A City of Ruins

...which would be...Rome!

A brief intro first--this past trip has caused me to love unions even more as Air Traffic Control in Rome decided to be on strike while we were flying in...which meant our flight was canceled, then we were assigned to a new one, then that one was delayed several more hours....long story short, we only got to crash at our hotel, grab some dinner, and check out a piazza on our first day...rather disappointing!

But the next day we were up early to check out the historical parts of the city.

This part of the city basically feels like an open archeological dig. These are the ruins of the political part of ancient Rome, where speakers would gather to sway public opinion.  But we saw this on our way to a piazza, because some of our fellow travelers needed an ATM...which the Colosseum strangely doesn't have.

But if they hadn't needed one, we wouldn't have gotten to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Rome...we completely stumbled upon it by accident, and the whole thing--from the monument to the guard parade in front of it--was beautiful.

Then we made it to the Colosseum.  Yay!  This is where some of the ancient Roman games were held.  From what I remember from Latin class, the gladiators would go over to the emperor and say "We who are about to die salute you" which sadly I can no longer say in Latin.  The lowest level of the Colosseum could be flooded for mock naval battles.  The Colosseum was the emperor's best way of winning public favor--give them blood sport and they'll forget about everything else!

And of course, Rome was a Christian state...so I couldn't resist silhouetting this original cross against the backdrop of the Colosseum.

Some etchings we found.  Now, I need feedback--are these teeth, or hearts?  I snapped a pic because I thought it was adorable, and then someone pointed out that the stem of the heart is just a bit too long.  Thoughts?

View from the top of Augustus's house!  He had quite the palace, with gardens and his own chariot-racing stadium (a bit smaller than the Circo Massimo, but still).

Romans liked pillars.  A lot.  This is outside the old Roman Forum.  Also, you can tell we're in Italy in this pic.  Why?  The sky is BLUE, not the gauzy grey you get in the UK!

Lastly, the Arch of Constantine.  You know, the good guy who converted to Christianity because he thought it gave him better luck in military battles.  Built in 315 A.D., this commemorates one of his many victories, so he was on about something!