Today, we left Florence and headed to Rome. We made a quick stop at a leather factory because a few people were unable to purchase items they wanted yesterday! Then, we drove a few hours and stopped for lunch at a "rest stop" with many choices of foods!
We drove about another hour and arrived in Rome. We were shocked at all the graffiti in the walls as we entered! It kind of felt like they took us through the backdoor!
When we arrived at the colosseum, we were a little confused because it looked so much different than in pictures, but we soon discovered it was mainly the angle at which we entered! We were all shocked that it was right in the middle of the city rather than off by itself.
It is unreal how much of the old city has been excavated and preserved!
We also discovered that the Colosseum was built with the ruins from Solomon's temple in Jerusalem after the Romans destroyed it!
Our local guide gave us a wonderful tour of the ruins around the colosseum, as well.
One thing we have loved is watching the kids get excited about the places or buildings that they did their project on. Many of them have asked the tour guide specific questions about that site or for clarification on something they'd missed! It has made it much more meaningful to them at those places!
We checked in to our "Gucci, Gucci" hotel at the top of a mountain, just before dinner. The hotel is wonderful, but the view is stunning! It is straight out of a movie! Our tour guide said that in the 17 years he has been doing this, he had never stayed in such a nice hotel!
Dinner was in the hotel dining room where we were entertained by a few of our talented students.
We are in our rooms now and ready for the Vatican tomorrow. We understand that the Pope is there, by we've been told not to expect to see him.
We are doing well. Half of our group will be leaving on the 14th as the others will continue on to a few more cities! Enjoy the pictures.
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