lovely lunch (pizza and cappuchino of course!) while watching the square. filled with cafes, resturants and artists selling original work (these are everywhere in Italy it seems!), it was a great place to people watch. We left the piazza and headed toward the river. We crossed over on Ponte Umberto, which leads up to the pallazzo giustizia – a gorgeous state building. From the bridge, you can see St. Peter’s Basillica already. We walked past Castel Sant’Angelo – a huge fortified structure that does really look like a castle. Then to the Vatican itself.

The square is huge, and filled with 240 columns on either side – hard to believe it is its own country! B really enjoyed it – as did I – so much history there! Both the new and the old Basillica were built on Peter’s burial site – thats the same Peter that was Jesus’ disciple, over 2000 years ago! We hung around the fountains, took a bunch of pictures, listened to another Rick Steve’s episode about the Vatican’s history, and headed out of the square to find some gelato.

From there, onto the Pantheon. When we got there, we had a lovely little cappuchino stop, and then into the building. Rapheal is buried there – as was his wish – and the building is stunning. a tribute to all religions, we could have sat and looked at the dome all day. This dome was the inspiration for the Duomo in Florence, which was the inspiration for the Renessaince art movement, so you could say, it all started here. The only church in all of christendom (and Rome) that has been a working church for all 1400 years of its existence.

We wanted to run to the train station to get our tickets for tomorrow am, but we were caught in the most incredible storm – hail and all! Seems to be an afternoon occurance here in rome. We finally made it home, happy and soaked through about 7 hours after we started. what a day!!

Now, we’re packed and prepped for tomorrow’s flight home. Looking forward to seeing our pups, pony and the cat, but so sad to leave here. What an incredible place, and what a gift it is to be here together.

We’ll try and post again tomorrow before we take off.

much love to you all. k & b

This is a quick post – we’re on our way to dinner and the train station to buy tickets to the airport (for our early morning trip to FCO) – but wanted to send a quick update.

Today proved that B & I make great tourists together – over the last 7 hours, we walked down to the colleseum, around the Palatino and the Forum, through the Piazza Navona, past the Castel Saint Angelo and to the Vatican. On the way home, we walked through the Pantheon and back past the Opera house. We must have walked at least five miles. We told the cafe owner (we stopped for cappuchinos before the Pantheon) what we’d done, and he responded “on feet?!” Of course, the afternoon wouldn’t be complete without a tremendous thunderstorm. This time we got caught in it – hail even! Amazing. we laughed about it as we stuck ourselves in a little overhang  – “hey, remember that time we got caught in the hail in Rome?”

alright, off for a shower, dinner, tickets and some cappuchino of course.

buena sera ~ k & b

The hotel is great. Very European. The room is small, but perfect for us. We both saw the TV and laughed – we haven’t watched TV in ten days, and neither of us want to! We cleaned up a bit and headed out for the afternoon. As it turns out, everything is much closer than expected. We made it to Trevi Fountain (unbelievable!!), the Spanish Steps, La Piazza delle Republicca, La Villa Medici (the very wealth family from Florence), La Piazza Quirnale and Santa Maria degli Angeli. Although it was a healthy walk, B’s map skills were fantastic, and he guided us the whole way. We stopped for great pizza for lunch just by Trevi Fountain (sold by the Kilo, what a great idea!!!) and had a bit of gelato to accompany us for part of the walk. We’ve both decided that mint chocolate chip is the absolute best flavor. We took some great shots – K still has to download about 300 from the last days in Tavernelle, and today – but we’ll upload some from our little

camera tonight to the photo blog, and put a few here too.

The most incredible thunderstorm blew in as we finished our four hour tour of the city – we tucked ourselves into Piazza della Repubblica and waited for it to pass. Almost 30 minutes of the most incredible rain! There are some really smart street vendors here – they show up out of nowhere selling umbrellas by the fist full! We came back and rested up for a bit (both of us are reading great books right now) and then headed out for a little celebratory dinner. As silly as it sounds, we celebrated our vacation, our engagement, and our wonderful time here in Italy at a little resturant down the street. Yummy cappuchinos finished off the meal, and we’re back now for an early night to read for a few hours before bed.

We miss Tuscany already – the sun, the people, the wine, the air – but Rome is really incredible. Much more open then florence – the streets are wider, everything is grander – but a special city in its own right. There is something humbling about knowing that the pope has resided here for centuries. Although we both love little towns like Assisi, there is something magical about Rome. It helps that both of us have heard enough italian (and our respective second languages are coming back to us as well) that we can get around, ask directions, order stuff without feeling too American.

Tomorrow, we’ll head about ten blocks south and visit the Colosseo, as well as the many beautiful buildings around it. That will take most of the day, but we plan on being a little lazy about it.

Hard to believe we’re almost home.

Arrivederci ~ K & B

Now its early and we’re almost packed for Rome. Our train leaves Florence at 11, 2 hours into the city and then the hotel is just a few blocks away. We dont have any plans yet as to what we’d like to see between now and Friday morning (our flight leaves Rome at 10am), but we’ll figure it out when we get there. As we only have two days there, we may not see it all! Plenty of pictures to come. We’re looking forward to spending a few days just the two of us.

Sad to leave Tuscany – beautiful countryside, and lovely people – but excited to visit Rome and enjoy each other’s company on this new adventure.

arrivederci!

