Roaming around Rome

Goal #4 for 2012: Go someplace I've never been OUTSIDE of New Jersey. I posted earlier this year about the first new place I went outside of the state, which was Longwood Gardens in southeast Pennsylvania. I also mentioned getting ready for vacation in my April post, but I never said that my vacation this year was to ITALY! My cousin Josh and I spent a week in the country, mostly in Rome, but also visiting some others towns and cities in the Tuscan and Umbrian areas, like Florence, Orvieto and Assisi. It was an awesome trip and we got to see all the regular tourist sites of Rome and Florence, and also some lesser known towns and beautiful countryside. There is no way I could share all the places I loved or even a small sample of the pictures I took, so I decided to just share three of my favorite places that we visited.

St. Peter's Basilica (Rome-Vatican City)
The dome of the basilica is amazing, inside and out. You probably can't tell in this picture, but all of the artwork on the inside of the dome is tiny mosaic tiles. And the view outside from the top is breathtaking. You can see practically all of Rome.








The Colosseum (Rome-Ancient City)

Even though it has a violent history, the structure of the Colosseum is awesome and beautiful and the fact that much of it is still standing is unbelievable.















The Basilica of St. Francis (Assisi)


I really liked the town of Assisi, it was beautifully set on top of a hill and was very quaint. And while I'm not Roman Catholic, I appreciate and honor the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi and how he valued creation and a life of simplicity.