Getting ready to turn in for the night after my third day in Rome, off to Florence by train tomorrow. We had a beautiful tour of ancient Rome today and seeing the Colosseum is amazing. I learned that in the morning the shows at the Colosseum were Gladiator vs. Animal in the afternoon it was Gladiator vs. Gladiator and in between on certain days it was public execution for the town to see.

There were no permanent jails at the time so when you were convicted of a crime you either went into slavery, work, or death. Death by animal was common with Tigers and Lions the preferred method in front of the town. Rome was very crowded with 1 million people then living in a close vicinity because with no transportation nobody wanted to live outside the main area where there was food, housing, entertainment so the streets were very crowded.

We saw where Julius Cesar was slain, went to the Roman Forum’s and I really really enjoyed the Basilica of St. Paul. He had his head chopped off and they built the church about 200 years later over his grave site. His bones are still there. The ancient churches here are so beautiful and have so much history. In fact the whole city does as its remarkable how many things from before Christ are preserved here in Rome. I saw one theater that was built before the Colosseum and before Christ. There are statues everywhere. I walked the Spanish steps today and we did some shopping for the girls. There is so much to see in Rome that I think one more day would have been better but I believe we saw as much as we could without wearing ourselves out.

One of the things that is amazing about Rome is that there are no big cars or trucks. No SUV’s. Everyone drives a smart car or a fiat or a moped. The vehicles are so small. Yet everyone smokes! And I realized why so many Americans are fat, it’s our food proportions. Here you get smaller portions but the quality and taste is amazing. There is so much detain that goes into every dish, but again the portions are small. We haven’t seen any fat people. My Italian is getting better being forced to speak it every day and I have enjoyed that, although when people talk fast I can’t understand them…How do you get an Italian woman to shut up? Tie up her hands.

Miss Phoenix, can’t wait to get back and get on the air……..Ciao

Gambo

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