ITALY!

Hi all! Sorry for the long absence. I was doing great with all my blogging...then I went to Italy. Haha...when I came back I just spent all my free time with friends and family instead of blogging about my AMAZING trip. I have TONS of pictures, but I'm just going to share a few of them today (and by a few I mean lots) then I'll be back with more later after a few other posts.

Without further ado....ITALY! :)


The plane ride over...Brody is such a good friend. And Joe Henry is so cute. He was out like a light...and slept like this for about 4 hours.

 


 Our first pic! This was in Verona...I wish I could remember the name of the bridge. Now I'm realizing why I should have blogged earlier. Notice flat Savannah making an appearance in the back of that pic. She worked her way into a lot of pictures. :)

 The boys and I...
 

 Next we moved on to Juliet's balcony. They have a statue of Juliet there and it is suppose to be good luck to rub her breasts. Apparently Joe Henry just wants a little luck. :) Becki is neutral towards the luck...As for my mom and I...we want lots of luck!
 

You are supposed to write you and your loved one's names under the bridge to bring lots of luck and love to your relationship. We all were happy to participate. Joe had to help me find a clean spot though...all the places I could reach were pretty covered up.

 


First Gelato of the trip!
 

 Town square in Verona

 
 Then we went on to Venice! Joe and Savs hanging out on the ferry on the way over to Venice I couldn't get over how everything was just built right there on the water's edge...no grass, no sandy beach...nothing! Venice is known for its glass...we got to go to a demonstration. Then we went on to St. Mark's square. We went on a gondola ride...of course...but were really missing my dad, Savannah, and Rob... :) It was still a great experience though...I can't imagine going to Venice and not riding through the canals on a gondola. :)
 

It was so fun for Joe to have his best friend there...and it was fun for me to make them take lots of pictures together. :)
 

 Pizza!
 

 Joe carrying all our goodies at the end of the day. We came home with lots of pretty glass...and maybe a couple other things. :)
 
 We saw lots of pretty churches and other things in Venice, but my camera died part way through the day. You would think I would go to Italy and make sure my battery was fully charged. Ugh. Anyways...on to Florence!
 

 The Duomo (as seen above) was a gorgeous church and our meeting point for all three days that we were there. I will never cease to be amazed at how well-built and beautiful all the buildings in Italy were. Just incredible. I loved Florence, despite how crowded it was. Here is a pic from a bridge we crossed...

 

I think the boys favorite part of ALL of Italy was the gelato. It was EVERYWHERE....just huge piles of gelato. I would guess they ordered it at least 3 times a day. They would say "Ummm...my gelato fuel is getting low." and we would just go get more! :)
 

 Joe and I before we took off to hike up the Duomo tower. It is 463 steps up to the top...and totally worth it. :)
 

 The boys on their way up...this was early on...they were feeling good.
 Then about 50 steps later....
 

 But like I said....totally worth it. Here is the view from the top!

 

I feel like we look photoshopped on to this back ground...but it's real! :)

The way back down was a little more challenging...especially for the tall boys. :)

 

After we finally made it back out!
 

 I'll share more pics of Florence later...it was probably my favorite city. I loved Venice, too, though....oh shoot...the whole trip was just so great! On to Assisi! The whole crew...

 

View from the tiny town of Assisi...up on a hill. So pretty!

 

It was so quaint and MUCH less crowded, which was a nice break for the day.
 









On to Rome! First stop...the Vatican City! I couldn't get over all the plasters...these weren't even the real statues and they survived hundreds and hundreds of years. Amazing.

 

 The Swiss Guards....while they may look silly, our guide assured us they could kill us with one swift movement in about two seconds.
 

 The Vatican! All the chairs were set up for Easter service. :)

 

Baby Joe joking around in the gift shop. :)

 The Colosseum.


The Roman ruins were my favorite. I just wanted to stand and stare. Learning about these in all my classes in middle school, high school, and college...then to be there? Amazing.

This was also the beginning of my "hi" series. I wish I would have started this earlier...but alas I didn't...so the "hi" series just takes place in Rome. Before I left I bought some international text messages so I could talk with Robby. Since it included picture texts, I would send him (and my dad, Bets, grandparents, etc.) pics every once in a while. I started just sending them pictures that said "Hi from ______!" When I go to Israel this summer (Yes, Israel! What?! More about that later.) I will make sure to be much more diligent with my "hi" series pictures.

We were missing our sibs.

More Roman ruins.



At the Trevi Fountain after tossing in our coins!

Hi from the Trevi Fountain!

 

 Joe Henry not wanting his picture taken anymore...but secretly being ok with my taking lots of pictures. :)
 
Spanish Steps!
 
 Hi From the spanish steps!
 

 Hi From the Pantheon!

The city of Rome behind us! :) It was such an amazing trip! Even as I look at these pictures now I think "Wait...I didn't post this pic or this pic." I didn't even touch any of my food pictures. And the food was SO good. SOOOO good. So I think I'll have to come back soon with more. :)

 Until then...