rome, ITALY

we absolutely LOVED rome and italy! we took so many pictures. we both just couldn't stop..there was SO many amazing places and things to see!

here we are at our first destination...the VATICAN! they were preparing for a big celebration because they just finished renovating the whole vatican city (a country in itself apart from italy). they have been renovating it all since 1929!... the pigeons really are like the pigeons from the movies.. in front of one of the largest buldings at the vadican... the guards...

the next pictures are of the inside of the vadican cathedral...

this was the only work of michelangelo that he ever signed. it was a STUNNING statue. it's of mary holding Christ after the crucifixion...the whole place was massive!...pictures just don't do justice. every square inch was so ornate and detailed! this ceiling was so HIGH... the vatican museum (and part we were most excited for, the sistine chapel)... the museum was huge...we saw SO much... recognize this painting?!... and finally, THE SISTINE CHAPEL! michelangelo painted the whole ceiling and most of the walls!..you actually weren't suppose to take pictures inside of the chapel. i just couldn't resist though! :) there were guards everywhere so we had to be sneaky :)... michaelangleo's famous ceiling! it was just AWESOME. i can't believe i actually saw the ORIGINAL!!...and the most famous part of the ceiling up close. amazing... a different part of the ceiling. there's no way i could have got it all into one photo :)...another long, intricate hallway of the museum... ben standing near the bottom of the cool staircase in the museum... we just loved walking through the streets of rome... the famous PANTHEON!!...
us standing in the TALL doors...ben standing in the middle of the dome... me in front of the massive pillars... just some cool buildings as we were walking from the pantheon to the colosseum... a little different than vegas, hehe :)... wouldn't you love to be able to 'parallel' park like this? hehe...looks like we all need smart cars!..the great TREVI FOUNTAIN in the heart of rome...i keep repeating myself, but it was just so cool to be there. it was truly right in the middle of rome. buildings and shops surrounded the whole thing... a fountain on the outside of the wall that surrounded vatican city... another narrow street we walked down (did i mention that we walked A LOT) :)... the colosseum!!.. it was SO amazing to be able to see all these places in person. we were in complete awe the whole time!... such a neat feeling to be able to see these ancient works of art...waiting for a subway (another subway passing by in the back ground). it has been really fun to take all the subway's in these countries...the sunset as we were riding the train back...