The End of Our 9-Day Visit to Italy

Bob's on the train to Vienna on May 7 with the cookies and bottled water we bought at a bakery near the Riato Bridge in Venice. It was a delicious snack, albeit a not so healthy one, as we raced across Italy into Austria. This is the end of Part I of our trip. Part II begins with our adventures in Austria, a favorite country of ours.

Leaving Venice, Italy for Vienna, Austria

We hated to leave Venice on Sat., May 7, but had reserved seats for the long seven-hour trip to Vienna, Austria. This was the weird train trip where a rude Austrian woman claimed she had the tickets to our seats - and actually she did. But we were there first and weren't moving. It was interesting as she spoke no English and we spoke very little - ah, no -German. The conductor didn't care as there were plenty of open seats. A nice Austrian man sitting across from us explained in almost perfect English that they double book reserved seats all the time. This woman had been so loud and rude, though, it practically ruined the trip for Marti.

Alexandro, Our Gondolier

We had this wonderful gondolier named Alexandro. He gave us a tour of the back canals of Venice. We quietly glided by the homes of Cassanova and Marco Polo. It was so wonderful and Marti loved every minute of the hour-long ride. She wished it could have lasted all night long! Stephanie, do you see anything familiar?

The Rialto Bridge - Venice

We are on a Vaparetto for this shot of the Rialto Bridge. We did get off and walked across the bridge, looking at all the things for sale, but didn't buy anything. Once again, the crowds of people were everywhere.

St. Mark's Square Clouds - Venice

Bob captured an interesting shot of the clouds behind the columns on St. Mark's Square.

St Mark's Square - Venice

We spent each evening in St. Mark's Square. Not only was it a fantasy with the lights shimmering in reflective water on the ground, but there were three separate orchestras playing beautiful music. We would find a nice table, have a cappaccino and tiramisu, and take in our wonderful surroundings - we couldn't believe we were actually in Venice!

The Grand Canal - Venice, Italy

We sipped on warm cappuccino on the terrace of one of the hotels along the Grand Canal and watched the water taxis, gondolas, water postmen, and deliveries of fresh produce.

A Back Canal in Venice

Unbelieveably it was a little chilly in Venice when we first arrived. A guy from Ohio took this photo of us on one of the bridges over a quaint back canal.

Wonderful Venice, Italy

We arrived in Venice on a cloudy, rainy day, but it didn't deter from our love for Venice, almost from the moment we set foot on the Vaperetto. Our hotel was perfectly located just minutes from St. Mark's Square where we spent a lot of time. Bob took this wonderful shot of the Doge Palace tower, a beautiful building on the Square. (The Venetian in Las Vegas is a pretty good copy, but the real thing is much better!)

Tuscan Country

This is a beautiful shot of the Tuscan countryside from the top of San Gimignano.

San Gimignano - Tuscan Hill Country

Although Sienna was nice, there were too many people. Next on our tour was another Tuscan hill community behind walls called San Gimignano. Now this little village was enchanting. We both loved it instantly! We could imagine being there in a little hotel on the main piazza after the tour groups and school kids left - it would be heaven. The view from the top of the highest building overlooking the Tuscan countryside was breathtaking! Bob is standing at the top with some of the village's towers behind him.

Sienna - Tuscan Countryside

Here we are in Sienna in Tuscan country. We're on a tour, but the formalities are over and we're on our own in the Piazza Il Campo where we had a nice lunch. This place was swarming with people and lots of school kids in groups who were loud and obnoxious, but due to Bob's technical skills with digital imagery, all those people magically disappeared from these photos!

River Arno in Florence

We crossed the Ponte Vecchio each night and stood looking over the River Arno. So to recap: On Monday, May 2, we had breakfast in Rome, lunch in Pisa, and dinner at the Piazza Della Signoria in Florence with yet another gelato in our hand.

Bob Meets a "Royal Boar"

We saw sculptures of this bronze boar everywhere and Bob said if you rubbed its nose it was good luck, so of course we had to have a picture.

Beautiful Florence, Italy

This is a great shot of Florence from the hotel tower. Florence is a pretty city and we enjoyed our stay here. Our hotel suite was huge with three rooms just for us and its location couldn't have been more convenient. We visited the Academia and the Uffizzi Gallery, and even tried the gelato shop that Rick Steves suggested.

The Tower at the Hotel Torre Guelfa

The building that houses this hotel was an old palace with ancient winding steps leading to a two-tier tower overlooking Florence. The hotel put cafe tables on both tiers and served wine and canapes in the evening. In this photo, Marti is descending the steps that lead to the uppermost tower. The view from either tower was wonderful and we got some nice panamoramic photos of Florence from above. It was equally as beautiful at sunset, but also equally as crowded - we couldn't get a table.

Hotel Torre Guelfa in Florence

After seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, we caught the train to Florence. Our cab took us through the crowds to our hotel on a narrow street near the River Arno and the Uffizi Gallery. When we arrived the massive doors were closed and we didn't know how to get in. We finally pushed a button and the door opened. Then we were met by an iron gate. That was buzzed open for us too and we went up a tiny elevator to the 3rd floor to the reception desk.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

This is the only photo we got of the Tower actually leaning. Somehow we managed to take several shots of the Tower NOT leaning. This one brings back memories because we had been walking from the train station for a long time and were sure we had gone the wrong direction. Then we turned a corner and casually looked over our shoulder and suddenly there it was just as it appears in this photograph. We were in shock - it was so close and so "leaning". It was great!

