Photos of Pisa

The first stop on our Italy vacation was the town of Pisa and the Field of Miracles. The Field of Miracles (or Campo die Miracoli) is Pisa's religious center and contains four white marble buildings spread out on a green lawn.

The Duomo (or Cathedral)The Camposanto Cemetery

The Baptistery

And, of course, the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Which is actually the bell tower for the Duomo

Okay, Okay. Our first stop was actually a gelato stand, where we enjoyed delicious cones of limoncello, orange, and coconut gelato. How else can one start an Italian vacation but with a few scoops of the Italian delicacy?But as soon as we finished our cones, we headed straight for the most famous building in Italy. A few minutes on the beautiful lawn told us the sweaters we packed would not be needed and we were in for a wonderful, sunny vacation.

The rest of our pictures, including the interiors of the buildings, can be found here.

Driving through Ireland

And now back to Ireland...

After enjoying a full Irish fry for breakfast (AKA a heart attack on a plate), we were ready for more exploring. Our plan for Sunday was to slowly drive back to Dublin, stopping whenever we saw something that caught our eye.

The view of the Burren from Corkscrew Hills

We stopped for a pint at the oldest pub in Ireland (c.900 AD) in the city of Athlone

An old castle just before Bell Harbour

Matt climbing on centuries old ruins

The ruins were like our own personal castle playground!

An abbey just outside of Bell Harbour

An out building from the abbey

We stopped in Trim to see the large castle ruins in Ireland

As if one castle wasn't enough, there were ruins of a second castle in Trim just across the river in a city park

Our last stop for the day was a ruined monastery/cemetery on the outskirts of Trim

The Celtic crosses in the cemeteries were beautiful

The rest of our pictures from this day can be found here.

Art In Situ

For the best art in Milan, get out of the galleries and head to the Il Cimitero Momumentale. The cemetery was created in 1870 and it still used today. The Italians do cemeteries just like they do life - over the top.

The tombstones, plaques, and family buildings are lavishly decorated with sculptures, candles, flowers, photos, and inscriptions. The art ranges from weeping angels to gruesome grim reapers to modern sculptures to scientific themes to Gothic arches to sculptures of the entire last supper scene.

Photography was frowned upon, so I could only snap a few shots with our little camera.