Saturday

Lots to catch up on, so here we go:

Wednesday

This was our last day in Rome. Started with the forum, which is a whole bunch of ancient Roman ruins, and then we went on to see the inside of the Coliseum. It was kind of cool, but I wish I had known more about what I was looking at—especially in the forum. I was also unaware that the floor of the Coliseum is gone. So much for Kraig’s sand!

We also attempted to see a fountain that afternoon, but it was under restoration. There was a big church nearby that we went into, but it was way too gaudy for me.

That night we went to see the Trevi Fountain—so beautiful!! I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to see the Moses while I was there, but I guess that just gives me more incentive to come back someday.

Thursday

After Rome, we went to Fiesole, a small city near Florence, for a brief visit. It was really neat to see the amphitheatre and hear the acoustics and to finally see a Roman bath—I’ve always thought those were really cool.

When we were done touring the ruins, we went up a very steep hill and were greatly rewarded with an amazing view of Florence and the Tuscan hills. This is by far my favorite region in Italy so far.

After Fiesole, we went down to Florence and saw the Duomo Baptistery. While I normally would have just lumped it in with most of the other churches we’ve seen, this one had a pamphlet explaining each of the mosaics.

Our hostel in Florence was really cool. It was a 200-year-old castle guest house, with beautiful grounds to go along with it. So cool!!