Rod and I got to take another dream vacation thanks to Auto-Owners Insurance.
Rome and Florence Italy!
The view from our balcony!
So many statues in Europe! Even at the hotel!
This pool was gorgeous - but there was NO time to swim with so much to see!
We felt like royalty in this room. Definitely not in our budget range!
We laughed that we had an actual toilet AND a bidet!
The roads in Europe are always so cool to see - so different than our boring asphalt!
After a LONG night of traveling and NO sleep, we got to our beautiful hotel in Rome, ate a little lunch, and then immediately started a walking tour to get acquainted with the city. We had the most darling little tour guide! She spoke great English and her accent made everything more charming!
We started in the Piazza di Spagna.
These are the Spanish Steps. There are 135 steps total that connect two plazas.
We also stopped at the Trevi Fountain. It is the most famous of the Roman fountains and has been in several famous movies!
It is the only one of the ancient aqueducts continuously in use to this day.
The legend says that if you throw a coin in the fountain, you will definitely return to Rome. If you are looking for a bit of romance, you will have to toss a second and third coin.
Off to the right of the fountain is the fountain of lovers. If you drink at the fountain with your lover, you will stay in love forever and will remain forever faithful one to the other.
Next stop was the Temple of Hadrian. 
The Fontana del Moro.
We walked down the street with Scott and Karalee and found the yummiest gelato shop!
The marks in the columns are where people removed the iron clamps that held the stones together.
Piazza Colonna - This column is called the Column of Marcus Aurelius.
It has stood there since AD 193!
This fountain is in the Piazza Navona. It is called Fontana Dei Quattro Fiumi - Fountain of the Four Rivers. The base of the fountain is the four river gods (Ganges, Nile, de la Plata, and Danube), and above them is an Egyptian obleisk.
In the Piazza della Rotonda, we saw The Pantheon. What an incredible building!
It is one of the best preserved monuments of ancient Rome. It was completed around 126-128 AD. It has a massive domed ceiling. Unfortunately, the line to get in was insane, so we just peeked inside and didn't get the full tour of it.
The Pantheon
One really cool thing about Rome were all of the little fountains to fill up your water bottles or drink out of! It was so hot there, so this was such a welcome relief!
The Church Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza.
Piazza Navona
Fontana del Nettuno - Neptune Fountain.
Getting ready for our group dinner!
We ate gelato EVERY single night of our trip! No regrets!
This was an incredible start to our trip - the architecture and history of Rome is nothing short of amazing and mind-blowing. Pictures just don't do it justice!
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