Rome Day 6

Today was amazing...again. Sorry I havent added pictures in a while. Its a hassle to have to come down to the internet cafe and pay to use extremely slow computers.

First picture is from the a veranda overlooking Rome. St. Peters Bacilla at the Vatican is by far the largest and tallest building in the city. It completly dominates the skyline from almost any vantage point in the city. It might be one of the most beautiful manmade objects (natures mountains own all) that I have ever seen from a distance. As always the pictures DO NOT do it justice, as it is larger than life and a masterpeice when you see if with you own eyes.

One of the more spiritual buildings we entered was the Pantheon. During the afternoon the sun raidiates through the hole in the roof creating an effect that makes you feel that the sky is watching over you. This is perhaps one the the best preserved buildings from ancient times. Almost 2000 years old! It was originally built to serve as a place of worship for the many dieties that the Romans believed in. Later during the spread of christianity it was converted to a Church to serve as a place of worship for one god. I cant describe the feeling you get as you walk in, the building is absolutley massive and was the largest dome ever constructed for 1000 years.

Me and my buddy Chris clowning in the Pantheon.

The collosseum was simply awe inspiring. Built 2000 years ago it served as a model for stadiums for centuries.

This place was HUGE! Held 50,000 people (UCF Stadium) but built so long ago and still standing. When I look at it I cannot believe that engineers using first century technology could build such a structure. Massive rocks had to be lifted hundreds of feet in the air to build this.

Thousands of animals and men were killed at this very spot. Our professor told us that many north african animals probably became extinct because they were used for entertainment purposes during gladiatorial battles. There is also evidence that this place could hold water, litterally. Ship battles were reenacted in this center and it was able to hold up to 20 feet of water.

But that is enough of the history lesson. All I can say is put this on your list of places to go and educate yourself of roman history beforehand!

Today was perhaps the most tiring day so far. We walked probably around 5 miles in the heat and humidity because of metro rail strike, but saw so much cool stuff.

Being in rome with a group of really down to earth people has made my time here so much better. We have stayed up till 5 am almost every night drinking wine and talking about life. However that is now taking a toll on my body and I need to go take a nap to catch up on sleep. Goodbye, wish I could upload more photos but the internet is slow as mollases.

-STF