Sunday, October 26, was our first full day. The first city we explored was Rome. Our local guide in Rome was
Stephano. He was very good. He was funny and made all the information we took in interesting. And considering how much information we took in every day that was very important. For all our tours that week, we were given Whispers to use. Whispers are headsets where the guide talks, and we can hear him in our individual head piece. That way he doesn't have to shout, and we don't have to crowd around him. I really liked the Whispers, but apparently I have small ears because the ear piece was continually trying to work its way off of my ear.
Now normally this particular tour begins with the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, but the churches are closed on Sundays. Therefore, we began with the Roman Colosseum. It was pretty awesome. Part of the outside wall collapsed in an earthquake Rome had in the 1300s. Apparently there's an underground river beneath the Colosseum. On one side the ground is rock, and on the other side, it's sandy. So the wall built on the sandy side collapsed.
Also all the marble that covered the bricks in the Colosseum were removed to be used in the churches. I think all the marble in Rome is recycled.
Here is a picture of the steps that the people would use in the Colosseum. Look how steep they were!
This is where the emperor would sit. It's the balcony right above the cross.
The original seats in the Colosseum.
Looking at the bottom of the Colosseum, it looks like a maze. This is the area where the Romans kept the animals and the gladiators got ready. Wooden boards covered with sand covered the underground level. The sand was to absorb all the blood. The Romans would ship in exotic animals from Africa. One lion would cost $40,000 (today's dollar). Gladiators were cheaper because it was always easy to get more slaves. On special occasions, up to 9,000 animals could be killed in one day. So imagine how many animals were killed in 400 years. Not to mention all the gladiators who died.
Next we went to the Forum. This was more a political and business marketplace rather than a religious area.
The area where we were walking looked like it was just a regular hill. However we were walking where the second story of the original building would
have been. Following the big earthquake, the rooms of the building were filled with ruble and dirt, and grass just grew up on top of the building. So we'd just walk past portions of what used to be a wall in the building.
Now most ancient buildings were torn down by the Church (because they were pagan buildings), but a few weren't. Usually because the buildings were turned into churches. If you look closely at this picture, you can see the rope marks on the columns where they tried to pull the building down. When they were unable to pull it down, they turned it into a church.
On the inside of this arch is an image of the procession of the Jewish people carrying the Menorah.
SPQR were the letters on the shields of the Roman soldiers. This was an abbreviation for
Senatvs PopvlvsQveromanvs. I can't remember what that means. Something likes "Rome rules over all the people."
Here is an olive tree.
The Castle of Angles
So even though the churches were closed, we were able to go see the square outside St. Peter's Basilica. First though, we went into a store that sold
mosaics done by the seven masters still alive.
Mosaic art is a dying art form. The youngest master is 65 years old. There are four different m
osaic techniques. The first technique is antique. The surface has a rough feel to it. The second technique uses pieces of glass. Even though it is created with many small pieces, they are put together so that the surface is smooth like one large piece of glass. The third technique uses minerals in their natural colors and also has a smooth surface. The fourth uses precious gems like jade and gold. In the store they also sold rosary beads made by the nuns using real roses.
I bought this
mosaic cross. It was made using the first technique. It's really beautiful. I'm planning on framing it for my desk.
St. Peter's square consists of St. Peter's Basilica with columns extending from both sides. The columns are supposed to symbolize Peter's arms hugging the church. On top of the columns are statues of popes and saints.
We then went on an optional tour walking around Rome seeing different sights. I love the buildings in Rome. They are so interesting looking and all look so different.
The Roman streets are very narrow. You'll walk down these narrow Roman streets, and then they'll suddenly open up into these beautiful squares. We ate lunch in this square. I really liked the sandwiches in Italy; I thought the bread was really good.
In this first square we saw this church, which was named after a twelve year old girl. She was a Christian who was executed by Roman soldiers for refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods.
We then moved on to the Pantheon. It is one of the few ancient buildings that is nearly completely intact. A person in the ancient times would see the same things we saw when we viewed it. The reason why it is still intact is because it was used as a church, and therefore not torn apart. The top of the Pantheon is a dome made completely of concrete. The builders built two wooden domes and then continually filled in concrete in between. They then removed the wooden scaffolding. So it's one huge slab of concrete. A true engineering miracle.
This is the water mark showing how tall the flood waters got the last time the Tiber River flooded (about 100 years ago). I don’t remember how many feet it was, but it was definitely taller than me!
Next we visited the
Trevi Fountain. The tradition here is to toss in one coin to come back to Rome, two for love and marriage, and three for a divorce!! =) You throw them in with your right hand over your left shoulder. I had some pennies, so I threw in two. So I'll be going back to Rome soon with my husband.
LOL 
In this square was also the longest operating pharmacy in Europe. It was opened in 1552, and it is still opened.
After throwing in our coins, we moved on to the Spanish steps. Now this was interesting to me. At the top of the Spanish steps is a French church (it's French speaking). The steps and the church were actually built and paid for by the French. So why are they called the Spanish steps? Because the Spanish embassy is located in this square. So the square is called the Spanish square, and therefore the steps are called the Spanish steps.
This is a picture of the Spanish Embassy, which is the oldest embassy in the world.
At this point it was around 2:00, and we came back to the hotel. We were on our own for the rest of the day.
Rebecca and I decided to rest for a couple of hours before heading out to look for toothpaste and somewhere to eat dinner.
Oy! Was that an ordeal! We wandered around for THREE hours (give or take) looking for toothpaste and somewhere to eat (Mostly looking for toothpaste. I couldn't go another day without properly brushing my teeth.
Someone (not me) had forgotten to pack toothpaste.) So finally we decided to take a taxi to the Spanish steps because it's a tourist spot where we figured more shops would be open. Because if you remember, it was Sunday, and most shops we walked past were closed. Hallelujah! We weren't walking for long, and I spotted some toothpaste! I was ready to do a little dance, sing a little song; I was so excited. We then quickly picked a place to eat and sat down. I had a cheese pizza, and it was fabulous. We then went back to the hotel, and I emailed Mama and Daddy to let them know I made it to Rome safely!
