Italy - we've spent nearly two terrific weeks here, and in that time we've eaten some GREAT pizza, and gelato, and croissants with Nutella inside, and homemade lemon ice cream with strawberries, and little tramezzini (sandwiches) that are the specialty of the bars in Rome, and more pizza... and now I can officially tell everyone that Italian cappuccinos are delicious.
Oh yes, and we've seen some fun stuff, too.
This is outside the villa where we've been staying.
Our little guest house, right next to the ocean.
The view from the big veranda in front of the villa. Across the water is the old medieval part of Gaeta, with a castle and lots of beautiful winding streets and old stone walls.
The beach at the villa.
The villa. Our guest house is hidden behind the palm tree on the right side.
Inside our guest house. The glass floor you can see under the table provided a view of the Roman grotto beneath, where they used to raise eels.
Meg next to where she used to live!
We went beach combing one evening at this beach, before going out for supper. At the restaurant we got adventurous and ordered a seafood platter appetizer. I've never eaten so much octopus in one sitting.
A lovely little beach in Gaeta.
This place has great pizza, and the man who worked here when Meg and her family used to come still works here, and still gives away free pizza.
And then we went to Rome! This is Trevi Fountain. We sat here for a while and basked in the sun (and in the fact that we were actually in such a beautiful, ancient city). It was lovely.
Meg stayed in Gaeta since she had already been to Rome, but the rest of us had fun anyway.
Roman buildings.
The Spanish Steps. At the top is a marvelous old church, and a nice view of the city.
We walked along the river as we made our way toward the basilica of San Pietro, and on the way we passed fantastic old churches and a random unidentified castle which just begs to be researched on Wikipedia.
The Basilica of Saint Peter.
We didn't get a good picture of the piazza in front, which is too bad because there are sculptures all over - around 140. And in the obelisk in the middle of the piazza there is supposedly a piece of wood from the cross on which Jesus was crucified. An odd place for a relic like that, I think.
Inside the basilica. Mostly we ignored the camera and just walked around.
There are marvelous mosaics there, some of which look like paintings from far away and then when you get up close you realize the huge "painting" is really an image made of thousands of little colored tiles, and your respect for the artists goes up several notches.
Michaelangelo's Pietà is here, too. When we saw it we immediately realized why it is such a famous sculpture. We didn't take pictues of it though. Pictures would not do it justice.
However, we did take a picture of the dome of the Pantheon, because we couldn't resist.
Now that is an ancient structure!
Back in Gaeta - we hiked up the hill near the old part of town, and discovered this abandoned house.
The house offered some interesting photographic opportunities.
The hill is riddled with bunkers from WWII... there was a big military base here. If you care to brave the spiders inside you can crawl through the tunnels.
At the top of the hill sits the tomb of the Roman emperor Tiberius. I like this place. It looks Roman.
Cliffs.
Lo. She decided not to jump.
When I think of Italian cars I will always think of Alfa Romeos, and these.
Our stay in Italy is almost over, which means we will be back in the States very soon.
Get the party food ready.
Actually, being in Italy has made us miss France. We've made wonderful memories in Europe, and Lo threw money into Trevi Fountain which ensures that we will come back someday.
I'm serious though. Party food.
