Roma, Italy

June 10, Wednesday. More of glorious Roma awaited us so we packed up, checked out and put the luggage in the car still parked near the hotel. The hotel breakfast the day before wasn't grand enough for us to show up before the buffet closed. We did stop at a pizzeria across from the Colosseum for pizza and iced espresso. It turned out that this particular place was the pit stop for tour buses who stocked up on bottle water, used the restrooms, and lined up to cross the street. Our sidewalk table was used as a depository for kids or tired tourists.

We had decided to take a tour, if we could find one that wasn't too full. A 20-ish guy talked us into one that was about ready to begin. They look for English speaking people who don't want to stand

in long lines. This particular guy was from NJ and was spending the summer in Italy. He worked for a few hours a day and the rest of the time was enjoying Rome. Our Italian guide was good and even though I don't remember much of what he said the historical aura that permeates the crumbling Colosseum remains with me. It must have been one smelly place when gladiators or animals were kept below the arena.

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We missed a little of the second half of the tour to the Palatine; I needed a WC and by the time I walked the .5 mile to and .5 mile back and walked uphill where a dusty hill met us, well, I never got the gist of the ruins. The group that was on this part of the tour was twice the size of the previous one. Photos above, the middle and bottom photos were taken at the Palatine. (continued)