Well, we set off for Italy on August 4th, exactly one week after I found out about the trip. Needless to say, I was pretty busy getting ready, since Chuck did all the preliminary planning, but none of the details. He set up the trip through Monograms, and it was an independent vacation package that included a host and 1/2 day tour in each city (Rome and Venice), and all transportation and transfers. We had lots of free time , but also the option of adding additional tours and the support of a host to introduce us to each location. I took over 300 pictures, posted about 100 on Facebook, and managed to condense it further for the blog. It was tough to reduce a whole week's worth of activities into just a few pictures, so if you want more, go to Facebook, and if you want even more, come to my house and meet with me and my computer! Someday, I may get pictures printed out, too.
Here is our first glimpse of Italy. Since we flew overnight, we woke up Wednesday morning to views of the ocean and then the Italian countryside. I was able to sleep pretty well on the plane, but Chuck couldn't get comfortable. We were met at the airport by a Monograms representative, and were taken by shuttle bus to our hotel, the Cicerone. After a brief introduction by our Italian hostess, Maressa, we got settled in our room, ventured out to get some gellato (a daily activity!) and buy some bottled water, and then we returned to our room for a short nap. Maressa gave us maps and suggestions for a walking tour, which we put to good use as soon as our energy was restored a bit.
We immediately found that traffic is pretty crazy in Rome. Cars are basically going everywhere, and there are also lots of motorcycles and the little Smart Cars, too. All the little side streets aren't on the map either, so it is hard to follow directions. Needless to say, we got lost, but oh well. If you look closely between the buildings, you can see the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Our hotel was very centrally located, and within walking distance of many historical sites.
Our first destination was the Piazza Navarone, a huge oval shaped plaza where (buried 30 feet under the surface) the Romans used to have their athletic competitions. Every plaza has a fountain and statues, and they show up around every corner - it's amazing! There are also cafes everywhere, so we stopped here for our first beer/wine of the trip, and some bruschetta. Cheers!
This church was also on the plaza, the first of many!
We had to cross the Tiber River to continue our tour, and I thought this bridge looked so neat. We learned later that it was built by the Romans over 2000 years ago, and it's still in use! Hmmm, there's a bridge in Minnesota that barely lasted 40 years, as our Italian tour guide pointed out.
We continued on to the Pantheon, built in 27 B.C., and the best preserved of ancient Rome's buildings.
Of course, there was a fountain, an obelisk, and ristorantes surrounding the plaza. Chuck was definitely enjoying the scenery.
This is the dome inside the Pantheon. It is the widest dome span in Rome.
Next on our map was the Trieva Fountain. Chuck was sure we'd never find it, but I didn't give up. We rounded a corner after going down a very narrow street, and there it was! There were lots of tourists here, but I managed to get this shot without any stray heads in the picture. Our next stop was supposed to be the Spanish Steppes, but we became hopelessly lost. We even asked some local police officers, but still didn't find it.
We finally gave up, found a little cafe along the street, and ate dinner instead. Our walk back to our hotel was in the dark, and probably not the most direct route, but it was beautiful! We had been told that Rome is a very safe city, and since we were navigating some very narrow streets, that was quite reassuring. We made it, and were very ready the next morning for our guided tour of more highlights of Rome, this time without getting lost!.
We got an early start, and had the best guide. He was a history professor in Florence, and he could answer any question anyone asked. We headed first to the Vatican, before all the crowds. Since we were part of a tour, we avoided the long lines that were already winding around the entrance. In the background is St. Peter's Basilica. 
This is inside the huge dome of the Basilica. Before entering the church, we toured the Vatican Museums (I have some great shots of the ceilings, sculptures, and tapestries) and also the Sistine Chapel, where picture-taking isn't allowed.
This is the main entrance to the Basilica.
This is St. Peter's Square from the steps of the Basilica, where hundreds of thousands of people gather when a new pope is elected. It's huge!
