Author: Justin Hill

Day 7 It’s coming to an end. Our final art gallery was Galleria dell’Accademia where Michelangelo’s David is housed. (There’s a replica outside Palazzo Vecchio but the original was moved to the Accademia). This was a perfect gallery to save for last because it’s relatively small with just a few must-sees. I enjoyed the small History of…

Day 6 Our hotel was near an excellent pastry shop that we visited 5 times in 2 days. I was really impressed with the crepes and pastries and Nutella creations at cheap prices in Italy. A loaded crepe was €3.50 ($4) and many pastries were €1 ($1.13). I was also pleased to find a couple…

Day 5 We explored Venice and visited the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. By this point our energy for art galleries was on the wane, so you might have seen us rushing through with some quick nods at items that looked famous. That afternoon we got in our Gondola Ride. Michael picked a short…

Day 4 After a quick tour of The Pantheon, a 2nd-century building with an amazing dome that was preserved by converting to a Christian church (which limited the pillaging), we took a fast train to Venice. The cheap seats were sold out so we ended up in a private First Class cabin, just the four…

Day 3 The Colosseum! Our Rick Steves guidebook had good advice on avoiding the worst of the lines. After visiting Florence later in the week, I appreciated Rome’s sites all the more because they are so huge. There are a bunch of tourists there but you don’t feel crowded because everyone can spread out. The…