The Late Great Roman Empire

The first day of our "land and sea" adventure began with the exploration of two major icons from the late great Roman Empire: The Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Fortunately, the hotel in the land package we booked through Norwegian Cruise Line, Grand Palatino Hotel Rome, was a quick five minute walk to the Colosseum. Unfortunately, the walk was easier for some than others in our group...where the average age was 60 (no offense Mom). Literally we weren't a block from the hotel when we already had a "faller" on our hands. Unlike our Berlin experience, this fall was unprovoked by a crazy bicyclist. Thankfully, the lady who fell (tripped over the uneven stone) was all right. Bless her heart.

As you can see by the look on the face of our sassy, little Italian tour guide, Anna Rita, our "special"
group made her work hard for every euro. She did a really great job of telling us all the background information and historical significance up front then giving us time to leisurely walk around without being herded to every single point of interest.

This was my second time to the Colosseum, but this time I actually felt like I saw the Colosseum {if that makes sense}. The first time it was rainy and I felt like our group was super rushed without even wandering entirely around the arena and going up to the second level for an even better vantage point.

We learned that upon completion in 80 AD, Emperor Titus celebrated with 100 days of games. Typically this involved fighting animals in the morning and gladiator battles in the afternoon. It was free to attend and the government even provided food! Before you start saying, "Wow! What a nice guy that Emperor Titus is!" It wasn't the kindness of his heart that provided food and sport to the people of Rome. Rather he wisely surmised that if the people have full bellies and occupied eyes, they won't complain about what he did in and around the Roman Empire. Pretty brilliant, right? Hmm... sounds sort of familiar though. OK, I won't go there. #Obamaphone


After {briefly} losing two of our group members and warning others about the uneven terrain in the Forum, several couples decided it was better to return to the hotel. See what I mean about our special group? Mamma Mia.

In the feisty words of Anna Rita- Andiamo! {It means let's go!}

I must say that the while the Forum was intrinsically interesting, I appreciated it much more after taking three years of Latin. My high school Latin teach, Magister Kelsh, did a fantastic job of making history come to life especially as it pertained to ancient Rome and Greece. Ten years later {omg, I'm feeling old} I still remember stories about Roman/Greek gods and goddesses, the duty of the Vestal Virgins, plus I can still read a lot of Latin! In vino veritas, anyone? Anyone?

The statues above are some of the MVPs of the Vestal Virgins. To become a Vestal Virgin you were chosen from an important family under the age of 10 and vowed to remain celibate and tend the the eternal flame located in the temple (above with the columns). As you can imagine, it was a very big honor to be chosen for such an important task. The eternal flame was equated to the success of the the Empire and its military endeavors. Sound glamorous? I'm sure it was right until one of the virgins decided to break rule number one. The accused VV was publicly humiliated and buried alive. No means no? Yikes.

Before you know it it's lunchtime and what do you want for lunch when in Rome? Pizza, obviously.

So delicious! 

After an afternoon siesta, Richard and I set out to see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain {which turned out to be under renovation}. It's amazing the things you stumble upon in such an ancient city.

Top: Italians call it "The Wedding Cake." | Left: Colosseum | Middle: Marcus Aurelius Column |
Right: A question from every Latin test: What does SPQR mean? Senatus Populusque Romanus. Boom. 

The Pantheon

The Trevi  Fountain... sort of

Don't worry, we still threw coins in the proper way {right hand over the left shoulder} to ensure another visit to Rome. Hopefully next time the Trevi will  be as impressive and enchanting as the first time I saw it six years ago.

'Til then.

Tschüss!