ITALY........Rome

ITALY....Rome

Michelangelo's Pieta, He created this in 1499 when he was only 25 years old.

The inside of St. Peter's cathedral, is the place where St. Peters tomb lies.

The outside of St. Peters Cathedral

We were able to take a tour of the Vatican museum, which included Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. It was amazing to see it in person. It really amazed me that they would let us take pictures, i we just could not use our flash.

We went to this beautiful home that sat on the hill overlooking all of Rome! It was breathtaking. We enjoyed a beautiful meal, wonderful entertainment, and fabulous fireworks. It was a perfect evening.

The leaning tower of Pisa......I have always known that the leaning tower of Pisa leans....obviously....but it REALLY does. I could not believe how much, the pictures do not do it justice, it looks like it should be falling over. They have secured it so that it will not continue to sink on one side, therefore causing it to lean further.

This is just the thing to do when you go to Pisa. Everyone takes a picture attempting to hold up the tower. What a strong man I have!!!!

This is a coastal town, it has beautiful blue water. Navy put her toes in for a little dip.

It is amazing that they build these houses so close together on the edge of a cliff. Most of these people do not have cars, they just have boats.

We were eating a little lunch....Margareta pizza....Yummie!!!

Italy....Tuscany.....Siena....Part 2

The Clock tower in the Piazza del campo, in the medieval city of Siena.

Looking over into the vineyards in Tuscany

The Duomo in Sienna, was supposed to be the largest church in Christendom, but was not completed due to the plague in 1348 that killed half of the cities population

The gate leading into the medieval city.

Italy.....Florence....Part 1.

A Beautiful stain glass window, in one of the many Churches in Florence.

Jeff sat on the stairs of an old church and fed the pigeons with Navy.

She thought it was Hilarious!

This is the Duomo of Florence and is the 4th largest cathedral in Europe. It was completed in 1463, and was built completely without scaffolding. It is very ornate and beautiful!

Inside of the Duomo, all of the floors are multi colored marble, and stain glass adorns the walls.

These are the east doors of the Baptistery. they were commissioned in 1401 to mark the city's deliverance for the plaque. It took 18 years to finished these bronze doors that depict 10 different scriptural subjects.

The Arch that lead into the original part of the city.

Shopping in the out door market. There were street after street of exactly the same stuff, at almost exactly the same price.

MEI MEI

This is Mei, she was our foreign exchange student from Japan. She stayed with us for 3 weeks this summer, and we had a blast! She is so much fun, and willing to try anything. Our whole family grew to love her so much! We miss her now that she is gone.

We went with another family in our neighborhood to go craw dad fishing in the river. Everyone had a great time.

Mei, Satomi, and Nozomi, fixed our families a traditional Japanese dinner, complete with sushi.

Our family with Mei on our last night together at Pirate Island Pizza. We now consider Mei part of our family!