Day Four!

Trevi Fountain, we stopped after lunch, again :)
Sam Hahn during lunch :)


The Roman Forum!

Flowers crawling up the wall on the way to Palatine Hill

Me standing in front of the Forum


The Forum!



Inside the Forum

The Coliseum

Professor Burns!

Partial Group Shot inside the Coliseum

Today we boarded the bus at 11:30am and began our panoramic tour of Ancient Rome! We kicked it off by touring the ancient Coliseum (Italian spelling) which was the famed battle ground for ancient roman gladiators! The ruins are held so perfectly intack it is absolutely amazing! According to our tour guide the walls are full of holes because originally the structure contained steel beams within the columns, however, shortly the Romans discovered that the building could withstand its weight without the additional support of those beams and so the romans began removing the steel support beams within the columns, melted the steel down, and then used that metal for weapons! Very interesting! Our guide also informed us that the structure was built using cement, volcanic sand, stone, brick etc.

We then ventured to the Roman Forum where we witnessed where archeologists have excavated the ground digging and removing enough earth to uncover the hidden columns and monuments! Included in the Forum is the exact location where Ceasar was murdered by the Roman Senate! The anniversary of his death just occured on March 15, in honor of him locals place a wreath made of bay leaves on his grave every year. The Roman Forum was both the political, commercial and religious center of Rome at one point! Our guide told us that most everyone felt comfortable there because it was neutrual territory that did not belong to any one group and so people would go to the Forum convinced they were all on a level playing field and would all have an equal chance of being heard. The excavationing of the Forum began in the 18th century!

From there we climbed up the Palatine Hill as our tour guide continued to give us unlimited details and tid bits about everything we were seeing. I have been very impressed by the amount of knowledge each of our guides have possessed! I mean literally anything and everything you could think to ask they know the answers to! It is truly remarkable! After this we were given the rest of the day to enjoy as we pleased! Samantha Hahn, Robin Pierce, Melinda Siel and myself walked around different parts of Rome finishing our shopping and enjoying a quick lunch right next to the Trevi Fountain! Afterward we ventured back to our hotel, but not before grabbing a fresh fruit crepe at a local pastry shop! After relaxing for a little bit, we then ventured out for dinner at a local restaurant called "That's Amore!" which featured all kinds of classic Italian food! Tonight I had gnocchi with gorgonzolla cheese and marinara sauce!!

A few of the other girls spent their day attending a local Pub Crawl in honor of St. Patricks day! They each ventured to different bars with a group of people our age! They came back with plenty of great stories, shirts, hats and face paint! The people here have been fantastic and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings! We are dur to leave the hotel around 6am for Tuscany! More tomorrow!

Ciao Bella~

p.s. I heard an amazing Italian musician today over the radio in the restaurant, search for it on youtube.com The song is by Noemi and it is titled Per Tutta La Vita! I would love to know what you think!