(Awww . . . love my family)
(Mom and Dad)
(One of the nights we took Jack to dinner. He actually behaved!) 
(Lauren and James)
(A little fun on the balcony of our room)
(Our cute family)
(The dashing young men - James, Jason and Matt)
(And flirty girls - Becca, Lauren and Me) 
(Lauren, James, Matt, Me, Becca and Jason)
This was a town I would love to return to . . . if we can afford it!
And yet . . . another gelato. YYUUMM!!
(Becca and Me with our gelato)
(I shared a little gelato with Jason . . . it was taken by force)
I don't know why I assume people who lived that long ago weren't intelligent . . . the picture below proves me wrong. The streets of Pompeii was where their sewage and waste drained. They placed these large stones at intersections so pedestrians could cross the sewage filled streets. So smart.
When archaeologists started digging around Pompeii, they discovered that when the volcanic ash covered the city it made casts of the inhabitants as well. These are real people who's bodies were sealed in a cast of ash. In some places you can even see their bones poking through the cast.
This is a cast of a pregnant woman. Kinda makes me tear up.
(Lauren, Becca, Jason, Me, Matt and James in Pompeii)
After the Colosseum we went to Trevi Fountain. Who knew a fountain could be so amazing?
And I threw a Euro in for luck and to return to Rome.
and more pizza . . . 
Inside St. Peter's Basilica
This sculpture (La Pieta) by Michelangelo is found in St. Peter's Basilica. I loved one of the tour guides interpretation of the the various La Pieta sculptures Michelangelo created. In this sculpture Mary is holding the body of Christ after the Crucifixion. Apparently Michelangelo loved to invision this scene. He had lost his mother at a young age and it's as if you can feel the tenderness and longing Mary feels for her son. I am not aware of anywhere in the scriptures where Mary holds the body of Christ after that Crucifixion - but I can imagine that she, just as any other mother, would want to hold the body of her son. It was a very insightful explanation of this piece of art. 
These doors are to the Baptistery. These doors are know as the Gates of Paradise. Each square on the door is a carving of a bible scene. 
We spent a lot of time in the Uffizi Museum and Academia Gallery where we saw a lot of work done Michelangelo, Rafael and DaVinci. Not the ninja turtles . . . the artists. :)
I would have to say the highlight of the day was when we saw the statue of David. I seriously welled up with tears. It was beautiful.