Train Trip From Rome to Pisa

On Mon., May 2 we were at the train station bright and early for our trip to Florence by way of Pisa. Trent and Amy had given us the book in the photo and Marti used the time on the train to catch up on the history behind much of what we saw in the Ancient City in Rome. It's a great book with overlays that show what the ruins looked like in their day and then what we saw. It was fascinating and made the Ancient City much more meaningful.

Where Can A Guy Get a Good Cup of Coffee?

One thing we didn't expect was the lack of American coffee. Bob's used to "grande" cups of take-out coffee, but all he could find in Rome were itty bitty cups of Espresso, or small cups of hot milk with a squirt of coffee, or a shot glass of pure caffeine! He finally resorted to going to McDonald's - and even then the cup was small! In this photo, Bob's holding up a tiny cappuccino he got at the Internet cafe.

"Smart" Cars

One of the things that fascinated us in Rome were these tiny cars called Smart cars. Bob stood by one so we could get a perspective. There were lots of these little cars all over the place, some of them brand new. Very cute!

The Temple of Vesta

This is the remains of the entrance to the Temple of Vesta. We should explain that our tour guide from the Vatican was also our tour guide for the Ancient City. We were the only ones who signed up, though, so we had a private four-hour tour with a guide who was very knowledgeable and it was great!

The Ancient City of Rome

This is a great shot of the Ancient City of Rome. The Colosseum is in the background. Marti loved the Ancient ruins and was fascinated by the history of it all. Palatine Hill was magnificant, especially the site where we were looking over the Circus Maximus (which is now grass and a road). But you could definitely get a feel for what it was like to be a Caesar standing in the same spot and overseeing the proceedings. Very neat!

Pope John Paul II's Tomb

Seeing Pope John Paul II's tomb was not on the agenda for our tour, but the tour guide suggested we go there when there weren't so many people. We did, and she was right. It was a Saturday morning and it seemed that all of Italy was coming to the Vatican to see this, so the lines grew quite long behind us.

St. Peter's Square

Well, here we are in St. Peter's Square. We're lucky to be here. Our tour started at 9 AM and we thought we could walk from our hotel to the Vatican in 30 minutes. Boy, were we wrong!! We had to practically run to get there on time, and were hot and tired when we finally made it at 8:59 AM. A few minutes later we looked cool and collected in this photo, though.

Castel San Angelo

We continued walking. This is still our first morning in Rome and we've had no sleep for about 23 hours. We're running on adrenalin and doing exactly what Todd told us not to do: "Doing everything at once and not stopping to smell the roses." Sorry, Toddy. Anyway, we're now crossing the Tiber River, heading to the Vatican. We knew we had a tour of it the next morning, but we just wanted to see it.

The Tiber River

This is one of the bridges leading to the Vatican. Rick Steves said the Romans built high walls around this river after it flooded in the 1800's and then ignored it. It didn't look ignored, but was full of Nigerian-looking men selling knock-off purses. We heard they were financing terrorists, and later when we got home, read the same thing in the newspaper. We didn't buy from them, but plenty of people did.

Piazza Navona

Well, the theme for our Rome trip was "people, people and more people". It was hard to appreciate Piazza Navona, a former chariot race track, for all the people. We did get a shot of a Cardinal, which we thought was pretty neat. Although the closer we got to the Vatican, the more clergymen/women we saw.

The Magnificant Pantheon

The Pantheon was an amazing building. It was so old and still standing like nothing had disturbed it for 2000 years! Surprisingly you could walk right in. There wasn't much inside, a few tombs of ancient kings and some sculptures, but it was definitely something to see - and to think we just casually walked by it several times during the rest of our stay in Rome.

Trevi Fountain

You wouldn't believe all the people hanging around the Trevi Fountain. It was a miracle that Bob got this shot! It was also a favorite place for merchandise hustlers who were annoying, shoving things in your face and not taking "no" for an answer. All of this wore thin quickly. So, did we throw a coin in the fountain to ensure our return to Rome? - ah, no!

The Top of the Spanish Steps

Our hotel was only 2 blocks from the Spanish Steps, in fact we could see it from our terrace. Bob finally made his way through the crowds to the top for a photo. (The people around him were digitally deleted).

The Crowds at the Spanish Steps

You can see all the people at the Spanish Steps already at 10 AM - and it got worse during the day. We came back in the evening and you couldn't get near the Steps for all the people. Interestingly, many of the people were unfriendly locals, not tourists.

The Stylish European - Not!

Bob wore convertibles for the trip, but hadn't tried out the zip-off feature of the pants until today. Here he's in our tiny room in Rome modeling the convertibles with the customary European black socks-look - very chic! Interestingly, we didn't see anyone in Europe who looked like this - and he didn't go out like this either!

Hotel IL Piccolo Di Piazza Di Spagna - Bob

Bob and Marti enjoyed a glass of wine on our terrace in Rome.

Hotel Il Piccolo Di Piazza Di Spagna - Marti

We arrived in Rome at 8 AM on Fri., April 29, 2005.

Our Il Piccolo Hotel room was quite small, but Connie & Troy had

warned us about that, so we were not surprised. The saving grace

was a darling little terrace outside of French doors from the room.

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