Monday, December 31, 2007

Holidays!

Happy New Year! Merry Christmas! :) I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful time of the year.

I am so sorry I haven't blogged lately, but I promise to have more pictures up soon. I am getting ready to go out of town, but as soon as I get back I WILL blog!

God bless you all!

Tara

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Italy!

Finally I have a few pictures for you of my trip to Italy with my husband. What a wonderful and amazing place. We loved the culture, the history, the food, and just walking around the streets of Rome and Florence. Our favorite time to walk around was at night...so beautiful at night. We checked out the hotels, etc. that my bride and groom will be staying at for their wedding, and they definitely exceeded my expectations. I was very happy about this! If you have not been to Italy, I highly recommend it! It is actually so hard to believe that we were actually there...the whole time we just figured we were on an elaborate movie set! :)


The Colosseum...

Me walking through the Colosseum...looking like I belong in the Matrix! :) Just seeing this site and knowing of all the battles that went on in this place made this site very special.

This was one of our favorite places...the Mamertine prison that held both Peter and Paul, along with many other martyrs for Christ. The upside down cross symbolizes how Peter was crucified. He wanted to be crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to die in the same way as his Savior and Lord. We could still see where the shackles were on the walls. Breathtaking to know what occurred in this prison. Peter,Paul, and other believers continued to praise the Lord through their suffering in this place. Many prisoners were saved and baptized from a miraculous spring that bubbled up through the prison floor.

St. Peter's Square (which is actually round!) in the Vatican City. We saw inside St. Peter's Basilica, and boy was it was massive! We saw the tomb of Peter and of many popes, including Pope John Paul II. We just happened to arrive at the Vatican City when the present pope came out and spoke to the masses of people. We definitely didn't expect to see the pope! :)


We thought it was hilarious to see an Italian with a confederate flag helmet!

Authentic Italian Tiramisu! It was yummy!

We had to take a picture of these cars because they were covered in bird poo! I guess they parked in the wrong place that day!

Jonathan and I in front of the Trevi Fountain. One of my couples (Lindsey and Nick) were engaged right here in front of this fountain! I have pictures of their wedding coming very soon...

The Borghese Gardens in Rome. It is like New York's Central Park.

Our view from the Spanish Steps in Rome. It was so crowded that evening, that cars could not even get through. The street you are looking at is where all the expensive stores are...Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, etc. Needless to say, we did not shop there...well, we window shopped! :)