The big finale....ROME!!!

This was, by far, the highlight of our trip! It was so bizarre to see buildings that were constructed during the 1st century, sitting in the middle of a bustling, typical in some ways, big city! There are over 3 million people that live in Rome. The history of this ancient city includes such famous names as Caesar, Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra! There is so much I could share but I don't want this blog to turn into a BOOK, so, I'm going to just try and hit the highlights.




The Colosseum was completed in 80 AD during the reign of Titus. It is basically a huge concrete amphitheater containing miles of stairways, tier upon tier of marble seats which accommodated more than 50,000 spectators! This was a very barbaric time in history. Gladiators, which were trained slaves or prisoners, were forced to fight to the death, just for entertainment purposes. Sometimes gladiators were even forced to fight lions, tigers and other wild animals. This first picture shows two of the world's most famous and dangerous gladiators.



Trevi Fountain is one of Rome's most popular attractions. Our guide told us that there are a couple of different traditions when it comes to this beautiful work that was built in 1762. One is to throw a coin into the fountain with your back to the water to guarantee a return trip to Rome. Another one is to stand in the same position and to throw in one coin to find true love, two coins to stay with that true love and three coins if you want a divorce! There was actually a guy in our group that threw in 3 coins when he wife wasn't watching! When he noticed that I saw what he did, his eyes went big and he put his finger to his mouth and shook his head "no" to let me know that he did NOT want his wife to know! What a pig!! Well, as you can tell, Rod and I had no trouble stopping at two coins!


St. Peter's Basilica is the world's largest church. While standing in the "Piazza San Pietro" which is St. Peter's Square you can easily see St. Peter's and the Vatican Palace with the balcony used by the pope when he addresses "the faithful." You can even see the window of his private room.


Next door to the Vatican Palace is the Vatican Museum. It is actually a complex of eight museums and five galleries that contain things from Egyptian artifacts to the famous and quite beautiful Sistine Chapel. This picture is of the hallway of the museum! We were pretty restricted with what we were allowed to photograph.


Well, I think I'm going to FINALLY bring this vacation to an end! Thanks to all of you who continued to "travel" along with Rod and I on our once in a lifetime excursion!