Day 2 in Rome

Our 2nd day in Rome started as early as we could get off the ship. It would be a short day because you have to be back so we can leave for Naples at 7 pm. We had to walk to the train station again for our 1 hour ride into Rome. On the train this fine morning it was a little harder to find seats with people headed to work, so Scott and I found a seat opposite a young lady in her 20's and there was an empty seat next to her with all her things place there. My sister in law who speaks Italian asked her if she could sit there. The girl gave her the biggest scowl and picked up her stuff and stuffed them on her lap. She promptly went to sleep behind her big sunglasses and whenever she opened her eyes she proceeded to give us the evil eye. Funny! Do we ever do that? I hope I never do, I know I won't now!

Our first stop today was the Coliseum The Coliseum was designed to hold 50,000 spectators, and it had approximately eighty entrances. It is truly amazing and man! there are a lot of stairs to climb to get to the top. Where's the escalator when you need it?

Then across the street to the Roman Forum and all the ruins. As you look out across it, it is hard to imagine a bustling city back in the day.The Forum was the marketplace of Rome and also the business district and civic center. It was expanded to include temples, a senate house and law courts. When the Roman Empire fell, the Forum became forgotten, buried and was used as a cattle pasture during the Middle Ages.

Then to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a magnificent ancient temple in Rome that was later converted into the church. You can't take pictures inside so I got this from the internet. The roof of the pantheon has a whole in the center and is the only means of light, the oculus. There are holes in the floor for rain water to drain out of the church. When they sacraficed animals the smoke would escape out of the oculus.

Then on to various other sites and sounds of the beautiful city of Rome.

Notice the cobblestone roads, walking on them all day makes for very tired feet and ankles! But oh so worth it!!














Then back to the ship for a nice meal and some relaxing after a hard, long (but too short) day! Now we were on our way to our next stop in Naples.