Florence

The next day we took the train to Florence, which afforded excellent views of the countryside.

Arriving in Florence, we set out for our destination, the Uffizi Gallery!

Florence is stunning.

The Ponte Vecchio.

One of the statues at the entrance to the Uffizi Gallery.

View of Florence from inside the museum.

It is so bright at the top of the museum!

So bright!

Lunch rejuvenated us!

We wandered the Ponte Vecchio, where gold shops sell their wares.

Gelato really doesn't photograph well.

We enjoyed the statues of the Piazza della Signoria.

Many buildings have intricate details.

The Il Duomo or Florence Cathedral is striking.

Water fountain.

Throughout Florence, artists have altered the wrong way/stop signs.

We took the train home to Rome!

The Vatican

We had reservations at the Vatican on May 2.

Our reservations meant we avoided the lines...

....and walked right up to the courtyard.

The Arnaldo Pomodoro is a "sphere within a sphere."

The Vatican has a vast sculpture collection.

While you are allowed to take pictures in the Vatican (with the exception of the Sistine Chapel) it severely impedes the museum-going experience of others. For you dear readers, we snapped one ceiling fresco photo.

The architecture is impressive.

The view of the courtyard from inside the museum.

The spiral staircase is impressive, and vertigo-inducing.

The best solution to vertigo is to hug the wall.

After 3.5 hours in the museum, we were ready for lunch. A round-about walk took us past beautiful courtyards.

We consulted the internet for guidance.

And it turned out, this sign pointed the way to pizza.

Greens and potato cheese pizza! Prosciutto and sausage pizza!

We then headed to St. Peter's Square, where the massive lines deterred us from waiting to go into the Basilica.

At the end of the day we enjoyed sidewalk cafes, and watched this man juggle a soccer ball for tips.