Nothing beats a Sunday in Rome

This morning we ventured off in a search for the LDS church. It definitely is not like Utah were a church is on every corner, no finding the church building in Italy was a challenge. We took the bus for a while then after trying to get directions from the bus driver, which he gave in Italian so all we understood were hand gestures, we started to walk in what we figured was the correct direction, when we didn't find the building we found a couple people on the road to ask and they pointed us in the right direction. We almost walked right past the building when we heard a hymn it was amazing! 

Church was really cool too because it was fast sunday, it was a blessing being able to hear the testimonies that were given. 

Church! 

After church we decided to go see all the major sites. 

Stop 1: The Colosseum! 

It was so surreal walking up to the Colosseum, I literally felt like I was in a movie. It was the coolest thing to see. As we were walking we knew we were close because the scenery started to change and Italy went from the somewhat modern Italy to ancient Italy. It was incredible. I am so happy that I have had the chance to see the Colosseum in person and that I was able to see it in person. I wish I could back in time so that I could see the Colosseum in its prime. 

The Colosseum 

Touching the Colosseum

Stop 2: Mouth of Truth

The famous Mouth of Truth, it is said that if you stick your hand in the mouth and tell a lie that something will happen to your hand. I'm not sure what the complete tale is but it is famous. We didn't wait in line to test it because the heat was unbearable and we wanted to keep walking to the next site. 

Tell the Truth 

A cool bridge we walked past

Some old ruins, I'm not sure what the name of this is 

Stop 3: The Pantheon

LOVE LOVE LOVE The Pantheon, it was really cool to see! We'll everything in another country is really cool to see. I enjoyed it. I also was able to drink some water from a fountain at the Pantheon. That is one thing I love about Rome, there is always a fountain to fill up my water bottle. 

The Pantheon! 

The Pantheon

Drinking water from The Pantheon

Interiors of the Pantheon 

Stop 4: The Trevi Fountain 

BEAUTIFUL! I could probably sit by The Trevi Fountain all day, that is if there were less people there. Apparently everyone wants to visit The Trevi Fountain, I can't imagine why. I have heard that if you throw a coin into the fountain and make a wish that it will come true. I have also heard that if I threw a coin in the fountain that I would come back to Italy. So with these two tales up in the air I was more than willing to throw a coin in the fountain. I also was able to fill up my water bottle here at The Trevi Fountain, the water was perfect! 

The Trevi Fountain

The coin I threw into the Trevi Fountain

ME at the Trevi Fountain

Touching the Trevi Fountain

Stop 5: Spanish Steps 

Amazing! This is a place where people come to hang out and just chill on the steps. We made our way up to the top of the steps and just sat at the top and watched the sun set. It was beautiful! We also watched as the artisans on the road were drawing people it was really cool to see, they were very talented. 

(Unfortunately my camera died before we got there, so currently I don't have any other pictures) 

After spending hours there we finally made our way home. It was a great day in Rome today.

Words cannot give justice to what I saw today. It was a wonderful day! I would love to come back and hopefully I will have the opportunity to one day since I threw a coin in the fountain. 

Time for Rome

Today we were traveling once again. It is finally time to go to Rome! I will admit that I am a little tired of traveling on a train all day, I'd rather be out seeing what I can but at the end of the day it is worth every second spent on the train. Today was one of those days. We were headed off to Rome bright and early this morning. We also decided that we would stop in Florence on the way. Unfortunately when we got there, the lockers weren't open so some of us decided to stay behind to watch the baggage. We also discovered that Florence was basically shut down for the day, nothing was open. The plus side to stopping was buying a cheaper ticket to Rome.

Sleepy time on the train 

Sleepy Time on the Train

We made it to Rome safely. When we were walking through the train station we ran into the LDS Missionaries, it was really cool and Madison knew one of them that was a plus. They gave us a heads up for church now we had some plans to look forward to.

Our "bed and breakfast" was pretty tricky to find but after figuring it out we were able to relax for a little bit. We might not be staying in a five star hotel but it sure is worth the adventure. We moved some things around to create more space but it really doesn't matter what our hotel room looks like because we are in Rome to see Rome not the hotel room.

