Florence

Florence was a beautiful city. Its Tuscan country side was green and gorgeous. The first thing we saw in Florence was the famous Duomo. This cathedral is one of the worlds largest. It's officially known as the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. It begun construction in 1294 and was finished in 1436. The different colored marble stripes made this cathedral quite unique.
One of the things I loved about Florence was the artwork. Seeing famous pieces like the David were awe inspiring. Another of my favorites was this piece by Michelangelo, in which it is interesting to know, he used his face for Nicodemus, the man holding Christ.

sorry, just a few more of Venice

More Venice

One of my favorite experiences of Venice was the gondola ride we took. It was so fun to slowly view the streets from the water. We floated by Vivaldi's home, Casanova's home and the tomb of Marco Polo. It was a very surreal experience.
Another great experience was eating dinner on the grand Canal.

Venice

Venice! oh, how I adore Venice! It is extremely Beautiful. It's so charming with all it's winding streets and over 400 bridges. We would just stroll the streets for hours eating gelato and talking. Every where you looked was another post card- esque snap shot. The most beautiful building was Piazza San Marco, with spangled spires, Byzantine domes, mosaics and marble. It was built to house the remains of St. Mark. According to legend his body was stolen from Egypt and smuggled to Venice in a pork barrel. His body now rests under the high altar.

The Royals

The people of Monaco adore their monarch. Their beloved Prince Rainier just died in 2005, his wife was the enchanting Grace Kelly who ruled with him till her death in 1982. The first picture is of the church they were married in, the second is Princess Grace's grave that is located in the same church. The prince is buried beside her. Their son Albert now rules Monaco. The next two are still on the top of Monaco ville and the last is of the exquisite Monte Carlo.

Monaco

Monaco, was by far the most beautiful city that we visited. The second smallest country in the world, Monaco looks like it was pulled out of a fairy tale. The famous Monte Carlo casino was dripping with glamour (sorry about the large tourist finger in the picture, that was the only one I had of us in front of the casino) The rest of the pictures are at the top of Monaco ville, where the palace is located and where you can basically see the whole country. The buildings at the top were gorgeous. It was so clean and painted in the cutest colors. -Also, this is where the trip starts to get really hot so try and ignore my very shinny face. ;)

Nice Ville