Days 4, 5, and 6

Ok.....so I don't remember all the details and if I don't go ahead and finish this, I'll never get it done, but we got tickets to see the pope, and rented a car and drove through Umbria and Tuscany. It was beautiful (umbria and Tuscany....don't get me wrong; the pope was interesting, but I wouldn't use the word beautiful to describe him). We didn't want to take the time to drive back to Rome, so we slept in the car and woke up to a beautiful Tuscan sunrise! Those Europeans really need to invest in larger cars though. Anyway, it was great! We drove up to Florence, checked out the sites, dropped the car (after two parking tickets...those Europeans really need to mark their parking more clearly too), and took a high speed train back to Rome to catch our flight out the next morning.

Waiting to see the Pope. This is a giant backdrop carved out of wood...I'll just leave it at that.

There he is. I'd just like to point out the red shoes.

This is as good as I could get. You're not allowed to take pictures with the jesters (aka: swiss guard)....I asked.

Sterling with a pack of nuns. They really were that small!

Pieta

Four Rivers Fountain

We found a quaint little place for lunch, and this was right outside. Beautiful!

We climbed up a giant, freshly plowed, wet, clay-filled hill to get this backdrop.

We ended up with an inch of clay stuck to our shoes.....which then transferred to the inside of the rental car. But it was totally worth it.

Sunset in Tuscany

Random castle

Tuscan sunrise

Sterling found these places the night before. It is just tons of corridors like this that lead to a breathtaking view!

This went on forever! It was gorgeous!

Florence