This monument is nicknamed by Romans as "The Wedding Cake."

On our final day in Rome, we took the elevator to the top for some final sight seeing.

The Colosseum was being cleaned while we were there. This image shows the scaffolding that was around it. Unfortunately this doesn't make for great shots, that's why in my Colosseum pictures I had to use various angles to avoid the scaffolding.

Our final meal and gelato stop. I definitely miss the gelato!

After clearing customs in Chicago, we were all ready to be home!

And finally....some good Mexican food for our first meal back home!

You just can't leave Italy without picking up some "Symbol of Life" Pasta..... Yes....it's exactly what you think it is. Refer back to the Pompei pictures for more "Symbol of Life" references. haha!

And last but not least....just in case you missed this on Facebook. The girls thought it would be extra funny to capture a montage of awesome pictures of me!

Someone had a bubble machine close to the fountain.  I ended up liking this one more than the "non bubble" shot. — Someone had a bubble machine close to the fountain. I ended up liking this one more than the "non bubble" shot.

After leaving the Colosseum and Roman Forum we headed back towards the apartment with a few stops along the way. The Pantheon dates back to around 126 AD and was a temple to all the gods of pagan Rome. Now it's a church and museum. It is also the best preserved structure from ancient Rome.

Sunscreen is very important....ooops....was I not supposed to post this?

They believe this is the area where Julius Caesar was murdered. We stumbled upon this by accident on the way to the Pantheon and more gelato.

After 15 days on the trip...eventually somebody isn't going to get along. Anna Claire and Allie seemed to be at each other all day. We finally gave up and told them if they didn't hug it out there would be no more gelato. Amazing how fast that worked! I wonder if that would work at home too....

Roman Forum

Colosseum

The Vatican

Rome

Rome - Wedding Cake

Rome - The Pantheon