Ancient Rome

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Saturday July 22, 2012

The Colloseum, Ancient Rome and more great coffee….

We have easily mastered the subway system, which is cheap, quick and very easy to figure out. So, we hopped onto the A line train to Termini—the main train station. We wanted to know how long it would take us to get there because we were leaving tomorrow to catch the train to Venice it is also located just a few blocks from Ancient Rome another of the places we wanted to see. It was a pretty quick trip even if the crowds were somewhat lighter than they would be normally because it was a Saturday. In fact, we were surprised how much lighter the crowds actually were. When we asked about this we were told that people had largely left the city for the beach! I thought who can blame them as we were facing another day of 30 plus temps.

The Colloseum is incredible. It is massive and impressive even if it was basically a place for the slaughter of animals and people for entertainment purposes. We did not do an interior tour of the Colloseum. As much as we wanted to see it we were not drawn to actually enter the place and opted instead to focus on the Palatine Hill and the first cite of Ancient Rome. This was an incredible walking tour, despite the heat. The gardens and structures remaining speak of a time of incredible wealth and considerable engineering and artistic ability. At a time when some people were crudely etching into cave walls these people were literally constructing palaces, community areas and inventing systems that we rely upon still today. Why is that I wonder?

We had a great day. We walked and walked and walked and you can never get bored. There is just so very much to see and marvel at.

We had another amazing dinner, John has been enjoying seafood while I keep sampling different traditional Italian dishes. I am actually starting to get sick of pizza. I have tried some pasta and although the food is delicious there is a serious lack of vegetables that are not dosed in oil and salt. There is a heavy emhasis on carbs here too. The bread is good, it is served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I am determined to find some fruit today and a salad that isn't loaded with cheese and oil. Like I said even though it is hot and we are walking for miles each day I feel like I am gaining weight...so unfair.

The wine is some of the best I have ever had and it is really rather cheap. Like a bottle of wine that would be 25$ at home is 8Euros here. We can have a half liter of house wine--typically very good wine for about 4euros. John has found some Italian beers that he likes too but he likes red wine as well. We drink a lot of water and all over the city there are these fountains and the water is totally drinkable and cool and lovely. So we carry our water bottles and fill them routinely. I have splashed water on my face and back of my neck to cool down too. We bought me an umbrella for shade because despite sunscreen and a hat the heat and direct sunlight are really intense. I personally don't mind one bit and when tempted to complain I think about JANUARY in Winnipeg and driving to work in the pitch dark both ways. Then I am happy to melt in the Italian sunshine!

Our bed and breakfast is in a building that is mixed use. It is really lovely and clean and cool and our room looks into a courtyard. I will upload some pictures later today. Wifi here is in the lobby and the camera is up in our room....more later! Nan

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