Day 2

So, we went to the Forum, Palatine Hill, The Colosseum and St Peters in Chains today. Good grief want to talk about being overwhelmed with history? I got to go inside those places, touch the rocks that have been standing there for thousands of centuries and it was just so overwhelming. In St Peters, I got to see Michelangelo's Moses which was great. Let me go back to the Forum. My dad is a history buff to the nth degree. I was salivating at the glands just being at the Forum. Cliff's parents oohed and aahed over the entire thing, but didn't really get it. I mean, it's the FORUM for crying out loud. If Steve had been with us, we would have gotten a history like nobody's business and a better tour than the paid tours. He would have gotten more out of that trip than anybody there. It was just so strange being in a place where politics were held centuries ago. Then we went to the Colosseum and it was okay. I'm not a huge fan, but it was kinda interesting to see. I actually got some history that I didn't know. Out of the thousands of people who were killed in the Colosseum, only 7 were Christians who were fed to the lions. Interesting huh? I'm a history geek. Sue me. To be honest, I can't even begin to describe what I saw today. I mean, pictures don't even do it justice or anything. Cliff told me to say it this way: really old rocks. Really really old rocks. Idiota. It was just something I'd never expected to see in my lifetime. I got to walk down the same pathways as some of the Roman Emperors. To be there and know that you've done that. I can't explain. To be at the Colosseum and stand in the same spot that Romans stood in centuries ago, again, I can't explain. I think that everybody should have to go there at least once in his/her lifetime. Oh, funny story for the day. As we know Romans and Greeks aren't afraid of a little nudity right? Well, we're at the war memorial here in town and Cliff and his parents get the bright idea to take some pictures of the statues at the top of the steps. The statues are of Benedict XVII (I think). Well, they're nude statues and Cliff's mother about has a heart attack. So funny story for the day.