At the Trevi Fountain tossing my coin hoping to return to Rome again. The last coin I tossed was w my husband George in 1997--It worked! I'm back! My mother Evelyn and I enjoyed a 15 day tour of Italy.

My main goal was to see Florence and Venice again, and to show my mom the beauty of the nation of Italy, and her treasures of history and art.

One of the most famous sculptures of all time is Bernini's Ecsatsy of Saint Teresa, which was in the lavish Santa Maria della Vittoria basicila in Rome, near the Moses statue. Imagine seeing this life-sized marble work in person: note the folds in her gown, the details of her digits, the angel wings, and her expression of holy ecstasy. This picture doesn't do the sculpture justice, tho.

I'm under a red umbrella on a cloudy day in Pisa. The 8 story gravity-devying tower is a work of marble art, and was first off-kilter before the 3rd story was built in 1274, but they finished it anyway!

Pompeii, with Mt. Vesuvius the dark mound in the background. The Mount got her rocks off in 79 AD, burying the city and citizens under stones and ashes. It was excavated 17 centuries later; many frescoes and structures remain.

Venice's water level was rising, so we walked on raised wood planks, and in the limited time we had, Mom and I visited the Ducal Palace and basilica of St. Mark. This is a photo of the opulence inside St. Mark's cathedral, which "stables" the 4 life-size horses stolen from Constantinople, and then stolen by Napoleon. The interior is 43,000 sq ft of gleaming golden mosiacs on most of the interior, still in place from the 12-13th centuries.

This is the famous "Bridge of Sighs" built as a passageway between the Doge's Palace and the prison. It took it's name from the sighs of prisoners either going to trial, or after their verdict. This palace is built on wooden piers, built in the 14-15th century, when Venice was a world power. Florence and Venice are two of Teresa's most favorite cities in the world. What a delight to enjoy this trip with my mother, her first visit to Italy.

In Florence at the Piazza della Signoria, 1575 AD fountain of Neptune surrounded by sea nymphs, still spraying after all these years.

Behind is the Medici Palace at one time. Steps away they held public meetings and hangings.

The infamous Savonarola, who took power away from the rich Medici family and burned books and works of art, was himself burned at the stake in this plaza.