Italy!!!

Tony and I got back from Italy 2 weeks ago and it was absolutely WONDERFUL!!! We went to Venice, Milan (stuck for a day due to a train strike), Cinque Terre (our FAVORITE!!!), Florence, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, and Capri. We had such a blast, I don't even know where to start!

Venice was absolutely beautiful with St. Mark's Square and the Grand canal (pictured above) and all. We spent 2 days there before heading onto to Cinque Terre (again, we had a stop in Milan-not worth mentioning cause we really didn't do anything but wait for the train strike to end).

Cinque Terre was glorious! We stayed in Monterosso and did a hike of the towns--we took a train to the last town and then hiked 7.5 miles through the 5 gorgeous towns--Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and then back to Monterosso. The picture above is the start of our hike.

Then onto Florence where we went to the Academia and saw David, toured the streets of Florence seeing their Duomo (church), Ghiberti's bronze doors, and the Ponte Vecchio bridge (pictured above). We were there for the Feast of St. John, so we got a special treat of watching a 45 minute fireworks show over the Ponte Vecchio bridge...it was awesome!

Then onto Rome! We saw the Spanish Steps (pictured above, top) and St. Peter's Square and Basilica where Pope Benedict (pictured above, middle) made an apperance and gave the crowd his Papal Blessing, pretty cool! We also saw the Trevi Fountain (pictured above, bottom) and threw a coin over our shoulder to assure we'd one day return to Rome. We also found out something EXTREMELY EXCITING while we were in Rome....I'm not posting that news until the end though so you'll just have to wait! ;)

On the way to Sorrento, we made a stop in Pompeii. We did an audio tour and learned a lot of intereting things about the town and history of Pompeii. It's amazing how Mt. Vesuvius' pretty much coverered the entire town, but all things considering, the town is in pretty good shape, I'd say. Pictured above is the temple of Jupiter.

Then onto the beautiful city of Sorrento! It was so quaint and gorgeous and we had such a nice time exploring the 2000 year old Greek streets, exploring the lemon groves, eating cannolis (Tony's favorite!) at the lookout point--a beautiful view of the coastline and town, and just enjoying Sorrento!

While we were in Sorrento, we took a day trip by jet boat to Capri. We hiked down to the Blue Grotto, but the water was too rough to go in, so we just did a little swimming and cliff jumping. Then we explored the town a little while before heading back to Sorrento.

From Sorrento, we took a train to Rome (via Naples-all we saw there was the inside of the train station though) and then an overnight train to Zurich, Switzerland. In Switzerland we had a day to walk about town, but after lunch it started to rain so we went and took a much needed nap. From Zurich, we flew to Toronto, Canada. We promptly got into a rental car and drove to Niagra Falls. It was beautiful, but the surrounding town is ridiculous--Gatlinburg times 10. To add to the madness, it was Canada Day so everyone and their mother was at Niagra Falls :) After that we drove back to Toronto, had dinner, and called in an early night. The next day we got back and flew home to Atlanta! All in all, it was the best trip we've ever taken and we have a FABULOUS memory...while in Rome, we found out we're having a BABY!!! We are truly excited at God's awesome blessing He's bestowed upon us and we eagerly look forward to all the wonderful things He has in store for us--not only over the next 9 months, but as we raise our family! We are BLESSED!!!