Today was our time to visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican: In high season, they move 21,000 people per hour through these gates. It was quite a sight to behold. In the Vatican, we saw Raphael’s Transfiguration, Caravaggio’s The Deposition, and the Laocoon – a sculpture unearthed […]
This morning we visited the Colosseum, but first our guide had to race against other guides to get our tickets. That was quite a something to behold. Here we are waiting outside the Colosseum to get ready to enter: We learned that no Christians were executed in the Colosseum, but many gladiator fights took place. […]
Today we left Rome and drove to a beautiful hill town of Orvieto which has one of the most amazing cathedrals in all of Italy. Its medieval facade with sculptures greet the visitor. Its striped basalt stone is a wonder to behold. Orvieto Cathedral: We visited the San Brizio chapel inside the church (Roman Catholic […]
We had a wonderful day in Florence! Here we are gathering outside our hotel: We started our day by first seeing the North Doors of the Baptistery by Ghiberti. They are magnificent pieces of art sculpted on these doors. North Doors: East Doors: Outside the Baptistery: Then we walked to the National Museum at the […]
Breakfast this morning in our hotel in Florence & the First Church of Christ Scientist, Florence: This morning we walked to the Museum di San Marco and saw the beautiful frescoes of Fra Angelico. This was once the monastery of the Dominican Order and the artist drew these magnificent frescoes on the walls of the […]
Today we left Florence and drove to the town of Pisa to view the Leaning Tower, its Cathedral and Baptistery. Piazza del Cuomo – Duomo: Pulpit of the Pisa baptistry: Waiting for the bus: Then we drove to Ravenna.
Today we visited the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. Both have beautiful mosaics in blues, greens, reds and golds. These are very old – 500s – and contain depictions of Jesus as the good Shepherd which comes directly from the Gospel of John. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia: In […]
Our first stop today was to the Aventine Hill. The entire group saw Santa Sabina Church with its crucifixion and other biblical narrative carvings. Then we looked through a key hole at the Knights of Malta door and saw an amazing view of the dome of St. Peter’s. Site seeing and Spence standing next to […]
This morning we hopped on the Italo train from Venice to Rome – barreling down the tracks at 180 mph. We made it to Rome in 3 1/2 hours. Fabulous! Below is our first view of Rome: After checking into our hotel, we went to the famous Piazza Navona where some of us had lunch. […]