Italy / Sicily

This was my third time to Italy and I was looking forward to seeing a few iconic sites that I missed on previous trips such as the Leaning Tower Of Pisa.

Our trip started in five days in Rome on our own. The centrally located hotel allowed us to walk to most of the sites we wanted to see

.

There were much larger crowds of tourist and locals than normal  in Rome this particular spring because Rome was celebrating a birthday. It is 2,772 years old, give or take, depending on the scholar you're talking to.

The parade in Rome was an amazing march of history from ancient Roman soldiers to the present.

We also had the opportunity to visit the catacombs 

And walk along the Apian Way.

Plus it was a must to revisit:

Spanish Steps

Treve Fountain

And many more:

After meeting up with our tour group, we headed to Venice, where we stayed for several days on the island of Murano.

 

Sicily

We arrived in Palermo, Sicily via an overnight ferry from Naples.

Great view of Mount Edna from our hotel room.

Every where we traveled in Sicily there was amazing scenery.

Hiking Mount Etna

 The wind at the rim of the this volcano's vent was so strong I had to kneel down to capture these photos.