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Colosseum!!
The first shot during the day To say that seeing the colosseum was amazing would be an understatement. Seeing the Colosseum
in person makes you gasp outloud, smile, cry, twitch.... it leaves you breathless and wanting more.
Your breath catches in your throat, the first time you see it.You could see a thousand pictures over
the course of your lifetime, watch a million documentaries, but to see it in person? To see its
exquisite imperfections? Thats quite remarkable.
We've seen many "famous" monuments over the course of this trip. From the Tower Bridge, to Big Ben
Clocktower, to the London eye, to the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur and St. Peter's Basillica,
but perhaps none is more famous than the Colosseum. And its just as stunning today, as it was centuries ago when it was actually used in gladiator-style killings. Walking along the outter walls I thought,
"I wonder how many people have been here through the years, touched its walls, smelled its air."
I knew that number had to be impressive. I felt like I was walking through a piece of history.
Today, we had to be "wired" just like yesterday, with the ear pieces. Francesca was our tour guide for
Jay
Jay the
morning, again. Already, I was irritated. It could have been that it was early and I'd gotten just merely hours of sleep, or it could have been that I didnt really wanna listen in on the group tour this morning.
People were everywhere, there were men actually dressed as gladiators who would charge you to
take a picture with them. I really just wanted to walk around the inner walls of the Colosseum, and take pictures. I was familiar with the history, but I still listened intently. I took some amazing pictures of Jay and I, and the structure itself.
After the Colosseum, we took a quick walk over to the Roman Forum, or the Foro Romano. We weren't there for very long, Francesca gave us a quick, brief history of the Forum, and then we were dismissed from the group that day. Afterwards, Joel met up with us offering an optional walking tour of the city. Of course we wanted to tag along, but only about half the group came along. Everyone else either went back to the hotel or had their own plans for the day.
Our first stop was, the Piazza Navona--again. We didnt
realize we were going to go to the cute little
piazza twice, but it didnt matter. This was where we ate lunch. We teamed up with about 4 other group
members and ate in a cute little pizza shop.
This was where I began to feel sick.
All the pizzas were huge. I, of course, couldnt finish it all. I ate maybe half of it, then tore up little pieces trying to make it look like I ate more than I did. I was afraid I'd insult the waiter when he came to pick up our dishes. He made a joke about me not eating the entire pizza, and I laughed, but whatever, I was full, and not feeling good. But....that didnt stop me from going right on over to an ice cream shop nearby and ordering a sour apple/honey flavored ice cream. I know whoever is reading this is like, "nasty!" no, not nasty. It's Italy, nothing is nasty there. It was really really good. Despite my tummy ache, I ate it all.
The group reassembled in front of one of the fountains and this was when Joel pointed out, "this is the fountain that Chevy's
Chase's car crashes into in the National Lampoons movie," everyone had a good chuckle.
We made our way through dozens of quaint side streets. It was amazing, we'd be walking through a regular street nothing remotly notice-able about it, and then all the sudden, there would be an exquisite gothic style church built in the 16th
century. And Joel was amazing, he knew the names of pretty much EVERY building and church in Rome,
even the date it was built, and some other interesting facts about the building. We'd walk by a church and he'd stop us to tell us all about it. I'm sure even most history professors couldnt tell you that much about Rome.
Follow me to....PART II
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Beata and Tomek
us At Home Abroad
grand place;-)