ITALY ~ Rome & Florence ~ VLOG 241

Oh Natale, it's raining and we're on YouTube. And hanging out with local military. And we had to walk the Spanish Steps. But what else can we do on a rainy day in Rome? Visit the Trevi Fountain. And come across beautiful random stuff like this. And this. And then this happened. There's the Colosseum. And then it's time for Florence. This is beautiful. We came by the Pantheon when it was actually opened. The Pantheon, the Basilica of Santa Maria of the Martyrs. Oh Natale, it's raining and we're on YouTube. Visit the Trevi Fountain. What you see in movies online, it doesn't compare to what seeing it in person. It's spectacular. I'm impressed how many beautiful fountains there are all over the city. And then this happened. This is the first McDonald's in all of Italy. Big Mac Challenge. First one in Italy. Regina, this is your first time witnessing the Big Mac Challenge. I'm very excited. And I'm impressed with the bun. Yeah, the bun is absolutely beautiful. It's warm. That's a plus. That's different. There's way too much bun to meat ratio. I'm gonna give it a five. But I'm gonna still eat it and enjoy it. Now that I finished my Big Mac, it's actually a four. They put mustard on it. It has Big Mac sauce. But they added mustard. That's automatically a deduction. So overall, a four. Too much bun and mustard. Not mad. I'm just disappointed. Outside of the Western Market, McDonald's is a totally different experience, as our friends just noticed, because these actually feel like real restaurants. What do they call a Big Mac? Big Mac's a Big Mac. McDonald's for Christmas. We are so American. It's a must-do. What do they call a waffle? I don't know. I think they want a Burger King. Christmas night in Rome. Violin, my favorite. And this tree. Perfect Christmas. You may get a perfect Christmas. Well, we wanted to get this because the tree is beautiful, but it is pouring down rain. It's been raining since Christmas Eve. We have a little bit of reprieve, so we're gonna head to the Coliseum and hope we don't get bored on. Just an average day walking around Rome. There's the Coliseum and even a sliver of sun. We made it just as the rain is starting. Make sure you do a ton of research online because there are scams everywhere. I wanted to go to this more when I thought it was Emperor Palpatine. Palatine. We're just wandering through the free part and we're seeing some of the coolest scenes we've seen. That's a lot of scenes. Now we can say we walked Palatine Hill in the rain. And luckily we got there just before a large tour group. It's amazing how cool the free stuff is when you just walk around and look. Still raining. Is that my baby you're carrying? Yep. The seagulls just floating down the river. Am I telling me? Oh no. There it goes. They don't want to answer your question. No, apparently not. They want to keep this a secret. Rome always has these little side streets that are just so unique. I recommend just taking a direction and wandering. You will be surprised what you find. How can you go wrong? You'll notice we're not in our hotel anymore. Lowell's taking us on an adventure. There's the adventure man. Party time. Hello. Katie. All I know at this time is that we're going to the train station. Adventure. As it turns out, we're headed to the capital of Italy's Tuscany region, the beautiful city of Florence. While it doesn't appear we're going to get any of that Tuscan sun, we drop our bags at the rental car office and head out to explore this amazing city by foot. Strangely enough, we just saw an Honest Guides on that place right there. And even though they have the best in their name, they're actually the worst rated that we've ever seen. So we won't go there. Girls are picking lunch places. Looks like they did a good job. We'll see. My amputation is very dense, so that won't scan, but you can try. But it doesn't work for the green test. You have this one to show me? No, I don't. I just have this one. Usually you take it to the restaurant, so I cannot make it to go inside with it. So sorry, but I can't. Rules are rules, but there are plenty of great places to eat around here. This is beautiful. The architecture in this city is just... Yeah, what she said. Just breathtaking. The sculptures inside this... All I can say is the sculptures inside this building are beautiful. I think it's an oh ---- moment when you walk up and you see this place. It's unbelievable. And Brunelleschi, the guy that developed this dome, didn't know how to build domes. He did this from scratch. He entered a contest, won the contest. They made him make the dome. He had no idea what he was doing. Did a pretty good job. It was like a thousand years ago plus. Still standing. Lowell's like, hey, the guy that built this didn't know what he was doing. It's his first time. You want to go up to the top? Nah. Hey, that's the line to get into the ticket office. So guess what we're not doing? Chris, I feel like you and I are long lost travel twins. We have the same proclivities. That's the line? Yeah. Guess what we're having for lunch. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, kebab's a winner. Never a bad time for coffee. And in addition to great coffee, Choco Latte has wonderful desserts and these beautiful decorations that were handmade by the owners. First cappuccino in Italy. That's good. Wow. Stop singing that song because it's going to get in my head. The beauty of the arts and architecture of Florence was amazing but expected. Look at the stained glass. Nothing prepared us for what we were about to see at Santa Croce. The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world and is said to have been founded by Saint Francis himself. This is far more spectacular than I thought. Santa Croce is the burial place of some of history's most famous Italians such as Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. It's no wonder the Basilica is also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories. Machiavelli. This is a monument to Dante but due to politics he's actually buried in Ravenna. This tomb to Michelangelo designed by Giorgio Vasari was an absolute nightmare to complete taking over 14 years and costing an absolute fortune. I'm sure Michelangelo would have loved that. Constructed in 1345, Ponte Vecchio, which means old bridge, is the oldest bridge in Florence. These days its main purpose is tourist foot traffic. This looks awesome. It was a dark and stormy night. We took a side passage and then nothing happened. It's beautiful in Italy. They went off jewelry shopping so we're heading back towards the train station to wait for picking up the rental car. What a great choice. This street is just gorgeous. We're off. Keep drinking this coffee. Like the thumbs up and subscribe. No, that was good. That was good.