Day 2...the fun has begun!!!

Day 2...Where to start?? We went back in time about 2000 years today and the kids saw some sights that , shall we say, they found rather impressive. It is very difficult for me to put many pictures up on the blog, so tomorrow, with a better internet connection, I will hopefully be able to upload a large number of pictures to a site called flickr.com. In the meantime I will do my best to show you a few.
First things first, some of the kids are having trouble with their phone cards. Everyone one is healthy and safe and want to call home but have had issues(Kathy and Neil, Katie is worried you are going to kill her for not calling....not her fault!!)
So I guess we begin by saying that everyone missed their 6:30 wake-up call. Mix up in the computer system they said wouldn’t happen again.....we’ll see. After rushing through brekkie and running to the bus we were off to the famous Roman Coliseum. Just on the way you see so many years of history its amazing. The Circus Maximus where the first chariot races took place and where Romans simply use as a jogging track today...was I ever jealous!!!
The early morning chill didn’t curb any enthusiasm(3-4 Celsius) and we were treated to a great tour of the famous Coliseum. If you don’t know anything about it, I encourage you to Google it and check it out. I teach a lot of this stuff in my HIS421 class and this is great PD for me for sure! From the Coliseum we travelled to the Roman forum, which is the oldest area of Rome, just about 2000 years old were the grounds we were walking on. We even got to see the actual last resting place of Julius Caesar and site of his cremation, truly amazing stuff. And in the words of Lucas...SWEET!!! I wish I had a Euro for every time he said that today!!! It was hilarious!
From the Forum we moved to the site new Roman history and the monument to the liberator of Itlay, King Victor Emmanuel. Another unbelievable monument!! From there we had some time to do some shopping, some of it was willingly and some of it not. The kids soon found out how pushy some of the vendors are, how shifty they are as well. But many also figured out how to barter!! A lost art in North America for sure. Jordanne was very proud of herself when she negotiated for a couple of art prints. Good stuff!
On to the Spanish Steps, all by foot by the way, and the kids never complained once. They are truly a pleasure to be with!!! From there we moved to one of the most beautiful fountains you will ever lay your eyes on, the Trevi Fountain. WOW!!!! Many coins were tossed in and wishes made by all. Interesting fact about most of the fountains in Roma, many are accessible for some of the cleanest drinking water in the world. The public fountains(running directly from the mountains) are smaller ones where you can actually drink from or fill up a water bottle and are encouraged to so...very cool and excellent water!
From Trevi we walked to another Roman forum, the one where Julius Casear was actually assassinated in fact. And from there we were off to the Pantheon, which is basically described as the largest and best preserved ancient building in the world. You really need to see the pictures of this baby, it is incredible!!!
I am starting to fade here after a long day so I going to wrap up. It is past midnight and I need to get up in 6 hours...take care all and for all of you Habs fans out there...anyone know if they beat the BRUINS last night!!!!!
On to Ortona tomorrow after a visit to the Cathedral of St. John, I think...oops really long day!! For all of the Catholics out there, hard to believe we were 1 mile from the Vatican and we skipped mass!! Oh well, myself Pat, Adam, and Liam had a little kneel down at the altar in the Pantheon and ripped off a few prayers to try to atone for our earlier sin!!! I actually wished for a Patriots win today and I think Liam wanted the Leafs to win one more game. I told him to save that one for the Mass at the Vatican, he would need some extra help!!! Good night from Roma!
dc