Hi friends, welcome back! August was a big month. I celebrated my 30th birthday with a relaxing day, but the real celebration was our trip to Switzerland. We had such an incredible time and really lucked out with amazing weather. It was hotter than we expected, but we had clear skies every day which is…
Tag: Europe
Rome – Colosseum Tour
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After touring the Forum and Palatine Hill, it was time for the main event, the Colosseum tour. The Colosseum’s real name is the Flavian Amphitheater and it was built in AD 80. It reaches 160 feet high, one-third miles around, and only about one-third of the original…
Rome – Forum & Palatine Hill Tour
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After visiting the Capitoline Museum, we joined an enjoyable three-hour tour of the Underground Colosseum and Forum with the tour company Italy with Family. There were about twelve of us in the group and our guide was very knowledgeable and engaging. We started in the Forum and…
Rome – Capitoline Museum & Victor Emmanuel Monument
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! On our second full day in Rome, we had an unanticipated free morning because our Colosseum tour got rescheduled for the afternoon. Some people would use this extra time to sleep in and maybe enjoy a relaxing breakfast, but not me. We decided to spend our morning…
Continue reading ➞ Rome – Capitoline Museum & Victor Emmanuel Monument
Rome – St. Peters Basilica
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! If you’re interested in visiting the Vatican, I’d highly recommend joining a tour to see the supposed tomb of Saint Peter and the Necropolis under the Vatican Basilica. My mom did this when she was in Rome and I’m very glad I remembered to book it. Only…
Rome – Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, & the Pantheon
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After visiting the Borghese Gallery, Jon and I had some time to kill before our next excursion so we took a scenic route back. We started by walking down all 138 of the beautiful Spanish Steps. Sadly we had just missed all the flowers that adorn the…
Continue reading ➞ Rome – Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, & the Pantheon
Rome – Borghese Gallery
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! On our first full day in Rome we had a 9am reservation at the Borghese Gallery. This museum is in the northern part of Rome in the Villa Borghese park, and it took us about thirty minutes to walk there. It would’ve been faster to take a…
Rome – Churches & Churches & Churches Oh My!
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! When planning our itineraries, I always try to leave our first day in a city flexible to account for any possible delays or issues. So for our first day in Rome, I planned for us to see as many of Rome’s 900 churches as we could squeeze…
Continue reading ➞ Rome – Churches & Churches & Churches Oh My!
Florence – Duomo Museum, Bell Tower & Baptistry
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After climbing the dome, Jon and I spent about an hour at the Opera del Duomo Museum. The museum underwent an extensive renovation in 2015 and the exhibits are spread across three floors and twenty-eight rooms. Admission was included with our dome climb tickets and we loved…
Continue reading ➞ Florence – Duomo Museum, Bell Tower & Baptistry
Florence – Climbing the Duomo
Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! As with most people that visit Florence, the Duomo, officially called Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore, was my favorite sight in Florence. I loved walking by this beautiful church every day and it’s hard to appreciate the sheer size of this iconic sight until you see…









