Goodbye to Rome

This is our last full day here.  We put off visiting the Forum until today and that turned out to be a bit unfortunate.  We are in a hotel which is about 1 1/2 blocks from there and even before opening the doors to the street you could sense that today was different.  It was quiet on the street!  Why?  There were no cars!  It took me a moment to realize that.  All around this area, the streets had been blocked and people were walking down the middle of them.  As we looked toward the Forum, we saw a huge glut of humans...  all waiting in a line to gain entrance.  Wow.  Just yesterday there were no lines.  Why??  As it turns out, the Forum was free today and the line was for free tickets.  I don't know how frequently (or infrequently) this occurs,  but it was like one big free-for-all party in the streets connecting the Colosseum and the Forum, and I'll bet that the Colosseum was the same mobbed (and free) scene as the Forum.  Anyway,we sailed past the lines, happily, since we already had tickets, and were soon walking over the same stones that Caesar and Nero trod upon (or were carried over by slaves or horses).  Since we got there around noon, it was hot (it felt like it must be around 100 F), so water drinking became major.  I eavesdropped on a few guides and picked up some tidbits like:

                                                                                  NERO

 This is a bust of him which was de-faced shortly after his death.  He was not popular with pretty much anyone by that time.  For instance, he had his mother, stepbrother and first wife who also happened to be his step-sister killed, kicked his second wife to death when she was pregnant, and reportedly the source of light for his gardens at night was Christians being burned alive...  you get the picture.  Just your basic sociopath blossoming into full blown megalomania.  He committed suicide just before he would have been murdered.


                                     These are thought to be the busts of his first two wives:

All of what follows dates from around 55AD, or what I cavalierly call "really old stuff"

The gas station on our hotel block, and yes that's the whole thing; a guy sits there on a folding chair beside the pump, waiting for customers

This was by a fountain in a small square where people were gathered; the police always seem to be around in this kind of situation.  They are usually joking and friendly, and so their presence is not hostile.  I took the picture mainly because I like the blue color of their lights.

                    Scene in an alley tonight that caught my eye, although I admit it's pretty cliche

Say arrivederci to Roma, and don't worry...  I threw a few coins in the Fountain for you and so I am certain that you'll be here yourself at some point.  Ciao.