We woke up early to catch a train to Naples, to be followed by Pompeii, but alas luck was not on our side. It took us about half an hour to realize that 'Suppresso' means Canceled. Upon further investigation we learned that there was a 24h metro strike that was to end at 5pm that day...oh Rome. So instead we visited as many churches as was physically possible in the time and space we had.
One of the most impressive churches displayed the 'Ecstasy of Saint Theresa', which pretty much shows St. T receiving God's light and having a...very strong reaction....well see for yourself.
We caught a tour of the city in the afternoon, which brought us to the Monument dedicated to all the Italian soldiers, past, present, and even future, who give up their lives for their country. In this shot below I also captured a typical Italian scene: couple riding on a scooter! At the top of the steps (beneath the columns) there are two fires that are always lit and guarded by soldiers.
We saw the ruins of the Roman Forum (nothing funny happened on the way...ha), which is more like the kind of thing I expected in Rome. How cool for a people to have these ancient ruins in the midst of their city!
This statue located at the base of the Monument displays the myth of the origins of Rome. Romulus and Remus were twins who were separated from their mother by their evil uncle, who had killed their father and left them to die. Luckily, they were raised by a she-wolf (that's actually how they put it, 'she-wolf'). They became shepherds, realized their true identity (some distant relations to royalty), became leaders, and founded Rome. Here is them below with the only mother they ever knew (the she-wolf, not the giant above them).
THE COLOSSEUM!!!!! To me, this is the ultimate icon of Rome. Love it!
Then we met up with Edoardo, a charming Italian who I met at a pubcrawl on St. Patty's in London. He brought his friend Gulielmo (Italian for William) and G's gf Georgina (that's the english version of her name, I didn't catch the Italian). They hung out with us in a nearby park that was full of trees and little boys playing soccer and groups of people smoking (...) which gave us a real taste of chillaxing in Italy. They had to leave early and we never did end up hanging out again...but it was fun.
Gaeby, Kirsten, and I found a restaurant near our hostel and ended our day with another delicious meal of pasta. THE BEST.
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