K & B

Today, we moved into a different apartment (Saturday is when new guests arrive at Il Bacio) and finally did some laundry at the lavenderia in town. Not before we went to the pastry shop and had some lovely apple croissants with cappuchino to start the day right! We met Aldo and Laura for a lovely drive around the countryside. Aldo is fluent in English, and gave us the most wonderful tour of the surrounding towns. San Appiato has a church that was originally built in the 8th century – the baptistry was built in the 4th century!! There is a Templar Knight buried there, which K was totally fascinated with. We visited the Countess’ house from Semifonte – an interesting town that was in the middle of the war between Sienna and Firenze before Italy was a unified country. When Firenze defeated Sienna for this town, they took the ENTIRE town (20,ooo inhabitants) apart brick by brick and decreed that no one could build there again. All that remains is the house of the Countess – which looks over the valley, and a replica of the Duomo (1/9 the size) built on the site where the old church used to be by one of the Popes. K shot another 200 pictures today!

We went to a lovely sheep farm where they make the most incredible cheese you’ve ever tasted. We bought fresh ricotta – later eaten with honey and fresh bread for lunch – and then some harder sheeps milk cheese as well. From there, a quick stop to Barberino for fresh tomatoes, and back to Aldo’s for a spectacular lunch. Laura brought out this incredible alcohol that is called Noce (pronounced Noche) which is made from nuts that she harvested in her yard. It was incredibly strong, but served the occaision well – especially when Laura reminded us that although it takes 4 months to make, the Italians are patient people when it comes to their food.

After that lovely morning we headed back to the house for K to do some work and for us to catch some sun – finally! a little reading, a little napping and a little tanning, then a lovely walk about a mile away and back before a magnificent dinner with homemade meatsauce. K’s dad has just returned with some gelato, so this will have to end quickly!

more tomorrow. ciao!

xo K & B

With all the rain, there was some nice shots to be taken of the flowers around Il Bacio – added here as a treat!

The sun has finally come out as the evening creeps in, and we’re about to make some dinner, and perhaps head out for some gelati. yummm.

B says that today was a lovely lazy day, and he’s looking foward to more of them!

much love to all! Arrivederci!

K & B

Yesterday was a marathon. After a very yummy breakfast at the local pastry shop (chocolate and marmelade crossiants and cappuchinos, thank you very much) we were off to Firenze

(Florence). We arrived through the south side of the city and went up to the highest church – where Franco Zefirelli’s family is buried. The view – as you’ll see when we post the photos – was amazing. You can see across the Arno river and into the valley where the city lies. It may be the best view of the Duomo! From there to Piazza di Michelangelo, another great place to see a complete view of the city. Down to the bank of the river, and into the gates of the old city (the art district now) – we left the car for what would be the next 6 hours. Our first stop was the Medici museum, where  we saw our first Michelangelo sculptures. Michelangelo was asked by one a pope to create the tombs for Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother. The tombs are adorned with statues that represent day and night, as well as dawn and dusk in human form. In the main area of the museum – which is built around a church that the Medici’s had built. Within this main area is an altar that has been “in process” since 1549!!!! It is adorned with 18 candles (we’re still trying to figure out why 18) and beautiful marble and stone inlays. After several empires, the altar is still not finished.

From there, we walked to the Duomo, Saint Marks, Hospital of the Innocents (now the headquarters for Unicef, but a lovely little museum of renessance works as well) and back around to the car. The route took us through little sidestreets, sweet little markets, gelati stands, beautiful views of courtyards and gave us a real flavor for what Florence is like. We ate lunch at a lovely little place called La Bussola – homemade tagilatele and cheeses from Tuscany. K shot almost 400 photos – and B took almost 100 of his own. Looking back, the day feels almost a blur. So much to see and admire – lucky for us we got into the Duomo with NO line! We got some lovely photos of the dome from the inside – its really remarkable that the almost-200 foot (diameter) dome is held up only by the building that surrounds it – there is no butressing under the dome itself. Stunning marble work in and among the basillica there – the floors are inlaid somehow in every inch. Accross the way from the duomo are the gold plated doors (the reproductions of) – 24 gold plates that are said to have started the movement for renessance painters. We ended our day with a trip through Ponte Vecchio, and into the Ufitze, where many of the original statues of the most famous sculptors sit. The sqaure itself is huge, and sits around some of the oldest architecture in Florence. We walked accross Ponte Vecchio – more jewelers than we’ve seen in one place for sure, and back to the car. Not before stopping to get more wine for dinner!

As we left Florence, we stopped at a little roadside stand and bought a pound of fresh olives for just 3 Euros!!! best Olives ever.

B feels that more people from the US should experience all of this architecture and artwork, so that there would be more of an appreciation of old things – something we don’t necessarily have in the US. K feels the same – although she’s not much of a city girl, there is something delicious and magical about the air in a city that is so old with so much rich history.

we’re getting ready to go to a friend of Dad’s for some lunch, and then back to rest and do some work – as well as post all the photos from yesterday.

Much love.

ciao!!

K & B

http://gallery.me.com/kris_shayon#100089

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now, off to Firenze! ciao! K & B

Finally, pictures from Day 2 are up!

check them out: http://gallery.me.com/kris_shayon#100081

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