Rome. Day One.

Despite having our flight canceled and rescheduled, we (my friends Aaron, Evan, and I) managed to successfully arrive in Rome around early Thursday night, and found our hostel without too much trouble. We had a delicious dinner at a nearby restaurant full of overly friendly waiters, and then called it a night.

We began our exploration of the city on Friday morning. Meeting up with another group of students from my program, we headed immediately to the Colosseum. Though the pictures that I took hardly do this imperial building justice, words cannot begin to describe anything we saw in this city, so the pictures will have to do.

I will say one more thing before I start with the pictures. To me, Rome is more than just a city. It represents my youth; the countless hours spent discovering this ancient civilization. After nurturing my infatuation for over a decade, it’s difficult to describe exactly how it felt to stand in the center of the Eternal City. It was an unforgettable experience.

I also took over 500 pictures on this trip, and since I don't have remotely enough patience to upload all of them, this will be a somewhat abridged version.

 One of the many public fountains scattered throughout Rome. Until you've had the unique pleasure of walking through the city in the middle of July, you'll never fully appreciate these.

I miss my dog.

Colosseum.

For some reason, these pictures uploaded all out of order, but I'm too lazy to delete them and try again. This is the courtyard of our hostel.

Inside the walls of the Colosseum.

Awe-inspiring. I could have stared at this for hours.

There was a very cool exhibit inside the Colosseum, and this was a quote I found. Nero was accused of starting a huge fire in AD64 in order to make room for a massive palace, complete with a private lake, in the center of the city. After Nero's death, his palace was mostly torn down. The lake was filled in, and the Colosseum built in it's place.

Nero

When my mom and my stepdad abandoned me several years ago to take a trip to Italy, they showed me this picture when they came back. It seemed appropriate that I return the favor.

Wow, look how cool this picture is!

Trajan's Column, built to commemorate the Emperor's victories over the Dacians (modern day Romania and Moldova).

Trajan's Column part II

The gargantuan monument to the first king of a unified Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, which we stumbled upon while walking to dinner.

The Palazzo Venezia, which was the former embassy of the Venetian city-state to Rome.

Another view of the monument to Victor Emmanuel II. Just incredible.

Ruins of a Roman temple.

The ruins were swarming with cats.

Romulus and Remus.

The Campo di Fiori, where we had a delicious pasta dinner.

Live entertainment!

Come on.

Serge would be proud.

That's about it for day one. Stay tuned for day two!

-cdk