International Chaos: Rome wasn't built in a day

And after spending four days among its sights I believe it. It is about time I got around to blogging about my month long adventure. I have been back in the States for a week now, have met 2 out of the 3 new grand kids, been to the dentist with no new cavities, had my hair cut, caught up on new Law and Order episodes, dug through my belongings in the garage attic looking for a pair of shoes, submitted one job application, and recovered from jet lag, which means I can now look through all the photos I took without nodding off.

First stop: Rome. I originally planned on spending 6 days in the city, but after being there a couple of days I remembered why I don't like big cities and decided to cut my visit by 2 days. But I was still able to pack a lot in, the blisters on my feet and the well developed leg muscles are evidence of the many miles I walked. It is impossible to post all the pictures so we'll see how far I get today before I am distracted by the need to locate my knitting supplies.

I'll begin by giving a shout out to my man Rick Steves. From now on his guide books are a traveling must. His Italy travel guide was my bible and I am forever grateful to my friends Dave and Rachel who passed it along to me. Rick offers free audio guides on his website, and I downloaded them, which saved me from having to pay for the audio tours. Much, if not all of what you read below about the places is from his guide book.

The Collosseum (Colloseo):

Built at the peak of the Roman Empire in A.D. 80 could hold 50,000 people are there to cheer on gladiator deaths and other family friendly sporting events. It is an awesome structure and pictures don't really do it justice:

The Arch of Constantine: This arch is important to Christianity because it marks the military coup of Emperor Constantine over his rival Maxentius in A.D. 312. Constantine's victory resulted in Christianity becoming mainstream. The artwork that covers the arch is completely recycled from other buildings.

The Roman Forum (Foro Romano): This area was the center of activity in ancient Rome. There aren't any complete buildings left, but plenty of ruins to see.

The arch above (up close) and below (from a distance) is only the first level of a 2-level building. The arch is massive, hopefully something the pictures demonstrate. It was awe inspiring to stand there and look at this arch and to think of the manpower it took to build everything that I was and had already seen that day.

To prove I was really there. A few Americans all ended up in the same spot at the same time and took pictures for each other:

Palentine Hill (Monte Palatino): This hill is where we get the word "palace" from. So many of Rome's emperors built here that space soon filled up and later emperors had to build out.