Rome

We started the day with a drive through the Etruscan countryside before arriving at the Roman Colosseum. I've seen pictures of it before but I didn't realize how enormous it really is. In this picture you can see Jerel standing in front of it. The archway he's standing in is just the bottom layer of three rows of arches. The amphitheater was used for gladiators, Christians, and wild animals battled to the death in front of around 50,000 spectators.

One of my favorite places in Rome was St. Peter's Basilica. In Catholic tradition St. Peter's tomb is beneath the altar of the basilica. The basilica is built over an ancient Constantinian basilica and was finished in 1626 after more than 100 years of contruction. I was amazed at the exquisite paintings in the basilica, and even more amazed when our guide explained that they weren't paintings at all but rather mosaics. They had such fine detail and I was quite impressed. We also saw Michelangelo's Pieta--a statue depicting Mary holding the body of Jesus in her lap after the Crucifixion.

I could go on and on about St. Peter's Basilica! There were so many inspiring works of art and so many details of the building that were just amazing. After visiting the Colosseum and St. Peter's Basilica, we ran around trying to see the rest of the sites before catching the bus back to the ship. We found the Pantheon and had pizza for lunch there (no Pizza Hut this time) and enjoyed a moment of resting and hydrating before scurrying off to the next site. We managed to see The Forum which was the center of the development of the ancient Roman civilization, Piazza Colonna, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. Rome is definitely one of those cities you could spend a full week or more exploring--one day was not enough!