Finally getting around to posting some photos from my visit to Italy.

It was so strange seeing these famous landmarks in person. Everything seemed smaller than I imagined–except for the Statue of David. My pictures really don’t show just how impressive the iconic artwork is. The Leaning Tower is definitely very lean-y. Also, if you ever go, I recommend taking advantage of AirBnB rather than the traditional hotel route (if you don’t mind sharing a bathroom with a stranger). You’ll stay in some gorgeous Italian homes with vaulted ceilings and feel like you’re in a movie set the entire time…for a lot less than the price of the cheapest hotel room (unless you’re loaded… then by all means…).

I do have a couple confessions: I think some of the magic of Italy was lost on me because of my Vegas upbringing. While the sites are of course very genuine and beautiful, I kept thinking that I’d basically already seen some of these places before because they were kind of a dirtier version of Las Vegas’s replicas (minus the fake sky ceilings). Blasphemy, I know. I completely realize it should be the other way around, but it was hard for me to separate my personal history (I saw Vegas first, so that’s the original, right? Hmm?) from actual history. Also…I got sick of eating Italian food. Yup…I said it… And…there goes my invitation to visit Italia again. But seriously. I would love to go back and take my mom to see Florence someday and visit the other gems I didn’t have a chance to check out this time around.

Grazie, Italia. I had a lovely time.

Pisa

Firenze