The Cinque Terre

It was recently brought to our attention, that after posting pictures from Venice, we didn't ever finish posting pictures from our wonderful trip to Italy in March. So following are posts of our favorite pictures from each of the places we visited on our trip...

Starting with the highlight of our trip...and perhaps one of our favorite places on earth...

The Cinque Terre

...five villages, connected by hiking trails, on the coast along a remote part of the Italian Riviera

This region is also the birthplace of Pesto and excellent white wines (you can see the numerous vineyards in the pictures) and a local sciacchetra.

Riomaggiore

Manarola

Corniglia

Vernazza

views from each side of the village, "the jewel of the Cinque Terre" according to Rick Steve's,

this is where we stayed in a wonderful little apartment right near the water

we spent a lot of time relaxing by the harbor

Monterosso al Mare

The padlocks along the Via dell'Amore,

the name of the trail connecting Riomaggiore & Manarola.

More pictures of the beautiful scenery and really cool rocks (including some that were nearly vertical). Jake was in geology heaven pointing out all the folds.

Rome

The Colosseum

inside the Colosseum

The Roman Forum

The Pantheon

at Trevi Fountain

St. Peter's Basilica

Pompeii

So this picture is from our near death experience on the way to Pompeii...
after taking the train to Naples from Rome, we were informed that the local train we needed to take to get to Pompeii had decided to go on strike that day...so we had to take a taxi...conveniently we had met a couple from Round Rock, TX on the train and they agreed to split the taxi with us. After much screaming in Italian among two taxi drivers and an older couple whom it seemed one of the taxi drivers had already agreed to take somewhere, we climbed into the car...thinking it would only be the four of us in the car...the other girl decided to ride in front and the two big guys and I climbed in back...and at the last minute the older Italian gentleman also jumped into the backseat with us...and was essentially sitting on the other guy's lap and I was partially on Jake's lap. The near death part came when we started driving...first of all it was raining, and secondly the driver was crazy...he liked turning left from the far right lane and creating his own lanes, and he spent half of the time looking back and carrying on a conversation with the Italian gentleman and...we were so relieved when we arrived at Pompeii alive and whole!

The Forum

Nice homes

Temple of Isis

a theater
the brothel

the amphitheater
by the time we left Pompeii it was pouring rain hard...which you can see in this last picture

Florence

A replica of Michelangelo's David--in all his glory--at Piazzale Michelangelo

The view of Florence, including Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, from Piazzale Michelangelo

Looking down the Arno River at the famous bridge Ponte Vecchio,

which is lined with gold & silver shops

At the Uffizi Gallery

Duomo, Florence's Gothic Cathedral

Our room was right next to this and we had a nice view of this square from our window

Ghiberti's Bronze Doors (replicas), "fit to be the gates of paradise" on the Baptistery of Duomo

Another beautiful Michelangelo Pieta, with Nicodemus

(said to be a Michelangelo self-potrait) looking on

Siena

Siena's Duomo

Il Campo, Siena's main square...which according to Rick Steve's is the best square in all of Italy

Sitting on Il Campo with all the locals at dusk--enjoying pizza, gelato, and people watching...including a few small boys playing soccer

And much to Jake's pleasure, AS Siena's soccer stadium

Chasing Squirrels

Another post about the dogs, because otherwise there isn't a lot to blog about. With the exception that we were able to acquire tickets to a Broncos game this year and will be making a stop in Denver for the game on our way to Jonathan's wedding in September!

I have had a couple of easy weeks of rotations over the past couple of months on Anesthesia and Gynecology, both at the VA hospital, which the dogs enjoy because it means we go to the dog park more. At the time of day we go, there usually aren't too many dogs...but Battlecat & Kelsey don't seem to mind as fewer dogs = more squirrels and birds around to chase. As you can see Kelsey is very enthusiastic and has attempted to climb trees.


Jake is working a lot on his big project and has to call-in to 7:30am meetings everyday (even on the weekends) as they are drilling a well on his project. I have been sleeping a lot! Just ask Jake :) I am on Gynecology, which is mostly clinic, meaning the majority of days this month I haven't had to be to work until between 8-9am...which is amazing for med school. So I am getting all the sleep I can this month, because next month is Labor & Delivery and will include very long days with 4 am mornings and a week of nights :(

I just keep telling myself it's my last core rotation (hooray!)...after this I get to do only things I want to do. I don't think I've mentioned on the blog yet how very excited I am to be a 4th year...I can't believe I've actually made it this far sometimes, but I am so excited!!!! And though the Personal Statement I need to write for my residency application is still looming over my head, most of my thoughts are devoted to planning how I am going to spend the several months I will have off this year!