Day Eight - Last Day in Rome

(post delayed due to a lost wi-fi connection)

Well, here we are at the end of the trip, and time has really flown by. As we neared the end of the collection in the Capitoline Museums, it was fitting that the last mosaics we talked about were taken from Hadrian's Villa, the first site we visited upon arriving in Italy. Today was a very full day, and in many ways I think we saved the best for last. First, we were joined this morning by Peggy Brucia, a retired high school Latin teacher and author who now teaches classes every spring at Temple University's Rome Campus. Peggy guided us through the Pantheon, which we were finally able to see after not having enough time for it earlier in the trip and after arriving during mass yesterday. From there, we walked back up the Capitoline to the Campidoglio (designed by Michelangelo) and down the hill into the Roman Forum. Viewing the Forum without an expert's help is very difficult, as it is filled with ruins spanning hundreds of years and you always get the mistaken impression that all of these things existed at the same time instead of being added gradually throughout the history of the city. You will see three arches in today's photos, with two (Septimius Severus and Titus) being at either end of the Forum, and the last (Constantine) being across from the Colosseum. After reading and hearing about the Forum for years, I know the students were really excited to be following in the footsteps of countless Romans as they walked past the site of Caesar's funeral pyre or along the Via Sacra toward the Colosseum.

After the tour of the Forum, we walked up to the Palatine Hill for a great view and then proceeded to the Colosseum. To add to the excitement of being in the Colosseum, we also got our first glimpses of those participating in the Rome Marathon, as the race began and ended right outside. Before going off to the Capitoline Museums, we had a late lunch in the Jewish Ghetto, which is located near the Theater of Marcellus and not far from our hotel.

We returned to the area around the Pantheon for our last dinner here, which was followed by the obligatory stop for gelato, this time at Giolitti's, definitely the best gelateria we visited in Rome. Our walk back to the hotel took us past the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II and the Largo Argentina one more time. Tomorrow morning will find us boarding a 6am shuttle for an early flight back to Cleveland through Atlanta.