The Colossal Coliseum

So . . . we finally arrived in Rome . . . and our first stop on our Roman Holiday - The Coliseum.  Hard to imagine that it was built oh so many years ago . . . construction began in 70 A.D.  Amazing to have all this history right at our feet . . . cool!  Would have been fun to see all the people - 50,000 cheering for their favorite gladiator.  It was neat to see all the tunnels and the areas where the caged animals were kept.  A very old, yet modern structure. 

ENJOY!!!

 

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An Italian Float

Next we were off to Venice. What a breathtaking city on and in the water! Here we got to take a gondola ride . . . all through the canals. Even the sights on the canals were spectacular. (Maybe it had something to do with the fact that there was sunshine everywhere! Blue skies and warm sun . . . something we've been missing in Germany!!!) Anyway, we also got to see a glass blower make magic. Of course, then shop in the fabulous shop! (We made it out of there with just one necklace.) :o) Next we saw St Mark's Cathedral in the Piazza St. Mark's.  It  is covered with tiny pieces of glass and stone making the most beautiful mosiacs. Also, one thing of note . . . the "Bridge of Sighs". It's under renovation right now, but you can still see it in the picture. It is said that on one side of the bridge was the palace - the other side held the prison in the basement area. When the prisioners were being led to their cells they would cross over the bridge and see Venice for the last time. This caused the prisioners to sigh - thus giving the bridge that interesting name. We finished off the day by eating more yummy Italian food - a little bit of seafood for John and the best ever spaghetti for the rest of us.  Yummy, yummy!

ENJOY!!!

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My Verona . . . Not My Sherona! :o)

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As you can see, we went to ITALY for our summer vacation!!! Our Italian Dream started in Verona, Italy. We saw the Roman Theater . . . which is still being used today. They have operas, plays and other various things happening there. Cool, huh?! After checking the theater out, we headed over to Juliet's house. :o) We saw where Romeo and Juliet professed their love! We even had the opportunity to leave our own love message. The balcony wasn't as big as I had pictured. (Check out the recent movie "Letters to Juliet" to see more of what we saw! I think it's a good movie.) Of course, then we were off to the market square for pizza . . . I mean, you can't spend your first night in Italy without having wonerful, thin and crispy, real Italian pizza.

ENJOY!!!

A "Glitch" in the System

Just so everyone doesn't think we've abandoned the blog again . . . we've had a computer "glitch". I will be back on as soon as possible and have those fabulous summer vacation pictures up - the ones you all have been waiting for!!! Our family laptop has decided to rest forever after all the hard work it's done. We went tonight and picked from a very large assortment (ha!) at our super-sized Best Buy - you know the super fabulous computer and electronic store where you can get anything and everything!!! Not really . . . I only wish! ;o) Well, since we don't have one of those here, we decided to go to the local Aafes and pick out a new model. (Hopefully it is a new model . . . who knows!) Oh well, it will work, and that's the main thing! I just pray that the external hard drive we have set up here has all my pictures and my "favorites" stored in it!!! We'll soon see, I guess . . . Check back in a day or two and see if we've got it up and going!

ENJOY!!!

School or Singing in the Rain???

Is it time for school or is this just a clip from the movie "Singing in the Rain"??? Well . . . I guess you got it correct - it's time for school!!! We started the year off last Monday, August 30 in the wonderful, German rain. Katelyn and Mac still seemed to have smiles on their faces . . . nervously awaiting the beginning of a new adventure. Katelyn started her Junior year - how can that be?! Mac has his 2nd year in Middle School as a 7th grader. They were not too happy about the early morning, but excited to see old friends again! Hope it's a great year!

ENJOY!!!

Marburg

Well, at the end of all the travels with our friends . . . we found ourselves unexpectedly having a free day. (It's not our fault that Julie thought she left one day sooner . . . read the ticket and check the date next time, Julie!) Oh well . . . it worked to our advantage!!! :o) Thanks for being blond, Julie! Anyway . . . we got the travel books and the maps out and decided that we'd go to Marburg - an hour northeast of Wiesbaden. Boy are we glad we did! It is a beautiful university town that has loads of things to do. We will definitely be going back to Marburg!!!

ENJOY!!!

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