this year we decided that we would like to go somewhere
hot for our summer hols, since the weather in ol' blighty had
decided to be very un-summery.......
we looked at where the cheap flights would take us and
decided on a little jaunt to Italy.......
Brian and I had been to Venice for our 10th wedding anniversary
{and I had visited Italy in another life for a ski-ing trip when I was at school}
but the children had never been and we thought what a fab opportunity to
combine culture, history, beauty and hot weather all at once......
and so we found ourselves leaving on a jet plane bound
for Pisa with a few travel books and a desire to see as
much as we possibly could during our week long stay.....
we used public transport to get around
{mostly trains and the metro in Rome}
and it was all realiable, relatively
cheap and easy to use......
so let me give you a little visual tour of our holiday.......
first stop, Pisa......
seriously, I know it's obvious, but the tower REALLY leans.....
and after a wonderful, traditional Italian dinner we were treated
to some rather splendid street music......
our next city stop was Siena......
the beautiful Piazza del Campo where we sat and had a
picnic lunch and then hit one of the famous gelaterie and
sampled their scrummy ice cream.....
of course, you couldn't go to Italy and not enjoy the
morning coffee (and afternoon coffee and evening coffee....)
it was an essential part of the trip.....
Rome was the third city that we visited and we chose to go to
the Vatican Museums during our first full day there......
we were treated to HUGE amounts of stunning artwork
{below is Raphael's School of Athens which Brian was
particularly excited to see 'in the flesh'.....}
and to stand and gaze up at the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel brought
a big smile to my face it has to be said.....
in the contemporary gallery I recognised some of Henri Matisse's
artwork but the children had come to the end of their patience
with my ooooohh-ing and aaaaahh-ing over the artwork by then
and kept hurrying me along, so I didn't get a chance to really
enjoy the contemporary gallery as much as the previous parts
of the museum.....
at the end, after all the galleries, gift shops and post offices was
this lovely spiral staircase......
it started off as just a sloping spiral then developed very shallow
steps which were quite far apart..... the steps got deeper and
deeper and closer and closer to one another until you end with
what seems to be a normal spiral staircase.....
I just really liked it, so here is a photo of it.......
our second day in Rome was actually Evie's birthday and she had chosen to
have a tour of the Colosseum as her 'special thing to do'......
first up though was a trip to the Spanish Steps where there
is a wonderful fountain where you can cool off
{it was so hot and that was at 10am......}
I just enjoyed admiring the view......
then it was on to the Trevi Fountain......
we didn't have any coins to chuck in so we just took
lots of photos instead......
and the Pantheon.......
and finally we ended up at the Colosseum for our special
tour as requested by Evie........
we had booked a tour where we got to visit a few 'extras' that
we couldn't have otherwise experienced, like walking onto the stage that they
have built over a small section of the Colosseum floor.........
it really gives you a sense of how immense the place is......
we were also able to visit the dungeons where the gladiators and animals
would have been held before their fights in the Colosseum itself.........
these dungeons were only opened to the public last year.....
it was quite sobering to hear all about what it would have been like for those
waiting down there whilst standing in the very spot they did.......
we then climbed to the highest point possible and had a fantastic
view down into the Colosseum.......
before all the stone walls were built in the dungeons, the stage
would have been held up solely with wooden pillars.......
the pillars and the stage were completely removeable and it therefore
meant that the basement area of the Colosseum could be flooded and used
to stage sea battles for Roman citizens to come and watch.....
it must have been an amazing sight......
and so we bid farewell to Rome and travelled on to
our final city destination, Florence, where we visited the
science museum and saw Galileo's telescope
{and a couple of his fingers in jars...... go figure!}
and did a fab walking tour with Mario who wanted to 'show us the heart of Florence'.....
it was so much fun to see his enthusiasm for his city and to be taken to see some
beautiful carvings by Michaelangelo as well as lots of amazing architecture......
The Old Bridge...... the only bridge in Florence which
survived the second world war.......
ahhhhh, it was a splendid holiday with lots of lovely memories.....
just looking at these few photos has brought a smile to my face......
now we need to decide where to go next........
