"Ciao, bella!"

The pictures here are actually back to front, since we went Venice-Florence-Rome. But it's Italy! Some of the hostels may have been less than wonderful, but...it's Italy! I took a lot less pictures than I did the last time that I was there, just trying to enjoy the experience and the sunshine (and thanks to the lack of sun in Dublin that my skin has become accustomed to, I now have a terrible sunburn). I was surprised by how well I remembered the cities after four years! It's comforting to find that memories don't fade as much as we think they do.

Hadrianic roundels (if I remember correctly)

the Arch of Constantine

semi-unconventional view of the Colosseum

bridge with angels

Saint Peter's Basilica

the Ponte Vecchio (which was mysteriously stamped with Darth Vader masks?)

the view of the Duomo from our hostel terrace

the Uffizi framing the bell tower

Duomo!

after some light rain in Venice, San Marco plaza was flooded this badly--this does not bode well. platform walkways were set up all over the city, just in case.

quills! brings me back to the 18th century.

gratuitous.

stairway to nowhere (well, it's somewhere, but it's locked. therefore it's nowhere)

colorful, wet buildings

at first we thought the platforms were for an impromptu fashion show...through all of Venice? I don't know what we were thinking.

Oh, and also! I ate cuttlefish in ink. I don't think that I'll be doing that again, but it was definitely an interesting experience. When in Venice...