These are the Swiss guards at the Vatican, in their traditional dress.
After the Vatican, we headed to the Forum and the Colosseum. This is inside the Colosseum, where you can walk through the ancient passageways and then see the whole thing. The floor obviously is gone, but the supports remain, and also some of the original viewing stands across the way. Again, amazing (my favorite word during the whole trip).
It was very hot, and of course, Chuck was sweating, but he hung in there! We returned to the hotel for lunch and a chance to cool down, and then we decided to sign up for an optional short afternoon tour of more ruins, St. Paul's Basilica, and the Catacombs. The same guide was in charge, and he was so fantastic that we couldn't pass it up.
This is St. Paul's Basilica, where the remains of Paul the Apostle are supposedly buried. It was a totally different style, but so beautiful! 
I had to take a picture of the organ, which someone was playing as we entered. Note the gold ceilings and detail everywhere! The circles around the middle area go around the whole church, and they are pictures of all of the popes. There's only room for about two more. 
We actually had some time to take a break and relax in the shade before heading to the Catacombs. No photography was allowed there. After returning to the hotel and cleaning up a bit, we continued our walking tour from the previous evening, only this time we didn't get lost! We had dinner at another outside restaurant at the Piazza Popolo - delicious!
This is a cistern that still works - amazing, again.
This was a bakery.
These are some of the artifacts that have been recovered (the body is a plaster cast -pretty creepy!)
I have tons of great pictures of the ruins, plus video, but way too many to post here! It was again very hot in Pompei, and it actually felt good to get back on the air-conditioned bus for the return trip to Rome. We got back to Rome just in time to go out for pizza at a restaurant across from our hotel, and then to pack up for our train trip to Venice in the morning.
We're in Venice! No roads, no traffic, no cars, no bikes - just waterways, boats, bridges, and sidewalks! Our train ride took about 4 1/2 hours, and was very scenic as we traveled through the central Italian counrtyside. We were met by our host, Igor, at the train station, and taken to our hotel by water taxi. Again, we were given an intro to the city, maps for walking tours, and suggestions of what to see and do.
This gondola went right under the bridge where I was standing . How cool is that? I can't imagine balancing on that skinny boat, especially when the water buses and taxis go by making waves.
This is my favorite picture of Venice, taken from the Rialto Bridge, a famous bridge mentioned by Shakespeare. None of the walls in the buildings of Venice are straight, since areas of the city are actually sinking into the Lagoon.
The most popular area in Venice is San Marco Piazza, and we spent most of our time in this area. These buildings (the Procuratie - residences of magistrates of the old republic) are being held up by millions of logs sunk into the bottom of the Lagoon - amazing, again! They are now museums (where we spent hours) and offices. 
This is St. Mark's Cathedral, built in the 11th century, and the remains of Mark are supposedly buried here. The insides walls and domes are covered in beautiful mosaics.
The Byzantine domes of St. Mark's are really beautiful. Again, notice things aren't quite straight!
This shows some of the narrow canals at high-tide when the water laps right at the doorways. During low-tide, the water is down 2-3 feet and there are steps visible to the buildings. 
Look at the line-up of gondolas! A 30-35 minute gondola ride costs about 100 euros ($140, depending on the current exchange rate).
Again, you can see how crooked the buildings are in this picture.
Afternoon gellato time in an obscure square (I think we were lost again). There appeared to be lots of empty buildings in Venice, and the population is way down from 10-20 years ago since young people can't afford to live here. Most of the people who work here live on the mainland and commute by water bus to their jobs.
We listened to some live music along the plaza by St. Mark's. Venice was the home to Vivaldi, and his music was everywhere!
This little guy was very excited to feed some of the hundreds of pigeons in the plaza.
This is the view from the balcony of St. Mark's Cathedral towards the Lagoon. The pillars mark the main entrance to ancient Venice. The line-up of people is for the cathedral. Fortunately, we got there very early so we only had about 1/2 hour wait.
