Easter

It was a beautiful day for an Easter Egg hunt.








Happy Easter!

Videos Trevi Fountain, Vatican Museum, St. Peter's

For our first glimpse of Rome, we walked to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain yesterday. In this clip, you can hear our tour guide, Valentina, giving us some information about the fountain.


One of the most exciting things for me to see was Raphael's frescoes for the pope's library in the Vatican. Here is a clip showing the two main frescoes, The School of Athens (or the Triumph of Philosophy, as our guide says it is more properly known) and the Disputa (or the Triumph of the Church). These rooms are packed with people-- and with good reason-- Raphael's frescoes are incredible!


The scale of New St. Peter's is staggering. I'm standing here under the great dome by the Baldacchino.

Vatican & St. Paul's Basilica

Here we are in the courtyard of New St. Peter's

Michelangelo's Pieta in New St. Peter's


Looking up in New St. Peter's


In the Vatican Museums:




We said a fond farewel to Biaggio, our bus driver for the last several days.


In the Piazza Navona


The Basilica of St. Paul

Taste of Rome

Several of us got to take turns making pizzas at the restaurant last night. Here is Galina and the chef from the restaurant:

Florence

We had a busy day touring the heart of Florence. We saw the Duomo cathedral, the Baptistry, the Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, and the Galleria.

Ms. Zweir's Pictures of Assisi

When we first arrived in Assisi, it was snowing! It was cold, but fortunately not snowing as we toured the beautiful medieval city this morning. The most famous sites in Assisi are the cathedrals of Santa Clara and Saint Francis. We also enjoyed the view of the Umbrian countryside and the old, winding streets.

Assisi

A view from the Cathedral of Santa Clara in Assisi.