Picto Diary - 22 June 2018 - Roman Colosseum

Above: Bishop at Roman Colosseum. 22 June 2018.

I had thought we had Italy out of our system. I'd been to Rome and seen the Colosseum twice before, once in the early 70's and the other time circa '84. TIMDT and Mwah (sic) had come to Italy six or seven times in the 2000's, sometimes together and sometimes separately, when I tooled around, from Sicily to Vengtimille on my Nice, France based Ducati ST4S.

But, here we are again... this time with our children and grandchildren.

The tour is going great. Europe 4 Kids is doing a great job leading our tours.

Bud and I had watched "Gladiator" just last week. I closed my eyes while standing on the top deck of the Colosseum and heard, "Maximus..... Maximus..... Maximus!" And, then, "Spaniard, Spaniard, Spaniard!

Above: Family overlooks Roman Forum. 22 June 2018. Rome, Italy.

Our tours are oriented towards keeping the kids engaged. Europe 4 Kids guide Katia is doing a great job keeping kids attention. I ask kids questions about Rome and they seem to remember quite a bit. Happy with the Europe 4 Kids company so far.

Above: TIMDT overlooks Roman Forum. Rome, Italy. 22 June 2018.

Above: Trevi Fountain. Rome, Italy. 22 June 2019.

Chick image carefully for family members taking selfie at edge of fountain.

Romance of "Three Coins in a Fountain" replaced by teeming hoards of tourists. Like I said in yesterday's post, "it was better traveling, then."

Rome has changed in other ways. Its a bit trashy. Squint and you could be in Cairo, where denizens routinely toss garbage out their windows.

Streets are cluttered with litter, trash bags are piled up on sidewalks and neighborhood trash bins are filled to overflowing.

Our guides are not afraid to talk about this trash problem. Heard from one or the other of them: "Its because of the immigrants." Or, "Rome has replaced Naples as Italy's trash capital. But, no one wants to talk about it for fear they'll upset the tourist trade."

Addendum:

Did you ever try to propagate from cuttings your favorite rose bush? You should consider having at least one back up bush in case this one gets diseased. Roses are easy to propagate. Here are some pretty good instructions:
http://scvrs.homestead.com/Cuttings1.html

Nathans,
Massapequa, NY

Really was better in the old days!

the monk,
Salina, UT