Italy part FUN
Now that I'm rested up, time for the trip report. It's big, so I'm breaking it into two parts.
I've inserted Wikipedia links to some areas if interest, if you want to read up more. We'll start out right in the hotel room...
Here's our room, which is teeny tiny. Doesn't look so small in this picture, right? Well...
Yes, this image was captured with an electron microscope. This atom is to scale.
And here's the bathroom. Yes, that is a bidet. And yes, I tried it. And yes, I LIKED IT. Too bad there aren't any over here. Maybe in my dream home.
And - yes, that is the shower. And it is that tiny. Despite all the showers I took, I only ever managed to get my hair and upper torso clean.
Well, we've all seen this, right? Really, that is a cute hat.
St. Peter's. Not pictured: The massive line waiting to get in. St. Peter's has a weird dress code - women can't have belly shirts or bare shoulders. All the more weird because during the time the public is let in, there aren't any priests to tempt or whatever in there. Go figure.
Man, I hate this picture. That's us with St. Veronica, carrying a towel to the J-Man. In the sculpture, the towel has his face in it, but I don't think you can see it in this potograph. :<
Light streaming in St. Peter's. Nice, right? Brief counterattack break.
A tortuffo! Chocolate ice cream wrapped around chocolate cake wrapped around a cherry. Very rich, I had to drink a lot of water with it.
Katie braves the Mouth of Truth!!! This thing is actually a big ass sewer cover the Romans took and made up a story about. I think the left eye and most of the detail has been artifically added. Supposedly, if you put your hand in it and tell a lie, it will bite your hand off. Or you'll end up...
IN JAIL!!
Post-escape, the Colliseum. This thing really is massive. We skipped the tour of the inside. Maybe next time.
No caption nessessary!
The Arch of Constantine. Bigger than it looks. Fenced off, so you can't pretend you're a trimpuhing general and go underneath it.
Overview of the forum. It's weird to see grass growing up among ruins here.
My dad and Ralph check out the Arch of Titus. Close-up...
Titus conquered Jerusalem, so this depicts him stealing a menorah and taking Jewish slaves. It's amazing the good condition this is in after ~2000 years!
Typical ruins. The romans would put marble on the outside, then brick, and then ugly concrete made out of fill. All the marble has been stolen, so most stuff looks like this, beat-up brick. The big lumps in the foreground are ancient roman concrete, still around after all these years.
The Temple of Anthony and Fausta. Note the cross; like everything in Rome, this was a church at one point. In the backround is the temple of Romulus, featuring a very odd purple door.
Our two consuls address the crowd! This is the rostra, from which speeches are made. The senate house is in the backround.
Senate house roof. No picture of the exterior; it just looks like a box. It's big, though.
View from the senate steps.
Temple of Vespa, assossciated with the virgins and where wills were housed. If you were a big shot, you lodged your will in Rome to ensure nobody would tamper with it.
Foreground: Unidentified criminal.
That's all for the Forum, and also all for part one. Tune in next time to
see:
- Rome's oldest prison
- The massive Pantheon
- Katie flipping off the camera repeatedly
Don't miss it!
I've inserted Wikipedia links to some areas if interest, if you want to read up more. We'll start out right in the hotel room...
Here's our room, which is teeny tiny. Doesn't look so small in this picture, right? Well...
Yes, this image was captured with an electron microscope. This atom is to scale.
And here's the bathroom. Yes, that is a bidet. And yes, I tried it. And yes, I LIKED IT. Too bad there aren't any over here. Maybe in my dream home.
And - yes, that is the shower. And it is that tiny. Despite all the showers I took, I only ever managed to get my hair and upper torso clean.
Well, we've all seen this, right? Really, that is a cute hat.
St. Peter's. Not pictured: The massive line waiting to get in. St. Peter's has a weird dress code - women can't have belly shirts or bare shoulders. All the more weird because during the time the public is let in, there aren't any priests to tempt or whatever in there. Go figure.
Man, I hate this picture. That's us with St. Veronica, carrying a towel to the J-Man. In the sculpture, the towel has his face in it, but I don't think you can see it in this potograph. :<
Light streaming in St. Peter's. Nice, right? Brief counterattack break.
A tortuffo! Chocolate ice cream wrapped around chocolate cake wrapped around a cherry. Very rich, I had to drink a lot of water with it.
Katie braves the Mouth of Truth!!! This thing is actually a big ass sewer cover the Romans took and made up a story about. I think the left eye and most of the detail has been artifically added. Supposedly, if you put your hand in it and tell a lie, it will bite your hand off. Or you'll end up...
IN JAIL!!
Post-escape, the Colliseum. This thing really is massive. We skipped the tour of the inside. Maybe next time.
No caption nessessary!
The Arch of Constantine. Bigger than it looks. Fenced off, so you can't pretend you're a trimpuhing general and go underneath it.
Overview of the forum. It's weird to see grass growing up among ruins here.
My dad and Ralph check out the Arch of Titus. Close-up...
Titus conquered Jerusalem, so this depicts him stealing a menorah and taking Jewish slaves. It's amazing the good condition this is in after ~2000 years!
Typical ruins. The romans would put marble on the outside, then brick, and then ugly concrete made out of fill. All the marble has been stolen, so most stuff looks like this, beat-up brick. The big lumps in the foreground are ancient roman concrete, still around after all these years.
The Temple of Anthony and Fausta. Note the cross; like everything in Rome, this was a church at one point. In the backround is the temple of Romulus, featuring a very odd purple door.
Our two consuls address the crowd! This is the rostra, from which speeches are made. The senate house is in the backround.
Senate house roof. No picture of the exterior; it just looks like a box. It's big, though.
View from the senate steps.
Temple of Vespa, assossciated with the virgins and where wills were housed. If you were a big shot, you lodged your will in Rome to ensure nobody would tamper with it.
Foreground: Unidentified criminal.
That's all for the Forum, and also all for part one. Tune in next time to
see:
- Rome's oldest prison
- The massive Pantheon
- Katie flipping off the camera repeatedly
Don't miss it!