My husband and I love to travel, and my ultimate goal was to travel to Italy sometime in my life. We were so fortunate to make that happen in September 2014. Here’s a timeline of the itinerary of our trip, with a few fab photos along the way!
SEPTEMBER 15, 2014 – BARCELONA, SPAIN
Parc de la Ciutadella – the architecture of this fountain, called The Cascada, was loosely based on the Trevi Fountain in Rome
La Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, in construction for over 200 years.
The Magic Fountain, part of the Olympic Park… unfortunately the fountain wasn’t running a show that evening, but we had a fabulous view from up top!
The beach in Barcelona… look closely and you’ll see I edited out the front of the girl on the left… topless sunbathing is normal in Europe!
SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 – PARIS, FRANCE
Musee de l’Armee Invalides – Here we saw Napoleon’s Tomb!!! (see below)
Arc de Triomphe:
The view of the Paris skyline from above the Eiffel Tower – I love how you can see the tower’s shadow! :
The tower at night:
The City of Lights – Paris at night:
SEPTEMBER 19, 2014 – PALACE OF VERSAILLE
Honestly, I could spend an entire blog post of 50 photos and never be able to show you how huge and grand this palace is. So, I chose three of my best photos to give you a sense of the grandeur.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2014 – ROME, ITALY
The Roman Forum was breathtaking. Just to think that we were walking in and around structures that were built over 2000 years ago was overwhelming. It was so hard to select just a few photos, but here they are. It’s incredible that some of the structures are still standing.
The Colosseum was incredible! Once again, just being surrounded by that much history was amazing.
The Pantheon:
Vatican City, St. Peter’s Basilica:
(our bed and breakfast was just a few blocks walking distance away from here!)
SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 – CINQUE TERRE, ITALY
This was by far my favorite place we visited!! Everywhere else was crammed with people, and this set of small towns was nice, peaceful, and low key, not to mention by far the most beautiful! This area consists of 5 separate towns nestled together with a national park hiking trail connecting them. We stayed in Manarola at a bed and breakfast.
We went hiking from Vernazza to Monterosso. The train was quite treacherous, and was essentially cliffs with no railings in some places (see below) but the view was well worth it!
The first of many breathtaking views along the trail:
Here’s Manarola, where we stayed:
SEPTEMBER 26, 2014: FLORENCE, ITALY
Michelangelo’s Gates of Paradise:
Pitti Palace:
The Duomo:
Michaelangelo’s David (replica):
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014 – VENICE, ITALY:
This place is the epitome of beauty. Everywhere you look, every turn you take, you see another amazing sight that takes your breath away. The buildings are literally crumbling and sinking before you, but somehow they have an undeniable beauty in their collapse.
Here’s the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal, full of people watching the gondolas… the island was FULL of tourists and even paparazzi this week, as George Clooney got married while we were there! Did we ever see him? ALMOST! We just missed his boat on the grand canal by a few seconds! But we saw lots of paparazzi while we were there:
But our favorite part was undoubtedly when we avoided the crowds and took off for the back roads. Throw “getting lost” to the wind (you’re on an island; you can’t really get lost) and follow the roads wherever they take you. We ended up in the back part where the locals actually live, and look at these beautiful views! And notice that there’s not a tourist to be seen… here’s where the beauty really lies:
Another view of the beautiful buildings along the Grand Canal:
The streets there are so narrow and windy, twisting around in so many crazy combinations it seems you might never be able to find what you’re looking for. Just when you think you’ve mastered the maze, you hit a dead end like this one, but it’s worth it just to see the beauty:
The canals at night are so beautiful:
And that’s our trip! We had an amazing time! I hope you loved my photos!
