Let's start with some ruins....these are two pictures of the ruins of the Forum. Broken pieces of marble columns everywhere!
I'm pretty sure they probably didn't appreciate us climbing on the ruins, but since when do MBA's care what anyone else thinks? :)
Cool Roman architecture and a perfectly blue sky can make ANYONE feel like an artist!
The Circus Maximus....thats where they used to have Chariot races!
We didn't have any chariots, so Shelly and I decided that skipping would have to do for our race!
Ben and I decided that this statue needed his foot tickled....
The Trevi Fountain. Yes I threw in the coins to make a wish, to ensure my return to Rome someday, and to give me a safe journey home and no I won't tell you what my wish was!
You know how you always see the Trevi Fountain in movies with just a couple of people milling around leaving plenty of room for the main characters to have their private romantic moment? Yeah right! This was the crowd at about 4:30 pm on a random Wednesday afternoon!
In front of the Vatican. Of course, the only picture I took with me in it there has my eyes closed! Inside the Vatican is absolutely beautiful, but most of my pictures were taken vertically because the ceilings are so tall, so I can't post them here! It was really cool to see.
View from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica
The ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica. I would have taken a picture of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, but then I'd still be in Rome stuck in jail cause its illegal. Didn't stop other people in our group from taking pictures of it though! Ha!
The main thing I learned in Rome was that everything that has even the SLIGHTEST bit of interesting Roman history (as in from the era of the Caesars) was taken over by the Catholics and either destroyed to make the Vatican or turned into a Catholic church. Case in point - the Panthenon. I was so excited to see the temple of the Roman gods, but when I got inside, found out its been turned into some Catholic altar! Booooo!
The Colosseum. Nuff said.
Cool Roman architecture and a perfectly blue sky can make ANYONE feel like an artist!
Inside the Colosseum. It apparently used to be REALLY pretty inside with all sorts of marble structures, but then the Popes took all the the marble and destroyed everything to build the Vatican. :)
You can see the tunnels where the gladiators used to be before they would come out for the "bloody bloody horrible games" (thats what our tour guide kept saying over and over!)
On Palatine Hill - the hill were Romulus founded Rome and where Domitian's palace was. It was the biggest palace ever built by a Roman emperor and now bits and pieces of it are left.
Domitian had his own arena INSIDE his palace! He would have chariot races there and every now and then would divert the aquaduct, flood the arena, and hold mock naval battles with real ships! Kinda makes Patty and Wade's theater room seem a bit unimpressive, huh?
And of course, what trip to Italy would be complete with some gelato? Any country where eating ice cream in January is considered normal is alright with me!
Well, that's all for now! I have several pictures that I need to get from other peoples' cameras, so there may be another Rome post or two. Hope you enjoyed some pictures....I know I enjoyed taking them!!
This is the Piazza de la Repubblica (I think thats how it is spelled...) - The Republic Square. The carousel in the corner is really pretty and the architecture around the square is beautiful.
This is a statue of a boar (I'm guessing you could've figured that one out on your own). It is a fountain and people put a coin in its mouth, let it fall out with the water, and then pet the nose for good luck. 
Me and my friend Ed in front of the Ponte Vecchio - the bridge in the background that goes over the river. There are a ton of gold shops and other little shops on the bridge and it has a great view once you're in the center.
Buon Anno (Happy New Year)! New Years Eve riding the carousel just before midnight. New Years in Florence was like nothing I have ever experienced. Starting around lunchtime, people were lighting firecrackers in the streets...soooooo loud! It got more and more loud as the night went on. Then at midnight, the square went CRAZY!! People were lining the streets surrounding it and when midnight hit, everyone started spraying champagne all over everyone and there were so many fireworks lit that the piazza looked like it was on fire! A few little old men were brave enough (or maybe just drunk enough) to go into the center of the square and dance around while fireworks were going off all around them and people were throwing their champagne bottles in the center to make more noise I guess. 
This is a really bad picture from New Years, but this is a guy from Houston that I had to go all the way to Florence to meet! We've been hanging out a lot this week and on the second or third day, I found out that he's actually kinda famous...he's a NASCAR and Indy car driver named Larry Foyt. He's been out of racing for about a year because he broke his back in the Indy 500, so he's managing a team out of Houston and is hoping to get back into driving soon. Looks like I may have to become a NASCAR fan now.... ;) 
