We had a wonderful, but exhausting day in the heart of Rome today. Our hotel couldn't be in a better spot. We can walk to all the major sights, but we opted to take an open topped double decker bus to get the feel of the city first, at Kaleb's request. So first thing this morning we were bopping along the very narrow streets of Rome, watching the traffic from a bird's eye view and ever so thankful we don't have to drive to get around. Many of the streets had orange trees lining them and Kaleb begged Kory to try and grab an orange as we passed by, but he never quite made it. It gave Kaleb a thrill as the architecture wasn't anythinghe was that interested in today. Kory however, couldn't get enough of it.
We got off the bus near the Colosseum at a place called Circus Maximus. For over a thousand years it was the "Ben Hur"horse/chariot race grounds. It was also the place where thousands of Christians were martyred. Kaleb and Kory both picked up stones as a somber reminder as we walked along on our way over to the Colosseum (see photo). Rick Steves' travel book gave us many tips for our stay in Rome and so far, all of them have been good ones. One of them was to pay for a tour of the Colosseium so we would by-pass the ticket lines. I'm sure we were done with the tour and on to the next thing before those standing in line even entered the building. Nice tip and it only cost $25 extra, so well worth it as Kaleb would not have survived otherwise.
I do think Kaleb was slightly thrilled about actually being in the Colosseum but he woudn't admit it. He knew everything the tour guide told us, and then some. We found a fantastic history series of books when we were in England a year or so ago, called "Horrible Histories!" and they are just the ticket for 10 year old boys as they include comics and gruesome details and stuff normal history books won't cover. Kaleb's favorite book was on the Rotten Romans so he came well prepared for this trip as he read it at least three times and knows way more than Kory or I. Over two million people were killed at the Colosseum over the years as a spectator sport. Most of the gladiators were slaves or prisoners and they could win their freedom if they won the battle. Ift they died, they were probably better off anyway. Lovely. (All the animals that died were more worrisome for Kaleb than the humans.)
The tour of the Roman Forum, the heart of the civilized world in it's day, was also quite interesting. The Forum was in more of a ruinous state than the Colosseum as many of the structures (but also including the Colosseum) had their building materials "recycled" into what is now Vatican City. On that tour we learned how many of our wedding traditions come from ancient Rome, which was a bit of a srurprise. All that was needed to marry in those days was a common handshake, so the groom would ask "for her hand in marriage" and the father had to grant it. Once the handshake occured, they were married. And Rome, when first populated, was just soldiers, so they ran off and stole the woman (and killed the men) from the nearby Sabine Hills and carried them into their homes, kicking and screaming. The celebration of the populating of Rome became the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold on her wedding day. And the tradition of wearing a white dress and which side the bride and groom each stand on in the church is also from Roman days but it's complicated.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier here in Rome is extraordinarily elaborate and has been updated with an elevator to the top to get a breathtaking 360 degree view of the city, so we enjoyed the blue skies and amazing city scape for quite a while up there. The view of the thousands of satellite dishes were almost comical however, as there were just so darn many of them. And Kaleb tried counting the number of church tops visible, but lost count many times. We waandered into a few more churches today and once again, Kory was itching to shout Hallelujah but signs were posted all over the place, no talking and no photography. God is too sacred for such things, I guess.
We took the tour bus to the very famous Trevi Fountain and then walked over to the Spanish Steps, all just as the sun was going down so we had a nice after dark look at those two amazing places (which were packed with people). We ate good food today (lots of lasagne and fresh pasta), tasted new flavors of gelato and drank some fine red wine. Kaleb held up incredibly well considering how much walking we did and that we were at it for over 11 hours straight. I'm the most out of shape so I'm definately feeling the extra exercise but it's the kind of pain that feels good in a way. Tomorrow we head out to "the country" as Kaleb thinks Rome is just like any other big city and he wants to see Italy. "Rome isn't Italy," he surmised. "Just like the Pope isn't Catholic," I responded.
We got off the bus near the Colosseum at a place called Circus Maximus. For over a thousand years it was the "Ben Hur"horse/chariot race grounds. It was also the place where thousands of Christians were martyred. Kaleb and Kory both picked up stones as a somber reminder as we walked along on our way over to the Colosseum (see photo). Rick Steves' travel book gave us many tips for our stay in Rome and so far, all of them have been good ones. One of them was to pay for a tour of the Colosseium so we would by-pass the ticket lines. I'm sure we were done with the tour and on to the next thing before those standing in line even entered the building. Nice tip and it only cost $25 extra, so well worth it as Kaleb would not have survived otherwise.
I do think Kaleb was slightly thrilled about actually being in the Colosseum but he woudn't admit it. He knew everything the tour guide told us, and then some. We found a fantastic history series of books when we were in England a year or so ago, called "Horrible Histories!" and they are just the ticket for 10 year old boys as they include comics and gruesome details and stuff normal history books won't cover. Kaleb's favorite book was on the Rotten Romans so he came well prepared for this trip as he read it at least three times and knows way more than Kory or I. Over two million people were killed at the Colosseum over the years as a spectator sport. Most of the gladiators were slaves or prisoners and they could win their freedom if they won the battle. Ift they died, they were probably better off anyway. Lovely. (All the animals that died were more worrisome for Kaleb than the humans.)
The tour of the Roman Forum, the heart of the civilized world in it's day, was also quite interesting. The Forum was in more of a ruinous state than the Colosseum as many of the structures (but also including the Colosseum) had their building materials "recycled" into what is now Vatican City. On that tour we learned how many of our wedding traditions come from ancient Rome, which was a bit of a srurprise. All that was needed to marry in those days was a common handshake, so the groom would ask "for her hand in marriage" and the father had to grant it. Once the handshake occured, they were married. And Rome, when first populated, was just soldiers, so they ran off and stole the woman (and killed the men) from the nearby Sabine Hills and carried them into their homes, kicking and screaming. The celebration of the populating of Rome became the custom of carrying the bride over the threshold on her wedding day. And the tradition of wearing a white dress and which side the bride and groom each stand on in the church is also from Roman days but it's complicated.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier here in Rome is extraordinarily elaborate and has been updated with an elevator to the top to get a breathtaking 360 degree view of the city, so we enjoyed the blue skies and amazing city scape for quite a while up there. The view of the thousands of satellite dishes were almost comical however, as there were just so darn many of them. And Kaleb tried counting the number of church tops visible, but lost count many times. We waandered into a few more churches today and once again, Kory was itching to shout Hallelujah but signs were posted all over the place, no talking and no photography. God is too sacred for such things, I guess.
We took the tour bus to the very famous Trevi Fountain and then walked over to the Spanish Steps, all just as the sun was going down so we had a nice after dark look at those two amazing places (which were packed with people). We ate good food today (lots of lasagne and fresh pasta), tasted new flavors of gelato and drank some fine red wine. Kaleb held up incredibly well considering how much walking we did and that we were at it for over 11 hours straight. I'm the most out of shape so I'm definately feeling the extra exercise but it's the kind of pain that feels good in a way. Tomorrow we head out to "the country" as Kaleb thinks Rome is just like any other big city and he wants to see Italy. "Rome isn't Italy," he surmised. "Just like the Pope isn't Catholic," I responded.
