That said, I was pretty touristy today. More than usual. I did a hop-on/hop-off bus tour (that I'll continue tomorrow). It's good though; there is so much stuff in Rome that I mostly just want to see and take a picture of. This allows me to stop and explore where I want to and enjoy a nice, breezy ride through the city in between places. It's nice to see what I'm passing by (and hear about it's history) instead of blitzing underneath it using the metro. Don't get me wrong, I still prefer doing my own sightseeing and subway-ing it up with a marked up map in my purse, but this was a refreshing change of pace. I "hopped on" after my visit to the Colosseum - yes, I FINALLY made it inside. Third time's a charm! Check it out:
Right?! How awesome is that? I walked around inside here for a good hour or so. It was just fascinating. Every time I see something like this, my mind wanders into the engineering behind it all (of course it does). Seriously. Think about the amazing feats of engineering that happened so long ago - the Colosseum is perfectly concentric. It's insane. And it's built to where they could simulate different environments for different varieties of games and animals - even flood the underground passages for a simulated naval battle. Seriously??? That's freaking awesome. And it's also very "Hunger Games" of the Romans.
It really is amazing though. This kind of stuff is mind-blowing, and I love traveling to other places and seeing just how much man has accomplished across the globe and across time. If you've been to the Eiffel Tower - did you not look at that and wonder who was crazy enough to decide that it would work? And be stable? Look at all of these cathedrals and all this stone and marble and stained-glass work...honestly? Can we get a round of applause for history? It just blows my mind, so much that I'll say it more than once. When we were in Toledo looking at the church there, Syd told me she read that the reason the arches above the entrances cascade inward is due to structural reasons - otherwise the cathedral would collapse in on itself. Who figures this stuff out? (Engineers. That's who.)
Anyway, it was, as everything else has been this past month, a truly amazing experience. Oh, and the photo count right now is 3,711 pictures. That's not bad for 3 weeks of straight sightseeing every day. ....right?
The bus tour was very nice, and we went by lots of stuff - Circus Maximus, St. Peter's Square, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Popolo, the Villa Borghese, Castel Sant-Angelo, Piazza Repubblica, the Tiber several times, the mausoleum of Caesar Augustus, Piazza Barberini...it just goes on and on.
Tomorrow marks my last full day in Rome - and Italy...AND Europe. Woah. But I'm so excited to come back to America!!! And to get back to Texas soon to share my stories and give all my presents that I bought. :) But FIRST...my last tourist-y day. I plan on hitting up the Spanish Steps and spending a lot of time in the Villa Borghese, riding the other half of that bus tour, and visiting Santa Maria Maggiore. Then packing...again. I've been keeping notes on my Back To America list and other "wrap-up" stuff for one or two posts once I'm back from Europe. I'll still be in NYC for about a day and a half and the Houston for another 2-3.
By the way, if you're reading this - thanks. It has really helped keep me sane to write in this blog. It gives me someone to talk to at the end of the day without paying for international calls (even Skype gets old). I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!
You are AMAZING!!!!
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