Saturday, August 31, 2013

La Dolce Vita in Italy

Lake Geneva

Evian les Bains
Evian les Bains is located on the french side of Lake Geneva.  It's home to Evian water!  We enjoyed Evian as our home base for a few days before heading into Italy.  It's a quaint, gorgeous town.

 


This is the location of where the water souce for Evian was discovered.  As you can see, someone is filling up water bottles with free water.  It cracked me up to see people filling up empty Evian water bottles with free Evian water.




 
Lausanne, Switzerland
Lausanne is located on Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Evian les Bains.  It's a beautiful town with a historic "old town" as you progress up the mountain.

Blondel Chocolates!  Can you believe it? My middle name is Blondell (with two "L") just like my grandmother's and mom's middles names.  Apparently it's a high-end Swiss chocolate maker.






The ferry boat that takes you all over Lake Geneva.


Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva is gorgeous...what city in Switzerland isn't?  Our favorite part of the day was walking through Old Town and through the archeological site underneath the 12th century Saint Pierre Cathedral.










Venice
We took trains to connect us to each city and our next destination after Lake Geneva was Venice, Italy.  The train was approximately seven hours and the first half of the ride was through the Swiss Alps.  The train ride was some of the best sightseeing!




We've arrived in Venice!



First pizza in Italy!

The first of many gelatos in Italy!



 
 

Who is this you ask?  Why it's Mike in a Venetian mask.




Leaning much?
 
 

 




Rome
Ah, Rome, what a beautiful city with the most amazing pieces of history.  Our favorite part of Rome was touring the Colosseum, Palantine Hill and Roman Forum.  It's amazing that these ruins are 2,000 years old.


Entrance to Vatican City to obtain access into the museums and Sistine Chapel.

 
We were impressed by the amazing art collection.   Erin particularly enjoyed the pieces from Egypt.


This well-preserved lady was thousands of years old.  Beyond amazing.


Dork face...pretty good impression.








Pantheon


Inside the Pantheon.


Italy's version of Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


 
Trevi Fountain...and yes, I tossed a coin in the fountain.  Legend has it that whoever throws a coin in the Trevi Fountain will return to Rome one day.



Spanish Steps
 
 
Coloseum



Roman Forum




 


 
 
Sorrento
Our last stop on our Italian journey was to the beautiful seaside town of Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast.  It was the perfect way to end our two week vacation...relax by the sea!  I hope to return to the Amalfi Coast one day and explore Capri and Positano.
 
 






 
 
 
There weren't real beaches in Sorrento.  Instead, you walked down steep stairs or took an elevator to these platforms above the water.  For $13-$16 euros you rent a chair and enjoy the views.


 



This was one of the most gorgeous dinner settings we've ever experienced.
 
 


Goofy kitty showing off.







Pompeii Ruins.  The city of Pompeii is an ancient Roman City that was destroyed and buried under volcanic ash in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.  This volcano is considered one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes because 3 million people live near Mt. Vesuvius and it has a tendency for violent eruptions.
 
 
Gig' 'em in Pompeii
 
 
Storm clouds are brewing...


What an ominous picture with Mt. Vesuvious in the background.



Here comes the rain...


The eruption and ash happened so quickly that people were literally "frozen in time" from inhaling and suffocating the volcanic ash.