My trip to Italy!

My cousin Betty and I spent hours researching this trip to Italy since we were traveling on our own.  We decided to see Rome, Florence, Venice, and finished in Milan with side trips to Sienna, Pisa, San Gimignano, and Lake Como.

June 23, 2012

Day 1:  We had an 8 hour lay over in Philadelphia (our flight out of Binghamton changed for no apparent reason!) and then another lay over in Frankfurt, Germany (where I realised that I lost my credit card in Philly!). There were very strict customs officials in Frankfurt and we assumed there would be the same in Rome since that airport had a few "incidents" in the past.....but no....we just walked off the plane and through the airport without stopping for customs or anything! How bizarre!  We had a limo drive us to our hotel, the Relais Maddalena.  No fuss, no muss - that is the way to go after the loooong day of traveling! Our hotel is located 1 block from the Pantheon - how cool is that?!

June 24, 2012

Day 2:  Arrive in Rome. Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Fountain of 4 Rivers, churches Sant'Agnese in Agone, Basilica San'Agostino and San Luigi dei Francese.

Pantheon

June 25, 2012
Day 3:  Colosseum, Roman Forum, church San Nicola in Carcere (exterior columns embedded in facade are from 192 BC Temples of Judo, Spes, and Janus), Temples of Hercules and Portunus, Santa Maria in Cosmedin (Mouth of Truth), Ponte Fabricio.  Many of the temples survived because they were converted into churches.



Betty and I at the Colosseum

The Roman Forum - Temple of Vesta (left) and the Temple of Julius Caesar (right)



Temple of Hercules



Ponte Fabricio - oldest surviving bridge in Rome (62 BC)