Rome

Rome, January 2009

I was privaledged to be invited to my companies annual sales meeting which was held in Rome. This was the first time I got to travel to Rome and I was excited about this trip for an entire year. I also got to take my lovely wife with me. So while I was in the sales conference each day, Kelly was free to roam Rome at her leasure. So after a week in Rome, this is my take away:

Great Gelato. Gelato is very good ice cream. There was a shop by the hotel that had at least 100 flavors (including over 20 chocolate varieties). Look how happy this makes Kelly!

Old buildings. There are alot of old buildings in Rome. The hotel we stayed in was an old 17th century palace. I am glad it had Wi-Fi. It was also steps away from the Pantheon, which is got to be the oldest standing church in the world. It was made about 100 years after Christ, but was originally made to worship all of the Roman gods. It wasn't until more recently that it was converted into a Christian church.

Ruins. Rome is around 2700 years old and there are ruins dating back to the original settlement. Some of these ruins are in better shape than others. This is a picture of the Roman forum. This would be considered old downtown where all the government offices and temples were located. This is also next to the colloseum.

Fountains. Romans love fountains. The most popular is the Tevi Fountain which was a couple blocks from our hotel. Tradition states that if you throw three coins with your rigth hand over your left shoulder into the fountain you will return to Rome quicker. In fact the guy who sneaks into the fountain nightly to remove the coins collects over $180,000 US dollars a year. The city says this is a public place and so anybody can claim the coins. Nice job.

Recycling. The Romans invented recycling by taking building materials off older buildings they didn't like and reuse the material in newer buildings. It wasn't until recent history that they started preserving the older buildings. For example, the marble from the Colloseum now resides in the walls of Saint Peters Cathedral. I dont think they will give it back no matter how much we complain. The tunnels under ground where were they kept all of the animals. They even flooded the Colleseum to simulate naval battles. How cool is that?
I found some remaining seats and decided to do the one man wave. Go Lions!

Art. Rome is known for Marble statues and the great frescoes you find inside all of the churchs. Michaellangelo, Rafael, Berninni, DaVinci, etc... have all had a huge impact on the artistic appeal of the city.

Theft. Romans believed that those with might were in the right. They were traditional tourists who loved to collect souvenirs from places they visited (or conquered). Thanks to this habit you will find statues, obelisks and and other things all around the city from different civilizations. They even stole the Greeks Gods (they changed their names to sound Roman of course).

All in all, I loved Rome. I threw my three coins in the Trevi and I am excited to go back. Next time on vacation though, and not for work.