Roman Death March (AKA Big Tourist Things and a Long Freakin' Walk)

Today we started at the Capuccin Crypt. In this old church, Capuccin monks (Cappuccinos are named after them!) artfully arranged the bones of their dead brothers over the course of a few hundred years. Strangely, it was very beautiful. Each room had a theme or story. One room had an hourglass made of femur bones and hip bones, the hip bones being wings on the hourglass. It represented how time flies here on earth. Ha! One room even had a very convincing Grim Reaper, made of a real skeleton and skeletal wings. The dirt in that room was from Jerusalem. The inscription above the door to the crypt reads (loosely translated from Latin) We were once what you were - You will be what we are now." True enough monks...true enough.

Next, we walked again to the Trevi Fountain, which was just as packed as it is at nighttime. My favorite was next - the Pantheon. Built as a temple to all of the pagan gods around 2000 years ago, this now church has been in constant use ever since. The dome, and the thirty food oculus, are amazing and beautiful. The oculus is a big hole at the top of the dome, left open to keep the dome lighter and more stable.

After that was the Forum, and the Colosseum. Jupiter must have intervened on our behalf, for the Italians deemed it fit to open today. As cool as the building is, it still kind of horrifies me what it was built for. It seems odd to stand in the same place as where tens of thousands of people and thousands of animals were slaughtered in a Hunger Games-esque circus. Anyway, it was still interesting to see, and very impressive.

FYI eating in Rome on a Sunday is crappy. Our favorite pizza shop was open fora  quick lunch, and today I had potato pizza. Thin slices of golden potato on white pizza. Delicious! But for dinner...nothin'. Mostly tourist restaurants are open. Oh well. We topped off dinner with great gelato in our neighborhood. We've been there twice, and they are very happy to try out a little English and have us try different flavors. They are all tasty.

In general, it's very easy to get around Rome by subway. Most people are friendly, especially at the fruit stands where where we get apples and snacks each day, and at places we have been in our neighborhood. We just have to go with the flow here. Things just happen as they happen, on nobody's schedule. You can't plan much ;)

Tomorrow we are taking the train to Naples, and to Pompeii. More dead/petrified people! That seems to be the theme of the trip ;) Ciao Bella!