MONTECATINI - PISA - MILAN - LAKE COMO - Tuesday

PISA

The first stop this morning was Pisa, which is a tiny village in Tuscany, surrounded by a protective wall. The bus parked outside the village and a "choo-choo train" ferried us to the village gates.

As soon as we stepped inside the gates, we could see it - the leaning tower of Pisa! It was truly breathtaking! Wow!! The central focus of the village is the Square of Miracles, which contains the Duomo de Pisa and the Tower of Pisa.

We walked around the village and enjoyed morning tea at the base of the leaning Tower of Pisa! Incredible!

FLORENCE - Monday

Our visit to Florence was brief but full of further incredible sights. 

We began at Piazza di Santa Croce, where the Santa Croce church dominates the square. In this church lay the bodies of Michelangelo, Galileo and Rossini. A large statue of Dante towers over the entrance.

Our city tour took us through other piazzas, walking along narrow, cobbled streets, bordered by shops, eateries and apartments, all housed in centuries old buildings. 

The imposing dome of the Duomo, in Piazza del Duomo, was visible at the end of the narrow street. As we walked into the square, everyone gasped in awe at the sheer magnificence if this enormous building.

From Florence, we drove on to Montecatini for the night, where we strolled along looking at the shops before heading up to our room.

ROME - FLORENCE - MONTECATINI - Monday

This morning began with a visit to St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. St Peter's is the world's largest basilica  and is the resting place for 145 Popes.

The decoration of the basilica took 300 years to complete. The bronze canopy over the main altar consists of 65 tons of bronze.

The Sistine Chapel, with its amazing ceiling, painted by Michelangelo, was incredible. The longer you look at the images, the more you see!

ROME - COLOSSEUM & ROMAN FORUM - Sunday

After our Papal blessing, we rejoined the tour group to be taken by a local guide to the Colosseum. Yet another incredible engineering and architectural feat, where ancient Romans gathered in their thousands to witness the battles of animals and gladiators in the name of entertainment.

Just down the road is the Roman Forum, the remains of the earliest of Roman civilization. Steeped in history, with cobbled roads dating back to 9BC, we wandered amongst the ruins where once

Julius Caesar and the Vestal Virgins lived.

Walking through the maze of cobbled streets, we were constantly astounded by the appearance of immense monuments, enormous churches and remains of buildings and civilisation from long, long ago!

ROME - Sunday

Today we explored

 Rome!

We met up with Kelly in the foyer after breakfast, but our chat was brief as we were heading off for a tour of Rome and Kelly's group was departing to head further south.

The bus took us to the Vatican, where we began our trek through the streets of Rome. First stop was the Pantheon, an incredible example of ancient architecture  and engineering.

 

From there we conducted our own mini pilgrimage to the church of St Ignatius of Loyola. The exterior gives no indication of the splendor within.

Our adventure continued along the streets of Rome, to the Church of Gesu. As Mass was in progress, our exploration of the church was limited, but it brought back many memories of the visit in 2011.

From there, we made our way back to St Peter's, in time for the appearance of Pope Francis at a Vatican window at 12.00 noon. Although it was pouring rain, there were plenty of people in the Square to listen to the Pope's address and receive a Papal Blessing.

We were very excited to be blessed by the Pope, Pappa Francesca and also held up our rosary beads to receive the blessing! The picture shows the window in which Pope Francis appeared, although photos taken with the camera are much clearer.

VENICE TO ROME - Saturday

Another early wake up call had us on the road by 7.30am. With a couple of comfort stops, we arrived at Assisi just after midday.   

We explored the basilica of St Francis of Assisi and spent time wandering the streets of Assisi. The view from the basilica was incredible, taking in the township of Assisi and the surrounding country side.

As they say..."All roads lead to Rome", so it was from Assisi to Rome that we travelled. 

On arrival we discovered that Kelly and John's tour is also staying at this hotel. They head off tomorrow, while we have another night here to experience Rome.

Later....

Tonight we've been on a tour of inner city Rome, to see the city sights by night. Incredible buildings and monuments are everywhere!

We passed the Vatican and walked to the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

Dinner was a five course affair - they must throw out so much food!

We're weary and keen for sleep. We're off to see the Pope tomorrow!

INNSBRUCK TO VENICE - Friday

It was still raining as we left Innsbruck and headed south. Once again we were surrounded by mist covered mountains as we crossed the Tyrolean Alps from Austria to Italy.  

Once we had passed through the Alps, the change in weather was amazing. The clouds cleared and the outlook was considerably brighter.

The scenery en route consisted of quaint villages nestled in valleys, surrounded by steep mountains, with old castles regularly perched on rocky outcrops. 

Small fields of vines lined the road, with very little land area available for large crops.

As we neared Venice, the countryside became much flatter, but the villages and castles were still frequent.

On arrival in Venice we took a boat to San Marco's Piazza and then witnessed a glass blowing demonstration by a master glass blower. 

The rest of the day was spent wandering the narrow alleyways of the city, crossing bridges and weaving in and out of the crowds of tourists. We found our way to the Rialto Bridge, stopping constantly to look at the souvenirs along the way.

Venice is a unique city, very beautiful, but very crowded! There were tourists everywhere, in their thousands!