Recent pictures from Rome and London

[bht-kevin]

I was in London on business last month and we had a free day which we decided to spend in Rome. Woke up at 3:00am to head to the airport and made it back to the hotel at 11:00pm that evening. It was a LONG day! I went ahead and posted larger sized pictures, but you can click some to view larger. (Some of them really require it to appreciate the details)

Our first stop was Vatican City and we decided to do St Peters Basilica. We started walking up to the peak of the Basilica and things got a little crazy! You basically walk up a NARROW stairwell about 320 steps. Once you get to the top, you realize why you decided to burn all of your energy the first 30 minutes in Rome.

Amazing View!
http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_8665_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3744651965/sizes/o/)

Now we walk down to the actual floor level entrance and its simply amazing. To say its "ornate" would be the understatement of the century. I just can't get over the fact this place was built in the 1500-1600s and I was looking at the work of Michelangelo, its humbling (Catholic or not). In this next picture, the WIDE lens was used. The base of the picture is floor level and the top is the peak of the largest dome, which I think they said was ~400 ft tall. Just the letters in the gold that run left to right in the middle of the picture (and at the base of the dome) are 6 ft tall. Wish I had a tripod

http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_8710_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3745448460/sizes/o/)

Tried for an old film look on this one...
http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_8924_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3745448540/sizes/o/)

This was the highlight of the trip. The Colosseum is everything you expect it to be. The history of blood, sweat, tears and cheers can be felt as you approach. As you can see it far in advance, it gave us time to talk about how crazy it would be to walk from your house to an event there when it was completed around 80AD. If the size is impressive now, I can't imagine what it would have been like then with the entire arena filled with cheering people and the clash of swords. UFC... PFFFT

http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_8983_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3744651773/sizes/o/)

http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_9022_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3745448302/sizes/o/)

The money shot...
http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_9091_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3744651867/sizes/o/)

Overall, it was a great time and worth the hassle of a single day trip out there. We didnt eat but a single meal all day to fit everything in!

I snapped a few more pictures in a familiar location in London also. I will tack those on to this thread...

Big Ben being bathed by the sunset...
http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_8416_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3745445244/sizes/o/)

With a strong finish.... it was a still night
http://www.huntingdesigns.com/tbh/rome/IMG_8584_web.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/huntingdesigns/3745445288/sizes/o/)

[RDHPhotography]

Great shots!

[anthonyi]

I really like that middle Colosseum shot - very nice.

[kobel4k3r5]

nice shots!

[Naturalist]

Great shots and just as importantly, I really like the commentary with each image so we know what we are looking at. You had a heckuva great day!

[bht-kevin]

Thanks all! It was definately worth the trip!

[jgrussell]

Very nicely captured.