A three hour bus ride was all it took to get me and the others in my UMass program to Rome. We then took the Metro to a stop near our hotel. When we came up from underground, the Colosseum practically sprang from the ground right in front of us. It is about fifty feet away from the Metro entrance.
A monsoon followed us to our hotel, and the rest of the day it rained on and off. We found that the Roman Forum has been fenced and is now charging admission, something new since last year. Not having a lot of time, we elected to take pictures of it from our vantage point above it, and to come back another time. Elena, my program director, then led us to Capitol Hill, which has been the political center of Rome since the ancients. Michelangelo designed its Renaissance square. Rome impressed with with the grand scale of everything. Siena's medieval alleyways are quite different from the grandiose piazzas and larger than life statues of Rome.
The Trevi Fountain was our next destination, the 1762 masterpiece of Nicola Salvi. It's powered by massive, ancient aqueducts. Our visit coincided with a giant rainbow over the fountain.
More later; also, I will post my Rome pictures after the 1st of February, when the Flickr site allows me more space.
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