Italy 2015...

So, I warn you in advance, this post is VERY picture heavy!!!  You have been warned!!  

We started our week in Rome with a hotel near the Vatican.  We spent our first evening just wandering and enjoying the sights and the gelato.

The next morning we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica and went straight up to the dome...

The tiny elevator in our hotel...

We asked every Roman we could about the best place to have dinner, and they all recommended an area called Trastevere.  It is an area of Rome that doesn't have much to see as far as historical sites, but the food was delicious!

On Sunday we headed to church only to find Elder Schina - Tim had known him when he was a missionary in Northern Italy and now he is serving a mission in Rome specifically at the Temple site.

Here is a view of the Temple construction in progress...

After church and our visit to the Temple site we headed South in our Fiat 500...

Our destination?  Matera, a town that has been inhabited for centuries and is made up of thousands of caves turned into homes, churches and hotels.

The view from our private terrace.

Our bed in the cave.

We found this awesome carving in the underground area of one of the cave churches.

We found a restaurant with a wonderful view.  Recommended by Signora Damasco - the proprietor of the parking garage where we left our car.

This is a quarry where they get the stone blocks for the renovations going on all over town.

After Matera we headed over to a town we found in a brochure in our hotel lobby.  The drive was spectacular!

Soon, we arrived at Castelmezzano...

There happened to be a religious procession that evening.  Basically the whole town (all 800 residents) were in attendance.

After Castelmezzano we headed over to Pompeii...

... and then back to Rome for the Coliseum and the Roman Forum...

ROME II

Overall, we had a wonderful trip!