Rome – St. Peter’s Dome & St. Peter’s Square

Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After we toured the Vatican Museum, Jon and I exited in front of St. Peters and used this opportunity to climb the dome. We bought the elevator pass to the top of the church and then climbed 323 stairs to the dome. This climb seemed pretty easy,…

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…

Florence – Palazzo Vecchio & Tuscan Wine Tour

Hi friends, welcome back to the final post of our time in Florence. It was downpouring at this point, but we had some time to kill before our wine tour so we headed to Piazza della Signoria to see Palazzo Vecchio. This fortress looking building was the town hall in renaissance times. In 1540, Duke…

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…

Florence – Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella & Accademia

Hi friends, welcome back to my Italy series! After exploring the Uffizi Gallery and grabbing sandwiches for lunch, Jon and I headed to visit the Basilica of Santa Croce. Tickets are eight euros and we purchased them onsite. You can also purchase an audioguide, but we passed on this. Santa Croce is the largest Franciscan…