The Vatican~

Our visit here in Italy continued on Monday with a tour of the Vatican. Our guide was Lorenzo~ again from the True Roman touring company!
Here Lorenzo leads us out to The St Peters Square.
We stopped for a shot together!
Lorenzo shares many facts about the square with us... in such detail! This sphere below that is on top of St Peter's is the same size as ...
as this one sitting in St Peter's Square.

We asked many questions...
We then went into the museum and were just amazed at the beauty of it all. Meigan mentioned a couple of times how she hopes to come back with Dennis, because she knows how much his religion means to him and she knows he would love to see all these paintings himself!
Many statues line the halls, many paintings on the walls and ceiling on the way to the Sistene Chapel.
Beautiful!
A copy of Michelangelo's famous work...




Sorry... this is all you will see of the Sistine Chapel. No Photos Allowed~ Inside was so surreal. To actually be there. To imagine him working so hard, at something we were told he really didn't want to do. Michelangelo would much rather sculpt than paint. Lorenzo showed us how Michelangelo "signed" his work~ by putting himself in the painting. He worked twice on the chapel. Once at about age 30 and another time at the age of 55. It was later that he "painted" himself into his masterpiece!

Inside the Basillica Of St. Peter.Michelangelo's Pieta in the Basillica of St Peter. Mary and her son, Jesus.
St Peter. Blessings to those who touch his foot.
The inside of the dome.

Baby angels... over 9 feet tall!"You are Peter and upon this Rock I will build my Church", is written there in Italian.
Our picture together, leaving the Vatican. The seats behind us are set up for Wednesday, when the Pope gives a weekly address to the crowds.
One last view from the outside!

Coliseum~

Hello!! Here are some shots from our continued tour on Sunday with Luca, our True Roman. We went to the Coliseum and strolled around inside and took some pictures. Luca led us into the ruins and let us explore on our own for a while...

Frankie seems to fit in here... like she is a Italian beauty! Isn't she cute?

Frankie, Julie and Audrey...

Amazing ...

Frankie, Meig, Julie, Audrey and Bonnie... waiting on Luca to pick us up after touring the coliseum. Luca then took us to the spot where the chariots would race... I captured Frankie again looking like she belongs right here in Italy. Humm... maybe she was adopted after all!!! Ha~ did you used to tell your sister she was adopted? We would say that to each other every now and then to tease each other!
The palace on one side of the track.

We saw some fountains in Italy. We wondered how do you get the water into your mouth? Can you figure it out?
Our friend Luca told us the secret to Italy's water fountains... look closely!
You put your finger over the opening so the water squirts up out of a little hole in the pipe!!



Tomorrow's Post... The Vatican!
Ciao~

Ciao a tutti i miei amici!

Hello my friends!

Italy is so beautiful.... We are in Rome for 3 days then off to Florence! Here are some photos from our first day! Fresh off the plane, an 8 hour ride, we were picked up at the airport by Luca ~ our very own True Roman! This was the name of the tour company we hired! Luca was excited to see the 5 of us and was given many high fives by the other tour guides waiting for their clients.. Lucky Luca! He had no idea what he was getting himself into with us ladies!!

Here is a shot of Frankie and her clients~friends who are joining us on this pilates retreat, Audrey and Bonnie! We got our luggage and headed for our hotel to drop bags and then Luca would be taking us around the city~ Here are some of the sites we took in....

We drove into a court yard and got out of the van to see this wall~ with a door that everyone seemed to be "peeking" into! It was the Piazza Del Campidoglio with it's splendid view of the Imperial city with the Vatican at the end! We

My picture through the peep hole only shows you the garden but in the distance you saw the dome of St Peters!! It was so very breathtaking... so sorry you can't see it in the picture, but we will be going to the Vatican tomorrow, Monday so I will show you the real thing then!
The streets in Rome are narrow with CRAZY drivers!!
Here is the Fountain Trevi~ Throw coins in with your right hand over your left shoulder, and you are SURE to be back in Rome on day again!
Check out Meigan, Bonnie and Frankie... AND the pick pocket guy next to Frankie!!! I have 3 shots in a row and, seriously, he is seen looking for her purse and moving closer to her!! No luck for him~ We were well prepared and warned by Luca to watch out for just his type!
Next we went to the Pantheon~
The Pantheon has the opening in the ceiling dome, letting in rain, and sunshine! Art work on the walls and ceiling were so beautiful!
Architecture in Rome ...

The statues and fountains are so intriguing ~ I enjoyed "capturing" them on film!

We also went to the Coliseum and so, so many more stops... I will share more!

Our goodbye picture with Luca...
Frankie, Audrey, Luca, Me, Meigan, Bonnie and Julie! We were so grateful to Luca for a really fun, interesting day AND the cappuccino he treated us to so we could WAKE UP and be able to enjoy a nice dinner before collapsing into our beds!!

At the Hotel Anglo Americano, Meig, Julie and Frankie check out the map of Rome to decide on a place for dinner...
and they found a lovely place where bread was free and the vino was fabulous too!!
~Audrey, Frankie and Julie~
~Meigan, Diana, and Bonnie~

~ Ciao~

All my bags are packed...

I'm ready to go...
Leaving Dave here at home, while I go to Italy with ...

Meigan and my sister...

Frankie~ our fearless leader! She is a Teacher/Trainer for Power Pilates. Frankie arranged this entire trip. She found the Poppy Farmhouse in Turin for us. She found our True Roman guides to take us around Rome. She arranged the train ride to Turin... everything. Frankie is a natural born leader. Good thing, cuz I follow!!

After 4 days touring Rome and Florence, we will head to our pilates retreat in Peidmonte, Italy. Frankie has 5 other "students" from her studio joining us there! Thanks to my own great pilates instructor Beth, I feel really ready for the 4 day stay at the Poppy Farmhouse, with Frankie kicking my a...!! I can do it!! Check back often... I am blogging my way thru Italy and want to share it with you!

Tonight I had everyone over for my hugs and kisses to send me off on my trip! I fed them dinner too!
Cousins Molly and Mya were happy to be together!

Cayden and Sarah enjoyed laying back on the bean bag chair and watching Hi5 together!

Just me and my girlie gems posing for a picture!

Molly loves to hold Mya... as she yawns thru it all!

A private table for 3!

Meanwhile, Dave will stay here and listen for the phone call from these two...
because although Layla Lynn isn't due till the 19th... I just know she will come earlier!! I plan on arriving home on the 11th and getting on a plane bound for Grand Junction on the 13th!! Hang in there Layla... surprise your Meme!