You had us at "My City"

We met our guide, Giovani at 8:30 this morning and went on the archaeological tour of Rome. We are so grateful to have had him to guide us through Rome. As he began to talk to us outside of our first location. He kept referring to Rome as "my city". He has a love for Rome that is contagious, it would have been hard to not be affected by it.

We started the tour at the Basilica Di San Pietro In Vincoli.  The outside of this building gave no hint as to what was inside. There is no charge to tour this Basilica, yet it held many treasures within, including the chains that bound Peter in prison before the angels came and released him and it also has Michelangelo's statue of Moses.

After we left the basilica we began our walk to the Coliseum.  Giovani talked about how the ground we were walking on was actually on top of the home that Emperor Nero had built.  I believe he said it had 435 rooms.  Some of it has been excavated, but whether it will ever be finished is yet to be known. Nero thought of himself as a god and the Romans hated him.  The stories that Giovani told us were so good, but there is no way I remembered even half of what he said.  We walked down one of the 7 hills of Rome and came to the Coliseum.  Over 70% of it is now gone, but what still remains is very impressive.  This was part our view from the outside.

Once inside, Giovani pointed out all of the holes in the remaining structure.  These holes were made as the Romans took the marble that had been used to cover the walls.  The marble was then used to build other structures within Rome.  Here are some pics from inside the Coliseum.

The picture below is of what was below the floor of the arena where the gladiators fought. This is where the lions were kept along with the gladiators and anything that would be needed.  There was a section of wooden flooring that was operated via pulleys to allow the lions, etc. to be brought up from beneath the arena floor.  The engineering that was used to not only construct the Coliseum, but to actually operate it was very impressive.  I wish I could remember more of what we were told today, but hey, I am almost 50, so you'll have to cut me some slack.

This next picture is of a map of Jerusalem that was carved above one of the arches as you exit the Coliseum.  It is hard to see from this picture, but if you look closely or if you can enlarge the picture, about half way down on the left side you will see the three crosses that depict where Christ was crucified.

After leaving the Coliseum, we walked the path that the Roman soldiers would have taken as their parade route after conquering yet another country, etc.  They would display all of the riches that they had taken from these victories.  The picture below is of the arch that they would have entered under during the victory parade.

The following two pictures are taken of the sculptures that are on the insides of the arches.

The path took us near what would have been the royal family home.  Most of this area has had to be excavated to uncover these amazing buildings, etc.  The area below shows where the vestal virgins would have lived and the garden area they would have used  The picture doesn't really do it justice. One other thing I learned today was that the vestal virgins were actually responsible for keeping the "community" fire lit.  This was their main responsibility and if after they were chosen they decided somewhere down the line they no longer wanted the job or if they broke their vow, they were buried alive.  Um yeah...

We headed out of this area and down to the Pantheon.  Why yes, this was a whole lot of walking, walking, walking on some of the most uneven footing.  The fact that none of us sprained an ankle is nothing short of a miracle.

The Pantheon was filled with people and I don't really have a decent picture of it from the inside, but this is the outside of it. The inside is a sphere and the acoustics are amazing. There was a concert being held when we were inside and about all I can say is "wow"!

The last stop of the tour with Giovani was to another basilica, which I do not remember the name of because by this time I was exhausted.  This basilica has a fresco painted that apparently rivals the Sistine Chapel.  It really was impressive.  By the way, it is very hard to shoot a picture of a fresco painted on a ceiling.  I may be glad that we cannot take pictures in the Sistine Chapel.

We left Giovani after receiving some instruction on how to get back, sort of, to our apartment.  We headed off to lunch at a small family cafe and drank several pitchers of water as we refueled ourselves for the afternoon.

We then did just a little bit of shopping.  I'd tell you what was purchased, but I am fairly certain these items are meant as gifts and I don't want to let any secrets out.  A quick note for my family, it wasn't me buying anything so don't get your hopes up!

After shopping we wandered until we found the Trevi fountain and then off to the Spanish Steps.  I didn't feel like fighting the crowds to get a good picture of the fountain and well the Spanish Steps, they were a bunch of steps with people all over them.  No reason to show that one to you, just saying.

We have some great navigators in this group (Diane, Cheryl, and Kim) and eventually managed to find our way back across the river and to the apartment, where all I wanted to do was collapse.  I am definitely paying the price for all the walking today.

A few of the girls headed back out for some additional shopping opportunities and to have a beverage or two at a local cafe.  The rest of us hung out at the apartment for a while to give our tired legs a break.

Later on this evening all the girls headed out to a local cafe for dinner.  Now as I finish up this post Bibby is making some popcorn for us, because she is the casa mama.  Some of the other girls have been catching up with family back home via texting, skype, etc.

Yet another amazing day in Italy and we still really do all like each other.  Who woulda thunk it?!?!

Ciao ... for now