Rome Day 1

Our first full day we took a bus tour to orient ourselves with the city. In the middle of the bus tour we got off to see the Victor Emmanuel Monument dubbed the “wedding cake” by the American GIs during WWII – just look at the picture, it is aptly named. Just behind this monument is the Roman Forum and behind that is the Colosseum…Circus Maximus is just down the street. Each of these historic sites is completely unbelievable and that they are within easy walking distance is amazing.

Oh, you should see the Colosseum, Spaniard: we missed our tour bus connection and stumbled into taking a guided tour of the Colosseum. The Colosseum, it’s history, our tour and the guide were AMAZING! We learned about how and why it was built, that it had a retractable roof, how the floor worked, who attended, who fought, the bathroom facilities, the earthquake in 1349 that destroyed half the building and that the marble and iron was stripped out of it to build St. Peter’s.

We also took a walking tour of the city in the evening that was a great opportunity to find the hidden treasures in the labyrinth of city streets where cars aren’t allowed. The highlights were: Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio, Mussolini’s balcony and the adjacent Napoleon balcony, many Egyptian obelisks which came to the city between 50 BC and 45 AD, the magnificent and HUGE Trevi Fountain, and the just to round it out – The Pantheon. Click here for pictures of Rome, or you can see our pictures of Rome here.