Well, I can honestly say that today was a better day! For that, I am thankful.

We are still hot, at least I am most of the time, and my friend was while trying to sleep. But we have a hotel room that is small, but nice. The shower is beautifully tiled...and clean! And our complimentary breakfast is served on a rooftop space.

Today, we visited the Colosseum and the Palatine and the Forum. Quite a bit of walking and quite a bit of history. The latter absolutely made up for the former. I took copious amounts of photos, and my best friend shot video tape of where we were. I even took photos of her filming.

For the Colosseum, we took a guided tour. For the bargain price of 8 euros each, we got to skip the rather long line and enter with our escort. He was full of Roman history and pointed out interesting bits along the way. I found the vellorium the most fascinating bit. It was a cover that dozens of Roman sailors could errect over the Colosseum when needed, supported by 240 poles placed around the top of the arena, in about two hours time. Talk about achievements.

Then, to our pleasant surprise, we were treated to a FREE guided tour of the Palatine and the Forum. More walking and much climbing resulted in a rather spectacular view of the city, the Forum, and the Colosseum. More photos were taken, of course. Did you know that at least two of the original aquaducts that the first Romans built all those years ago still serve the city?

[Do you think that this is why the air conditioning is turned off even though we still clearly need it? They are into ancient technology?]

We ate more pizza, of course, bought fresh fruit, and my best friend finally figured out how to use the international phone card we bought at the Metro station.

Yep, I said Metro! Yes, living in DC for seven years has paid off for me. All that traffic aside, I have become a pro at using the DC metro. We managed to do so in Rome today without a single hitch...okay...we did have to wait and watch someone put the farecard in the machine since we couldn't figure that out ourselves, but we did get to our destination without any problems!

Today, as I said, was a MUCH better day than yesterday.

Here's hoping we continue that trend!


NOTE: My oberservation is that there are few traffic rules actually obeyed here in Rome. Cars go wherever the driver thinks might get him or her further down the road, even if that means the driver has to "make another lane" to do so. Pedestrians walk anywhere they want, regardless of the signal lights or oncoming vehicles. Blatant fearless you need to drive, ride in a vehicle, or walk the streets here. I actually stood in traffic today for one of my photos...does that make me Italian?