Katherine and I went down to New Belgium's annual Tour De Fat bike ride to watch all the weirdos on their bikes. We didn't bike this year but we might next year.

Katherine and I got to go in a hot air balloon ride as part of a bridal shower gift from Katherine's parents and grandparents. We launched at Chatfield Reservoir, located about 20 miles southwest of the center of Denver.

Katherine's parents were going to the CUS game so we decided to tack along. CSU ended up winning (presumably - we left with 5 minutes on the clock).

Our flight got into Rome in the morning and after we cleared customs we headed right for the town. We dropped out bags off at our hotel and then started walking around Rome. We started at the Santa Maria Maggiore church from a recommendation by the hotel staff and then walked North to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and then started making our way to the Collosseum, stopping by a massive monument, the Altare della Patria, and the Roman Forum along the way. It was a busy day and we were exhausted (both because of the jet lag and the lack of sleep on the plane), but we made the most out of every minute!

On the second day we woke up rested and ready for a day of adventure! Our first planned visit in Rome was going to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. We bought our tickets in advance which was a very good thing because the line was massive!

Katherine and I had a big day planned for our second full day in Rome. We started by going to the Colosseum. We got there shortly after they opened and started off walking around the thing 20 times. Then we took a tour which allowed us to go down into the lower level (where they kept the animals and gladiators) and then up to the third ring. Both the lower level and the third ring were off limits to the public without a tour, which is why we opted for the tour, and it was completely worth it, especially for the spectacular views. We also got to learn some history from our tour guide which was a nice insight since we didn't know a whole lot. We then made our way to the Roman Forum area just after lunch time. There was a huge line at the entrance right next to the Colosseum, but someone told us about an entrance that was empty about a quarter mile away. We decided to take our chances and the person was right! we walked right up, showed our tickets, and we were in the Roman Forum just like that! After wandering through the Roman Forum for several hours, we made it to a place to have dinner and then back to the hotel for some rest before going back out with my tripod in the evening to the Vatican for some night photography. Katherine was really nice about letting me take night photos every evening I had a place in mind to shoot.

We left for Florence in the morning. We took a high speed train from Rome to Florence that took about an hour and a half. After we found our hotel and dropped off our bags we started wandering around the town. We got checked in to our hotel and went to go see David. We purchased advanced tickets (like everywhere else we went) and just like everywhere else, it was a good thing we did! The advanced tickets allowed us to pretty much walk right in!

On our 5th day in Italy, Katherine and I went to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We started the day early, with a 8am train to Pisa. We had pre-ordered tickets to go up in the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but we didn't have a time slot yet. We figured we would get there early and get an early time slot. Turns out the company we bought the tickets from wouldn't hand tickets out until 4:30 - well after we were planning on leaving. Knowing we wouldn't make that, we purchased tickets on the spot from the Leaning Tower of Pisa ticket office without any problems. The tickets were significantly less expensive than what we bought online too. After we got home from the trip I was able to get our money back because the company didn't make it very clear that you couldn't pick up the tickets during normal business hours. After spending all morning and part of the afternoon in Pisa, we took a train back to Florence and relaxed. We went back out after dinner to take photos of the sunset from the river.

Day 6 was pretty uneventful, mostly because the train to get from Florence to Pompeii was a fairly long trip (~6 hours including a stop in Naples to change trains). We started the day walking around Florence and then hopped on a train to get to Pompeii. We got to Pompeii later in the afternoon and seemed a little unsafe, so after it got dark we stayed in our hotel. We walked around the small town and had dinner, then relaxed the rest of the evening. That was by far the most relaxing day that we had done on our honeymoon.

Today was our main day in Pompeii. We had a little bit of difficulty with our tickets, we only printed out our confirmation, not the actual tickets (everything was in Italian - oops!). We had to go back to the hotel, log into our email, and get the hotel to print the tickets for us. It was a good thing our hotel was right across from one of the entrances into Pompeii! We started walking around Pompeii at 9am and spent the majority of the day there, leaving in the mid-afternoon. After that, we rested us because our legs were so tired walking on the uneven rock roads in Pompeii.

On the last full day we woke up in Pompeii and took a train back to Rome. We got to Rome in the late morning and got checked into our hotel which was right outside the Pantheon. It had a spectacular view! We walked around the city and went back to the Spanis Steps (not that they were open again to the public), walked around a few parts we hadn't gone before, went back to the colosseum again, and ended with some night photography at the Trevi Fountain. It was completely packed the entire time.