After getting settled we went to dinner. I had some delicious lasagna with bruschetta on the side, it was a great meal. After dinner we went out for our daily gelato. At this point I have nothing to complain about, my life is going great.

Lasagna 

Bruschetta

Gelato

When we were done enjoying our gelato we went on a walk around Rome. I must admit it is scary crossing the street in Italy, there are a lot of crazy drivers it's worse than Utah and California drivers. Rome at night is beautiful. I could probably stay in Italy forever if I had a choice. At the end of the night we were all exhausted and ready for bed.

Me and Dani enjoying Rome

Some fancy hotel in Rome 

Venice and Murano

Today was our full day in Venice. We saw most of Venice yesterday but today we were going to have more time and we would be able to see St. Marks. Since there wasn't going to be too much to see in Venice today some of us decided to go take a trip to Murano.

First we had to say goodbye to Laura. It was sad, and I missed her for the rest of the trip in Italy.

After we arrived in Venice we went to St. Marks first. We waited in line for about half an hour. After waiting we went inside to look around. It was beautiful! I love seeing how different architecture is in every country it's amazing to see that they all have similar ideas but very unique styles.

St. Marks 

St. Marks 

The bell tower at St. Marks

St, Marks bell tower

Murano is one of the islands that makes up Venice. Murano is famous for the production of glass. It was really cool to watch demonstrations of how the glass is made and some techniques that are used. Also the glass jewelry is beautiful. Some of the glasswork we saw was really cool and I admire the glassmakers.

Our water bus

In the water bus

Water services

Glass making

Glass making 

blowing glass

Murano

A sculpture in Murano

Some really cool pieces of glass

While we were in Murano we ate some lunch, I made sure to get some fish. I don't always eat fish but I felt like it would be worth it to have fish in Venice, a place that is surrounded by water. Lunch was delicious I enjoyed every bite!

Course 1 of my meal in Murano

My Fish YUM! 

Tastey

Murano

Soon we went back to Venice and watched some entertainment. One thing that I love about Europe is how much they encourage the arts. It was such a treat being able to listen to a string quartet play in the streets of Venice in multiple places.

Danieli Hotels I think they are cool because they are my name basically,
this is also where The Tourist was filmed 

Going back to the main lands

Lovely music! 

A beautiful quartet in the streets of Venice 

Overall Venice was remarkable. Some things that stood out were the Italian men who reminded me of my Grandpa and brother, and some other things were all the masks as well as the pigeons, and of course the transportation which was by water taxi or water bus.

Next stop Venice

Today we packed up and made our way to Venice! It was an exciting train ride, on the way we went through Pisa and Florence (Firenze). Unfortunately we didn't get the chance to stop and see what those places had to offer, I'm okay with this because now I have a reason to go back. On the way I was sitting in the middle of two Italian men who looked to be father and son and across was three Italian women, one was the daughter, and the other two were the mom and I am assuming the aunt. They didn't speak English and I don't speak Italian so it was somewhat of an awkward ride to Venice, I am pretty sure they were talking about me for a little portion of the ride.

Eventually we made it to Venice well just outside of Venice we didn't want to pay a fortune on the hotel. Lucky for us our hotel was right across the street from the train station, it was very convenient. Laura, Madison and I waited outside while Griffin and Stephanie checked into our room, unfortunately when they came out to let us know that it was safe to sneak in they forgot an important detail. So we got to the floor but had no idea what our room number was so we guessed, we were wrong but the weird part was that our key let us into the room. Finally we found our room and took time to relax.

Lost in the Hotel

Next on the list was going to see Venice! Venice is beautiful, words cannot give it justice so I recommend that you just go to Italy and see for yourself, but in the meantime here are some pictures.

HELLO Venice! 

Sadly today was Laura's last day with us. I didn't want her to leave me!! Since it was her last night we decided to make it a fun one by exploring Venice and seeing what we could in the little time that we had.  

We went on a Gondola right which was such a blast! Our Gondola driver was from Venice so that was really cool, he told us some very interesting information about Venice along with some history.

Gondola Ride 

A Gondola

Venice from the Gondola

After the Gondola ride we went looking for somewhere to eat. We found somewhere but got scammed with some tourist crap food. So after we ate we went to find some gelato. The gelato made up for the bad food.

GELATO!