Guy on a horse that conquered something

Well here is the first pics of Rome but before we get ahead of ourselves let me back up and recap the journey to get here.  Left Fruitvale on the 1st and drove to Calgary.  Now everyone has done that drive a million times so nothing of interest to tell other then Albertan's are terrible drivers but they are amateurs next to Romans.  The flight from Calgary to Amsterdam was smooth and relatively fast and I was impressed by KLM until we got to Amsterdam then they started to act like air Canada.  Not worth going into detail!!!!

A short lay over in Amsterdam and then a short 2 hour flight to Rome.  Anyone flying here there is no security at the airport no customs or immigration, just angry cab drivers.  Short story 2 cabbies fighting over our fare just get in the car and keep your head down!!!  We learned very quickly that when you get in the middle of an argument between the locals just shrug and make the best "I don't know whats going on " face you can. 

Made it to ours friend Ann's place about 20 minutes from the airport.  Fantastic little flat with an apt unit downstairs.  Easy access to the trains which run into the main part of Rome are within a 5 minute walk.  As Ann and her 3 kids were on a trip to Greece we were on our own for the first day.  After catching up on some sleep we got up the first day and headed into Rome.  Having no idea where we were going we got off the train at the final stop in the center of Rome and decided to walk down the street that had lots of trees lining it.  Now I know what your thinking  "why didn't they just buy a map"?  All I have to say about that is "Have you ever seen a map of Rome"!!  Jesus !@#$@@!

Anyway low and behold we followed our instincts and walked right into the Colosseum.   Impressive!!  Not much more I can say.  We had lunch at a nice Italian restaurant overlooking Roman ruins.  Don't do that every day.  Oh yeah I forgot to mention it was friggin hot.  Lots of stupid tourists and as usual the Americans you can pick out a mile away!!

There is so much to see and do here it is almost overwhelming.  Good thing Ann can filter out some of the stuff for us and point us in the right direction to the best attractions.  Enjoy the pics>>>>>>

Colosseum

Posing

The locals call him Chuck but we westerners know him as Caesar.  Anyway he rode through this arch a few thousand years ago on a Chariot

Bronze statue at a military monument

This bronze statue was huge sitting on top of the military monument on a Chariot being pulled by 4 horses.  The statue itself is probably 40' high.

Bird brain Betty

Marcus Aurelius