Day Tre!

Buona Sera!

   Today we explored Ancient Rome, which was incredibly exciting! After eating breakfast... Actually let me tell you about breakfast! I had bread with Nutella, which is not really interesting. BUT the people here are crazy about their Nutella. They even have Nutella flavored gelato (which I will also tell you about). I find it quite amusing!

   Anyway, after eating breakfast we headed off to the Circus Maximus, where chariot races used to be held in ancient times. The place had been eroded and ruined, but it was easy to imagine what the stadium-like complex would have looked like in its glory.

As you can see, the stadium's seating is no longer there, but the grounds are very wonderful.

Behind the Circus Maximus (on the left of the above picture) you can see more anciet ruins.

These are supposedly the private residence of Septimus Severus. I think he had a pretty good view of the races from there.

  Later in the day, we went to the Roman Forum, and Palentine Hill. It was stunning. Everywhere you look, there are arches and columns and other marble remnants on the ground.

This was at the Roman Forum. The whole place looked like this!

I really, really loved this building. I think it is the Temple of Romulus. The bronze doors are original!

After the Forum, we went to the Palentine Hill, which was really neat. The Farnese gardens were exceptionally pretty.

Then, we were off to the Colloseum. Of course, we were all extremely excited about that!

This is actually a view from the Farnese gardens, but I thought the Colloseum looked really cool in the background!

We stopped to eat lunch before the Colloseum. Instead of calzones at little sandwich shops, they just fold a pizza in half! And like most Italian food, it is delicious. :)

Inside the Colloseum, everything was INCREDIBLE. I won't bore everyone with the history, but we did learn so much. I'll just put up some pictures I think.

I'm not entirely sure what the point of this cross was, but I think a pope might have actually put it there. My attempts at translating the Latin probably weren't perfect.

The gladiators and animals that fought were kept beneath the stadium. This platform was built very recently to allow people to get a closer look.

FUN FACTS: Did you know...
-women could also be gladiators?
-some men chose to be gladiators?
-there were simple elevators for the animals even in Roman times?

My mom thought it was funny we were all wearing North Face jackets. The Colloseum looks pretty though!

One more picture!

This was our favorite family picture at the Colloseum. The rain clouds were quite foreboding, but the sun peeking through the clouds hit the building at such an angle that it was perfectly illuminated.

I don't have time to put more pictures up (they take forever to load and it's 11:45 here!), but let me tell you about the Basilica San Giovanni Laterno very quickly! It's the Pope's Church--most people assume that St. Peter's Basilica is--and it is stunning! There must've been 10 different chapels within the Basilica. I have more stories about there for later.

Buona notte!

Olivia :)