One afternoon, we took a water bus to the island of Lido, across the Lagoon, where the Venetians go to the beach. Unfortunately, we didn't have our swimsuits with us, so we just sat at a cafe in the shade and had....you guessed it....a gellato! And no, I didn't gain 10 pounds on the trip!
Chuck's favorite activity - getting more euros. On our last night in Venice, we decided we should probably go on a gondola ride or we would regret it forever. So...
here's our gondolier. However, it started sprinkling during our ride, and what was supposed to be a 30-35 minute trip lasted all of 15 minutes (about $10/minute - ouch!). We didn't even get a picture of us on the gondola because it was raining really hard when he let us off. I asked if we could get a discount, but no way!
We ended up hanging out for about 1/2 hour waiting for the rain to stop, first under an awning and then in a shop. There was even lightening and thunder! The street vendors were immediately out selling umbrellas. We passed on that one and just waited it out before walking through sprinkles to find a restaurant for our last dinner in Venice. And what did we eat? Pizza again- the margheta pizzas were so good!
The next morning, our host took us to the airport by water taxi and we boarded the plane for Amsterdam and then home. What a wonderful trip! It was amazing!! Thanks, Chuck, for the great birthday present. Trouble is, his 60th is coming up in December, and how do I compete with this?? 
Next on our July agenda was a long weekend trip to Las Vegas where we met Sue, my best friend from 1st grade, and her husband, Lee. They live in Fresno, so Las Vegas was an in-between spot to get together and celebrate our 60th birthdays (Sue's in June and mine in July). Sue and I talked about doing this a few years ago, and when she called me in April and asked if I was ready to book the trip, Vegas in July sounded like a great idea! However, I never thought about the fact that it would probably be over 100 degrees, twice as hot as the previous weekend at the lake - crazy! I think it was 109 on Monday when we left - yikes!
We took a ride on a gondola, and little did I know that I would be experiencing the real thing in a few weeks in the real Venice (more about that soon).
Here's Sue and Lee with our singing gondolier. She even sang "Happy Birthday" to us in Italian.
This is the view of Casear's Palace from Sue and Lee's room at Bally's. We spent quite a bit of time walking around, and no time gambling (although Chuck did get in some Blackjack in the early morning before I even got out of bed - he ended up about $100 ahead - yeah, Chuck!)
This is New York, New York from the very HOT street level.
We also went to Cirque du Soleil LOVE (absolutely amazing!), a Steve Wyrick magic show, and to the top of the Eiffel Tower, where this picture was taken. We had a great time, and it was so much fun to catch up with OLD friends!
We got home Monday night, the 27th, and then went to Buca on the 28th for a family birthday celebration. Chuck and Jenna wanted me to open gifts before dinner, so after opening several goofy cards from everyone, I opened a small box from the kids, a FLIP Video camera, and then Jenna started taping the next present from Chuck. He presented me with a very heavy box which contained, first, a large rock, then a board, and finally, a booklet that said Momograms. I had no idea what it was until I put on my glasses and looked a little closer. It was.... 
a packet with all the information about a trip to Italy, leaving in one week! My mouth practically dropped to the floor (I know, since it's all on video). Chuck had been working for months setting all this up, and he was so excited that he actually pulled it off! I was totally surprised and blown away. I thought we were off for a week at the lake at Heidi's parent's cabin (Jenna and Heidi's idea for keeping me from planning stuff during the trip time frame). The rest of the dinner is kind of a blur, but we did manage to consume lots of Italian food, and what a coincidence that we were sitting right under a map of Italy!
Corey and Maddox - "That cake was good, Grandma!"
Jenna and I showed up wearing almost identical outfits.
Sisters, Janie and Joycie - ha! :-)
The celebrating wasn't quite over. Sandy and I always entertain each other for all of our birthdays, so Thursday night we headed to their house for another delicious Italian meal. I'm definitely going to have to go on a diet before school starts! 
Steve and Sue! 