July 7 - Colosseum/ Forum

Today was more time in the bus as we headed north to Rome. We did get to stop along the way, and it was a memorable one. Our stop along the way was at the Siciily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial.  It it home to soldiers who lost their lives during WWII in that area. The cemetery, totally funded and managed by the United States, is beautiful. It opens to an open space with a fountain area and has the burial sites on either side. 

The open space leads to the memorial and chapel area which features a sculpture of two brothers in arms.

During our tour, we learned about a few of the people buried there. One was a Medal of Honor awardee who was from St. Clairsville, OH! He led an extraordinary attack, even after being wounded.

The grounds and chapel were meticulous. It was evident that this memorial is well-maintained and respected by the Italian community.

The delegates were most respectful and very moved by the stories they heard. President Eisenhower would be proud.

Then, it was on to our final destination: Rome! We hit two of the major attractions in the afternoon. First we toured the Colosseum. It was a busy day, as always at the Colosseum. Crowds were thick, and the temperature was hot, but we enjoyed the tour. We learned that a common story about the Colosseum is a fallacy. It's often said that the Colosseum was flooded and used for mock navy battles. That is not true. They may have once put a couple of meters of water in it, but soon after that the dividers were put in the ground area, so it would have been impossible to use for that purpose.

Then we walked to the Forum from the Colosseum. It's a short walk, and you can almost feel the history there. Every time I go, I can get over the knowledge that I'm walking on the same ground that Julius Caeser walked. And I can walk up to the place where his body was creamated.

By the end of the tour of the Forum, we were all pretty beat. It was a long, hot day, and we just wanted to get checked into our hotel.

We did have a little delay, though. Seems there was a very peaceful demonstration near the restaurant where we ate dinner. We had just gotten back on the bus when the protesters made their walk around the traffic circle, stopping all traffic for a while. We had a good view of their walk, and then it dispersed. Once traffic got flowing again we were on our way to the hotel. It's nice to know this is the last hotel before we come home. I have a feeling the next two days are going to fly by quickly.