Gruenhundstrasse: Come si dice

"Come si dice" means "as they say" in Italian.

Well, you know as they say: "All roads lead to Rome." Well...we got in the car and started driving, and what do you know? We arrived in...

ROME!!!

And you know what they say about Rome? "When in Rome, do as the Romans do..."

The question is: "What do the Romans do?"

Well, about 1900 years ago the Romans used to crowd into the Colosseum to watch lions and tigers and bears...oh, my...(among other gory things...) It could hold up to 80,000 spectators. It's the largest amphitheater in the world.

So here I am at the Colosseum!

There used to be a wooden floor here, and all the maze you see on the ground was actually where they kept all the wild animals for the spectacles.

Back then, all of this was covered in white marble and it looked really cool.

It was still cool, even though it's falling down, and without the white marble.

And as you know, Kieran likes to have his picture taken while jumping in front of famous monuments...just a habit of his.

But by far, the best part of the Colosseum is this: There is a sign here that says do not climb the stairs. This was strange on so many levels. First of all, there was a gate in front of the stairs, but it was open. Secondly, there was a nice modern iron railing ready for use to climb the stairs. Third of all...Why? What is wrong with the stairs? They looked perfectly fine to me. Oh, well.

Right next to the Colosseum are the ruins of Ancient Rome called the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. The Palatine Hill is supposedly where Romulus and Remus (two babies) were found by a she-wolf, and cared for by the wolf. (Everywhere in Rome you will see statues and pictures of two babies and a wolf.) When they grew up, they decided to build a new city, but got into an argument, and Romulus killed Remus, and named the city after himself - hence the name "Rome."

The Roman Emperor Augustus lived here.

It's hard to imagine what it must have looked like back then. It has been destroyed by time, weather, wars, and earthquakes.

Or, maybe this is just how it all looked in the first place and Emperor Augustus just had really lousy architects...

Okay, it's still pretty amazing, even falling down...

This car is old, but not as old as Emperor Augustus.

We also went to another really famous place - The Spanish Steps. And to be honest, I don't really know why they are famous. They are just a bunch of steps, leading up to a building. (Never seen that before...)

And besides...why are they Spanish? We're in Italy!

Apparently, they lead to the Spanish Embassy.

Here is a close-up of the steps. Are they really that amazing?

Wow! They are so.......step-y.

Moving right along from the amazing Spanish Steps...The Plaza Navona.

This was slightly cooler than the Spanish Steps. There were three large fountains carved by Bernini, who is a very amazing sculptor who my mom really likes.

We really liked this horse.

Like, really liked the horse.

Look how cute he is.

You love him, too, right? Adorable!!!

Another Ancient Roman site was the Pantheon. It was originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome. There is a big hole in the roof to let in the light. Now it is a Catholic Church. It is the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome - built 1900 years ago!