Are you not entertained??

Never gets old.

Today we visited the Colosseum! For the moment we’ll ignore all the death (3 species of animals went extinct in the amphitheater games) and destruction and just focus on the magnificence of the architecture, right? Did you know that the Colosseum could hold 80,000 spectators and could be emptied in 15 minutes in the case of an emergency?

Also, enjoy my attempts at the selfie stick. My block 1 students witnessed the struggle firsthand when we Skyped yesterday. I have not improved in the past 12 hours!

We also got to take in the Triumphal Arches of Constantine and Titus, leading to the Roman Forum.

Note the beautiful brickwork and arches of the interior:

2011:2019:

A view down the Via di San Gregorio with the Palatine on the right. If we kept going, we would get to the Via Appia and all points South from Rome! I can never get enough of Italy’s beautiful umbrella pines!

Finally, check out William’s purchase of a gladiator set, complete with a retiarius. Not gonna lie, I am a little jealous. Maybe he’ll let me play with them?

You just NEVER know when a Classical reference will pop up! We were at the zoo in the wolf habitat and we saw this:

The tale of Romulus and Remus!