Roma was the first stop on this year's trip. Here's Joe at the Trevi Fountain.
Here's Ed at the Trevi Fountain. Each year we toss a coin in, and each year we return -- there must be something to the old legend!
Little Orsino. We carried Orsino with us as a part of a Travel-Bear project for our friend Callie's 4th grade class back home in Dallas, Texas. Here's Orsino enjoying some lasagna and a glass of red wine on our first night in Italy.
Here's Joe at the Colosseum in Roma (AD 72). Although we've been here a couple of times, we still go back. It's amazing.
Inside the Colosseum.
The Vittorio Emmanual Monument, honoring the first King of unified Italy (1870).
The Pantheon (AD 118), one of the most well-preserved structures from ancient Roma.
Civita Bagnoreggio is a small town in the Tuscan hills south of Firenze. The only access to the town is via this bridge built in the early part of the 20th century.
In the town of Civita Bagnoreggio.
Joe in the town of Civita Bagnoreggio.
The Campanile (belltower) in the main piazza at Siena.
Piazza del Campo in Siena.
Stained glass in the Siena Duomo.
The Duomo in Siena; construction began in 1136.
Crowded via Casato di Sotta in Siena.
Volterra, another of the small towns in Toscana that we visited.
The Medici Chapel and the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Firenze, built to honor the many generations of the Medici's that ruled Firenze during the Rennaisance: Cosimo (il vecchio), Lorenzo (il magnifico), Giovanni, Lucrezia, etc.
Firenze, looking north towards Fiosele from the top of the Duomo.
Inside the great Duomo in Firenze, built to hold more than 20,000 people.
Firenze: the Baptisty (foreground), the Duomo and Campanile, and Brunelleschi's great dome (background).
The Duomo dwarfs the rest of Firenze, seen here from Piazzale Michelangelo south of the city center.
The Ponte Vecchio over the Arno, the oldest bridge in Firenze.
Michelangelo's tomb inside of Santa Croce (Firenze was his home).
Joe on the 7th level of the Torre Pendente (The Leaning Tower) in Pisa.
Joe on top of the Torre Pendente (The Leaning Tower) in Pisa. The Tower was re-opened to the public in 2002 after being closed for more than 30 years.
The Torre Pendente (The Leaning Tower) in Pisa. Construction began in 1173 and the tower began leaning almost immediately.
Stained glass inside the Duomo in Firenze.
Inside the main train station (La Stazione Centrale) in Florence
Joe settling into his seat for the train ride from Manarola to Florence. Travel tip: upgrading to a non-smoking first class (prima clase, non fumare) car is definitely worth it on longer trips.
The Duomo in Florence (1359), is the fourth largest cathedral in Europe (behind St. Peter's in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris and the Duomo in Milano).
Inside the Duomo in Florence.
The distinctive architecture and marble stone of the Duomo in Florence.
A massive statue of Neptune in Ammannati's Fontana di Nettuno (1575) in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
Michelangelo's famous statue of David, symbolizing triumph over tyranny, stood in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence for more than 350 years until it was moved in 1863 to its current location in the Galleria dell'Accademia. A replica stands in the piazza today.
Giambologna's famous statue, Rape of the Sabine Women (1583), stands in Piazza della Signoria outside the Uffizi in Florence.
Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
