A couple of years ago, right before I decided to take a chance and make a go of my photography full time, I bought a ticket to Europe and wandered around for 6 weeks. In a series of posts I’m going to show you some of where I went and what I saw… and tell you why you should too! 😉

So I’m starting this little travel adventure with my MUST SEE’S! I’m serious… there’s no getting around it. You MUST see these two things in person before you die. Don’t wait! Do it now! (For those of you who missed last week’s post on Athens, I’m talking about the Parthenon… check it out here : http://bit.ly/TTathens )The colosseum is one of those “modern marvels” that you can’t just picture in your mind. The scale of it can’t be fully displayed in all of the photographs taken daily, combined. You have to stand there and see this stadium…built of stone…in the middle of one of the most historic cities in the world.

One can go into the epic battles that took place there. Arguing the inhumane factors of men killing each other for the entertainment of others… but that’s for someone else’s blog. I personally like the idea of the model ships built and the wars staged when they’d flood the interior. (Come on, how cool is that?!)

In my short time in Rome, I kept finding myself back at this place time and time again. Though it’s not my favorite (you’ll see him a little further down) the grandeur of this fountain is unexplainable in words… As you walk down what seems like rather ordinary streets, passing residents and small businesses, it seems like an other day in an ancient city. (Ok, that unto itself may not be very common for we mere Americans) But then out of nowhere this square opens up to hold this magnificent and intricate piece of art.They say that a coin tossed in the fountain helps to ensure your return to Rome. And boy, do I hope that’s true. (I may have tossed a handful, just for good measure…)

My place in this glorious city, sits a handful of blocks away from the river. It’s a “square” filled with everything I need and love… artists of every kind, delicious food, and three amazing and gorgeous fountains.The fountains… The center and grandest of the three is a shrine to the 4 main rivers. It has personality and character unmatched. But my favorite stands on the north end… a sculpture of Triton, god of the sea, on top of one of the cutest octopi you’ve ever seen! There’s something about that one and the buildings that surround it, that pulls at my heart.

Sometimes I have to laugh when our visitors from over seas mention how “everything’s bigger here”… I remember places like this… the art, the fountains, the squares (this is in front of St. Peters Basilica, notice the man between the columns)… Did it have to be that big? Is there a purpose to that many columns, that tall? Or did the artists, church, and political leaders of the world in 1667 want to say something?

The Parthenon, the Spanish Steps… Rome is a city that packs more art, architecture, and history into it’s 496 sq miles than any other city in the world.