Hotel Belvedere Modena

... hillside, but so worth it.

We walked through a short tunnel into town and as it opened up into a piazza, an aroma swept over you and then the view just takes your breath away. Rob and Buck give a short lesson with this picturesque background - such as how this would be a great defense against attacks due to the difficulty of getting there even in modern times much less medieval times. Then everyone was turned loose to explore for a ...

... too, but I got a table right away. Had a Pina Coloda and beef faijitas for lunch.
I then went to book a tour to Assisi for the next day and then to the train station to buy my ticket to Venice. I used the machine at the train station to buy on first class ticket to Venice for 94 euros. The train station was a cross between a mall and a carnival. There was a lot of shopping there. I spent about one hour there and then headed back to the hotel.

Started off with a 15 minute walk from my hotel to the Colosseum. There were horses and Gladiators out front for tourist photos ops. Skipped that. I had my pre-paid ticket and got right in! It was very historic inside, but smaller than I had imagined. It was so worth the visit because you could feel the history all around. Outside the Colosseum was the Arc de Constantine.
Next was Palatine Hill ...

... I treated myself to fabric softener, in that went to the appropriate slot. Now not being totally naïve and being just a little suspicious I check in the dispenser as the machine is filling just to make sure it's all working ok. Pre-wash, not a problem, big stream of water, in goes the powder great. Hmm! Shall I go for coffee at the conveniently located bar next door? No I'll just wait for the main wash. On goes the main wash and no water through the dispenser, well ...

... ready, we were on our way and in line at the Vatican at 7:30 AM. When we arrived, surprisingly enough, the line was already around the corner from the main entrance and halfway down the block. We found our place and then watched as buses followed by more buses pulled up to drop off literally hundreds of tourists all seeking their own space in line. We watched the ...

... creepy. All the artwork and design that went into the church was amazing. The Vatican is, without a doubt, the most densely packed ...

... nothing really filled our boots. We left the Accademia with full intentions of enjoying the Peggy Guggenheim exhibit. I have heard so much about this excentric lady and her passion for art. We were thrilled to see her exhibit...until we got in. Good heavens....what a bizzare collection! It was all cubist and surreal art. Barb and I got the greatest kick out of Jackson Pollock. He is touted to be the greatest modern artist since Picasso! OMG...we saw absolutely no ...

... out the ying yang, pantheon, paletine hill, the vatican museum and st. peters basillica which was probably my favorite. we saw the sistene chapel and colleen did some covert picture taking. i was overwhelmed by the size and grandeur of it all. we waited in like to see the vatican museum for about an hour and a half, and the people we about 10 across and the line was around the city almost hal way. it was a bit crazy. and we got there at like ...

... woke up and started to get ready but felt I shouldn't go or else I would come back tired and sick. So I slept instead and watched part of it on TV. I heard that the landlord got everyone in without waiting in line, ahead of some nuns. It would have been neat to go but I think I would have gotten sick with such little sleep. Enough about Catholic stuff and onto the good stuff. So my roommate Evan had been talking about making a large ...

... and arch through the old town in the direction of the River finally ending at the Vatican. We arrived back at the Hotel in time to join the entire group for dinner at a nearby Italian Restaurant. Dinner doesn't start till 8:00 p.m. or later. We had a hard time keeping our heads off the table on our first night in Italy.