Wednesday morning, June 4th.  Happy 12th Birthday, Ellis!  The birthday boy was surprisingly hard to rouse out of bed – actually, we all were.  First breakfast in our hotel…..um, the coffee was good?  We made our 10-minute walk back to the main train station, where our Green Line Tours bus was supposed to be waiting….in a SEA of other buses.  We serpentined like lost toddlers in a mall until someone finally pointed us in the right direction.  But wait – some flag-waving demonstration was blocking the square!  So here, “follow that guy in the red hat, he will take you to bus!!”  So we took off trying to keep up with a supposed-GLT-employee who seemed like he was running from his own crime scene.  But at least we got to walk under a canopy of orange trees, which were beautiful.  And it was another perfect day, so we were happy.  First stop on the Green Line – the Colosseum!  By way of the Circus Maximus….site of 1st century chariot races!

  the ominous warning card on our breakfast table.  We were careful not to be “abounding in portions.”

  racing to keep up with the man in the red hat.

  Circus Maximus

The Colosseum is simply stunning.  I know that ain’t profound or nothin’.  I’ve been struck by ancient marvels before; struck by what could be accomplished by sheer will and an ENDLESS supply of “willing” human capital.  I felt it standing on the Great Wall, and I felt it here at the Colosseum.  But added to it here was amazement at the ENGINEERING dreamed up and accomplished by the Romans.  And the VISION that fueled it.  It’s an architectural masterpiece.  It had a retractable COVER, for heaven’s sake – long before Jerryworld.  The vast areas under the arena floor held all types of wonders, and provided for multiple trap doors, vertical platforms, appearing and disappearing set pieces, all types of wild animals, the ability to flood the arena floor for sea battle reenactments – then DRAIN the water quickly…… it just boggles the mind.  In one production, to commemorate the occasion when a whale washed up on the shore near Rome, they built a movable whale that came up out of the arena floor….THEN THE MOUTH OPENED, AND 50 BEARS CAME ROMPING OUT.  Man, what a show THAT must have been.  Of course, the shows usually ended with a few condemned getting eaten by lions or burned alive.  But STILL.  You have to give them engineering and theatrical credit…  Romans.  Conquered the world AND could put on a great show.

After the Colosseum, it was another near-fruitless search for the elusive Green Line Tours bus – like stalking a rare beast.  Ellis finally figured it out, and we hopped on for a much needed rest and open-air ride around town.

We got off near the Trevi Fountain and Yelp-ed our way to a wonderful lunch spot….

 

After our late lunch, every tourist in Rome graciously agreed to meet at the Trevi Fountain right before we arrived.  Good GRIEF.  But we nonetheless made our way to the edge and tossed the proverbial coins.  I think I was wishing that Ellis would stop trying to climb up the side of the fountain.

 

The Pantheon was MUCH more impressive.  The dome is jaw-dropping.  2,000 years after it was built, it is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.  Just poured concrete over a wood frame.  The diameter of the dome is 142 feet, dwarfing the US Capitol’s dome-ameter of 96 feet.  Amazing architectural feats ensure the staggering weight of the dome is supported.  The only natural light comes front the 30-foot oculus in the top.  Funny, I used to be in a band called Oculus…..

 

On to the Spanish Steps – daylight is fading!  Hey Spain – not your greatest point of pride!  They are, in fact, just a set of STEPS.  With lots of tourists sitting on them.  And funny guys selling beer illegally out of plastic bags and occasionally scampering away from the one poor policeman assigned to stop this blight.  Here are the kids enjoying the Spanish Steps:

We closed the day with Ellis’s birthday dinner, and aimless strolls through the Rome streets.  Here’s E blowing out his invisible birthday candle:

Other select scenes from today……