ROME

[As a geography major, I know Rome is not located someplace where a 4,000-passenger cruise ship can drive right up to the front door.  Yup, it’s inland.  So we had to park the leviathan in Civitavecchia (don’t ask me to pronounce it), the designated port for Rome.  We hopped on a bus for the hour and half ride to the city, making a stop along the way where I photographed this “villa.”]

[At the truck stop, Anne got to know our tour guide, Sara.  Sara was not as statuesque as our previous guides, but still, a movie star.  😉 ]

[Bill photographs the “villa” in the distance.]

[Our first stop would be the Coliseum.  But just driving through Rome to get there, my head was on a swivel.  I tried to shoot as much as I could through the windows, often being on the wrong side of “the action,” realizing this would be a city one could spend months exploring.  Is that the now inactive United States Capitol in the distance?  (OK, it’s probably St. Peter’s Basilica.)]

[Modernity among the antiquity.  Harry Potter, and Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games” (the supervisor and I watched this when it made cable TV and have to admit we really didn’t get the attraction of a plot line of kids killing kids?).]

[We were fortunate it was a Saturday, and August (when Europe is still on vacation), so the city traffic wasn’t bad.]

[Here’s a little feature one doesn’t see much in our neck of the woods.  I believe it’s called an aquaduct.  😉 ]

[Ruins that date back to a time before I was born.  They were everywhere!]

[Lovely boulevards – but how’d they do that evergreen in the middle of the photo?]

[Getting close to the Coliseum . . .]

[Getting closer . . .]

[Approaching . . . on Via di San Gregorio (I think?).]

[This was something . . . I know because we had just deplaned the bus for the walk to the Coliseum.]

[No, our bus wasn’t topless – kinda neat though, huh?]

[Everyone off the bus!]

[Our first sighting of the Coliseum.  4 million people a year visit here.  That’s a lot.  It debuted in 72 AD, seven years before Vesuvius blew its top.]

[Ahhh, a wedding.]

[Bill has his “ears” in, awaiting bon mots from Sara.]

[The Arch of Constantine, entry to the Coliseum.  Like all antiquities we visited, currently under restoration.  I’d love to have the scaffolding concession in Europe!  😉 ]

[Go exploring now!  Then meet me back at the bus stop in an hour.]

[Hi, kids!  I’m at the Coliseum!  Neat, huh?]

[The sights in the vicinity.  There are thousands of such things.  If I wanted to find out their “names,” I wouldn’t get this post out before the end of the decade.  Enjoy them as anonymous works of art.]

[The Arch . . . the cops!]

[Bill hopes the cops don’t identify him as an expert in labor law and query him as to their overtime pay rights.    ]

[Charge!  It may have been here, I don’t recall.  But it was definitely in Italy that I really realized how fortunate we are to be catered by the world in English.  I saw a tour guide, led by an Italian (obviously), speaking to her gaggle of Japanese tourists . . . in English.  😉  ]

[ ? ]

[Dunno the distant arch?  Anyone?]

[Zooming on the unknown arch.]

[Did she Facebook this?]

[What’s not to like about a Roman holiday?]

[Ready to enter . . .]

[Two adults, two children, four hotdogs, nachos, and a bottle of Chianti.]

[I think our seats are on the 40-meter line.]

[Where is the usher?]

[C’mon, keep it moving!]

[What?  We’re in the 2nd deck?]

[I think that’s Bronco Nagurski?  This was like a Hall of Fame display on this concourse.]

[Good idea, I think the seats should be rockers.]

[We were here!]

[Metrobus service direct to the stadium.]

[Another photo op . . .]

[A model?]

[Finally!  This is where the Vikings played in their second and third Super Bowls.]

[Of course the field has long since weathered away, but the sprinkler system remains.]

[Staging area for “The NFL Today.”]

[It’s too bright – can’t tell if I got the shot or not.]

[From the end zone.]

[A private loge.]

[A late arriving crowd.]

[Some started leaving at halftime?]

[From the other end zone.]

[Always trying to beat the crowds home.]

[And here’s some more unidentified ruins.]

[Mindful of the fountain statue at the old Charlie’s Café Exceptionale in Minneapolis.  Every spring, the sororities from the ‘U’ would go downtown to dress “her.”  😉  ]

[Obviously, a basilica(s)?]

[Angels we have heard on high . . . ]

[Just having fun shooting telephoto . . .]

[Across the vast expanses of the Coliseum.]

[Do you have the correct time in sundial?]

[The supervisor ducks as I make an unsuccessful attempt to shoot out her window. ]

[Dunno.  Attractive sculpture though.]

[The following are stuff along our route as we bus to our next walking area . . .]

[Impressive, but couldn’t find it with a cursory web search.]

[Dunno?]

[OK, I recognize this.  We’re passing The Spanish Steps, but we’ll be back.  🙂 ]

[The Spanish Steps]

[A photo op on the other side of the bus again.]

[I believe we’re circling into The Monument area . . .]

[Yup.]

[Simply known as “The Monument.”]

[Neighbor to The Monument.]

[As is this.]

[Gotta be a big time something.]

[Statues and everything.]

[Need help . . .]

[I’m running back and forth between computers.  😦   ]

[The Flatiron Building?]

[We’ve disembarked the bus again, and now prepare for our walking tour of the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon areas.]

As previously noted herein, Rome is huge.  It can’t be covered in one post.  Actually, it can’t be covered in numerous posts.  So, we will stop for now – before all our eyes glaze over.  We will have a Part II when . . .

Up next:  Either Rome, Part II, or a volleyball game?