Day 6 - Rome

Last night ended late for the Italians, but as we woke up we noticed how quiet and sleepy the city was. The beautiful day began with a successfully navigated bus trip to the Colosseum. We pulled up to the ruins with crowds of people everywhere and perfect weather. We ended up getting a guided tour that took us through the Colosseum, Palantine Hill, and the Roman Forum. The tour was several hours long, and so informative. Jessica coined it our "class." It was definitely the way to go. Kristen stole a piece of a Roman history in the form of a rock from the ruins. It was amazing to learn about how ancient the ruins were. We saw structure from before Rome was even an empire. Contrary to popular belief,  only 5% of the ruins have been uncovered by archaeologists, the city is literally built on historical monuments. The Romans were notorious recyclers, for example the floor of the Colosseum was used in the columns of St. Peters basillica. We also learned that they were only about as tall as a twelve year old child, which makes their feats seem even more amazing.

We walked along the streets after our tour and discovered a huge crowd of officials and police officers at the building that was the monument to Rome marking it once again as the capitol city. We learned that the suited officers and to do was surrounding a visit of the Italian president to a special event (exactly what we're not quite sure) in the building.

Next Taryn and Kristen went to see the Mamertine prison where St. Peter and others were said to be imprisoned in what amounted to a stoned in hole in the ground. The four of us continued through the streets looking in awe at the many ruins around Campidoglio and then caught a bus back to our neighborhood. We stopped for delicious gelatto and relaxed with coffee and vino in one of Rome's popular piazzas.

We plan to finish our evening at Campi di Fiori where restaurants and nightlife bleed onto the streets. Tomorrows site seeing should prove more difficult as there is a public transportation labor strike starting tonight at midnight, which apparently the Romans are used to. Tomorrow will either be a lot of walking or taking some taxis!

Salute!