July 3: The journey begins. Holiday crowds @ airport. On board and ready to fly…..and hopefully sleep.

July 5: Sat AM took bus tour of Rome to get oriented. Passed several places we will visit, including the Colosseum.

July 5: And Circus Maximus, where the Roman Chariot races were held. This is also where the first mass execution of Christians by the Romans occurred.

July 5: And St. Peter’s Square, which we’ll visit Tuesday. Later today I’ll post pics from tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. But now it’s time to eat a late dinner.

July 5: Toured the Colosseum this afternoon, including the underground system.

July 5: More of the Colosseum’s underground. Romans were master engineers and builders.

July 5: Looking into the remains of the Colosseum from the top.

July 5: A lot if steps to get to the top, but the view was worth it. Colosseum is massive. It could hold between 50K and 80K people. One thousand slaves worked underground.

July 5: Dinner tonight at sidewalk cafe. My Roman Saltimbocca was very good.

July 5: Arch of Constantine, first Christian Emperor of Rome

July 5: Arch of Titus, built to celebrate his victory over the Jews. He sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple of Jesus’ day in 66 AD.

July 5: A few of the remains from the the Forum, Rome’s earliest seat of government. This is where Julius Caesar reigned.

July 5: This is where Julius Caesars’ body was burned after he was murdered by a group of Senators, led by by Brutus in 44 BC. All this happened in the Forum area.