Today was a beautiful day for sight seeing! A couple of the other girls and myself took the bus down towards the historical monuments today and we covered a lot of them this weekend! Yesterday we went to the Altare della Patria (Alter of the Fatherland) or "The Wedding Cake" building. Today, we went back around that area and tackled the Roman Forum, the Palatine, and the Colosseum. There was a ticket to see all three for 12 Euros.



Everything we saw today was breathtaking. As we've been walking around Rome so far, I couldn't believe how old everything is, and it is still standing. So many of what is here is older than the U.S. The Roman Forum is the ruins of ancient important government buildings. We were able to walk through a lot of it and saw so many pillars, arches, pieces of old buildings, and some statues left over. Each thing we saw today had so much detail put into it. The Roman Forum led us to the Palatine Hill which I guess is the center most hill of the Seven Hills of Rome. The view from up there is beautiful. I'm a sucker for pretty views so if you don't mind climbing some stairs the view from the top is worth it. The Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill is a little confusing to navigate, especially on a crowded day like today. There are a lot of dead ends and places for a photo, but after walking around a little we finally found our way out and to the Colosseum. Going to the Colosseum was so surreal. We've seen it everywhere; in pictures, videos, and all over the internet, but it was something else to see it in person. It was huge! So crazy to be inside of it.

We did a lot of touristy things today on a crowded Sunday, but it was great to have a whole day to see everything. One thing that keeps coming to mind when looking at the architecture and buildings in Rome is that Rome was built to last. They valued history and wanted to leave a legacy. Nothing I really see in America, especially with all the construction and new buildings being built in Seattle, is built with the same philosophy. Americans want everything to be new, modern, and up to date. There is so much culture here in Italy, they value it and incorporate it into their newer buildings. It is beautiful!